Posted by Johnnymac 4:04 PM
Man, I hate it when I watch a guy get lucky on a bad bluff once and then sniff it out a second time and get a totally unexpected caller behind me. "Narana" made the exact same play with two suited cards earlier against another player and I had him down for exactly the same hand again. DAMN... what a waste of a beautiful read, although I guess you could say that "Diamonds444" made the exact same read with a better hand. Ugh.


**************************************************

PokerStars Game #6120979861: Tournament #31020349, $5.00+$0.50 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2006/08/31 - 16:55:24 (ET)
Table '31020349 5' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: johnnymac96 (1160 in chips)
Seat 3: Phishin2007 (5595 in chips)
Seat 4: diamonds444 (2185 in chips)
Seat 5: Beckstage (3915 in chips)
Seat 6: DwgnVgs (2030 in chips)
Seat 7: crushcrew (1300 in chips)
Seat 9: yarana (13505 in chips)
johnnymac96: posts small blind 100
Phishin2007: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to johnnymac96 [Jd Js]
diamonds444 said, "you've been awlful lucky"
Phishin2007 said, "nh"
diamonds444: calls 200
Beckstage: folds
DwgnVgs: folds
yarana said, "lol"
crushcrew: calls 200
yarana: calls 200
johnnymac96: calls 100
Phishin2007: checks
*** FLOP *** [Kd Ac 3c]
johnnymac96: checks
Phishin2007: checks
diamonds444: checks
crushcrew: checks
yarana: bets 2400
johnnymac96: calls 960 and is all-in
Phishin2007: folds
diamonds444: calls 1985 and is all-in
crushcrew: folds
*** TURN *** [Kd Ac 3c] [2s]
*** RIVER *** [Kd Ac 3c 2s] [2d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
diamonds444: shows [Ad 8d] (two pair, Aces and Deuces)
yarana: shows [6c 7c] (a pair of Deuces)
diamonds444 collected 2050 from side pot
johnnymac96: shows [Jd Js] (two pair, Jacks and Deuces)
diamonds444 collected 3880 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5930 Main pot 3880. Side pot 2050. | Rake 0
Board [Kd Ac 3c 2s 2d]
Seat 1: johnnymac96 (small blind) showed [Jd Js] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Deuces
Seat 3: Phishin2007 (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: diamonds444 showed [Ad 8d] and won (5930) with two pair, Aces and Deuces
Seat 5: Beckstage folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: DwgnVgs folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: crushcrew folded on the Flop
Seat 9: yarana (button) showed [6c 7c] and lost with a pair of Deuces


(2) comments

Posted by Junelli 4:06 PM
To truly understand the humor in this picture, you have to have seen the original picture from the Vanderbilt Thetas.




(1) comments

Posted by Dr Fro 3:11 PM
Richard Lee who finished 6th place in the Main Event in the WSOP is getting busted. Thus far he has not been arrested, but things are looking very bad for him.

Link


(0) comments

Posted by Johnnymac 1:01 PM
Annie Duke was just interviewed on Fox News and gave this gem:

"I think the difference between a good player and a great player is heart. You just have to want it more."

Ummmm, right. Now I know why she's so popular. Not only is she an ugly whiny bitch, she's also a genius.


(0) comments

Posted by Johnnymac 6:29 AM
Funny. (And more than a little bit upsetting)


(1) comments

Posted by Dr Fro 8:14 PM

Four completely unrelated stories:

#1 The Matador

Hickey and I were playing in the cash game at Harrah's. I raised a pot. I got a caller. Hickey re-raised. The other guy said, "nice sandwich." I said, "What was that?" He said, "like I don't know you two are working together."

Huh? Maybe I am naive, but I don't think there are many cheaters plying their trade at the $1-$2 game at Harrah's. I mean if you were skilled (and unethical) enough to cheat, wouldn't it make more sense to rip off a higher limit game? Problem number 2 with his accusation: why would Hickey and I be talking to each other non-stop for 4 hours if we intended to collude? Wouldn't it make more sense to pretend we had never met? And finally, if he was so convinced we were cheating, why did he stay at our table? Why not leave? What a dufus.

#2 Folding Kings pre-flop

During my marathon session at the MGM, one of my cards was exposed. It was a King. It was shown to the table and replaced. I got a replacement card - another King. I peaked at my other hole card - yet another King.

UTG raised the pot to $20, and I was next to act. I panicked. You know, if you play a lot of poker, you have seen most situations in poker many times. For example, you don't have to count the outs of hitting a 6-outer of 2 streets when a guy overbets the pot - you know you should fold without the math. So here I was in a situation that I had never been in before - holding KK, knowing that the burn card would be a King. I didn't know what to do.

I didn't have much time to think, so my thought process went like this: the value in KK is two-fold: 1) as with all pocket pairs, you can flop a set and win a monster pot and 2) you may miss the flop completely, but still have the best hand unimproved. Obviously, the missing King chopped the value of #1 in half, but it had no impact on #2.

I was completely confused: raise, call or fold? I showed my hand to a bystander and folded. I went to the john and found Hickey and told him the story. He said that I probably made the wrong decision. I got back to the table and talked about it with two other players, both of whom said I made the wrong decision. I eventually agreed. Crap.

Well, not all was lost, I made a big bluff into a pot about 45 minutes later. I am almost certain that the reason I got a fold was that the player was one of the guys that I talked to about folding Kings. I think he folded because he pegged me as a ridiculously tight player (laugh!)

#3 Pokerati and Omaha

There is a discussion of a situation in Omaha on pokerati that I weighed in on. It is a situation that I have been meaning to blog about here, but Dan beat me to it. The discussion is excellent. This comment made me pee in my pants:

However, it's also safe to assume in the regular PLO game that I play in that the two-plus other players are holding no more than the nine of spoons and a cut card.

#4 Damn SBCYahoo

Last night in a $11 SNG on Part Poker, I ran 2,000 up to 7,000 in no time flat. We then completely lost our internet connection. Not even the phone worked. I was livid. I called "Mr. Invincible" (aka "Dave") and asked him to logon to Party Poker and finish my tournament for me. He did, and I (he) won 2nd place for $30. Thanks, Dave. Anyway, the point of this post is to make a public service announcement: If you ever lose your connection in a tournament, you can call a friend and give them your password, and they can finish the tournament for you.

(3) comments

Posted by Junelli 2:32 PM
It looks like Texas will get to play Rhett Bomar after all.


(0) comments

Posted by Junelli 11:00 AM
Some notable excerpts to Bill Simmons Q&A on ESPN.com


Q: After the "Entourage" episode when Vince had $300,000 riding on multiple blackjack hands and the chucklehead sitting to his left split his face cards, as it always does for Vince's crew, things worked out and dealer busted, followed by Ari kissing the chucklehead on his bald dome. Shouldn't there have been a Public Service Announcement at the end of the episode instructing amateurs not to split a 20. ... Or at least have had Johnny Drama beat the pulp out of the dude in the final scene while screaming "Never split a 20!"?
--Ben, Charlotte, N.C.

