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March 30, 2005

You'll miss me, won't you?

It is with a heavy heart that I announce that will have to abstain from tonight's WPBT event. It hurts even more that I actually have the needed funds in my Stars account! (It was a UB transfer...I took a beat down at those damn penny tables).

I would love to join you all, but alas, the Politics of Hollywood calls at 9:30 in the morning, and tomorrow it is with an exam, for which I find myself woefully unprepared.

You however should be signed up and ready to go!

I'll miss y'all certainly. Think of me suffering away in the UT Undergraduate Library as you're dropping hammers and cracking aces.

[I will not sign in to AIM Mobile....I will not sign in to AIM Mobile....]

Posted by April at 12:33 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

March 29, 2005

Love advice from the felt

Part of my reply to an e-mail from a friend who is going through a pretty rough time with a lot of things -

You will not screw up things with S. You didn't screw up things with J. That was his own issue. Same with what's his name; the one that you brought over here that night of the debates. I haven't met him yet, but he certainly sounds like a mature enough guy to be able to see you through anything. And more importantly - you have to take the chance. Yes, you might get hurt. But isn't it worth it? I hate to apply poker logic to your love life here, but that seems to be how I think these days. Over the long run, the more "hands" (guys) you "play" (umm...we can leave that analogy, yes?) you'll be more profitable, assuming you play PREMIUM hands. (We try to stick to only the Aces and the other high pocket pairs, but sometimes a trash hand comes along and convinces us that it's really a good hand to play, and we go along with it - I think drinking is usually involved when this occurs). You'll take some bad beats along the way (what looks to be a winning hand will end up a complete loser once the last card is dealt), and they'll really hurt (trust me baby, they hurt a lot in poker too) but once the "game" is over, you'll end up a winner and better off for having played it. [Does this make you want to play poker yet? I could use another poker blogger in Austin to cushion my edge...]

Always remember I love you and am here for you. No matter what cards life deals you.

Posted by April at 11:08 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Austin > LA

That's right, I said it.

With this find by Slayre, we now surpass y'all in GPBC. I'm basing this off the list from Geek's page. You can't count Wil though... I'm sorry, you just can't. (Remember, this is me saying that...) Yes, his poker writings are some of the best he does, but unfortunately they are very very rare. Hell, even Glyph and I have barely held on to our poker blogger cards this past week.

So, in short, we rule. Except you have that whole casino thing going for you, that does sort of cramp our style a bit. Hopefully our next state-wide election will result in Governor Kinky (please oh please oh please oh please) and we'll get legalized gaming here ourselves.

I would gloat more, but I know it'll come back to bite me in the ass. LA is much bigger than Austin and I'm sure there are other bloggers hiding out there. Just remember though, I have access to 50,000 kids with computers who I can easily set up on Party and Blogger. Hell, Party Poker guy is halfway there! I'll do whatever it takes to defend our honor.

Remember the Alamo!!

Posted by April at 09:12 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

For Hire

I'm looking for a job, and they say you should do something you're good at and enjoy.

All this time I've been giving it away for free... It's clear now though that my railbirding services are marketable. Prices are negotiable, and I do have excellent references.

Posted by April at 11:01 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

March 28, 2005

Turning the tail on Ignoramous

A recent post by Shelly led me to want to comment, but my comment was in danger of becoming so long, that it made sense to turn it into a post of my own. So Shelly - thanks for the inspiration.

In it she writes about a recent SNG in which a player felt the need to be, quite frankly, an ass, and make comments about her play. Not outright comments, mind you - more subtle ones - just a simple "LOL" with no follow-up explanation. (All the better for the mind-fuck really).

In her post Shelly writes:

"But - it made me think: what is it about online poker that makes people think it's OK to ridicule other people's play?" "Life is all safe and cozy behind an avatar, bad ass screen name, and the glow of the computer monitor."

Shelly dear, you just answered your own question. That's one of the great things about the internet. It brings us back to the basest of our human selves. You only need to take a glance around the blogosphere to see that. Hidden behind the safety net of "just words on a screen", we're free to be whoever we want to be - and for some of us that can be the real us, opening up to complete strangers in ways we could never open up to even our closest friends and family members. For instance, as far as my mother knows, I've never lost a penny playing poker. You all however know the cold hard truth. Friendships formed, love found - it can be a beautiful thing.

Of course, every rose has its thorn and there is a dark side too. Whereas some of us use this medium to express our true selves, many others use it to express their darker sides, or to just "try on" a dark side that isn't normally there. I'll never forget one night when I was just starting out, playing a play chip game at Stars, when a couple of guys took it upon themselves to harass this one woman at the table. They literally degraded to the point of death threats. Obviously PS support was alerted, but still, you have to wonder - were they really like this in real life? You have to figure that a certain amount of social Darwinism would have weeded these boys out at some point, if they truly were the type to be going around making death threats to random people just because it was "fun". But then again, perhaps that explained why they were online late at night on a weekend playing at a play chip table - hard to get a date when you're a social deviant.

What really struck me in Shelly's post was her reaction to the player's comment. Again, such a simple little comment. But it had such a powerful effect. Why?

She wrote

"Here's the second question you can answer for me - am I being too sensitive in thinking it's rude to berate people's plays in the online chat?"

I don't think any of us would advocate berating the plays of other people. Occasional trash talking...maybe. The power of implied tilt odds can't be denied. After all, we can't judge too much - we are a group of people that worships 7-2 off.

I think what makes us so sensitive is the feeling we get when some random player across the virtual felt has the audacity to critique our play. It's OUR play, and we see ourselves as being on a certain level as a player. So when someone comes along to challenge that, we immediately go into defense mode. And really - who the hell are they? You want to reach across the table and grab them by the collar and demand a rundown of their credentials. Have they written a book? Did anyone buy it? Do they have a blog? Does anyone read it? If an asshole makes a comment at a full table and everyone has the chat disabled, does he continue typing just to see his words on the screen?

We go into defense mode when challenged by each other too, but usually (hopefully) we handle it better. Either way, it's a challenge to our perceptions of ourselves that plants a seed of doubt, and in some cases can throw a player off completely. These challenges are good though. You can never see the game from any other eyes unless you ask questions or allow yourself to be occasionally told "Hey, that was really stupid." You want the challenge to come from a friend or mentor, as they'll be there to reassure you that you're on the right track, or guide you to the right one if you're not. But are they there to see every hand you play? Will they be there to see all the bad moments and call you on them?

Learning to love the jerks

That's where the jerks can come in. The vast majority of us don't have the luxury of a teacher to pour over our hand histories after every session. When you review your play in Tracker, you don't review all 200+ hands - you just look at the ones that made/cost you the most. But what about the ones that were marginal this time? What about the ones that have hidden in them a real lesson? Even these jerks at the tables can be helpful for having these light bulb moments - plays that you think are absolutely right to make, you go back to later and analyze them because someone at the table said something...and you find out that in fact you didn't have the exact odds to draw, that maybe you should have pushed a little harder/less. Was the remark from the peanut gallery needed? Of course not. Did they end up doing you a favor in the long run? Yes. Any lesson you take away is a benefit, no matter how you got to it.

Don't put too much into what they say - they are still jerks after all. And most of the time ignorant ones at that. But sometimes, perhaps they're acting as angels from the Poker Gods, sent to jolt us out of our comfort zones so we'll take a closer look at how we're really playing.

I for one am truly grateful for not only every one of you reading, but for those whom I've had the opportunity to talk with; to be told when some play was stupid and who have made me re-think my own rules about the game. I find myself mentorless again so I truly value any and all feedback I can get.

And we all should, even if it comes in the form of a snide remark from some chicken hiding behind the comfort of his computer screen. Anything that causes us to reflect on ourselves and our play is a good thing.

And if we make note of his screen name, share it with our blogger friends, and hunt him down later and take all his money, well - that's okay too.

Posted by April at 07:46 PM | Comments (12) | TrackBack

March 26, 2005

Read the Blog!

I hear from those who get on "the list" that when featured, they see more traffic, and that's great. But remember, the goal is also to get some discourse going - that is what we're all here for, right? So don't be shy people!

1. A Fool and His Money: The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men...

2. Poker on Film: A New Me

3. BadBlood plays Poker: Success

4. The PokerShark's Cardroom: Some Analysis and Number Crunching

5. thebabykicker: Weak Play by the Big Stacks on the Bubble

Posted by April at 05:11 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Wet and Wild Poker

Guess what I did last night?

Yep, I actually played poker.

I have a couple of goals these days, one is to work off that Full Tilt bonus and the other, which occured to me whilst showering, is to turn the $6 I have remaining in my Stars account into $22 so that I can donate play in the tourney Wednesday.

So, all clean and presentable, I got to work on that Stars goal. Ah, the .01/.02 tables. Such fun. Nothing like a 25xBB raise to make you go hmmmm...

But things went well, my account is now at $7.48 for about an hour of play. I'm rolling in it! However at this rate I may have to join Party Poker guy and sneak in some games during class time to make it by Wednesday.

