Two Steps From The Prize

Tomorrow afternoon is the Riverchasers 2007 regional final tournament. There are about 140 who qualified. Top 10 will advance to a single table at the Borgata whose winner is going to the main event. If you are anywhere near Champs on Saturday, come on by. I will accept and appreciate all the support I can get. I'm going to need it. I am so bad at this game. I do just well enough to keep me interested.

Three More Days

Since my last contract ended, for the first time, my time off has been involuntary. Three weeks plus a few days and it has progressed nicely from relaxed to bored to downright shitty. I am so ready to get back to work. Had an interview in Iselin yesterday which I think was as much formality as formal. Hopefully, Monday morning I'll be gainfully employed again.

Comedy and tragedy
Entertainment or death
Like sister morphine
Hooked on her game
Time to place your bets

If it wasn't for bad luck
I'd have no luck at all

Theater of Pain - 1985

Yesterday, my improved AK got run down by 64o making trip 4's on the river. Crippled. So hard to come back from a hit like that when there are only 8 hands per level. Finally ran AJ into TT and did not improve. Last week it was AQ losing to QT. I really need to shake off this trend before Saturday's regional final. If you read and are close, I'll be at Reed's tonight. Come on out and laugh at me (or cry with me) as I get run down again.

I Have Met One Of The Poker Gods

... and he plays free bar poker in Limerick. How do I know this? Only the omnipotent would call an AIPF reraise for half his stack with 99. Instantly. Only a deity could possibly fathom that he would go runner-runner-runner-runner hearts to 4-flush my AA down the toilet. I don't know about you, but I would much rather lose to a caught set in this situation than the damned 9 high flush.

Oh, well. Maybe I'll give Via Roma a go tonight.

And On Monday I Will Rest

My wife left on Wednesday morning for a series of dog shows in Kentucky, so I got to play single dad until Friday at which time the kids were off to the inlaws for the weekend. Hmmmm. What to do with an entire weekend to myself?

After taking care of the mundane necessities Friday morning, I decided to challenge myself with an afternoon shift solo mission. Seemed like a good way to put myself in the right frame of mind. That being said, the adopt-a-dancer program was in full effect. Evidently, my new ward was quite appreciative of her benefactor. Many rules of the club were bent or completely forgotten in the privacy of the VIP area. Oh, the horror.

Anyway, on the way down there I sent riggs a text regarding a meet and greet at the pub. He informed me that Al was already there (about 2 PM) and that he would probably be there after 6. Perfect. There was just enough time for me to fly solo for about 2 hours, retrieve the kiddies from school, get them to their grandparents and get back by around 7. Now, I had set a VERY low bar for what I had hoped would happen. Basically, all I really wanted was to say hi to Riggs and Al (I had never met either live) and maybe hang out for an hour or so.

BOOOOOOOOM!

I ended up spending almost 5 hours there thanks to some of the best people I had met in quite some time. By the time I was two hours in, and after the inevitable (and justified) "Who the hell are yous?", I had met Riggs, Al, Kat, CK, Donkette and Evy and reconnected with Perticelli, millerd33 and his much better half ccrobyn. Thanks to Riggs' verbal rub, even though I'm a total jobber, at least now I'm in the blogger locker room. WIZZOOT! Oh, and Kat told me I'm cute. *blush* Specifics of the observed shenanigans will NOT be revealed by me. I KNOW NOTHING! Moving on.

Last weekend was also the 41st annual meeting of the Loyal Order of Amiable Drinkers (L.O.A.D.™) in the usual place. And almost 3 hours from the pub. Gotta do what I gotta do. So much alcohol. So many different ways to imbibe it. The weekend always features a marathon Whales Tales session around the 8-sided table symbolizing the center of the drinking universe, and this one was no exception. Unlike everything else which usually involved small monetary wagers, this one was purely for pride and losing wagers were paid in beer and liquor. The session lasted about 2 hours, and when all was said and done, 8 of us had left the remnants of almost 3 cases of beer and a full bottle of sambuca in desparate need of recycling.

Sunday morning, I left the cabin around 9AM and got home right around noon. Just in time to get to the Riverchasers live mine field known as Walsh's Tavern. Thankfully, while playing patient, I picked up a few hands at key times. And got paid off every time. The people that play these things are just brutally unobservant. Then at the final table, blinds were getting ridiculously high (BB was 3x the starting stack) and I tripled up out of the BB with 85o when over half my stack was already posted. Finally, we got heads up and I couldn't get the guy to fold his ace high on the flop. He had raised pre-flop after I tried to limp with Q9o. Actually, I said raise and had completed the blind and was counting out additional chips, but I guess he wasn't listening. So since I was going to raise myself, I called his raise in position to see a flop. He min bet the flop, and it felt so weak, I shoved over the top which would have crippled him. Almost had him too, but he actually said "Oh, the hell with it" and made the call. He honestly thought he was behind and called for most of his chips anyway with what was probably only 3 outs with 2 to come. Oh, well. Another 2nd. This time in a field of 54. Maybe I'll get to one more day game in Limerick before I have to go back to work later in the week.