SG: I like the idea of the public service announcement. It could have been like one of those '80s sitcom moments -- Vince and the gang staring seriously into the camera and saying, "Tonight's episode was a dramatization. In real life, you should never split 10s when someone else has $300,000 riding on the table, unless you want to be beaten up, mutilated or murdered outside the casino later that same night. Please respect everyone else at your table. Thank you."

========================

Q: What's the real-life equivalent of trying to break up a no-hitter with a bunt single? I'd say it's purposely spilling a drink on your friend who is about to go home with a girl from the bar instead of you, because it's a weak move to pull but won't ruin what ultimately will be one FINE evening for him.
--Ross Mathews, Tacoma, Wash.

SG: No way -- the spilled drink isn't stopping your buddy, but a bunt single could absolutely stop a no-hitter. The equivalent would be waiting until he went to the bathroom, then telling the girl, "In all seriousness, be careful. You're a sweet girl, you should know he gets around." He'll still take her home, but somewhere during the ride, she'll have to mention, "You know, your friend said the weirdest thing ... " and divulge what happened, followed by the buddy being rattled (this is the part where he's fielding the bunt) and talking her off the ledge (barehanding the ball) while resisting the urge to turn around and confront his buddy (the throw to first). You can pull off all three successfully, but it's a little work and three points where the wheels can come off.

=============================

Q: Dear Abby, I mean Bill. ... A group of guys heading to Vegas for a Bachelor party. Last minute one of the friends asks if he can bring a friend along. No one really knows this new guy. What is proper bachelor party rules? Can we get an official ruling?
--CFA, Memphis, Tenn.

SG: Well, there are two schools of thought here. Some use the "more the merrier" logic, which I've never understood because bigger numbers make it tougher for everyone to meet at the same time, tougher to get around, tougher to get dinner reservations and tougher to get into, um, clubs.

Also, you're increasing the chances that one of the following people will be involved: The guy who doesn't play blackjack but stands behind everyone else touching their chairs and giving a running commentary; the guy who shows up with $125 for the entire weekend; the guy who got married too soon and turns into a "Very Bad Things" character as the weekend goes along; the guy who gets everyone kicked out of the strip joint; the guy who orders the surf and turf or the Kobe beef for dinner, then expects everyone to chip in equally; the guy who doesn't want to gamble and just wants to go clubbing; the guy who's dressed too casually and ends up keeping everyone from getting in somewhere; the guy who throws up in the limo; the two alpha dogs who end up nearly coming to blows because they're both hammered at 4 a.m.; the guy who refuses to pay for lap dances but sits right next to everyone else who's getting them; and so on.

Personally, I like smaller groups of friends who know each other. Vegas is like an NBA rotation -- sure, you can play all 12 guys in one quarter like Doc Rivers does, but the teams that win championships always have an eight or nine-man rotation. Why do anything differently?

=============================

Q: I am in a fantasy football league with nine guys. I won last year. That's right ... in a league with nine guys and one girl, the girl won. How ashamed should they be? Can they legitimately call themselves "guys" anymore? Do they need to wear an equivalent to the Christie jersey for our upcoming draft? Just curious.
--Erin B., Malden, Mass.

SG: Wait, I think they lost the ability to call themselves guys the moment they allowed a female in their football fantasy league. I can't even fathom how this happened. Do they invite you to bachelor parties, too? And how did this happen in the Malden area, of all places? You made that e-mail up.

=============================

Q: What do you think your daughter's nickname is going to be on the 2023 edition of "Flavor of Love?"
--Matt D., New York

SG: Orphan.

=============================

Q: My pick for the Greatest Strip Club Song of All-Time is Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me". I will not debate this. I will hear arguments, but strike them down like David Stern strikes down a player's union.
--Tom, Minneapolis

SG: Well, that song has a few things going for it. First, it's been around for 20-plus years -- we're at the point where it's like sitting through a football game without hearing "We Will Rock You." Walk into a strip joint and you know it's coming, it's only a matter of time. It's like the stripper's pole and the bouncer at this point. Second, for strip joint purposes, you're probably not coming up with a more appropriate title or lyrics (beauties like "you got the peaches, I got the cream"), and the chorus always enables the stripper to make believe she's pouring sugar on herself. That's always fun. Third, you can always get a laugh from your buddies by tucking one of your arms inside your shirt and doing some one-handed drumming. Always brings the house down. (Don't worry, I'm already going to hell -- it's all explained in my book in the chapter about Stoner's wedding.) And fourth, it's JUST cheesy enough that you would never hear "Pour Some Sugar On Me" song in any group setting other than a strip joint. You just wouldn't.

So I'm not going to argue with you. But here's the most UNDERRATED strip joint song: "Panama," by Van Halen. Never gets its fair due. It's just as cheesy as "Sugar," the lyrics are just as suggestive, it's been around just as long, and you even have that part near the middle when it slows down and David Lee Roth does the "ease the seat back" monologue. Brings a ton to the table. The only downside is that a bluegrass version of this song now exists.

=====================

Q: During the big fight with Seth Green and his posse on "Entourage," weren't you hoping that Jermaine O'Neal would make a cameo to punch Turtle? Right, me neither, I didn't think about that at all.
-- Dan L, Cleveland, Ohio

SG: Good one. I also would have liked to have seen Danny DeVito and Peter Dinklage jumping in on the Eric/Seth Green fight.

=====================

Q: After watching the train wreck of a performance from K-Fed at the Teen Choice Awards, I started to think ... is Britney Spears the Mike Tyson of the pop world? Think about it, she got on top of her game at a really young age, blew by the competition and seemed to have peaked at around 21. Then, she breaks up with Timberlake (which could be Cus D'Amato dying). Then finds K-Fed (who is a mix of Don King, the rape charge, and Buster Douglas all in one). So what's next for my former dream girl?
--Dan Soder, Tucson, Ariz.

SG: I just enjoyed that you described K-Fed as "a mix of Don King, the rape charge, and Buster Douglas all in one." Sums him up perfectly. But in the spirit of your analogy, I think WrestleMania is next for her. It's the logical next step. After she pumps out the next kid, K-Fed leaves her for her sister, her next album bombs and she files for bankruptcy for the first time, I could totally see her becoming Triple H's manager for a few weeks and hitting John Cena over the head with her purse at WrestleMania XXVI. Just feels right.


(1) comments

Posted by Dr Fro 3:39 PM
Is anybody else watching the 6th inning of the Astros game? Man, the Pirates suck.


(0) comments

Posted by Dr Fro 3:21 PM
This has to be some sort of record....4 big pocket pairs and no flops!