Then I decided to play in the Omaha freeroll that Scurvy has set up for us. I have but a bare knowledge of Omaha, but fully believe that the best way to learn something is trial by fire, so these freerolls are great. I missed the first one last week since it was my last night in Colorado and Jana would have killed me. I finished 45th, which I was pleased with. I kept reminding myself "only two cards, only two cards" so that helped. I still think I play way too many hands for Omaha though. Not that it stops me of course.

All day long it had been beautiful here - low 80s and sunny. I had just had an e-mail exchange with a friend in which he mentioned how great this time of year is in Texas. Uh huh. One of the little "quirks" about Springtime in Texas is the wild weather changes. Scurvy was seated next to me, and I mentioned how it looked like we were about to get some rain. Yea. Rain, or big freakin hail! What started as a windy rain quickly became large pelting hail pouring from the sky. And of course, all my windows were open. When your laptop screen is getting wet from the rain coming in from the window at the other end of the room - that's not a good thing. And I couldn't jump up and close them - I was in the middle of a hand! It reminded me of Iggy's famous wild weather poker game, just much less exciting of course. Lost power and internet a couple of times and then it was over, having moved on to visit my fellow Austinite...

Then I decided I would head on over to our dear friend Full Tilt, where I can not have a winning session to save my life. Played with my twin (who is a tourney Goddess, btw) for a bit and had Shelly on the rail for a while. I'd give more details of the actual play, but quite frankly, I can't remember. And really - what was the meeting like at Full Tilt where it was decided to allocate programming resources to more avatars instead of hand histories? Is there a large segment of the poker playing public that is really crying out for more of those than for hand histories that every other large poker site offers? (Really?) I will admit, that little gnome is damn cute, but I'd sell his ass on the corner for something I could import into Tracker in a heartbeat. Besides, they can never top the angry little white puppy.

I'm going to have to pay a visit to UB to actually stand a chance of winning any real money. And yes, I do know I can make $22 in one hand at UB and then transfer it into Stars, but I'm stubborn that way. Probably poor bankroll management.

Your musical tidbit today (poker-related!) - a cover of The Gambler. I've started the long task of sorting through the 2 gigs of Mp3s from this year's SXSW...I may not make it. Jesus, these are the showcase acts even! Don't they screen these people?

Posted by April at 03:53 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

March 25, 2005

If nothing else, you have to admit I've been true to my domain name lately

I think every day Sir asks "You going to play poker?" and my reply is usually "Maybe". I have intent. I just get distracted. For instance, last night I had a gig or so of music files to transfer from the main computer in this house to my laptop. Took 2 hours, as I had to weed out my stuff from the rest, and track down everything from the random locations music files get saved.

Then there was the Firefox profile I had to move over to the laptop, and the Explorer favorites, along with other misc documents. I suffer from a form of procrastination where all conditions have to be absolutely perfect before I can perform a task. Let's not forget the 5K PT hands that have to be exported from the big computer and then imported into the laptop...set up the auto-rate rules from the guide...see, it's work to be able to sit down and actually play.

I will soon though. I'm not avoiding it for any reason, just haven't been in the mood particularly and I know if I'm not in the right frame of mind to play I shouldn't. It does feel good to argue with Sir about things like raising with AK though. Ah, I just like to argue.

If you haven't picked up on it yet, in addition to being a politics and poker geek, I'm a big music geek. So things like this give me the shakes a little. I have a new favorite song (sorry Wilco) and it has the most awesome video. It's Rushmore-esque and well, throw a poker game and a little football action in there and it'll have all my big interests covered. The song is 16 Military Wives by The Decemberists, who are one of the best bands around. (Yes, even up there with Wilco! ) Also, NIN has a new song out (The Hand That Feeds) that is awesome, but the video is lame.

Damn you iTunes store. (Stay away BG!) Worse than a crack dealer trying to make quota on the last day of the month. First five free when you sign up with Paypal! I have one left. You know the pressure that puts on a song?

It's another beautiful day, I have plenty of good music to enjoy it by...maybe...

Posted by April at 03:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 23, 2005

I forgot

About the one other great sign of Spring in Texas.

5 months baby!

(AT Dallas?? Uggg... Got that new stadium ready yet boys?)

Posted by April at 11:14 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Finally

Spring has definately sprung here in Texas. Monday I noticed the first bluebonnets. Just out of nowhere. They do that you see. All of sudden they'll be there - poof. Right now they are just little patches here and there, but soon they'll take over the entire roadsides - seas of blue with waves of yellow and red. I have a camera phone now, I keep meaning to take a pic, but of course, I'm always in the car...

For weeks, I have been jealous of the people who have turned the grassy knolls around campus into their own personal tanning beds - laying out with their books and laptops, studying or chatting away on their cell phones - just enjoying the 70 degree temps and bright sun. We've been alternating days of cold rain with these warm sunny ones but it appears now that the nice days are here to stay. And you have to enjoy them, because it'll be like living on the sun soon enough.

I have a test in 3 hours. And thanks to the beauty that is a wireless laptop (I don't know who invented it, but I love them) and a wired campus (sorry Brent) I fully intend to finish up my studying on one of those green lawns. (Probably shouldn't have worn a skirt today).

It is a very nice day. One of those that makes you feel like all is right with the world, no matter what you have to face.

Hell, I might even play poker.

Posted by April at 03:47 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

March 22, 2005

If you haven't noticed...

Poker content is gonna be a little light around here for a while. Sue me. Clearly I'm channelling BG today.

As if I needed another reason to crush, Wil Wheaton has discovered Wilco. This may not seem like a crush worthy event (although I believe my twin will tell you anything he does is) but you have to understand that it's coming about for him at pretty much the same time for me, and with the same album. I used to harass a good friend of mine for his love affair with the band, and then one day week before last I was on a mission to fill up the iPod for my trip to CO and decided to go through said friends playlist on my computer and succumbed to twenty or so Wilco songs he had downloaded. Not the entire catalog that I used to tease him about, true. But enough to hook me. When I got my new cell phone Sunday and discovered it could play Mp3s for a ring tone...yea - it was a toss up between two Wilco songs, Jesus Etc. and Can't Stand It. The former one won for its opening bars. Sunday night Jonathan (said friend) asked me "So if they play ACL (Austin City Limits Festival) this year, which they will because they do every year, are you going to go?". To which I replied, without hesitition, "Sure". And it hit me today - I didn't even go to ACL when R.E.M. played. Because the tickets are $70ish and the festival is in September and this is Texas (i.e., hot as hell) and you're standing around in the freakin' park...not exactly my idea of the ideal concert situation. And of course, a visit to the ACL festival website to confirm such bold schedule predictions presents you with a reminder that an encore presentation of the Wilco/Bright Eyes Austin City Limits performance will be on this Saturday. Well! Can't miss that! This has never happened to me before - liking the band that everyone else has been liking for years? But I have clearly taken the bait; drank the kool-aid, etc. And I'm really quite OK with that.
Shut up Jonathan. (You too Hank).

My other crush has been busy as well... [Pic alert, Shelly & April!]

Oh, and this is just too damn funny.

Posted by April at 10:46 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

*Ahem*

Pauly occasionally shares tidbits from his referrer logs. Pokerati listed their whole damn thing recently. I find 'em interesting, if only because they calm my worries that I'm not the only one with such twisted logs. (Naked Smurfette? Come on!) Mine are...disturbing, to say the least.

Aside from the searches on my screename (hmmm....), I get such lovely things as -

little sister i want to fuck (ewww)
horse fucking girls (this one is new - and shows up twice!)

And Sir wonders why I get more hits than he does.

My friend Jennifer and I discovered those Sunday night while we were waiting for Jason and Jonathan to finish what has become a weekly home game. I was a little...curious how someone would arrive at my site with that last phrase. Jonathan asked "Do you use the word fuck a lot?" I gave him the look - "Please." I just don't recall ever having used the word horse... OH! Way to go internets. Soil a perfectly nice tournment experience.

Recent searches include -

poker tracker auto rate rules no limit shorthanded (ummm...I can't really help you there, but how about you buy this book?)
what does sng mean in poker (someone come up with a smartass alt answer for that - my brain is fried at the moment, I can't do it)

Oh, and for those 2 of you who came here searching for Tao of Pauly, it's here. He can probably help you with your search for shocking videos too. But not naked cartoon characters. That's just fucked up.

Posted by April at 06:34 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Welcome home baby

We said goodbye on February 10th. 11 days they said. That wouldn't be so bad. I could tough that out. I'm spoiled you see. Six years of 100+ e-mails a day, in addition to more than my fair share of data entry made me a pretty fast typist - so when it comes to taking notes during a lecture, it's so much easier for me to type away than to hand write it out. So it would be hard to be laptop-less. But two weeks? I could manage.

