Some poker played, some to be played

Decided to play the PFTR game on Monday after all. Sorry I did. Didn’t really last long. Won a small pot or two early then got my table switched. Not long after that I went out when Lucko lived up to his name. He raised 3 times out of an early position. I was sitting with Q-Q in middle position and reraised 3 times his bet plus a scoch. Everyone folded and Lucko shoved, I called. He has A-K and rivers a K and I’m gone. I can never figure out why people are willing to shove A-K in this situation though it is commonly done. We were both about the same stack size with 65 BBs left, give or take so basically it’s putting your tourney at risk while it’s still fairly early. Yes, I know A-K is considered a premium hand but it still isn’t a made hand and if you have already raised and been reraised fairly strong I would be figuring a race at best with a good possibility of domination. Not to say I would fold in this situation but not sure I would risk the whole 9 yards here when there is still a decent stack in front of me. This also isn’t an indictment of this play in this instance; it’s a question I’ve been asking on some of my poker forums for quite awhile because it is a play I see quite often. I’ve yet to get a satisfactory answer to it. In fact listening to Rounders Radio one night (sorry Buddy) while playing their This Show Bites games on Reefer they did a show where a number of pros were remarking that they considered A-K on of the most overplayed hands in tourneys. As you might suspect, I’m beginning to agree with them though I’ve always thought it was either A-J or K-Q. Anyone willing to chime in on the subject I’m still looking for answers.

Some live poker this weekend. No, no casino trip, foot is still too screwed up for that but got a text asking if I was interested in playing at the Manor. As if he had to ask. Only thing that keeps me from a game there is a family function or a weekend with my daughter. While it’s probably better I stay off the foot it’s only a walk across the street so no great stress on the foot. I’m there. Been about two months since the last game which is a shorter time frame than the last period between games. Our host is a fanatic about the game with cards and chips worthy of a casino. Unfortunately his wife does not share this passion so his playing time is limited. Last game he said he did want to try and get the game on a monthly basis, give or take a week, so maybe he’s working on it. Only have heard one or two guys committed so far besides myself so have no real idea as to who will show. If I’m unlucky maybe Riggs might be there. He usually does get an invite though it’s been quite awhile since I’ve seen him at the Manor. .

Well, time to sack, need my rest. Early start tomorrow. Weather been so nice I gotta put on my walking cast and try and finish the berry trellis that’s been languishing since I screwed up the foot. Damn raspberries are throwing out runners all over the place so that even though only 3-4 canes survived the initial planting I may be glad of it to keep from being overrun in a couple years. Thanks for the listen.

Do I play tonight?

What to play? For some reason I never seem to do well on Tilt so that to play there I usually have to deposit. I have winnings on about 6 other sites but can’t seem to build a bankroll on Tilt. So now do I deposit a few more bucks to play the PFTR tourney tonight? I know I’m playing the Mookie this Wed. (and it is the fucking Mookie damn it, no matter what anyone else thinks. It amazes me that people are actually agreeing with Waffles.) but do I play in the VeryJosie tourney also. Maybe that’s my problem on FT, I don’t multi table much. Trying to concentrate on one online table usually doesn’t work out for me.

The good news is that I seem to be coming out of the bleak mood I was in last week. I finally finished the online story I was reading that I mentioned at the end of my last post though I haven’t gotten around to critiquing it yet. Still feeling too frikkin lazy to do a whole lot of mental work. Today I picked up a book I hadn’t read in years and started on it though if I’m playing tonight I have to make sure I put it down a couple hours early to give my eyes time to refocus.. If I’m reading I’m in much better shape as books have always been a major part of my life. If I’m neglecting them I’m in a really foul funk. Another good sign is that I’m starting to feel like playing poker again, another main vice. I played both BBT5 games last week but that and a couple of PA forum special games were about all I played and wasn’t really into them. Haven’t even played many league games. Have to take a short break every so often.