***** Hand History for Game 5041773078 *****
$50 NL Texas Hold'em - Sunday, August 27, 16:10:43 ET 2006
Table Table 98429 (Real Money)

Seat 7 is the button
Total number of players : 10

Seat 5: Ymsen ( $47.60 )
Seat 6: Martin1305 ( $72.80 )
Seat 2: phreaux ( $43.71 )
Seat 3: Win4Lar ( $37.50 )
Seat 7: Cougar1234 ( $51.95 )
Seat 10: casino1380 ( $48.70 )
Seat 4: Shutruk ( $43.85 )
Seat 1: dewley13 ( $48 )
Seat 9: chauaun ( $50 )
Seat 8: cosphi1 ( $35.70 )

cosphi1 posts small blind [ $0.25 ].
chauaun posts big blind [ $0.50 ].

Holecards:
Dealt to phreaux [ ]

CALL casino1380, $0.50
FOLD dewley13
RAISE phreaux , $2.10
FOLD Win4Lar
FOLD Shutruk
FOLD Ymsen
FOLD Martin1305
FOLD Cougar1234
FOLD cosphi1
FOLD chauaun
FOLD casino1380
phreaux does not show cards.
phreaux wins $3.35

(0) comments

Posted by Dr Fro 3:10 PM
This is getting comical!!!!

***** Hand History for Game 5041679857 *****
$50 NL Texas Hold'em - Sunday, August 27, 15:57:49 ET 2006
Table Table 98429 (Real Money)

Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 10

Seat 1: WIJG_AR ( $63.15 )
Seat 5: Ymsen ( $49.25 )
Seat 6: Martin1305 ( $81.30 )
Seat 2: phreaux ( $17.68 )
Seat 3: Win4Lar ( $44.35 )
Seat 7: Cougar1234 ( $41.30 )
Seat 8: ImYevKasem ( $56.67 )
Seat 10: casino1380 ( $49.25 )
Seat 9: amundb ( $28.65 )
Seat 4: Shutruk ( $48 )

Cougar1234 posts small blind [ $0.25 ].
ImYevKasem posts big blind [ $0.50 ].

Holecards:
Dealt to phreaux [ ]

FOLD amundb
FOLD casino1380
FOLD WIJG_AR
RAISE phreaux , $2
FOLD Win4Lar
FOLD Shutruk
FOLD Ymsen
FOLD Martin1305
FOLD Cougar1234
FOLD ImYevKasem
phreaux does not show cards.
phreaux wins $2.75

(0) comments

Posted by Dr Fro 2:49 PM
I am starting to notice a pattern here!!!!!

***** Hand History for Game 5041563350 *****
$50 NL Texas Hold'em - Sunday, August 27, 15:41:46 ET 2006
Table Table 98429 (Real Money)

Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 10

Seat 1: WIJG_AR ( $64.65 )
Seat 4: Wrong_pocket ( $94.67 )
Seat 5: Ymsen ( $57.15 )
Seat 6: Martin1305 ( $80.30 )
Seat 8: ZingyDNA001 ( $74.30 )
Seat 9: rambotheman ( $122.80 )
Seat 10: jxtsr84 ( $60.85 )
Seat 2: phreaux ( $22 )
Seat 3: Win4Lar ( $48 )
Seat 7: Cougar1234 ( $50.70 )

Win4Lar posts small blind [ $0.25 ].
Wrong_pocket is sitting out.
Ymsen posts big blind [ $0.50 ].


Holecards:

Dealt to phreaux [ ]



FOLD Martin1305
FOLD Cougar1234
FOLD ZingyDNA001
FOLD rambotheman
FOLD jxtsr84
FOLD WIJG_AR
RAISE phreaux , $1.60
FOLD Win4Lar
FOLD Ymsen
phreaux does not show cards.

(0) comments

Posted by Dr Fro 2:29 PM

***** Hand History for Game 5041315395 *****

$50 NL Texas Hold'em - Sunday, August 27, 15:05:57 ET 2006
Table Table 98429 (Real Money)
Seat 10 is the button
Total number of players : 10

Seat 1: WIJG_AR ( $60.10 )
Seat 3: roland1952 ( $45.95 )
Seat 4: Wrong_pocket ( $112.27 )
Seat 5: Ymsen ( $75.80 )
Seat 6: Martin1305 ( $77.50 )
Seat 7: kzgilson1 ( $33.90 )
Seat 8: ZingyDNA001 ( $64.50 )
Seat 9: rambotheman ( $54.90 )
Seat 10: jxtsr84 ( $38.25 )
Seat 2: phreaux ( $38.60 )

WIJG_AR posts small blind [ $0.25 ].
phreaux posts big blind [ $0.50 ].


Holecards:

Dealt to phreaux [ ]

FOLD roland1952
FOLD Wrong_pocket
FOLD Ymsen
FOLD Martin1305
FOLD kzgilson1
FOLD ZingyDNA001
FOLD rambotheman
FOLD jxtsr84
FOLD WIJG_AR
phreaux does not show cards

(0) comments

Posted by Dr Fro 6:21 PM
Who said poker isn't a contact sport?


(0) comments

Posted by Dr Fro 9:25 AM
Will the real Vince Papale please stand up?

So, Jane calls me at work on Friday and says, "We need to go see Invincible to get pumped up for football season." I love my wife.

She tells me that it is the real-life story of a 30-year nobody that walks onto an NFL team, makes the team, does very well on special teams and ultimately stays on the roster for a few years.

I was sooooo pumped to see a movie about Eugene Seale, so I was more than a bit surprised to find out the movie was actually about some phag from Philly. While it was no tear-jerker (ala Rudy), it served its purpose: I am pumped about football season!


What I really loved about the movie was way the football scenes were filmed. Most of the footage was from Eugene's Vince's vantage point: the narrow vision out of a football helmet, the speed of the action and the utter chaos brought back some memories. The scene in the locker room immediately before the first game is tense and, IMO, quite realistic.

But NFL ain't my bag. I am pumped about college football. I have been thinking a lot about this upcoming season and have the following bold and not-so-bold predictions:

1. 1. The University of Texas will win the Big XII. We may drop a conference game (see #2), but I can't imagine us not winning the conference unless Rhett Bomar pulls a Ron Weaver and sneaks back onto the team or A&M hires a real defensive coordinator or Nebaska beats us in the Championship game by throwing the ball on 4th and 2. Since none of those are likely, I fancy our chances.
2. UT will go into Lincoln, Nebraksa expecting an easy victory only to find themselves in a tough game that goes down to the wire. Advantage: Big Red at home over the rookie-QB-led Longhorns. We will get our revenge (see #1)
3. A&M could be 8-1 after 9 games. Could. They will probably be 7-2. Their last 3 games against OU, Nebraska and Texas will be their Waterloo, Little Bighorn and Hiroshima. They will lose all three games by a combined margin of victory of 120 points. Coach Arnell will be on the hot seat.
4. There will not be 2 undefeated teams at year-end to compete in the national championship game. The season will end in a very unsatisfying manner ala 2003 with multiple 1-loss teams feeling slighted.
5. Jamaal Charles will not win the Heisman Trophy, but barring injury, he will go to New York in a fancy suit. Although Vince Young received all the media attention last year, the savvy football fan knows that our O-line was a huge reason we won last year. We had the best or the second best O-line in the country. We have had for several years and we will continue to have this year a fantastic O-line. I could be the starting tailback for UT and run for 1,000 yards. Jamaal Charles is more talented than I am (and more talented than Misters Young and Melton), so I expect him to run for a guhzillion yards.
6. Notre Dame will not live up to expectations. That might be an understatement. They will be a disappointment. This prediction is based on one truth: When Notre Dame enters a season with no expectations, they do well, but when they enter a season with big expectations, they get knocked down. They'll get knocked down (but they'll get up again, you're never gonna keep them down...)