I got in my car and noted the expected return date on the service slip - March 7th. Well wait a minute boys! That's a hell of a lot longer than 11 days! But what could I do? I was at their mercy, and plus, I figured that was just a cushion they gave so when it got fixed sooner, they'd look really cool. (Like Geordi always did in TNG when the engine needed repair and Picard was asking for a timeframe. Yea, I'm geeking out. Are you surprised? Where do you think I got my Wil fix all those years?).

But oh no. They took every day of that and then some. And then today, while making various other assorted phone calls to get my life in order, I thought "I should check on my laptop..." so I did. And lo and behold...

I didn't fully believe it. For starters, they should have called me when it was ready. Hell, I was just over there this morning, it would have been nice to know then. But no bitching, just a mad dash to the store to pick up my baby.

It's amazing the memories and mental state you associate with an object. Sitting here now in a familiar chair, in a familiar pose, with this familiar keyboard, looking at this beautiful, familiar screen - it all comes back to me and seems so right.

And tomorrow, I will take notes like I have never taken them before in a month and a half.

Right now, this baby and I have some catching up to do.

Posted by April at 03:55 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

March 21, 2005

No more aces - for real this time

"Oh, distance has no way of making love understandable"
- Radio Cure, Wilco

"We hit the wall/It was not resilient
....
Didn't you used to be someone who meant something to me?"
- Wine, Women & Song, Harvey Danger

"There's one thing I have to say so I'll be brave/
You were what I wanted, I gave what I gave/
I'm not sorry I met you/
I'm not sorry it's over"
- Your Ex-Lover Is Dead, Stars

Posted by April at 05:51 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

It ain't Otis...

But it's something.

I take a deep breath before I click every time...PP Million IV Results

Posted by April at 01:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 19, 2005

Read the Blog!

The "Thank you God, it's 77 degrees in Austin" edition -

1. Based on years of experience...: Hey Poker,

2. Sound of a Suckout: If I Only Knew Then What I Know Now

3. Bad Beat Blog: Blood Game at Ultimate Bet

4. 5,589 Miles From Vegas: It's Raining Fish [A short post, but one that everyone should take to heart - especially lines 4 and 5.]

5. Life's a Grind: My Name In Lights [Yea, you'll like this one... ]

It's always nice to visit snow - reminds me why I don't live in it.

OK, going to bed 20 minutes earlier than I did last Saturday morning...let's see if I leave before noon this time!

Posted by April at 01:18 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

March 18, 2005

Effin' variance...

Should have known when the car wouldn't start this morning. This was a sign.
You've been a very lucky little girl all week - it ends now.
We get the battery charged and get on the road, and hit every red light possible. Fred takes this as a sign from the Poker Gods that really, we shouldn't be headed to the casino today. I see it more as a reminder that patience is needed.

Fred was right. For me at least.

I buy in with $60, and loan Fred $50, since he left his roll at home (*ahem* - SIGN).

It's ugly. We're both getting crap cards and when we do get good cards, they're not hitting. I see those damn Hilton bitches 3 times, and twice I raise with them pre-flop and get no callers. The third time they're beaten by a guy who paired his King on the flop.

I saw 9-2 off so damn many times...and I so wanted to play it in Chris's honor...a karmic cruise send off of sorts - but every time it would get raised to me and I just couldn't. And it was a good thing too, because it would never hit. I'm hoping though that just because I saw it so much, it counts for something.

My biggest pot of the day came when I played 9-3 off on the button just for the hell of it. The flops were all coming rags, none of my good cards were hitting - I thought "what the hell" and went for it. I ended up flopping trip 3s and taking down a nice pot with that. It was always checked to me, and I always bet $3 (was that a tell? hmmm...) and so I was a little worried about being out-kicked, so I just checked the river. I might have been able to get more out of that.

I am proud of myself for keeping my little agression bunny under control. I had pocket 5s at one point, limped in with them, and when the flop came all overs, I folded to the bet - didn't try to make any fancy re-raise there. There was another hand too that when I bet it and was raised, I got out - knowing I was beat. I probably even threw away the winner a couple of times, just depending on the bet and the color of the board.

Fred however, after sitting out and waiting on me, got his wish when they finally opened up another table, and ran over to the ATM and bought in. And so did a big fat fish, who proceeded to dump about $300 in an hour. I considered joining his table, which was short-handed, but considering it consisted of him and the two props we played with earlier in the week, I didn't like knowing that half the table would have a pretty good read on me. I also know that when your luck is just running bad, it's running bad, and a table change isn't going to have an effect on that. When I think about the shit I've gotten away with this week...it was bound to catch up with me. I briefly considered taking the payback from Fred to buyin at his table to play with big fishy, but didn't, because I knew the smart thing to do was to take a break. This didn't keep me from seriously wanting to hit the local NL game tonight to win it back, but...

So long story short - I'm leaving Colorado tomorrow morning a loser. Which I hate, but at the same time, I realize it's not bad. I have certainly lost more in a day online. And made more. And for a week's worth of entertainment and experience, it was more than worth it. I now have a serious live game jones, much to Fred's pleasure. Hell, I may even drive to Louisana some day when I make a trip to Houston (which will really freak my mother out). Oh, and this .10/.25 stuff? Yea, that's not gonna cut it anymore. So I either need to rob a bank, or...

Posted by April at 11:12 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

March 16, 2005

Eventually, I'll win big

Finally got a chance to play the game that I know best tonight, and my feelings about it are mixed, to say the least.

For starters, I played in a two table tournament and was the third to bust out. It was not good at all. Card dead and the blind structure was not friendly. I played one hand badly, AxJh (oh, what a shock, AJ) when the flop was all hearts - I just could not resist the draw even though I knew so much better.

Finally, short stacked and with pocket 2s, I limped in hoping to see a 2 on the flop. Saw two kings instead and when no one made a play for it, I thought my two pair might be good, so I went all in. I was of course called by the guy with the trips and that was that. While chatting outside with Fred's friend Justin, Fred suddenly appeared, having taken a bad beat on the river to J4, so at least I didn't have to feel too bad.

Nor did I have to wait too long for the side game to begin since that was clearly what everyone was really interested in. I bought in for $100. I would really have prefered to buy in for less, but I knew that there was no way I was going to be able to play my best game knowing that a real raise was going to commit me for half of, if not all of my stack. Blinds were supposed to be $2/$4, but there were two stacks of $200, mine and another at $100, and then a couple at $50, so it was suggested that we play $1/$2 instead. Okay fine - I can live with that. Not quite the challenge I was looking forward to, but still quite a step up from my usual NL play.

It's 6 max, and I'm the only girl. We have a dedicated dealer, and aside from Fred and his best friend Justin, there are two guys who are regulars and buddies, and then one guy on my left who was the short stack, and very quiet, just listening to his iPod and not saying much.

I take down the very first hand. I don't even remember what it was. I don't even remember if it went to showdown. I just remember I won. And it's awesome. Then I get into it with K4d in the blinds, and the flop comes with 2 diamonds. Regular #1 does the betting, and Fred and I call him all the way to the river, where the Ace of clubs falls. I have nothing - absolutely nothing. But I know that Ace is scary. So I re-raise. And with much agony and drama, he folds. Fred on the other hand has played way too much with me this week and therefore calls my bluff. (Sorry bastard).

The beautiful thing about it is the reaction this gets. Of course regular #1 had the best hand, and he is blown away by my move. They all are. To me it's nothing fancy, betting an ace on the river? But the comments they make - "You don't learn that in any book" (they had previously been discussing giving lessons and regular #1 had been asking regular #2 when his book was coming out, etc.) - make me feel about 20 feet tall.

I know it wasn't any thing fancy. If anything, it just furthers the notion that live play is less sophisticated than online. But all week long I've been engaged in an ongoing "discussion" with Fred about him being an old school player vs. my new school player (with the blogging and the online play) and to hear such talk about me, even if it was coming from just them? Well - chalk one up for my side.

I lose another sizeable pot later in the night when another player sits down at the table and first hand in, calls my AK raise. King comes on the flop and I bet it for value, not seeing any danger. Turn is a blank, river is an Ace. All along he's been betting and I've been calling, and on the river I raise him. I had him on a King, weaker kicker, and of course thought I had him for sure with the river. He had J8 suited and had made a straight - I had completely missed the board. This is my big weakness and it really hurt me here.

"Few players recall big pots they have won - strange as it seems - but every player can remember with remarkable accuracy the outstanding tough beats of his career"

-Jack King

Tonight, I remember both.

Down to the felt, I find pocket 3s and decide to limp in, praying for a 3 on the flop. None. Instead I get rewarded with 4 J 5 (ok, so maybe not remarkable accuracy...I'm like 90% sure on that flop). I know my 3s are crap. But I make a play for it anyway. And I get re-raised all in, by regular #2. It's my last $17. I have to call. I do have outs...(shut up. they're there!)

He has AJ, so I'm pretty much screwed. Turn is a J, so I'm really screwed. River is a beautiful, wonderful, 3. Thank you, thank you, thank you PokerGods.

This puts him on major tilt. I instantly think of Chris - "I bluffed, you caught me, and I outdrew you. Shut up."