Finally, Sunday night was Fantasy Baseball online draft night. I have no idea how to play, but my buddy needed a 10th owner to fill out his work league. 5x5 what? I drafted 7th in a ten team league. My picks in order: Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Braun, Carlos Lee, Alex Rios, Francisco Rodriguez, JJ Putz, Torii Hunter, Adrian Gonzalez, Jose Valverde, Ryan Zimmerman, Fausto Carmona, JJ Hardy, Rickie Weeks, Brad Penny, Aaron Rowand, John Maine, Jered Weaver, Jason Varitek, Joe Blanton, Oliver Perez, Rocco Baldelli, Jose Guillen, Freddy Sanchez, Ryan Doumit, Mark Teahen, Hank Blalock, Zack Greinke, and Austin Kearns. Does anyone have any idea how badly I managed to mess this up? Or did I actually luckbox my way into a decent team?

I should go back to bed.

Stay Tuned

What a weekend. No time to get into it just yet. There is still a live riverchasers game this afternoon and fantasy baseball draft tonight, but I'll get to it tomorrow. To all of you who helped make such an incredibly awesome time, thank you. More on Monday...

Limer-Ick

Ran QQ into KK and then got called down by QJo when I had the JackAce. Must have been 23 queens in that decks...

At least I had a couple SNG cashes on tilt.

Oops

First hand in Limerick this afternoon. 1 limper and I call with 2 black fours in the small blind. Flop is J♣T♣4♥. Bet out with the set, BB calls, limper min raises. I raise and the limper calls. Should've known I was beat, but this IS riverchasers. I improve to a boat on the turn, and we get it all in but I'm up against quad tens. GG Me. Back to the afternoon shift. I love time off from work...

Poker Week in Review

Yikes, having time off from work creates an abundance of opportunities to get in some time on the felt. When last I posted, I had just gotten home from AC at about 4:30 AM with a 4th place cash in the nightly tournament at the Hilton. So with just a few hours sleep, I dragged myself out of bed to help my wife get the kids off to school (this being Tuesday morning) and then grabbed about another hour when the phone woke me up. I then half-heartedly tried to go back to sleep, but knowing that there was a Riverchasers game starting in just a little while, it just wasn't going to happen.

So, off to Limerick I go. Early on, I gamble it up a little bit with flush and inside straight draws on the flop against a set and get there on the turn. He bets about 1/3 of my remaining stack into a now large pot, so I push the rest of my stack. After agonizing, he calls, knowing that he probably needs the board to pair. It doesn't. After a while, we go to the final table (somewhere around 50 runners) and I get crippled running AQ into AK. Then J9 can't catch up to A7 and IGH 7th.

No poker content Wednesday. Thursday and Friday I also went to the afternoon games in Limerick, but went out a little over halfway both days. Friday, though, it was early enough that I decided to do a brief afternoon shift in Conshy, just because I hadn't done one for a while and was inspired a bit by the recent escapades north of the border. Anyway, saying this place is about a C-list establishment is probably generous. However, something absolutely amazing happened. Out strolls a statuesque African butter face. And she has world class pole skills. I've seen a lot of pole work over the years in all classes of venues, and to find this kind of skill where I was sitting was shocking. In fact, she even broke out something I've never seen. Starting from the usual inverted vertical position at the top of the pole, she slid down head first about halfway then stopped abruptly, came around 90 degrees and held there. Horizontally. Tips of her heels over 6 feet from the pole. Spectacular. Bravo.

The kids were staying at the inlaws for the weekend, so I told my wife that I was going to play poker Friday night after I dropped them off. And that's exactly what I did. Champs Bar on the golf course. Starting table was absolutely nuts. After the flop. So I saw lots of cheap flops and finally found the spot I was looking for. I called with 53 from the small blind and flopped two pair. Slow played it. Check call. Turned the full house. Perfect. Let these monkeys overbet. Board now has two hearts and two spades. So when the potential flush comes on the end, I bet out. And get raised. Perfect. Called, reraised by me, get two(!) callers and that there is a lot of chips still in the first hour. Then with KK in the SB at 5/10, I make it 45 to go after a couple limpers. I knew I would be heads up against the LAG button chip leader and when the flop came K52, I checked to him but he checked behind. For some reason, he thought that I really wasn't happy to see a king on the flop. I wonder what gave him that impression. The turned paired the five and he bet pot after I checked again. Smooth call. I don't even remember what came on the end as I didn't care and shoved the rest of my chips in. And he instacalled with A5o. Nice.