Man I can't wait for football season.

I love College GameDay. I really love the signs at College GameDay. I have seen GameDay live 6 times. I love making signs. My best sign was at a GameDay in Austin that said "Trev Alberts: built by the Homo Depot" An ESPN exec pointed me out to a cop, who came up to me, took my sign and tore it up. No shit. I should have kicked his butt, but I didn't. At least I later spotted a guy on Hornfans with a signature that said, "Trev Alberts: built by the Homo Depot - spotted on a sign at GameDay" That made it worthwhile.

So I have been thinking up ideas for signs for the game against The Ohio State University (even though during the game I will be at home praying that my first-born child stays in the womb for at least 4 more hours.) This is what I have come up with:

Sweater vests are for fags.

UT: Undefeated at the Shoe at night

Burn this!

Clarett, have the lambs stopped screaming?

How Sweed it is!

OSU Sucks.

Go away or I shall taunt you for a 2nd time!

And the favorite is:

Are you ready for some football? I am.

(2) comments

Posted by Johnnymac 9:22 AM
A joke for Friday morning:

A Chinese couple get married and neither are particularly experienced when the wedding night arrives.

"Darling," says the husband, "I know that neither one of us are experienced at what we're about to do, but just ask and I will try and do whatever it is you want. I want to make you happy as my wife."

"There is something," says the wife, "but I- I- I'm too embarassed to even say it, it is so dirty."

"Go on darling. We're married now."

"Well, ok. I have heard of something called #69. I would like to try that."

So the husband thinks for a while with a puzzled look on his face and finally responds:

"Shrimp with Lobster Sauce?"

(0) comments

Posted by Dr Fro 7:33 PM

USC Ready for Shot at Historic Four-Peat

With less than two weeks until USC opens its 2006 season against Arkansas, head coach Pete Carroll has his players ready to take full advantage of the unique opportunity in front of them: becoming the first team in college football history to win four consecutive national titles.

“All of the players and coaches are on the same page. We want this bad,” said Carroll. “Sure, some people doubt we can do it. They say we weren’t actually the official national champions in 2003. And that we didn’t even win a title last year. But that’s the kind of negative talk you have to push aside when you’re going for history. We have to stay positive and unified.”

Carroll said he is using the same motivational techniques he did last year when USC went after a highly-publicized three-peat that included a trip to the BCS title game against Texas.

“We had a lot of players on that team who had already tasted so much success – Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, LenDale White – and we needed to create a little extra incentive for them,” said Carroll. “So I thought: ‘Hey, why not pretend we’ve won back-to-back championships and that we’re going for a third?’ Luckily, ESPN and the rest of the media went right along with it, and before we knew it our quest for a three-peat was the biggest story of the college football season. It was awesome. I even started to believe we were going for three in a row after a while.”

But while deep inside Carroll knows he only has a single national championship in his tenure at USC, his players and coaches honestly believe the Trojans could win four in a row this year.

“Yeah, it’s pretty funny. They have no idea that LSU won the BCS title in 2003, not us. And they’re in complete denial that we lost to Texas last year,” said Carroll. “After we got exposed in that game Matt Leinart said he still thought we were the better team. The adorable part is, these guys think that believing you’re the best is same as winning a national championship. And who am I to crush their hopes? Plus, pretending we’ve won back-to-back-to-back championships is great for recruiting. Kids will believe anything you tell them.”

Carroll says the most important part in winning a record fourth consecutive title won’t be determined so much by the performance of his team on the field as it will be by getting the media onboard with the USC hype machine again.
“As long as enough people believe something is true, it becomes true,” said Carroll. “That’s what happened last year. We need it to happen again.”

And luckily for Carroll, he’s already getting some to come over to his side.

“Take away one last minute drive and USC is holding the trophy last year,” said college football analyst Lee Corso. “So let’s not split hairs here. They more or less won that game. I mean, you say tomato, I say tomato. You say USC only has one national title, I say they’re about to get four in a row. Let’s not go and ruin what could be a great story with facts.”

(5) comments

Posted by Johnnymac 1:10 PM
I was psyched on Sunday when the Astros managed to win 2 of 3 in Milwaukee and then had a chance to get into Cincinnati and make a run at the Reds. Now after the last two nights (and so far, as of this writing, today's game), I have given up and find this really really funny:

Astros offer Roger Clemens an additional $20 million to kill Brad Lidge

Houston Astros owner Drayton McClane offered star pitcher Roger Clemens an extra $20 million on top of his current contract today if he offs Astros closer Brad Lidge.
The murder-for-hire deal includes numerous perks, just like with Clemens’ Astros player contract. Additional incentives kick in if Lidge’s death appears to be a suicide, thereby allowing the team to void the guaranteed money remaining on his deal. And still more incentives come into play if Clemens’s also kills the struggling trio of Morgan Ensberg, Jason Lane and Andy Pettitte.

“Roger loves this organization and will do anything to help us win,” said McClane. “And there’s nothing that can help us win more right now than the death of Brad Lidge. Roger also loves money. So I see this generous offer as a win-win for everyone. Except, of course, Brad Lidge. But he deserves what’s coming to him.”

Via, in a roundabout way, Hornfans.


(0) comments

Posted by Johnnymac 6:05 PM
As my brother would say, "Good from far, but far from good"




(0) comments

Posted by Johnnymac 6:46 PM


Check out the player's name in the cutoff seat. WTH???


(0) comments

Posted by Johnnymac 6:36 PM


And all I win is a $800 pot of which $200 was what I put in. Geez.


(0) comments

Posted by Junelli 3:26 PM
You know how I know you're gay?



(0) comments

Posted by Junelli 3:01 PM
Now here's a national title worth gloating over...




(0) comments

Posted by Dr Fro 5:05 PM
I was really hoping to win more than $1.90 with the stone cold nuts.



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Posted by Dr Fro 8:47 PM
Junell is right, and I have the spreadsheet to prove it. Running it more than once has no effect on your EV "with replacement" or "without replacement".