It wasn't a pretty win, and yes, it was a bad bad move to make, but I have chips again, so I am happy. Multiple hands later, he's still talking about it, so yes Chris, I do quote you to him, and you'll be happy to know you get a laugh.

And from there on out, I just play my good cards and play them well. I don't get cute even though I would love to. I do call raises with some less than marginal hands just because I suspect that the raises are position raises only and I'm willing to see a flop. I do get another full house later, but it's a split pot with the quiet guy on my left (who has turned his $50 buy in to well over $100 at this point) so it was pretty much us splitting the blinds.

I get Kings in the SB and just wait for someone to raise it for me. When no one does, I limp in. Flop comes rags and I make a $3 bet. $5 on turn, and then although the river was a scary Ace, I bet it hard and get called. My Kings are good though and that was a nice pot.

The next hand was my last one of the night, and I get pocket 8s. I raise to $3 and get callers. Flop comes with overs and I don't care. (This is a problem for me, has anyone noticed?). I bet and get called. Turn pairs the board and we all check. River is a blank and it's bet, and I call. My 8s were of course worthless to the guy who had paired one of the higher cards off the flop.

All total, I finished up the night $2. More if you count in the dealer tips, of which I have no idea exactly how much I did, but I'm approximating $4-$5. Considering the fact that I was down to the felt at one point... I don't know what it is about 3s in this house, but by God they are a magic number.

Things I've Noticed

I'm not listening to a damn thing better players are telling me.
Part of this is habit. In my entire poker playing career, I have never, never, made my raises the same amount every time. I had every intention of doing so tonight. Didn't do it at all. In addition, I keep trying to make moves when I don't need to. I don't have to make plays at pots all the time. I was just told that I was too blindly agressive - and yet here I went again. If not for that lucky 3 this would have been my most depressing post ever. And even after that hand, I was still making plays at pots I shouldn't have. There's a big difference between a bluff when an Ace comes on the river and then continually calling when you know you're beat by any card on the board. That's not agression - that's just stubborn stupidity. While I may have ignored everything else he's said recently, I did finally click in and repeat to myself "Ring games are all about patience" and quit trying to make things happen. That's how I got to build back up.

I thought the swinger lifestyle was supposed to be a little more fun...
Being down to the felt is not cool. Thinking at the end of the night about how you could have so much more money if you had just not done all of the above - not cool. iPod boy to my left did a lot of folding and did just fine. I know agression brings variance; I can handle that. I know agression is needed; I can handle that too. I don't want to just be sitting there, betting only when I have pairs, etc. etc. I want to make bluffs, and semi-bluffs, and some day I'll even be able to raise with crap cards other than the hammer. My problem comes from not knowing when to let it go. It's something that I used to not have a problem with - if anything, I'd let it go too soon. So I'm still searching for that balance. Right now I am way too far on the wild side, and I take a few beatings and scurry on over to the calm side to ride things out. I shouldn't have to do that. The swings are going to come, yes, but they shouldn't be that huge. Or maybe they can be, but at least if they're going to be, it should be with the knowledge that any agression was well placed. At the moment mine has a tendency to not be.

For God's sake, read the board woman.
'Nuff said.

Posted by April at 11:28 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

March 14, 2005

What does your drive to the casino look like?

After lunch with Jana and Gavin, Fred and I made the hour long drive to Cripple Creek, one of a few old mining towns in Colorado that, faced with a defunct industry reinvented themselves as tourist attractions; small streets filled with little casinos.

However, in Colorado they don't allow NL Hold'Em. I vaguely remembered the weird rules from the first time I had really played the game at all, when Fred had taken me to the Creek last June, and had clarified it with him a few weeks ago -

"Now let me get this weird-ass version of poker straight here - no SB. BB is $2. Minimum bet is $2, and if I want to bet on any street after that, it's max $5?"

Yep. I suddenly moved from .10/.25 NL to $2/$5 limit. And unlike if I was playing online, I wasn't going to have any one I could bug for advice if I got in a tricky spot.

I don't like limit. I'm a control freak. If I don't want you in my pot, I want the ability to bet you the hell out of it, and quite frankly, I am not confident that a $5 chip is gonna cut it. I began to worry. I asked Hank if I should read SSHE. He laughed at me. He told me that that the suckouts would happen, I just needed to play good cards and play them well. This is how Hank earned the affectionate name "Captain Obvious" from me.

However, headed up a snowy mountain to play real live poker for the first time ever, I kept thinking about that advice over and over like it was the most insightful theory piece he had ever written.

The poker room at the casino is small, consisting of only two tables, the first of which is full. We don't mind really as they appear to be a loud rambunctious bunch. We start a second table with two props, and are soon joined by two young guys who appear to be on Spring Break (who comes to Colorado for Spring Break to play poker? ) along with a middle-aged man with very healthy chip stack, and a man that appears to be the father or older brother of one of the Spring Breakers.

Aside from Spring Breaker #1, most of the table were solid players. I didn't worry so much about those suckouts, but I also didn't try to get fancy. However, I didn't let go of my agression either. And that kinda bit me in the butt a couple of times.

[Bear with me...Fred was OK with me taking notes until he found out why I was taking them, so this is all from memory...]

I got Aces on the button, raised it to $5, and ended heads-up with Fred. Flopped the set, with two spades. Bet $5 every street, and he called all the way, and I was worried when the river came because the spades were definately out there. Fortunately he didn't have them and I won that one.

I had 9s and max bet it all the way, with my little two pair (board had paired 2s), not scared of anything (see note on agression above) and then caught a beautiful 9 on the river to save my butt.

Fred limped in with Queens in one hand and so when I caught my King on the flop, I had him, although I was worried he had made a set.

I got 7-5 (good 'ole 7-5) in the blind and flopped the OESD, turn brought a 7, and river an 8. Heads up with guy who played every pot, and he had the 9 for the higher straight. That took a dent out of my stack.

Dead money came and joined our table, and shortly thereafter I had K 10 and paired the 10 off the flop with 2 hearts. I bet $5 and he called. Turn is a blank, I bet $5 again and he re-raised another $5. I called, and we both checked the river. He had 10-2 for two pair...ouch again.

I get a little bit back when I get Aces again, raise it to $5 pre-flop, get Dead money as a caller, and the flop is somewhat harmless, but it's all black. Well, since I can only bet $5...he calls, turn is a club, and I bet $5 again (seriously, this limit stuff sucks sometimes). River comes to more than complete the lovely flush draw and quite frankly, I know one of my Aces is black, but I didn't pay much attention to which...they were Aces. Bet $5 again and he folds. Everyone's dying to know if I had it. Of course I don't tell. Hell, I can't - I don't even know.

Our table breaks up and so we join the other table, where things are...interesting. There appears to be some sort of odd family dynamic at work at the other end of the table, as the younger players bust out they visit the father figure at the end for cash to rebuy; yet no family resemblance is present. (Hmmm...maybe you just had to go down there and ask for cash...didn't think about that).

I got K-T and paired the K on the flop with two hearts, and bet $5. Took it down then, and the guy on my right then starts his process of trying to figure me out. "Ace King a great hand, huh? Top pair, ace kicker'll do it." Yea...or just a 10. I don't even remember the other hand he did that on, but suffice to say his read was wrong, all wrong every time, and I just smiled sweetly and said nothing while stacking my chips. He busted out shortly thereafter.

Left that casino up a whopping $1.50. I know...WOW. I could totally make the BB, if we were in a shorthanded game. However, seeing as how at one point I was up about $20 and at another point down about the same, and I've never played live in a casino and certaintly not limit, I was proud of myself. OK, not proud really. Satisfied. OK, not really. It'll do.

However, to get to the car we had to walk through another casino's poker room, and Fred just really wanted to take a seat, so...we sat. And instantly I was uncomfortable. I liked the other room better, I liked the people better, I certaintly liked the dealers better. The guy across from me is playing any two cards and not speaking a lot of English...the guy at the left end of the table has a massive stack of chips, which I wouldn't mind seeing so much in a NL game, but that doesn't do me a lot of good here, it just tells me he knows what he's doing and/or he's been here all day. The rest of the table is two little old ladies who I suspect aren't exactly just in from out of town, plus another college student type (what, was this not an original Spring Break idea??). Fred starts out by making a straight on his first hand and taking in a $60 pot. I do a lot of folding. I make pairs and they pay off. The hand that haunts me though is the 7-3 I had in the blind and when crazy man across from me raised, I folded (I hadn't played a junk hand all day, and I so wanted to play those, but in general, when he raised, it was with good cards). Flop came A 3 3, turn was a 7, and really who the hell cares what the river was? My last hand I had pocket 6s, raised to $3, got one caller, and bet $5 on the flop of A Q 10. When she re-raised, I folded. Remember what I said about my agression? (She had it, she showed).

Still, I managed to leave that casino $4.50 up, so all total, it was a $6 winning session of poker for me. Again, not bad considering. Fred on the other hand finished up something like $145, the bastard.