Chips go up, chips go down, not quite as much as up, but the blinds are ever increasing. Then I get crippled. A3s > TT. Ace on the river when AIPF. Down to T125 at 50/100. Nope, chip up and new level, T200 at 100/200. In the BB, all-in. 600 in the main pot and I river a 4 flush with the K♠. Next hand, A3 guy doubles me blind vs blind with KQ against my AK. Now T1200. Final table and blinds go to 200/400. Fast forward another 45 minutes. I finished 2nd. I was 11 outs on the river for my opponent from taking the chip lead, him needing an Ace or a spade and he spiked the Ace. I'll take the 2nd out of 83. I know I played well, making the types of moves that needed to be made against the different types of tables I was at. Just a shame I couldn't finish off the comeback.

Then Saturday afternoon, I played in Lansdale at a bar I had never played at. For those that rag the Limerick Inn mercilessly, I suggest you go to the 3rd and Walnut, then decide. I got called an A-hole for calling a guy on shorting the pot. Most of the players were thoroughly drunk already at 4 PM, and it was some of the worst poker I have ever seen. I don't even want to remember the specifics of the game. It was clearly the worst venue I have ever played at. Even though the TD, who I am familiar with, ran a perfect game. As usual. I forget his name, but he is one of the best. I finished 6th of 40. Even though the only hands I played and showed were AA, QQ, and AJ, when I pushed from the button for 4.5 BB with A2s, the BB still called for most of his chips with A3s. 3 on the flop. I won't be back.

Probably another week off from work. I'll be around.

Not Quite Midnight, All The Madness

So instead of the midnight Taj tournament, I managed to get out of the house a little after 7PM which allowed me to sit for the 10PM version of the same at the A.C. Hilton. Surprisingly, there were only 31 runners that ponied up the $40+10 pittance to receive 300 BB in their starting stacks, and 15 minute levels.

Initial table was predictably crazy. Every hand was raised pre-flop, and every pre-flop raise saw 2-4 callers. Table image meant absolutely nothing, so one of my biggest guns needed to stay holstered. The antes kicked in at level 3, and my stack started its downward spiral. I got my blinds paid in the last 2 hands of level 6 (500/1000/100) and was down to T8500 when the table broke and I went right back into the blinds for 600/1200/200. Sigh. However, inexplicably, there were 4 limpers and got to see a free flop with 64o. Flop is 642, two clubs. SB bet out 2000, so I just pushed all-in. No reason to get fancy and I more than doubled. Very next hand, MP raises to 5000 and I find AK. Reraise 10K more and drag another nice pot.

I gave some back the next time the BB came around. UTG min raises, I call with QJ, and flop an OESD that doesn't get there. Actually, I only called a very small bet on the flop and folded to the shove on the turn. But, I managed to double back up at (3000/6000/1000) when I actually found AA on the button. Timely. At this point we are playing 5 handed, the other table with 6 left, and the chip leader has decided to channel Scott Fischmann, raising with any two and hitting miracle flops. At last, the final table bubble breaks and we redraw for seats. I draw the cutoff and have about T20000 left, and we have a couple more hands at the current level before going to 5000/10000/1000. 6 antes later I'm all-in blind for 3K over my BB. All fold to the SB who calls with 77, but my 83o spikes an 8 on the flop and I'm alive.

We have a few eliminations and are down to 8 when there are 3 short stacks all in. Now, I only have about 4 BB left (a little under T40000) and find AKs. The winner of this hand will make me the short stack, and potential bubble boy, so I reraise for the rest of my chips, mostly so the chip leader to my left has slightly worse odds to call, which he elects not to do. A turned K gives me the pot and players 8, 7, and 6 are all out. We are now in the money.

I get into a blind battle where I checked a SB limp with T5o. I bet out the flop, having caught top pair, but get check min-raised. That play 5 handed just oozes strength, and I eventually lay it down. He showed me KT. Good fold. Finally with 4 left, I run the suited JackAce into a suited AK and IGH 4th for $149.

For me, I'm ecstatic. You see, if you had actually been reading this drivel, you would know that I know my game is ridiculously awful. However, since I have started actively reading as many bloggers as possible on a daily basis, and documenting my (however lame) play and results, I seem to have seen some increased success. At least more consistently. So, keep on writing, I'll keep on reading. Maybe some day, I can consider myself a fair player.

At Midnight? That's Madness!

I was planning on spending the day in Atlantic City today, but the older daughter decided to spike a one-outer fever keeping me at home with her. In consolation, having the awesome wife that I do, it was suggested that I cruise down after dinner tonight. Score!

So... tonight's late night live turbo super-stack donktacular at the Taj has my name written all over it. Check back tomorrow to find out what kind of recockulous hand knocked me out 3 spots from the money.