(3) comments

Posted by Dr Fro 10:48 AM

I love High Stakes Poker. I watch every episode. I wanted to puke on behalf of Kid Poker when his boat (66655) lost to Gus Hansen's quads (5555x). Gus hit a one-outer on the turn. Brutal!

One thing I like about the program is that it shows a lot of the shenanigans that go on ancillary to the actual poker (e.g. the prop bets on the composition of the flop). It also routinely shows players deciding to "run it twice", a practice that was common in the $2-$5 PLHE game I played in Houston but is not common anywhere I currently play.

I have often wondered (but never actually calculated) if this is inherently beneficial to either player. Intuitively, I figured that if it were done "with replacement", the effect on either player's EV would be nil. However, the cards dealt on the first run are not replaced in the deck. I had always assumed that the "without replacement" must affect the math, but I had never sat down to actually prove this. Now I have.

Guess what I learned. Do you think that "running it twice" systematically favors the EV of the favourite, the underdog or neither?

(2) comments

Posted by Junelli 3:40 PM
This is a very interesting article written by ZeeJustin.

His rationale seems to closely follow Harrington's End Game analysis from Volume II.

============================

Dissecting a Hand #2 [02.19.2006]
The following is more of a situation than a hand, but I think it is paramount to a proper understanding of sit’n’go play. To become a winning sit’n’go player, it is crucial to understand the following concepts.

For this article, I will be using two pieces of software. The first is Poker Stove which I discussed in my last article. The second is called the ICM or Independent Chip Model. If you plug in the appropriate stack sizes, it will give you the equity of each stack size. It does not factor in position (or skill for that matter), but that is beyond the scope of this article. You can find the ICM at http://www.bol.ucla.edu/~sharnett/ICM/ICM.html.

Imagine you are playing a $200 sit’n’go on PartyPoker. Blinds are 200/400 and there are four players left. Here’s the kicker, not only does everyone have exactly 2500 chips, but everyone plays optimally. You are in the small blind and it folds to you. Which hands will you go all-in with?

(Note: Party has recently changed its sit’n’go structure. Under the new structure, the math will still be completely the same if you change the stack sizes to 5000 chips and the blinds to 400/800)

Before answering this, remember that everyone plays optimally. This means that the big blind will know exactly what range of hands you are going all-in with. Despite this, the correct answer is that you should be going all-in with every hand. This will probably seem ridiculous. If the big blind knows you are moving all-in with any two cards, he will be calling with a wide range of hands, right? Wrong.

This is not a cash game we are talking about. It is a Sit’n’go. There is $2,000 in play, but it does not all go to the winner. $1,000 goes to first, $600 to second, and $400 to third. That means that if the big blind calls and loses this hand, he gets nothing.

What type of thinking should the big blind be using? There are two common answers to this question. Some people think that the big blind should play for first and ignore the bubble. Other players think that making the money is so important that it should be his primary concern. Think about these two lines of thinking for a minute and decide what line of thinking you think is correct.

In reality, both lines of thinking happen to be incorrect. A sit’n’go player should be thinking about maximizing his equity, and that requires balancing both of the above concepts.

Let’s go back to our hand. You have just moved all-in in the small blind without looking at your cards. The big blind has two options. He can fold, in which case he will be left with 2100 chips, resulting in an equity of $446 according to ICM. It is then correct for him to call if and only if the call will result in equity of $446 or more.

Since the big blind has perfect information (in other words he knows you play perfectly and will move in with any two cards), we can calculate his equity exactly. Let’s do some math. When the big blind calls, there are two possible results. He can win or lose (technically the pot will occasionally be split, but that will complicate the calculations significantly while having virtually no effect on the conclusion, so we will ignore that possibility). He will lose X% of the time, and win Y% of the time. When he loses, he will be eliminated and will receive no prize money. His equity therefore is 0. When he wins, he will have 5000 chips. According to ICM, this will give him an equity of $766.60.

His equity when he calls is therefore 0X + 766.6Y. His equity when he folds is $446, so calling is only correct if 766.6Y > $446. This simplifies to Y > .582. In other words, the big blind will only call our all-in if he has a hand that will win against a random hand at least 58.2% of the time.

According to Poker Stove, the following hands will win at least 58.2% of the time against a random hand: AA – 55, AKs – A4s, AKo – A7o, KQs – K8s, KQo – KTo, and QJs – QTs. There are no other hands that will win more than 58.2% of the time against a random hand. Note that these hands account for 18.4% of all hands.

Now that we know how the big blind will react to our strategy, we can calculate our equity. Before the hand started, our equity was $500. If you were to fold your small blind, your equity according to ICM would be $473.6. However, instead of folding, you are going all-in with 100% of your hands. 81.6% of the time your opponent will fold and you will have a resulting stack of 2900 chips which according to ICM has equity of $549.6.

18.4% of the time, your opponent will call. Against the range of hands that he calls with, your random hand will win 35.375% of the time according to Poker Stove. This means that 64.625% of the time when you are called you will lose all your chips and have an equity of $0. The other 35.375% of the time you will win, resulting in a 5000 chip stack which has an equity of $766.6.

Your final equity therefore is:
(81.6% x $549.6) + (18.4% x 64.625% x 0) + (18.4% x 35.375% x 766.6) = $448.47 + 0 + $49.90 = $498.37. Note that this is $24.77 greater than your equity would be if you just folded all your hands. $24.77 may not seem like much in relation to a $2,000 prize pool, but remember, this is a difference made in just one hand. If you gave up $24.77 in equity on every single hand you ever played, you would go broke fast.

So far all I have proven is that pushing any two cards in this spot is better than folding every hand. Clearly no one is going to be folding pocket aces in this spot, so that really doesn’t prove much. In order to prove that this is profitable with any two cards, I need to show that it is profitable with 72o.

If you are going all-in with 72o, you will never be folding any better hands, so just like before, your opponent will know you are pushing any two cards in this spot; therefore, his calling range will remain the same. Against your opponents calling range, 72o will win 27.055% of the time (note that it performs slightly worse than 32o against that range). We can adjust our formula from earlier resulting in the following:

(81.6% x $549.6) + (18.4% x 72.945% x 0) + (18.4% x 27.055% x 766.6) = $448.47 + 0 + $38.16 = $486.63. That means with 72o, your equity from moving all in is $13.03 greater than your equity from folding. Again, I want to stress how significant this $13 is. An expert $200 sit’n’go player will often hope to make around $30 per sit’n’go entered. This means that almost half of his profits for an entire sit’n’go will be relinquished if he makes the mistake of folding 72o in this one hand.

This article so far has been heavy in math. I feel that after a discussion like this, it’s important to step away from the math and make a general conclusion. There are several interesting concepts at play here.