I had a great time, although I was very much out of my element. It was surreal and beautiful to be sitting at a table playing poker with real cards and real chips, for real money, with snow falling in the background. I find all the table talk very distracting though. I'm the type of person that needs silence in order to concentrate, and so it's hard for me to focus on a person with so much else going on around me...my mind naturally starts to follow the conversations of the people around me, especially when they're loud and right next to me, which, when the liquor is free...the volume level sometimes goes up. But again, first time out - it's a skill that can be practiced.

Next up is a $2/$4 NL game. If anyone needs me, I'll be reading everything DoubleAs has ever written.

Posted by April at 11:56 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Here goes nothin!

"Let's go to Cripple Creek, you drive." - Fred

Scary statement for many reasons.

Wish me luck!!!

Posted by April at 12:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 13, 2005

Just another snowy Sunday

Arrived this morning in Colorado Springs around 2 am, just as a light snow starts to fall. That my friends is the definition of timing.

I love my state, I really really do. I hate that it takes me 10 hours to drive out of it though. And I live in the middle. I love though that after 14 hours in a car, I still haven't heard every song on my iPod. I did manage to hear all the Wilco though...

Woke up this morning to snow on the ground and chips stacked on the kitchen table. To say that Fred is happy to have a fellow addict enthusist here full time would be an understatement. We are adjusting though. We definitely have different styles of play. At one point, playing heads up, Fred folded his hand after the flop and said "Can't play these, 7-2 offsuit." WELL. Rest assured I set him straight on that one! And rest assured he thought I was absolutely nuts. He thinks I'm too agressive. "Those diamonds didn't scare you?" I give him the look - "No. I bet the pot every time, you shouldn't have been in there chasing."

The game is dealer's choice. And America...oh my sweet, sweet America. She's Fred's 11 year old daughter and she has, much like my 12 year old stepson, picked up the poker bug from her parent. Her favorite game? Blind Man's Bluff. And she's awesome at it. Really the problem was that any game we played, if there was a 3 involved - meaning, in Hold'Em, if it was on the board, or if in Stud, you could see a 3 in her cards - you were screwed. She was going to win, it was a given. Me to America when I had paired the 3 on the board - "Oh, I got your 3 right here baby". Fred to me - "I love that you're trying to stare down an 11 year old."

I'm not sure what the plan is for tomorrow. Fred mentioned something about a tourney at a strip club. I think I'd have a real advantage there, seeing as how I'd be a lot less distracted than most. ("Yep, see it every day boys.") He's very worried about overwhelming me with poker every day. I don't think he gets it...

H.O.R.S.E.

I think I had more fun preparing for this tourney than I did playing in the actual thing itself. And I'm going to chalk my dismal performance in it up to two things - Beck's Dark and lack of altitude adjustment. I typically milk that last one for as long as I possibly can and apply it to as many situations as it can possibly fit, so why not this one as well, huh?

Congratulations to the winners and as usual, it was fun hanging out with everyone.

I'd like to thank The Academy...

Just in time for Fred to think I'm an even bigger dork, I've been given the honor of "Blog of the Week" from the crew at Lord Admiral Radio. Thanks guys! I really appreciate it. Great episode this week too, very timely for someone who's about to hit a casino for the first time for "real".

Posted by April at 10:42 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

March 12, 2005

Read the Blog!

Early "I should be in bed and not getting lessons on Stud 8" edition -

1. The Obituarium: Play-by-Play

2. Chris Halverson: AK - When to Drop

3. Human Head Thinks Big: KOTSI - Another Theory

4. DoubleAs: NL Ring Game Basics

5. PokerCats: Crime and play

OK, really going to bed now.

Posted by April at 01:43 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

March 11, 2005

I should probably be packed, huh?

NotAPokerBlog: hey guess what?
ThePolemarch: What's up?
NotAPokerBlog: my Spring Break just started, and yours is ending
NotAPokerBlog: *evil laugh*
ThePolemarch: Cruel
ThePolemarch: So cruel

The snow has decided to wait until Saturday after midnight. So as long as I leave Austin by noonish, I should be good. It's 11:30 pm and I haven't packed a damn thing. This is typical for me. Hell, I'm still doing laundry so I'll have clothes to wear next week. It's been in the 80s here...the adjustment to the 20s is gonna be...fun?

Fred is planning all sorts of poker goodness. I am a wee bit scared/overwhelmed. I keep reminding myself that live players are different than online, but still. I know I'm my own worst enemy in these situations; I lose my confidence. I was of course just kidding in my last post about the whole "I'm a pro, I have a blog" thing, but maybe it would be good to take a certain amount of egotism with me. There must be something to be said for the fact that I spend an awful lot of time thinking and reading about the game, right? Plus, it's a pretty blog...it's red...

In anticipation of Sunday's tourney (have you signed up yet???), few of us cool kids spent some time at the Razz play chip tables at Full Tilt tonight. (What? You play this game for money? HA!) I of course bring you the highlights -

TexansBaby: i have no idea what i'm doing
SirFWALGMan: me either
SirFWALGMan: this is lowball texas
SirFWALGMan: flushes and straights dont count
TexansBaby: like at ALL?

TexansBaby: yay you!
GameC: I win one!
TexansBaby: one of us should

TexansBaby: he won b/c he had an Ace, right?
SirFWALGMan: prolly
TexansBaby: lol
SirFWALGMan: Ace = Low
TexansBaby: you are so freakin helpful
TexansBaby: where is Felicia when we need her?

Dealer: GameC shows 8,7,6,5,2
Dealer: TexansBaby shows Q,7,5,2,A
Dealer: GameC wins the pot (25) with 8,7,6,5,2
GameC: Ship it!

TexansBaby: ummm
TexansBaby: what about quads?
GameC: lol
TexansBaby: they worth anything?
GameC: That's generally bad. . .
TexansBaby: can i take these cards to a NL table?

And that was just us "pros". Although really, it was just Sir and I who were the fishies. GameC there is quite the sharky, let me tell ya.

Then we were joined by some random people (names changed to protect the innocent)-

innocent1: how do you play this game
SirFWALGMan: i dunno
innocent2: low hands win
innocent3: good question i had 2 pair
innocent1: ne one
innocent3: no crap?
TexansBaby: we're all learning together
SirFWALGMan: low = good
innocent2: look at what it said I won with
innocent3: is this a real game?
SirFWALGMan: yes
SirFWALGMan: people hate it cause it has worse
suckouts than holdem
TexansBaby: people play for money even
GameC: This game will kill you.
TexansBaby: should i give the rules of Razz CLub again?
SirFWALGMan: no
TexansBaby: lol
innocent4: razz is made to put you on tilt
TexansBaby: you're no fun
innocent1: how did i win
SirFWALGMan: Texas is wild!
Dealer: TexansBaby shows 6,5,4,3,2
Dealer: TexansBaby wins the pot (359) with 6,5,4,3,2
SirFWALGMan: Are you in collussion with Texas?
innocent5: raising with kings showing
innocent1: hell
TexansBaby: Can a girl get some credit for her nice hand???
SirFWALGMan: its low ball.. lol
SirFWALGMan: that hand rocked
innocent1: what is the object
innocent4: it was vn
SirFWALGMan: thats why I folded
innocent5: haha
TexansBaby: thank you
TexansBaby: see Sir...we're spreading the word about poker
TexansBaby: isn't that what WE DO?

Yea...watch out Sunday folks.

____________________________________________________________
Business should continue as usual here next week, although...expect to see some pictures of snow. Because I am a dork from Texas. But you love me that way.

Posted by April at 11:20 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

March 10, 2005

March 10, 2005

In my Sociology class, Party Poker guy (he will forever be known to me as that, no matter if I do find out his name) actually decided to play during lecture.

Wow.

6 max too. I was impressed. He was the blond guy (or thanks to Bill, forever known to me as "guy with ace up his sleeve") and due to the way PP guy was sitting, I couldn't see his cards really. I kept wanting to whisper (loudly) "move!" or "whatcha got?" and then of course "fold!" or whatever else course of action I felt was most appropriate. I mean really, who's the pro here? I do have a blog.

I was rather blown away by his, well...balls for playing in the middle of class though. Even I've never done that. Especially in this class, where the professor has a tendency to make these long declarative statements that you have to take down word for word. What do you do then? "Excuse me, can you hang on a minute? I just flopped a full house and I really need to slow play it."

I confess to playing last semester during the thirty minutes between my Geology class and the discussion group that I had on Fridays. (This was of course when I actually went to the class itself). And yea, I seem to recall an occasion or two where I might have let that playing carry over into the actual discussion section itself. But a full-blown lecture? Wow. I mean, that gets dangerous.

Case in point - in my government class last semester we were watching an incredibly boring film about segregation in California in the 20s or something. (Hell if I know, I wasn't paying attention!). It was boring, John was playing an SnG on UB...guess which one I picked to watch?

