All Internet

I have not had any time to play live this past month except for three sessions and one was a quick and painful one in LA a week ago, so I have turned to the internet this month. I don't usually post about that because it is still illegal in Washington, but it appears that they are not taking any action what so ever to enforce the law, so I post about that as I have had nothing live to post about and I am feeling a little guilty about the lack of time on this Blog. Not that there are that many of you that stop by, but for the few that do here goes.

I have been playing at Ultimate Bet("UB") and Full Tilt("FT") only. I play in the $5/10 6 handed games at UB and $10/20 and up at FT. UB is like crack for poker players, the cards come at lightning speed and you get in twice as many hands there than almost any site out there. The only site I have found that comes close is Bodog and I don't really like the action there. Just not that many games or players. On UB I have just been breaking even, sucks, but so goes my game right now. In that game you get a lot of marginal calls and I can just not hang on to lead on that site right now. Seems like whatever the most improbable beat you can take on that site it will come on the river. Just eerie how they seem to come in bunches. I am not in the camp that I think anything funny is going on, just that I am losing more than my fair share of favorites right now on that site. Variance is a bitch sometimes, and I have been on the wrong side a lot this year, live and internet.

I just started playing a lot more on FT. I used to not really like the site. I still don't like the avatar thing, it makes you feel like you are playing a bad video game. I would like to get one of me, but they want to charge you 1,000,000 points to get a custom one. I guess if I ever got that many I would think about it, but at my pace it would take me about two years to get that many points. Not likely to happen. I think they run some tournaments every once in a while to get one, I guess I will keep my eye out for those.

The games on FT have just been HUGE. I like the chance to watch some of the pros play some really big games. They have been running some $1000/2000 games on there. There has been this guy names TexaslimitKing just crushing the high limit games on there. There was a game the other day where he beat Jdags for about $100,000k and then at the end reloaded to show a balance of over $1,000,000 online. That is just a sick amount of money online. Ivey is fun to watch as well as David Opp. He was playing TLK heads up two days ago in the $500/1000 limit game and beat TLK while I was watching but I left before the session was over so I don't know how it turned out. Just fun stuff however.

The games over there move slower so it is more like a live game, and I have found the players over there to be easier to beat so I think I will play there a bit more to see how I do. I played in a $30/60 game two days ago with Richard Brodie over at Lion Tales. Nice guy, willing to chat at table, never played with him live yet, good player to boot. Crappy session for me at that table, but fun to have the chance to play with these guys. If I can build up a decent roll on there I will take some shots at the $100/200 and higher games. Probably will take me about 6 months to get there but I think right now with the lack of real quality players in the $10/20 game I can get there.

So there is my poker the last month or so. I wish I could get out live more but work has just vaporized my time. I am still planning on going to Vegas next weekend to play in the Sat. Tournament at the Bellagio. Talk to you again probably after I get back from Vegas. Hope you are all winning....SJ

Monday Blues in LA

Poker continues to just suck for me this year. I have had one good string of sessions and the rest of the year has been up and down. Monday in LA was straight down in the cash session. But before we talk about that I will give you a quick update on the tournament which is why I went to the Commerce in the first place that night.

The tournament was a $540 buyin NL tournament. We had 281 players, which was a little less than I thought but still a top prize of $55,000, not too shabby. I started off pretty well. We had a table with two fast players. The first one got lucky with some crap hands and accumulated some chips but I knew they were going to go someplace fast, it was just going to be a matter of time. The other came to our table after a bust early, and he sat to my direct right, perfect. I was going to try and trap him. As it worked out he played fast with his chips and decided to get involved in a coin flip with me that I also decided was the right time to take a risk. I had built my $2,000 up to about $2,800 in a few rounds and picked up pocket QQ's UTG. We were playing $25/50 blinds, and I made it $250 to go. I did not want to mess around too much with this hand early so I wanted to make a bit of an oversized bet. It got folded around to Mr. Fast player in the BB and he just moved in for over $3,500. I figured a smaller pair, or best case AK, I did not put him on AA or KK, if that happened then so be it. I thought about it for a bit, then just decided that I need some chips and this is going to be the best way to get them. I called all in. He showed me AK which did not hit and I doubled up. Then one round later I had A,J off in the SB, there was a limper in EP and I completed the blind, and the BB checked his option. The flop came down A,J,9 rainbow. I checked the BB bet $150 into the pot, which was the size of the pot, EP mucked and I made it $600 to go. The BB now just moved in for his remaining $1,500. Wow, again? I figured any hand that could beat me would have raised, maybe 99's might have checked but I did not think so, He must have a bad A or maybe even same hand. I called and he showed me A,9 for a worse two pair. I held again and now had some chips.

I did not have any great hands or confrontations to speak of for a few hours after that. I really did not get that many great hands to try to pick up some pots, but managed to stay around $6,000 until this final fatal hand. We only had 75 players left, and they were going to pay 27. We were playing $100/200 blinds with a $25 ante so I was starting to get short but not dangerous yet. There was an early raise to $800 and then a flat call to my immediate right. I looked down and saw pocket KK's. There was $2,125 in the pot at that time. I felt my only move was to move in, if I raised again to say $4,000 I was pot committed, and that was only twice the pot so I would have priced in a few calls. I felt mucking was not an option, is it really ever and option with KK's?? I guess if you have a pile of chips and raise and get the action I did you could muck. So here is what happens behind me. I moved in for all $6,000, the chip leader of the whole tournament with about $30,000 in chips is two to my left, he looks down and then he moves all in. That did not scare me too much, he had been playing fast and lucky so I felt I had him beat and that would basically protect my hand. Then the player to his left also moved in for about $6,000 as well. I knew at that point I was dead to AA's somewhere. Crap, what a perfect storm. I had KK's, chip leader has JJ's, and third player had the AA's. Here comes the board, 10,8,6, no help for me, turn 9, river a Q making the chip leader with the worst hand a straight and busting both of us. When it rains it pours on the luckbox. I am now out, no money, off to cash game.