The first is the gap concept. David Sklansky first wrote about the gap concept in Tournament Poker for Advanced Players (a book that I highly recommend). On page 27 he writes, “There is a very important general principle understood by all good poker players. That is, you need a better hand to play against someone who has already opened the betting than you would need to open yourself. For instance… in limit hold’em you would most certainly raise in middle position with [KQo] especially if no one else was in but you would rarely play against an early position raiser with that same hand.” This is mostly because the early position raiser will have a hand much better than KQo on average.

In the scenario we are discussing, the gap increases greatly due to the bubble. The big blind is aware that if he calls and loses he will go home empty handed. Despite the fact that you will be raising more hands than normal from the small blind, the big blind will be calling with fewer hands than normal, making your equity go through the roof.

This is why it is important to be aggressive later on in sit’n’gos. Once you show an aggressive action, your opponent is aware he is putting his tournament life at stake and will have to tighten up as a result. If instead you were to just call, your opponent could move all-in putting you in the tough spot where you would often need to fold the best hand.

The bubble scenario is very similar to a game of chicken. Clearly it’s wrong for both players to decide they will never swerve, but if one player tells the other, “I don’t care what you do. I’m not going to swerve.” the second player has no choice but to back out. Once you go all-in, there’s no way you can back down, so that is the poker way of letting your opponent know you won’t swerve.

It is important to remember that in the hand we are discussing, you are against opponents who play optimally. In reality, you will never encounter opponents that play optimally. Most opponents will have no idea you are making this play with any two cards, and they will call less often as a result. At the same time, they will often misjudge the importance of the bubble. Some players will play for first and will call too often, while others will play to make the money and fold too often. For this reason, it is important to know your opponent’s style of play. Against tight opponents, you can move all-in on their blind quite often, but if your opponent is willing to call with any hand that he thinks might be best, you will have to tighten up considerably.

There is also another added benefit to moving all-in on this hand. If your opponent folds (which he will do often), you will now have the chip lead. This means that everyone else at the table will have to worry about the possibility of going broke on every future hand, while that will never be possible for you in a single hand. You will still have almost as much to gain as your opponents on every hand, but you will no longer have as much to lose. Furthermore, this advantage increases with each additional hand you win. If you can steal the blinds on the next two hands as well, you will all the sudden have a monstrous stack of 4100 chips, with the next biggest stack being only 2100.

Another concept that you should understand is that unlike in cash games, chips do not have a constant value in sit’n’gos. At the start of the tournament, you have 1,000 chips worth a total of $200. That means that each chip is worth twenty cents. At the end of the tournament, one player will have all 10,000 chips and he will be rewarded $1,000. By the time that happens, each of his chips will have dropped in value to just ten cents per chip. Over the course of a sit’n’go, a chips value will gradually drop in value until it reaches half its initial value.

Obviously calculating a play’s exact equity as we have done is too complicated to do in the middle of a hand. However, it is important to have a good feel for all the concepts that have been discussed in this article. Each decision you make in poker can be considered a judgment call, and if you have a better feel for these concepts, your judgment will be a lot better.

If you only take away one thing from this article, it should be the importance of moving all-in in sit’n’gos when the blinds are high, especially when you are on the bubble. The most likely result will be increasing your stack by the blinds, which is a significant gain when they are large. Sure, you will occasionally be called by a good hand and lose your whole stack, but if your opponents are at risk of elimination, then they won’t be able to call as often as they would like. Edges like this may seem tiny or too risky, but it is important that you take advantage of every edge possible if you want to become a great poker player.


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Posted by Dr Fro 12:19 AM

But alas, at times you win, too:

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Posted by Dr Fro 3:42 PM

...and then you lose some more:

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Posted by Dr Fro 3:00 PM

...and you lose some:

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Posted by Dr Fro 11:34 PM
I played at Winstar for 5 hours and never sniffed a good hand. I sit down at home and get this after 4 minutes. Talk amongst yourselves...




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Posted by Dr Fro 1:28 PM
***********************************************************************************
It takes a while to truly appreciate this, but TuffFish is something of an internet celebrity along with Dancing Baby and the Jedi kid in the garage. Be patient with these links, and trust me, you will squirt your drink out of your nose eventually.


(1) comments

Posted by Dr Fro 9:14 PM

The One About The Vegas Trip

Overview:

Poker tournaments: lost

Table games: broke even

Sports: up small

Poker cash games: won a lot

Instant Karma's gonna get you. Gonna knock you off your feet...

Traveling to Vegas is for me (and probably most readers of this blog) something of a religious pilgrimage. It was good karma to have a layover in Albuquerque, NM. The last time I was in that airport, I was coming home from a victorious Rose Bowl trip. I knew I had luck on my side when I managed to sneak onto an earlier connection. That stroke of luck bought me 1 more hour of gambling time.

I got a bit sentimental walking through McCarran Airport. I came out of the gate and immediately walked past the spot on the floor where I once took a two-hour nap. I also walked past a corner of the airport where I once had a nervous breakdown, which included profuse sweating, shaking and airport security. Good times, good memories.

ARH and CCM got to Vegas 5 minutes after I did. We dropped our bags off at the Bar(arrrrghh!)bary Coast and headed to the Rio. The LVFD was not letting anybody else into the Amazon Room (where all WSOP action is). The place was not all that crowded and somebody said that the issue was not that a maximum occupancy had been exceeded but rather that there was no accurate count of people. So some genius decided to keep all people from coming in for the rest of the night. This was so utterly f-ed up. There were hoards of people with $1,500 in their hand ready to register for Event #41 that could not do so. That is bad business. Somehow (stroke of luck) we managed to get one of the tournament coordinators to feel sorry for us. She pulled some strings to get us in. We walked right past 100 desperate lookers-on. Man, I'm lucky.

CCM and I bought into a single table satellite for $175. The winner would receive $120 in cash plus an entry to the $1,500 event the next day. On the first hand, I got bluffed out of a pot. On the 9th hand, I pushed all-in with 44 versus A-rag. I was surprised he called. I lost the race when an Ace was flopped. Out in under 10 minutes. It didn't sting that much, as I knew that even if I won the thing, it was highly unlikely that I would win any money in the actual WSOP event. I took the time to wander around and check out the action. I saw Men the Master and Phil Hellmuth wandering around. I wiggled through a big crowd to find out they were all watching Daniel Negreanu play. Poker isn't much of a live spectator sport, but it was fun watching him. I couldn't see the cards, but he was clearly raising every pot and winning most of them. I then saw a dude I have played against in Dallas (I cracked his aces, so he doesn't like me) playing in the far corner. His stack was so unbelievably large, he had to have been one of the top 5 chip leaders. I worked my way back to CCM to see him bust out. We then made our way to Aladdin where ARH was playing poker.

Sister Luck is screaming out somebody else's name...