So when there was a question on a quiz later...ooopps. Ah, no biggie. But when that damn movie popped up on a test later? Fuck. Remember, I am a government major. I don't miss questions. (Well, I do, but I get pissed at myself for doing it). At least I knew the answer when the same question popped up again on the final.

Since I was clearly studying other material, it only seems fair that I get a different question, something NL Hold'Em related. Now that I could answer easily.

Assuming one of the answer choices was D: It depends.

Posted by April at 11:24 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

March 09, 2005

I know you hate hand histories, BUT

Pre-flop:

TexansBaby (UTG) calls. Purelyodd folds. Daddy26 folds.
JB6927 raises to $.50. ironmaster folds.
paulpaulbear folds. T1 folds. vpoulsbo folds.
Ben-Hur calls. TexansBaby re-raises to $2.10.
JB6927 calls. Ben-Hur folds.

Flop (board: 3h Kc Th):

TexansBaby bets $4.80. JB6927 calls.

Turn (board: 3h Kc Th 3s):

TexansBaby bets $7. JB6927 goes all-in for $18.15.
TexansBaby calls.

River (board: 3h Kc Th 3s 6s):

(no action in this round)

Showdown:

JB6927 shows Qh Ks.
JB6927 has Qh Ks 3h Kc 3s: two pair, kings and threes.
TexansBaby shows Ah Ad.
TexansBaby has Ah Ad 3h Kc 3s: two pair, aces and threes.

I love you Daddy.

Posted by April at 08:08 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Houston, we have a problem...

Colorado Springs forecast

My plan was to leave Saturday...but um...baby doesn't do snow. I'm from Texas, remember??

This lead to the following e-mail exchanges:

ME, to my best friend Jana: WTF??? They're just kidding about that snow shit, right? RIGHT??

I get three replies from her e-mail:

when are you coming!!!!! biautch

hell no there is like 12 inches on the ground now and still snowing

call me i have found the a sweet poker room.

That last one confirmed my suspicion that Fred (her husband, who taught me to play Hold'Em last June) had taken over her computer during her lunch hour.

But seriously. SNOW??? That I have to like, drive in??? Crap.

The last time I was in Colorado it hailed every day. Now that I can handle. Hell, I went out and got my nails done in that. I'm from Texas. Thunderstorm/tornado warning? Pppfffttt. SNOW?? Gee, sure would be nice if I had a laptop so I could hole up inside where it's nice and warm... [on hold with those bastiches at Best Buy now - it's been a month dammit!! OK - they suck.] And really, who am I kidding, Fred will have the AC on like always. (Note to self: pack blanket).

But I'm looking forward to a week of poker. Colorado may have a weird-ass version of Hold'em that they let you play in casinos, but that was my first taste of casino poker and I. want. more.

Oh, and I want to see Jana too.

I've got a final paper due in my Presidential Electoral Politics class in May, and I see no reason why I shouldn't put her freaky three-degree gettin' brain to work!

Posted by April at 05:06 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

There's no place like home...

When I first started playing poker, it was at Poker Stars with play chips. Like a lot of people who had just heard about this whole "online poker thing", I picked Poker Stars because Moneymaker had just won the WSOP, and of course they were the ones who got him there. I played there for months, hours (I mean hours) a day, and then I think noticed that a lot of the pros at the 2004 WSOP were promoting this new site called Ultimate Bet. So I checked it out, and it was purty - fancy crisp graphics, a better interface - I was hooked. Really, it doesn't take much to impress me from a marketing standpoint. I have long been known as an advertising whore. I will jump ship in a heartbeat. Does it come in blue? I'm there. Some new fancy bell or whistle that I may not really need per se, but is still just really cool? On it. Bottom line - you package it up nice and pretty, and I'll be there with my checkbook. Or my father's gold card. Whichever.

In this case, by jumping ship I left a whole lot of people behind. My crew was at Stars! That was home! John came with, but the others just wouldn't, saying that the atmosphere was different (and they're right, it's a different crowd). So I flitted back and forth, but clearly prefered UB, and quickly took "the plunge".

Motivated by bonus dollars I received when John made his deposit, I decided it was time to for me to venture into the whole "playing for money thing" and made my own deposit at UB, and well...it's been home ever since. And like any home, we've been up and we've been down. We've seen record highs and had just pennies to our name. But despite attempts by others to get me to venture elsewhere, like the stubborn loyal little creature I am, I (mostly) refused. I did try Party once, but that was a two-day bustout. My returns there are soley for blogger table donations.

I did try one upstart poker site, and found it quite juicy at first. Then busted out by playing at limits too high for my roll there. I think I still have bonus dollars to clear there...

And then of course, there's Full Tilt. I could blame all of you for being there. Like I needed another site to play at? Again, I was perfectly happy at my home. Hell, the only reason Stars ever saw money from me was because of the blogger tournies! I'm so dead money in that tourney anyway. But also, I do support my friends, even if is in some small insignificant way. (I am loyal, to a fault many times). Plus, that is a mighty nice bonus there...(although, I will never never doubt you again Seth. Not that I really doubted you, I just thought "How much worse can it be than UB, really?" OMG).

I wasn't kidding when I said the place was fishy. It is. And that's why it kills me when I have to say that I have lost so much money since I started playing there. It makes me ill. ILL. There will be no sharing of numbers. Just don't expect to find me at a .10/.25 table anytime soon, OK? At this rate, I'm afraid I may not even clear my first $10 in bonus before I bust out.

My own fault. I was actually doing OK today until I just really didn't think he had that straight. Played that one horribly. Rebuy!! Ugh...so now I've given the guy on my left a nice big stack to use to be a chip bully. I probably did have the best hand a few hands later with my AKs, but when the re-raise was to put me all in, all I could hear was the words of Sir - "Do not go all in with top pair...", so I folded. Bah.

Being cold-decked and just in general feeling unwelcome at FT, I decide to two-table it and open up UB, since I haven't been there in days.

Well welcome home baby! 2nd hand out I get 3s in the SB, flop comes 7c Kc Ac - we all check. Turn brings the 3c...well OK, I'll bet the pot. Everyone folds. Sweet...

I get 9s in the BB, raise it to $1.25, and get 2 callers. Flop comes 4h Tc Th. I bet $4, everyone folds. Next hand, I think "Y'all aren't gonna believe this...(good)" and get Aces in the SB. It's raised before it gets to me, I re-raise to $4.80, get one all-in, and another caller. Flop comes 3s 3h Kh. I bet $12.20, putting the other caller all-in for his last $9.55. Turn is 6d, river is Jd. I was up against 5s and AsKd, so I win a net $15 pot.

And at this point I think - "well thank God UB still loves me". A few hands later I have 6s and call a (cheap) all-in off a flop of Qs Qc Jd. Turn is Jc, river is (wait for it......) 6d. I'd feel bad, but he had Ad 8h.

Well. I know where I'm wanted.

But I also know that it's not some tinfoil hat conspiracy. There's something more to it, something akin to home field advantage in the AFC playoffs. I go back and I look at the hands I just wrote about...I could have been burned on those Aces, badly. Did it stop me from betting the hell out of them? No, of course not. But why? Same thing with the 6s. Sure it was cheap to call the all-in off the flop (about a dollar), but just because I had the money to do it doesn't mean that I should have. It's not like I had some amazing read on my opponent there...I'd been two-tabling.

So what is it about those plush red seats and that Aruba beach background that inspires that...confidence? Or rewards dumb luck? Instinct that comes from being in a situation you've been in time and time again? (And by this I mean, it's not just cards being dealt, it's those cards, it's sitting in that seat, etc). I honestly don't know what it is. What I do know is that to be a real poker player you have to be able to play in more than just your comfort zone, and right now I'm failing miserably at that.

Now where did I put those damn ruby slippers?

Posted by April at 12:08 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

March 08, 2005

Goin down to South Park

Here she is folks, South Park style -

Appropriate given my trip to Colorado next week.

Thanks to Birdie for the link to the South Park Studio. Head on over and give it a whirl, it's a lot of fun. Yes, it's in German. Stick to the left and you'll be fine. Click on Exklusiv, then SP Studios.

UPDATE -

SouthPark AlCantHang is linked up in the comments and SouthPark Shelly can be found here. If you make your own, link it up in the comments!

Posted by April at 01:48 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

Things I say to no one in particular while playing on Full Tilt

"No fucking way...no fucking way! And you stayed in that until the river??"
[In response to Q-4 winning pot, Queen paired on river]

"Well let's see...last time it was K-J s000ted...what could that 5xBB raise mean this time?

"Did...did he just win $25 by going all-in with TPTK with that straight draw on the flop? $25 with a pair of 8s? 8s??"

"Wait, what were you calling with there? Pair draw?"

[Raise to $1 with pocket 9s, get 4 callers] "Hell, let's all see a flop!" [Bet $2 after flop, everyone folds...]