This was a quick night for me in the cash game. I sat down in the $100/200 game, and proceeded to lose the first five hands I played and quit. I picked up pocket KK's second hand I played UTG. I raised got two callers, and an A hit the board on the flop. I bet, got raised and cold called behind me so I just mucked on the flop. The winner had hit a set on the flop with 33's so I went from 1st to 3rd on the flop. Easy lay down, just cost me $300. The very next hand in the BB I get Ad,Kd. I call a raise from EP because there are 4 people in the pot. The flop came down K,K,6. I check one bet from LP, I just call waiting to raise the turn, turn came 5, I check again, he bets, I raise, he three bets, I just call as I am a little gun shy here. River a 2, I check call and he shows me K,5 for a turned full house. I miss on an As,Qs hand, then play pocket 10's from MP, get three bet and give up on that hand on a J high flop, when the river boards looks like J,5,4,3,2. I did not call the river, but I could not think of a hand that I felt I could beat there. At that point I call it a night down 20 BB. It was not going to turn, and if it did it was going to take me all night to get out. I had to be fresh for a meeting the next day so I just hung it up.

When is this going to turn for me? Who knows? Poker can just suck sometimes. I hate not playing regularly as these shitty sessions just linger in your mind for a week or more in between. It happens. My next trip will be down to the Bellagio the weekend of the 6th to the 9th to play in their tournament and some side games. Hope you are all winning and talk to you soon..SJ

No poker, but some bad Football

I have been too busy to play cards this last week, so instead I watched ND get the crap kicked out of them by Michigan. Bummer, not even a good game. We flat sucked. Here are a few shots off the web. No high fives for you....





Not even Joe could save us.

I am going to LA tonight for work tomorrow. If I get a chance I may stop by Commerce for a little poker. Talk to you soon, and I hope you are all winning. SJ

Return to the Muck

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Work is just killing my poker time right now. I actually played at Parkers last Friday and made a return trip to the Muck last night after an almost 3 month absence. I have not had time to write up an update so here is both.

Last Friday was a little $8/16 late at night. The games were good as usual, and the kill game was really good. I just had to get a few hands, and then have them hold up. I got up right away, hey a new thing. I have been starting out stuck for almost the whole year. I think I am starting out not completely focused, or playing too loose right out of the gate which is causing me to get stuck, then I focus and get out to win. This time I either managed to hit the hands I chose to play early or I just started out more focused this time. Either way works for me. I was not up a ton and then got moved to the main kill game. This game was super fired up, with lots of gamble. My strategy was to play super tight, as you had to win showdowns, and push good draws with lots of players to maximize pots. This plan got only half executed however because the super tight part had me sitting out of play for over and hour before I chose to play anything but a quick look at the blinds. I then managed to get a few big pocket pairs to hold up, and low and behold I had the KILL button. I picked up K,9, clubs with the KILL button in middle position. An early position player raised, I called the bet with my $12 bucks already in there getting half price, and two other player called behind. The flop came down K,9,7 two diamonds. EP bet, I raised, two players behind cold called, EP three bets, I called, one behind called and now button capped. NICE POT, hold-em baby. Turn a 3 not diamond. EP bets I raise again, this time all three call. River a 5 not diamond, perfect. EP checks, I bet, two players muck and EP calls. I win the HUGE pot around $540 with top two and she had AK. I play one more round, and call it a night up almost 1 dime in an 8/16 game. Huge win for that game, I go home happy. Funny part is I would not have even been in that pot if it were not for the KILL pot. K,9 suited in MP after a raise is a hand I would muck 100% of the time. Luck can have a positive side as well. I just have not been on that side much lately.

Last night at the Muck I got into the $50/100 game. I was hoping for $100/200 but that game has not gone since before the WSOP when we were playing $150/300. I tried to get it kicked up all night, but there was always one or two that said no. No big deal, this game will do. It stayed pretty much short all night. 5 or 6 handed for a while, then 4, then 3. The problem was that the lineup had mostly good players in it. Regular Pete, Chris from LA who I think is going to move back up here, REP who cashed twice at the WSOP and one of those was a final table of the $1500 limit shoot out. He also played in the $50,000 HORSE event. Tough table. I basically tread water all night. Never up more than $1,200 never down more than $300. I did have fun playing 3 handed with Chris and Pete at the end of the night for almost two hours. Pete mostly watched Chris and I play pots against each other as he was not running that good and was playing too tight for 3 handed. Probably a symptom of not running good. Makes you really gunshy. A trait you have to fight really hard against if you want to win very short handed. As a result he dropped probably another $2k 3 handed as he just got outflopped and out played on almost every pot he was in. Chris unfortunately for me got most of it. No great hands to talk about.

I did win again however, almost a dime. Funny how I was slightly disappointed in the win last night of the same amount as Friday, hey a win is a win right?. The difference was I won around 62 BB in the 8/16 game but only 10 in the $50/100. Damn, I would take the reverse.

If you got this far and don't have a rakeback deal please use my link to RAKEBACK.com to the left and sign up. Hope you are all winning and talk to you next week. I will not be playing this weekend. SJ