It's a funny thing in poker how your fellow participants can drive how big a game is more than how the blinds will. ARH and I were nominally playing the same stakes ($1-$2 NL). My table was full of guys that were ramming and jamming all day and had built huge chip stacks (one guy had $2,500). Five of the players were Euros that won their way to the Main Event online. They booked their flights for the entire 2 weeks of the Main Event, and since they had all busted out of The Big One, they had been playing cash games for the remainder of their trip. I lost big, quickly, and often. This was a fast game. At one point the flop was seen for a mere $2, and a man correctly commented, "this the first time the pot wasn't raised pre-flop in 45 minutes." Most pots were raised $20 (yes, 10x the BB). I bought in 5 times in short order at $2oo a pop. Interestingly enough, that fourth bust-out was to be my last bust out of any cash game for the trip. My stack was down to $150 at the lowest. My best hand of the night was when I had $330 left, was in the pot for $180 thus far and my opponent bet $150 more on the river to put me all-in. I think for a while and realize that he has been betting on the come all night and that there is a busted flush draw out there. I decide to call with a very small pair. The table was shocked when I turned over my cards, but their shock turned to laughter when the bully mucked his hand. Overall, the trip to Aladdin was not very good (lost >$500). We went home around 4:30 and crashed.

We woke up early signed up for the 11am Harrah's single rebuy tournament. I like that poker room, and I like the tournament structure. I would recommend it to you if you are headed to Vegas. I think they play it every day.

I busted out ($50) early, rebought and lost the rebuy ($40) shortly thereafter. I got 70th place out of 70 people. Here is the really unfortunate part of that: my table was so terrible, I could should have taken all of their money. Eight of the ten players admitted they had never played in a poker tournament before in their life. From the amount of string betting and utter confusion, I was not surprised. I lost my buy-in and re-buy to a guy that called me with nothing at all. He caught a six-outer and a four-outer the two times he busted me.

I made my way to the cash game where I started out losing. Part bad cards, part bad play, part "just poker". I never busted out, but I added $100 to my stack regularly. Finally, after getting killed in poker for the trip thus far, I went all-in with a draw to the flush and two overcards (15 outs twice, although I could have been up against a set and had fewer outs). I was hoping for a fold, but got a call and won a very big pot. With the confidence gained, I started to play tricky and ran my stack up to $797 on a $600 buy-in to net $197. By the way, all of my "nets" are net of tips to dealers and payments to cocktail waitresses, neither of which were modest (the tips that is, not the cocktail waitresses).

ARH and I decided to go to the BC for a nap. About 20 yards from the elevator to our rooms we ran into CCM playing craps. We joined. Rather than taking a nap, I pounded beers like they were going out of style while CCM gave me craps lessons ("bet on The Yo" was his sage advice). I must have gone down $150 before going up to a profit of $300 before I came back to even and cashed out. Well, even isn't accurate. I had the same amount of money that I started with, but I got my buzz on, and for that I felt like a winner.

With the nap plan aborted, we watched some SportsCenter, put on our pretty striped shirts and headed to the Pink Taco. Since we are so clever, we coined many puns that surely no group of drunk dudes has previously coined. What a brilliant business plan: build a restaurant named after a vagina in a town full of drunk and rowdy guys. It worked on us. Dinner was good, as was the scenery. We played a little BJ and admired the talent. I lost $350 before I went up $200 before I broke even and left the table. That was when ARH pleaded with me, "seriously, you have to stop pointing out every hot girl dressed like a slut; you can't even finish your sentence before another walks by." True that.

ARH and I decided to go to bed early (I think we were asleep before 11) so as to wake up early and go fishing at the poker tables when the drunks were at their prime. So we did.

We got to the MGM very early and signed up for the $1-2 and $2-5 NL games. The $2-5 had a few empty seats, so I sat down "for a couple minutes until the $1-$2 game opened up." (foreshadowing alert!)Our plan didn't turn out very well for a couple reasons. The first was locale. The total idiot drunk fratty Moneymaker donkey fish are schooling at places like the Aladdin. The MGM had its share of good and bad players, but the bad players were not the type we were looking for (these guys erred on the side of too aggressive, not too loose: a trickier fish to catch). The second error was table selection. The twenty something idiot I wanted on my right can't afford $2-5.My table was short handed. Based on the stacks at the table, it was clear that my opponents had busted out everybody else that had sat down there. For the first hour, every pot was raised. By mid morning, there was $8,500 on the table. I was getting beat up and I kept topping up my stack. I was being bullied, and I neither had the cards nor the cojones to stand up for myself. My basic problem was that I couldn't afford a big loss, as my entire poker bankroll was in jeopardy now. My opponents smelled fear and took shots right and left.

I finally won a big flush and then made a boat to run my stack up to $850. At this time there was a commotion at the $5-$10 NL game. A $9,000 pot was being pushed to the winner, and the winner, in his thick African accent was not being gracious (e.g. "I knew you had kings, do not tell me what I don't know, I will break you every time, I cannot lose, I get all of your money.") Personally, if I had just handed a guy $4,500, I would prefer a to receive thank you note over a ribbing. Unfortunately for the loser, the winner was not a member of the Junior League.

I learned that the winner had AA and the loser had KK. They were in for a lot pre-flop and the flop came all diamonds. The KK moved all in (he had the Kd) and the AA called (he had no diamonds). Aces held up. (foreshadowing alert)

Pretty shortly thereafter, I get KK on the button. The pot is raised, and I make it $50 to go. The SB makes it $200, and it folds around to me. Mr. Gainseville has been playing pretty tightly, so I know I could well be up against Aces. I decide to call for two reasons: 1) I had him covered, so the potential damage to me was limited and 2) if he thought my raise was a position raise, he could have made that move with something like Queens. Flop came all small diamonds. Having the King of diamonds, I figure I have to go all in. I could make Aces fold (maybe). I could get a call from Queens. I could also get a call from Aces and win with a flush (2:1). "All in." "Call" He had the Aces for sure, no surprise. But I was a bit surprised to see the Ace of diamonds sitting there on the table, glaring at me. Taunting me. I was drawing completely dead. I lost $600. As utterly bizarre as that hand may be, what I find extraordinary is its similarity with the hand that had just occurred on the $5-10 NL table. At least I didn't lose $4,500.

At 12:30 pm on Sunday I got my first pair of Aces for the entire trip. I won a small pot. Shortly thereafter, I got another AA and won again. That was it for the trip. A bazillion hands of poker and AA only twice.

The table had gone completely nuts. A beatnik in a wheelchair sat down rolled up and immediately starting calling every bet. At one point he was getting a massage and would fall asleep on every street. The good players with the big stacks were taking turns firing out raises, each one wanting to be the fortunate heir to this guy's fortune. I watched him rebuy $500 five times, but there was no telling how many times he did when I wasn't paying attention. He probably dumped >$3,000 into the coffers of my opponents. I was just afraid of being collateral damage, so I laid low. I never got a good hand during this time and I just watched my stack deplete.