Yesterday I played some ring on Power and a tourney on AP to kill some time. Results were so-so. The tourney was HORSE. Main reason I played it was that except for the occasional league game that shows up don’t get to play much HORSE and I like it. This one actually had enough people registered to make it interesting, around 45-50 runners, so I jumped in. Poker gods obviously didn’t like me playing it however. Was doing ok in the top 7 or so in chips until the bets were up there and I pissed away all my chips in Razz. I learned quickly in the first round that this group chased because there was always one guy with two face cards up to my 9 high board who would keep calling me down. Bluffing wasn’t going to work with this crowd. Somehow I blew all my chips on two hands, a 7 high then a 6 high, almost back to back. Now someone has to be really pissed off at you to get trashed in Razz twice like that in that short a time. Ring however was a bit better. Played a bit of .10/.20 NL and picked up about $22. Hit one good hand, boat over flush, but mostly it was lots of small pots just adding up. That and avoiding the one big chip dump that usually kills me in NL ring no matter how good my session before it. Table was fairly soft, if anyone had anything they bet, if not they checked and a bet into them could usually take it down. Not even any calling stations. Picked up another $10 this morning, same type table but gave it up. It was so tight that even the small pots were too small to be worthwhile. Again hit one good hand, boat over trips this time, and some small ones but gave it up as too hard. I’m not that back in to the game that I can do that kind of grinding.

Reading Schaubs and Waffles blogs on the no shows at the Invitational and have to agree with them. Al spends a lot of time arranging this thing and Tilt is posting some great prizes and people can’t be bothered to show? C’mon, there are hundreds of us out here that would kill for invites and you guys are just blowing them off? Way to go people. Hope Al’s keeping a list and checking it twice. Come to think of it, dye that hair and beard and he might make a passable Santa though what the kids would make of the SoCo I don’t know. For that matter would he be able to tolerate the milk that goes with the cookies? Don’t know about you but I hate sitouts at online tourneys. It’s one of the features I appreciate at AP/UB. If you don’t hit the take my seat screen they pop up at the start by the end of the first level you are then removed from the tourney. That way you aren’t fighting the inertia of a dead table. They seem to be the only sites that do it however. Anywho, I know Sunday evenings can be a busy time for folks, especially the nice ones we’ve been having, but still think folks would jump at the chance to play these games. Of course I’m just a crippled up old fart with a lot of time on my hands so my point of view my be skewed. Either way, get with the program people.

Hey look, a whole post and no mention of Josie. Thanks or the listen.

Another Mookie done done

Played the Mookie, and it is the Mookie, last night though wasn’t feeling the greatest. Even worse I had spent the previous couple of hours reading and when I do that my eyes go out of focus on the computer screen. That means I have to full screen the table to even see my chip count and tell the difference between a 6 and an 8. Given this there was absolutely no chance of any live blogging the game or even keeping a running tally of the table action to post later. Even worse there was no possible way to see, let alone participate in, the damned chat box so that the trash talk that makes this game so much fun wasn’t happening either.

I do remember a few things that happened. Was at ck’s table but she didn’t last long enough for a cup of coffee. Seems she got a bit aggressive against Blaargh and shoved a flopped mediocre top pair, 9s I think, into his pocket Ks. Early night for the Black Widow. Right after I told her she was getting to be as big a luck sack as Riggs too. Just had to go and make a liar out of me didn’t ya. I almost followed soon after and would have if I hadn’t won a small pot earlier. This time I was the one with the K-K and got trashed when Cracknaces gambled his tourney life on two over cards to the board and a flush draw when he raised my pot bet then called my shove on a 2 club, 10 high flop with K-J of clubs. As ck would say damned crubs. That left me sitting with about 250 chips while still at the first level. Somehow I was able to hang in and actually rebuild my stack up to around 2500 chips at one point but that point was somewhere after the first break so it wasn’t exactly a great stack by that point. Mainly a lot of shoves a couple that got calls here and there and hands holding up until my final shove with A-Qs came up dry against J-J. Would have been nice to make a deep run after being down that low early but it wasn’t meant to be. Used up that bit of luck when I pulled it off Monday night in a game amongst members of the Poker Analysis players when I went from an early mauling to tourney winner. Can’t expect that to happen too often.

Something I’ve been wondering about over the last couple of weeks is what gives with Josie? Don’t get me wrong Josie, it ain’t about you as such, you write a good blog, seem to be a decent person and don’t look half bad either if that is really you in that picture. However it seems every blogger with a dick is tripping over it in trying to make nice with you. C’mon guys, haven’t you ever dealt with a woman before? I mean Waffles I can understand, it’s entirely possible that he hasn’t if the rumor mill is correct but there can’t be that big a drought out there in blogger land.

Speaking of Waffles he seems to be desperate to get people on this change the name of the Mookie to the Dank bandwagon. Reading his blog I see he has Hoy listed as someone who is calling the Mookie by either The Dank or the Buddy in his effort to get others to do so. Hoy? Hoy? Now I don’t know what goes on between those two but from reading Waffles blog it sounds like Waffles would be the first guy to give Hoy a drink if he were in hell. Of Tabasco. Yet after reading nothing but trash talk from the aforementioned blogger he now cites him as an example. Oh the depths some people will sink to in pursuit of their agenda.