The tank is stocked my friends. I haven't made money off them yet (donated a buyin over the weekend), but by God they're there. Maybe I should ask Hank to put my account in cheat mode... I'm sure he'll say there's no such thing, but we all know differently. I mean, come on, someone at the tables told Bob online poker was rigged! Therefore it must be true. I mean why would someone lie about something like that? (Oh, the foreshadowing...)

Was about to call it a night when a fellow blogger joined my table. Well you can't leave when that happens, especially when it's a Texas blogger. We had a blast, spreading the word about the best damn hand in poker (Full Tilt is a place where dropping the hammer still raises a few eyebrows) and the best looking pro-poker player alive.

Mourn: i dumped AJ
TexansBaby: you should know better
peephole: hehe
TexansBaby: AJ is trash anyway
TexansBaby: nothing but trouble
peephole: yep
peephole: had 10/9
Mourn: well, it has a bit of an advatage over 72...
peephole: hehe
TexansBaby: not in the hands of you or I
Mourn: that's true
peephole: lol
peephole: i woulda been shocked if it were sooted
Mourn: cant play a suited hammer
TexansBaby: sooted hammer no good

TexansBaby: i'll be right back
TexansBaby: just reading
TexansBaby: she wrote a paragraph just for me
Mourn: who?
TexansBaby: April H
Mourn: oh
TexansBaby: she went to the Bay101 today
April98 (Observer): You invite me over and you're sitting out?
Mourn: i like that place
TexansBaby: I'm reading!!
TexansBaby: I got all distracted by your discription of Phil in black....
Mourn: this is Phil Gordon we're talking about?
TexansBaby: oh yea baby
Mourn: wow
Mourn: i mean...ok
TexansBaby: lol
April98 (Observer): Yes, I wrote a special paragraph for her.
TexansBaby: you hush
Mourn: this is the same phil gordon that is sort of like a 6'6" band dork from high school?
April98 (Observer): 6'9" and I like dorks
Mourn: well
Mourn: truthfully we need more women who appreciate dorks
Mourn: so I cant get too incredulous
TexansBaby: you know
TexansBaby: April may make top 5 this week for that paragraph
Mourn: ok wait
Mourn: just to confirm
TexansBaby: but no pic??
Mourn: this is Phil GORDON, right?
TexansBaby: LMAO
TexansBaby: he's dreamy
Mourn: i like phil gordon
TexansBaby: you just don't want to marry him?
Mourn: not really no
TexansBaby: GOOD
Mourn: Negreanu is more my type

We're having a blast people, you really should come join us. *Looks to right of page* Besides, you know you want to sign up in time to be dead money ready for the next WPBT online event.

I have still yet to make a profit from this place, but that's my own fault of course. Unlike some people who can't win a hand to save their lives, I won't claim that those people who happen to be chatty at the tables must therefore be automatically participating in some sort of collusion (and we were just kidding about all that bot talk...sorta ). Made one horrible play early on, but then made a great read/call that made up for it. And then actually did have some profit for the night, but Mourn sucked me in so beautifully on one hand and took it away! He flopped a Queen high flush, and I paired my hand on the flop, and he bet it just enough to keep me calling all the way to the river, where of course I then runner-runner'd my Jack-high flush...very nicely played by him. I suppose if you're going to lose your profit, it's good that it's to a buddy, but...eh - who are we kidding? Losing sucks!

Posted by April at 12:28 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

March 05, 2005

Read the Blog!

This week -

1. Poker Cats: My War

2. Online Poker Thoughts: The New Me? [I will say though, this one makes it not so much for the post itself as for the comments that follow...so really it's a joint effort here...you can all pat yourselves on the back. Although it is good to see you back to your old self Sir...you know how I feel about that whiny I suck crap.]

3. Bad Beat Blog: Stupid Omaha Tricks - Volume 1 [No, mentioning me does not automatically get you listed here.]

4. Everything In Moderation - Including Moderation: Thank You Phil Gordon [No, mentioning Phil Gordon's name doesn't automatically get you listed here either. Pictures on the other hand...]

5. StudioGlyphic: How to know when you are better at marketing than poker

And screw it, I'm breaking my rules and it's only the 2nd week. And in fitting with the post I'm doing it for, I love and hate that I'm doing it.

6. Big Slick Nuts: I love and hate this hand

Go visit these people and tell them hello.

Posted by April at 04:47 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Love/Hate Relationship #34

Weekend Online Poker

It's what Tracker and GameTime+ are made for. Seats are going dark so fast you can't even try to keep up with them on your own. Player stats are switching from green to yellow and back to green with one well-timed suckout. So much money to be made from the fishy players, yet always the fear of being the victim of one of those "any two cards" players.

And all you can think is - "Don't let it be me."

In my case it was last night. More than once. I started out at a table that was decent, but I had to leave because the hand histories weren't working. No good to me there! I do know I had a full house that was quite nice, but then lost my profit from it when I bet my two pair off the flop, putting my opponent all in...he had paired the queen off the flop, which was worthless until those fives hit on the turn and river. I left a dollar up.

Lost buyin at one table...can't tell you about that because of errors in the hand histories and I guess I've blocked out the details. I do recall a successful hammer drop...but that's about it.

Found a new table that was...interesting. Gave the new UB notes system quite a workout there (lots of reds and oranges, little bit of yellow). The majority of the players were seeing the flops 30-75% of the time. So juicy...yet so dangerous.

Had Queens 4 times...but they'd fall victim to suited baby aces time and time again. Seriously - those of you who insist upon clinging to the idea that these are good hands no matter what (cough *Sir* cough) what's a girl gotta raise it to so you'll lay 'em down?? 4xBB, 5xBB...nothing worked. Finally I caught on, and if there was an Ace on the flop or God help me, any two cards of the same suit, I was out of there.

If the Sisters weren't going to perform, then the Boys were going to have to step up, and boy did they. Twice in a row. The first time, I raise to 6xBB, and get only one caller - the big fish, with the 75% VP$IP, who re-raises to $4.85. I call. Flop comes 4d 7h Js. Seeing no Ace and no two suits, I feel fairly confident here, bet $5, and big fish calls. Turn is Ts, I bet $5 again, he calls again. River is Qs, and that's made 3, so I check, as does fishy. Fishy shows 6h 7s (fishy loooovvveeesss those connectors, that one went in the notes early on) and I took down a net $13.70. Next hand I'm in the BB, and it's raised to .50, then fishy raises to $2.10, then there's an all-in for $3.60, and I call. Flop comes Jh 7h 8s. I bet $5, and they both call. Turn is 7c. I bet another $5, get one folder, and then fishy is all-in for his last 80 cents. River is 8c. Fishy had pocket 6s and the original all-in had pocket 5s. Cowboys win again, and I take in a net $20.45.

At this point of course I have a nice big stack which as we know is very helpful for driving people off their draws and I don't hesitate to use it to defend a flopped set of nines. From there on out though, it was pretty much just ABC poker. (Except for that time I played 9-3 just for the hell of it and flopped two pair...that was sweet). We tapped the tank a little too much I guess, and fishy swam off. It was fun though. Especially when the guy with the VP$IP of 11.29% tells the guy doing the tapping that it's just because he's a weak tight player and he's scared. [My response - "Trust me. He's not a tight player."] I love my Poker Tracker, and my GameTime+. However, I keep clicking on these little things in Tracker and having these "huh" moments. For instance, it appears fishy folded a lot on the river. Wouldn't it be great if there was some sort of book or manual or something that would help me get the most out of this great piece of software? Oh wait. There is. [That was a not so subtle hint there people...]

So, because of the fishy and the table "banter" (Yankee word, apparently) my little .10/.25 table was more fun than his big $2/$4 table, so after hanging on the rail and participating in the "banter" for a while, John took a seat and tried really hard to take away the title of chip leader from me. And I suppose if you're going to do it, this would help -

Pre-flop:

Money Talk raises to $1.25. assani calls.
SineQuoNon folds. TexansBaby folds. djngl1 folds.
KingKongBaby calls. LQQK 2 WIN folds. cryinggame
folds. TheBlix calls.

Flop (board: 5h Jh 3h):

TheBlix checks. Money Talk checks. assani checks.
KingKongBaby bets $2.25. TheBlix calls. Money Talk
goes all-in for $8.75. assani goes all-in for $4.80.
KingKongBaby folds. TheBlix calls.

Turn (board: 5h Jh 3h Th):

(no action in this round)

River (board: 5h Jh 3h Th Ah):

(no action in this round)

Showdown:

Money Talk shows Jd Jc.
Money Talk has 5h Jh 3h Th Ah: flush, ace high.
assani shows 9h 9s.
assani has 9h 5h Jh Th Ah: flush, ace/jack high.
TheBlix shows Kh Qh.
TheBlix has Kh Qh Jh Th Ah: straight flush, ace high.

Everyone say "Congrats". I only wish I had known about it before hand so I could have gotten a screen shot. And of course, it did lead to the following conversation today with Rookie...

April : he had his first royal last night
Adam : sweet
Adam : first ever
April : yep
Adam : cool i got mine before him
April : lol
April : i kinda thought the same

Hey, when you can only beat your mentor at certain things, you take what you can get.