Bad Luck, Blue Eyes, Goodbye...

The poker was getting tough. My players had big stacks, lots of confidence and lots of aggression. I was playing like a puss and bleeding $100 top-ups regularly. About this time, ARH comes by to tell me he is leaving for Dallas. I point out that every time we go on a poker trip together I lose, and this was no exception. For this reason, I was happy to see him go. (no, not really...I don't believe in luck. After all, it's unlucky to believe in bad luck.)

My confidence was jump-started when I beat AA with my QQ. It didn't hurt that I beat Jeff, the best player at the table. I followed that up with check-calling Q9 on every street when I made trips to win a biggie off of a guy with J9. Confidence level increasing.

The table turned over most of the players and next thing I know, all the good players had left with their big stacks. I went from being an underdog to a favorite. I went from the short stack the chip leader. I was getting the natural adrenaline rush that kicks in when your body is trying to keep you awake....

You can lead a horse to water, but faith is another matter. So dont you surrender, 'cause sometimes salvation is in the eye of the storm...

No more Mr. Nice Guy. F. it. I was tired of not playing my usual game. I felt like Mack Brown playing "not to lose" against Bob Stoops. So, I started to play my usual game, the cornerstone of which is to raise the bejeezus out of players that show weakness / fear.

Tuscaloosa Johnny sat down at our table. I recognized him, but he didn't recognize me. At first I thought he sucked really bad, but when he pulled of a beautiful bluff, he earned my respect for sure. (remember earlier post about forming a conclusion too quickly.) Most of the other players were playing scared, just waiting for the perfect hand to win a jackpot (i.e. playing the way I was all morning / day.) So I did what my earlier opponents did to me and made sure there was no limping into my pots. I rammed and jammed. Oh, and I talked a lot. Surprised? I begged people to call me, told people what there hands were, lied about my hand, told the truth about my hand, refered to myself as "Big Papi" and screamed "homerun" when I won a pot, acted weak when strong, acted strong when weak, acted weak when weak, acted strong when strong, gave bad advice to the player to my left, showed my tits to a guy that claimed to be the CFO of Pappa John's, told the waitress to bring me several coffees with Jameson (even though I pulled her aside and told her to definitely NOT serve me any Jameson), sang songs, danced, raised, re-raised, re-re-raised, and won. Man did I win. I went on a heater from some point in the middle of the night until early in the a.m. My stack was as low as $300, and I ran it north of $2,000 by the time the sun came up. After playing like a puss for 3 days, I finished the final third of my 26.5 hour marathon session (in the same chair!) playing my usual game. It felt very very nice. My cash out was only $45 below my high-water mark, so I felt pretty good about not dumping my winnings (something Big Papi has been known to do). My profits were north of $1,000.

It's so beautiful. Don't y'all think it's beautiful?

So the "sit down for a couple minutes at the $2-$5 NL game" turned into 26.5 hours (which is 79,400% more minutes than planned.) I learned, again, that playing like a conservative doofus does nothing for you, especially in a tough game. How did I, of all people, forget that? The thing I was most proud of was never losing my entire stack after Friday night. Things were often going poorly, and it was often tempting to donk off the last of my chips, but I played tough. I can't tell you how many times I mucked a hand in a big pot and my opponent showed me his monster. I did a great job of avoiding such land mines.

Overall, it was a great trip. ARH and I are ready to settle into fatherhood. CCM is ready to, um, hmmmm...CCM is ready to get back to a life of staying up late, drinking and well, I guess his Dallas life is already a Vegas life

I got home from my trip and Jane had bought a baby outfit with the recognizable Welcome to Vegas sign, but it said, "what happens in the playpen, stays in the playpen." I have the coolest wife on the planet.

(4) comments

Posted by Padilla 2:49 PM
WSOP Report: Sad, but not much to complain about.

Sometimes knowing the odds doesn’t matter one bit.

My weekend was a collection of all-ins and all-outs…

Satellite: All in with my AKs vs. 8-8 preflop, no help. Gone.
Satellite: All in with my AA vs. 7-7 after flop of 5-6-8, turn brings a 4. Crippled.
$1K tourney: All-in with my A-J vs. 3-3 preflop, no help. Gone.
Satellite: All in with my J-J vs. K-K preflop, no help. Gone.

$1/$2 NLHE:
I bust opponents A-Q with Q-J after flopping 2 pair, then getting money all-in before the turn.
I bust opponents A-K with J-8 suited after missing my obvious flush, but rivering trip 8’s and pushing all-in like I missed the flush. Oscar winning performance.
I push out A-K with my 8-7 suited after raising big after his turn bet, on a board of 4-5-7 - 3. He showed and folded AK & 4 to a flush.

$3/$6 LHE: Lost a full $100 buy-in, including a nice pot to my wife.

Wheel-of-Fortune Slot Machine:
Wheel-Wheel-Double pays $750 on a 75cent bet.
If it came Wheel-Wheel-Wheel, I’d win $382K.

Craps was a push, 3-card poker netted a small loss, blackjack was a push.

Danny Gans isn’t worth $100/seat.


(3) comments

Posted by Junelli 6:00 PM
This has to be one of the saltiest bad beats I've ever seen, even by Party Poker standards.

Fortunately, I was just a spectator in this one. Otherwise, I might've destroyed my monitor.


***** Hand History for Game 4862697113 *****
NL Texas Hold'em Buy-in Trny:26848886 Level:2 Blinds(30/60) - Wednesday, August 02, 18:53:41 ET 2006
Table Table 112250 (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 8
Seat 6: junell ( 3705 )
Seat 1: Neutsie ( 1377 )
Seat 10: JonnyCakes12 ( 1716 )
Seat 7: lilsqu34k ( 1870 )
Seat 9: nuxrule ( 918 )
Seat 2: bella39111 ( 4805 )
Seat 5: glfcoach ( 2880 )
Seat 8: Ka45aK ( 2729 )
Trny:26848886 Level:2
Blinds(30/60)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to junell [ Kh Js ]
nuxrule raises [120].
JonnyCakes12 folds.
Neutsie calls [120].
bella39111 folds.
glfcoach folds.
junell calls [120].
lilsqu34k folds.
Ka45aK folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qc, 5c, 3d ]
nuxrule bets [80].
Neutsie is all-In [1257]
junell folds.
nuxrule is all-In [718]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ad ]
** Dealing River ** [ As ]
nuxrule shows [ Qh, Qs ] a full house, Queens full of aces.
Neutsie shows [ Ac, 5s ] a full house, Aces full of fives.
Neutsie wins 459 chips from side pot #1 with a full house, Aces full of fives.
Neutsie wins 2046 chips from the main pot with a full house, Aces full of fives.
nuxrule finished in eighth place.


Man that must've stung.


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Posted by Dr Fro 4:39 PM




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