Damn, how did I live without all this fun when I took that hiatus? Donning my asbestos earmuffs. Thanks for the listen.

Tonight's Mookie

Gonna try something different tonight. Am going to try live blogging of the game, as far as I'm concerned at least. May go further after I get KOed but not committing to anything. Hell, might not be able to keep it up as far as my participation goes but we'll try.

It's 15 minutes to start and 95 runners at the gate so far. Will we break 100?

We start with 114 runners and I find myself at a table with Josie and Riggs for familiar names

A lot of folding early but Josie has lost about half her stack to NYRambler.

Lose my first hand of playable cards to Riggs. Lousy flop so not a lot of damage

Seems Waffles is at the table and I just recovered some of my chips thru his good graces (hah)

Seems Waffles donated again. I'm going to get ripped if this keeps up.

Tough fold. Raise in position and get reraised by niktak. Flop gives me TPTK but niktak bets out fairly strong. Too early to push, overpair probable.

Riggs scores double KO, including Josie when he turns a set of Ks

Pick up some chips from Mattazuma when my A-Q turns out better than his K-Q on a A-K-J-x-x board

KK, gets no action from a 3xs raise. Oh well.

Waffles has just informed me he has a feeling I'm going out before him. Hey, anything is possible.

Just split a pot with Jamyhawk. PP9s lead all the way until we both river a straight. Called down with A-9. I then get called by Waffles on a J-8-8 flop with A-K. Doesn't anyone believe me when I bet?

Well, it's better than Monday night. I made first break and even have some chips. At least the poker gods ain't playing tricks tonight (except that split pot) On the whole the cards just suck so I'm folding a lot.

NYRambler just dropped the hammer on me with a reraise to my raise. Thing is, I wasn't a whole lot better.

Damn, K-K again, in SB, and all fold. BB folds to raise.

Take some chips off MaggieO. She minraised my BB and I call on general principle and smack the flop. She calls flop and turn bets and folds to value bet on river. Was I called down by another A-x?

Waffles shoves and called by myself and Jamyhawk. I hit the flop and bet and am called. Turn brings a 3rd spade and even tho I have top pair with nut flush redraw I check and Jamy shoves. I fold, he has Q-Q, Waffles A-T. River a 3 and Waffles is gone, so much for his feeling tho it was almost a draw. I lose half my stack.

Jamyhawk just takes out VinNay. He's on a roll. Called VinNay's shove of his raise with A-8 to VinNay's 3-3 and caught a straight.

I'm out. A-K shove with about 11 BBs. MaggieO had raised and Chippy McStacks called and both called my shove. MaggieO, with Q-J catches a J and Chippy with 7-7 and my A-K go begging.

I find CK has taken my seat and as she is live blogging, and does a much better job at it than I, I guess I'll shut down for the night.

Thanks for the listen.

A matter of priorities

Started the Poker from the Rail tourney in a blaze. Caught Quad Js and got a quick KO when Columbo filled up. Even a blind squirrel and all that jazz. Caught another KO when I caught Qs a couple orbits later and Willythe wise shoved his pp10s. Nothing for either of us on the board and I take chip lead for a bit. Didn’t last long as the very next hand I run K-K into Avoque’s A-A and hand over almost half my stack. About one orbit later I hand over half of what’s remaining to Xsyyunx when my flopped top 2 run into their flopped middle set. Never saw that one coming considering I had one of those 8s in my hand. Worked myself back to about 2500 chips with a few small pots here and there but go out a few orbits later when I my A-Q flops TPTK but Julleus is holding a K-K. Had some outs on the river as an A, a Q or a club would have given it to me but alas, no suckout and I’m out before the first break. Oh the ignominy of it, quads, two early KOs and I can’t even make first break. Oh well, I told the table I was there to donk chips and no one can say I’m not a man of my word. The Mookie on Wed. You know, been away from Tilt for a while and forgot how much fun these games can be.

OTOH I got a really good shave today. My mother was doing some Spring cleaning over the weekend and in one of her closets found two single edge razors, one double edge and, wonder of wonders, an injector. Gave to my father to give to me. Glorioski Sandy, didn’t know she was a reader. What’s a poker tourney compared to a close shave? One just has to have their priorities straight.

Thanks for listening