Posted by April at 04:00 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

March 04, 2005

Pay no attention to the man in the red jersey...

...at least not when he's in your mind, like the little angel/devil thing on your shoulder.

Decided to play in a freeroll on UB today. They have multiple ones throughout the day, but they usually start at bad times for me - except for the one that starts around noon. Problem is, I forget about it most days because I get sucked into all your damn blogs! But today - I remembered. Free poker, great, huh?

It started out well. Second hand I get Kings UTG. Blinds are 5/10, so I raise it 20 and get four callers. Flop is Jc Qs 5d. I bet the pot, 105, and get one caller. Turn is Ad; I bet 315 and he calls again. River comes Kh. I bet 500 and my opponent goes all-in for 1050. So I think...did you really just make your straight that you've been drawing to all this time, or was I beat all along by two pair and that was my miracle King? Since I was fairly pot committed at this point, I called. He had Qc 6s.

Spent a lot of time mucking at that table. I'd get good cards but not be able to use them. I'd get bad cards and not be able to use them either. Oh, I'd try...but these people were calling with anything and everything. Raises meant nothing, so no fancy play here. Did loose a few chips before I accepted that though...(IM to John - "Remind me to not bluff calling stations".) I went into fold fold fold mode, so much so that I was about to fall asleep. Then along came my "signature" hand, Aces. (Figure it out people - check the about me page if you need to). Blinds at 20/40, I raised to 160. It was re-raised to 560...then an all-in for 4820. Well hell, of course I'm calling! I only have 2020, so a side pot is created. Re-raiser calls too, and we've got ourselves a game. I was up against KK and AK, and thankfully neither of them improved. I tripled up from that hand, which was good, because that was pretty much it for me.

Table #2 was a nice one because the players were better. Oh, and so were the cards. It's always nice when you can match up the ones in your hand with the ones on the board. I got pocket 10s with the blinds at 30/60, re-raised to 350 pre-flop, and then saw a flop of Th Kd 8d. I bet 600, putting one player all-in, who called. He had Qh As and never improved. I've always liked pocket 10s. I think it has something to do with a crush I had in middle school. Plus October is the 10th month, and of course...(seriously, read the damn about me page people). Also, at this point, Chris gets an offline IM from me that says "Where are you when I'm in a tourney, huh?". Probably sleeping. Or coming up with new ways to mock Hellmuth. Surely not working.

Unfortunately, my time at table two was short-lived. It was pleasant there. Table three was an all-in fest with two big stacks who were quite happy to call. I was just waiting for my chance to get something worthwhile to even attempt a move with, but it never came. And then on to...

Table #4 at which point the blinds are rising, and my stack isn't. And I have that lightbulb moment that "Oh. I can't probably bluff now, huh?". Hmm....something to consider baby. Blinds at 75/150, I've got T7210. I get wired sevens UTG, so I decide to limp. Well...short stack goes all in for 1425, and gets two callers. So I folded.

[I'm just kidding; I just wanted to see if I could hear Hank call me an idiot all the way from LA. ]

I call, and flop comes 9c Jd 9d. Those of us with chips left check it all the way down. Turn is 4h and river is 2s. All-in had Qs 9s, so very nice flop for them, the other two has Ks 3s and Ah 5h (yea...)

So that hurt. Was it a bad call? No, I don't think so. (Feel free to tell me otherwise). THIS however...

Blinds at 75/150, me in LP with T5560 and Jd Qh. Pre-flop it's raised by the BB to 900. I call along with one other, and at the time, I think "What could you be raising with there? Steal? Or...?". [Yes - or what? Not everyone limps in with their aces or kings from EP hon!] Flop comes Ah Js 7s and raiser checks. Other guy bets 150, I raise to 1000. (Why? Well why not? Agression isn't all bad). I get called. Turn is 8h. Raiser checks again. Other guy bets 150 again. I call, raiser calls. River is Kd. Raiser bets 6375 (someone woke up!) so now other guy is going all-in for 1430. And finally, I lay my hand down. Raiser had Kings. Other guy had As Qd. My mistake was not letting it go on the turn, and not paying enough attention to this. It did cross my mind that the raiser had big pockets, but since I wouldn't have played them that way, I just would not let go of the idea that he didn't have them. And we're going to ignore the fact that any Ace on the board had me beat too. Like I said...took a stab at a semi-bluff on the flop and it didn't work. Should have dropped it on the turn and saved some blind money.

So I'm sitting back, just clicking the fold button, when all of a sudden, this little guy appears in my head. He's kinda cute, you've seen him before I'm sure - red jersey, spikey black hair? Anyway, he says to me, "What would Chris do right now? You've spent enough time on the rail with him...surely some of it has sunk in by now". Well, surely indeed. What would Chris do?

Blinds at 100/200, stack at 3210 - Chris would make a move. I have the button and 8h 5s. Three limpers in, I raise to 1500. Two fold...third in re-raises to 4800. D'oh! Was that my hand in the cookie jar? Screw you Chris. Bad influence you are.

Allright, maybe that one was too obvious, being on the button and all. But blinds are high, stack is really low now...and then I get it - 9-2 off. I'm all-in. Maybe it'll pay off for one of us. One caller, with AK. And 9-2 continues its losing tourney streak, as I finish 341st out of 2500.

I'm not too terribly upset with myself other than I should have been more agressive at other times, made more moves, etc. Playing tight and getting lucky can get you fairly far in a tourney, but once the blinds start rising you have to really start relying on that luck factor, and that's hard to fall back on.

Posted by April at 02:27 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

March 02, 2005

It's probably best I didn't

In my Sociology class, we have assigned seating (I know), and there are a ton of people in the rows in front of me that have laptops (lucky bastards). And the room has wifi, so of course when they're not taking notes, they're surfing the internets, and since the rows are on steps...well...I can see what you're doing.

So today, when the guy two rows in front of me decided it was time to download Party Poker, it took all I had to not yell out "Bonus code IGGY dammit!"

Posted by April at 04:01 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

I'm sorry, but

I'm in love with this song.

That's all. Just had to share. Back to the poker-ness.

Posted by April at 10:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Baby breaks out of the box

Since all the rage now seems to be to play Omaha, I'd been wanting to give it a try. I mean other than drunk Saturday night poker, it appears that the blogger tables are moving that way...so if I want to keep my street cred, I need to learn, right?

Plus it's part of being a well-rounded poker player, knowing more than just Texas Hold'Em. I do know 7 Stud, and love it, but I do know enough to know that I don't know it as it should be known. (Bonus points to you if you understand what I'm saying there).

UB offers penny Omaha, so I thought what the heck. G-Rob was seated at a table so it seemed good enough. I had a coach available via IM to offer advice, since I had (have) little to no idea what I was (am) doing. I think I won one hand. But I couldn't figure out why exactly...only a set? I thought I had a full house...

So after trying my hand at the penny tables, and losing only 25 cents, I figured it was probably for the best if I stayed at the play chip arena. Plus, that way, if someone would just get off his butt and download the software, he could play with me (hahaha...the plan is working DoubleAs! Another one comes over!!)

Some highlights?

April : i folded the boat
SirFWALGMan : lol
April : damnit
SirFWALGMan : but was it the right move
April : fuck if i know!!!
April : i'll send you the hand history
April : you can tell me


April : i don't get this game at all
SirFWALGMan : its a low variance game..
April : i thought i had a flush
April : i only had 2 pair
April : i think it was that whole 2 of my cards thing


SirFWALGMan : your playing Omaha high
April : wtf is the diff?
SirFWALGMan : WAYYY different, no split pots
April : how can ONE game have so many fucking different variations???

SirFWALGMan : your playing too many hands for Omaha I think
April : the cards are pretty
SirFWALGMan : lol
SirFWALGMan : at least its free

See...I'm a Hold'Em player, clearly. This is a cruel, cruel game. You give me four cards, but I can only use two of them? That is WRONG. So when I have A-A-10-10 in the hole and there is an A on the flop, I instantly go into full house mode...completely forgetting that, nope, I really only have a set. Granted in that case, a nice set, but still - just a set. Same thing when they come suited. You deal me two pair, but I can only use one? But...but...there's two...

I'm reminded of something someone once said on 2+2 - that when they flopped a royal flush draw they instantly went into "bright flashy thing" mode and no amount of betting could get them off the hand. That was me playing Omaha - so many pretty cards...you just can't use them all at once dammit!

So yes, I was the big flounder at the table, but having a lot of fun being it. Who knows, maybe I'll bring a bottle of Crown to Party one night and donate along with Al?

Posted by April at 12:11 AM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

March 01, 2005

Don't ask, but...

I need to get a copy of the February 27th episode of elimiDATE. (Website is totally unhelpful, I'm just throwing it out there in case it might come in handy).

It was filmed in Austin, TX and one of the "contestants" was a guy named Brad...

If anyone can help, you get my gratitude forever and make a lot of people here very very happy.

Posted by April at 12:08 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack