I haven't been too interested in playing poker lately. Once in a while during January, I picked up my laptop to play. But it was more out of habit than an urge to play. I had fun, but not as much as I usually do. I'm also doing well this month, so I'm not sure why I don't feel the poker itch. It's funny, I'm almost getting the hang of the cash game grind. I think I'm starting to get better at it than tournaments.
Anyway, I've started pulling my money out of the sites I'm currently playing at. I think I'm going to take a break again, probably a month; that seemed to work last time. I'm not 100% sure I want to break though. If I don't feel like playing is a break really necessary? I will probably pull my money off either way. If I don't take a break, I think I will just go back to where I started from. Most sites won't let you withdraw change, so I have to leave some money in the accounts. I don't mind grinding out at the penny tables. And even though they are donkaments, freerolls can actually be fun.
We will see, let's see how the beginning of February goes.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Sunday, January 21, 2007
League Time
So, Rob and I hosted yet another poker game at our house last night. This time we've also started a league. Anyone is welcome to join but doesn't have to be in the league to play. There were 13 of us last night and pretty much everyone committed to the league, which will run for the entire year.
It was fun as always, but that's the main point of Rob and I running these. We just like our friends coming over and hanging out. I started out really well. Of course it helped I was getting the hands. Fairly early in the tournament, I'm dealt AKs, I believe I was UTG so I raise. I get one caller, then Jeff re-raises. Jeff is a decent player so I know he doesn't have a weak holding. I opt to call, as does the person who called my initial raise. I'm looking to hit an A on the flop, big pockets are a definite concern. Fortunately, the A does come, so I bet out. One fold, then Jeff raises me. Oh oh. Well, I figure AA is a definite possibility, but two A are already out. I'm thinking he quite possibly has AK as well. The other two cards on the flop were blanks, so there are not very many hands I am behind. I decide to risk it and move all-in. Jeff hits the tank to think. He does call and he flips KK. Ouch, depending on the turn and river, I just cracked kings. My hand does hold up. Fortunately, for Jeff he had me covered, but unfortunately, not by much; he's left with 40 chips.
This is a little disappointing because we get points for the league for kills. So if I had taken Jeff out I would have recieved a quick 5 points for the league. And worse, with only 40 chips, it's very easy for anyone at the table to eliminate him. Although, Jeff caught a great hand and was able to get the whole table to call his all in to get a decent stack back. His pocket tens held up against the table. I did double him up shortly after that when my AJ rand into his AQ. By this time he was back up to something like 500 chips.
With a huge stack early in the game, I decide to see more pots than I usually do. I limp with a lot of crappy hands. That works well for me too, as Craig ended up sitting to my right. He's very loose and tends to bet with nothing. So if I hit the flop, I was content to call him down. I did this a couple times and quickly scooped the pot when he showed nothing.
I was able to eliminate two people at our table and after a few others went out, we merged to final table at 8 left. When I sat down, it was apparent I was chip leader. The final table wasn't very exciting. Most of us were fairly tight. Although, there were a few short stacks who were willing to push their entire stacks into the middle when they needed to. I was dealt the great hands when I needed again. Brett moved all in when I had 88. I knew pocket pairs were a possiblitly but so were overcards, so I quickly called. He showed AK and it didn't improve. Then later Brett moved in and I had AA, I slowly called this one. I was in either the SB or BB and the others at the table had limped into the pot. I was hoping if I showed hesitation, one of them would also call. No one else did. Brett showed KQs or QJs, I can't remember which. My hand held up again.
I never really took a hit to my stack once I built it. Rob was also at the final table and he had done well. This was nice for a change, since the last few games, the both of us have been having a hard time making it deep. Adam ended up in third place, and it was Rob and I heads up. I was willing to go all in every hand, since although additional league points would be nice, who won 1st didn't matter much since the money would both be ours in the long run. Rob was against it, so I played serious for a few hands. Then I decided meh, it's getting late and I'm tired, so anytime I got a strong head's up hand, I would push. It only took two all-ins from me before Rob was in too. It was K7 vs JT. I had JT. I didn't improve and Rob won the first league game.
It was fun as always, but that's the main point of Rob and I running these. We just like our friends coming over and hanging out. I started out really well. Of course it helped I was getting the hands. Fairly early in the tournament, I'm dealt AKs, I believe I was UTG so I raise. I get one caller, then Jeff re-raises. Jeff is a decent player so I know he doesn't have a weak holding. I opt to call, as does the person who called my initial raise. I'm looking to hit an A on the flop, big pockets are a definite concern. Fortunately, the A does come, so I bet out. One fold, then Jeff raises me. Oh oh. Well, I figure AA is a definite possibility, but two A are already out. I'm thinking he quite possibly has AK as well. The other two cards on the flop were blanks, so there are not very many hands I am behind. I decide to risk it and move all-in. Jeff hits the tank to think. He does call and he flips KK. Ouch, depending on the turn and river, I just cracked kings. My hand does hold up. Fortunately, for Jeff he had me covered, but unfortunately, not by much; he's left with 40 chips.
This is a little disappointing because we get points for the league for kills. So if I had taken Jeff out I would have recieved a quick 5 points for the league. And worse, with only 40 chips, it's very easy for anyone at the table to eliminate him. Although, Jeff caught a great hand and was able to get the whole table to call his all in to get a decent stack back. His pocket tens held up against the table. I did double him up shortly after that when my AJ rand into his AQ. By this time he was back up to something like 500 chips.
With a huge stack early in the game, I decide to see more pots than I usually do. I limp with a lot of crappy hands. That works well for me too, as Craig ended up sitting to my right. He's very loose and tends to bet with nothing. So if I hit the flop, I was content to call him down. I did this a couple times and quickly scooped the pot when he showed nothing.
I was able to eliminate two people at our table and after a few others went out, we merged to final table at 8 left. When I sat down, it was apparent I was chip leader. The final table wasn't very exciting. Most of us were fairly tight. Although, there were a few short stacks who were willing to push their entire stacks into the middle when they needed to. I was dealt the great hands when I needed again. Brett moved all in when I had 88. I knew pocket pairs were a possiblitly but so were overcards, so I quickly called. He showed AK and it didn't improve. Then later Brett moved in and I had AA, I slowly called this one. I was in either the SB or BB and the others at the table had limped into the pot. I was hoping if I showed hesitation, one of them would also call. No one else did. Brett showed KQs or QJs, I can't remember which. My hand held up again.
I never really took a hit to my stack once I built it. Rob was also at the final table and he had done well. This was nice for a change, since the last few games, the both of us have been having a hard time making it deep. Adam ended up in third place, and it was Rob and I heads up. I was willing to go all in every hand, since although additional league points would be nice, who won 1st didn't matter much since the money would both be ours in the long run. Rob was against it, so I played serious for a few hands. Then I decided meh, it's getting late and I'm tired, so anytime I got a strong head's up hand, I would push. It only took two all-ins from me before Rob was in too. It was K7 vs JT. I had JT. I didn't improve and Rob won the first league game.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Finished
Ghost Recon for the 360 is complete. I have defeated the game. Next I need to work on finishing Zelda for the Wii. Then maybe I will get back to more serious poker.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Everybody say Wii!
Woohoo! The Wii is finally here. A friend of ours, Mike, was able to find one in Kitchener. He bought one for himself, one for us and a third for another friend of his. The place had just recieved their shipment and Mike took half of them.
I'm soooo happy. I can't wait to play the new Zelda. And the Wii sports are supposed to be really fun too. Now, we just need to find a store that has a Wiimote and nunchuck in stock.
Oh and I don't think I updated that Rob has his Xbox360. I've been playing Ghost Recon on it for the last couple of days. It's the game that came with the system. It's actually a really good game, I was off yesterday and I don't think I did much else but play that game.
Sorry poker gods, but for the next while I will be worshipping the gaming gods.
I'm soooo happy. I can't wait to play the new Zelda. And the Wii sports are supposed to be really fun too. Now, we just need to find a store that has a Wiimote and nunchuck in stock.
Oh and I don't think I updated that Rob has his Xbox360. I've been playing Ghost Recon on it for the last couple of days. It's the game that came with the system. It's actually a really good game, I was off yesterday and I don't think I did much else but play that game.
Sorry poker gods, but for the next while I will be worshipping the gaming gods.
Bounty Tournaments
UB has these bounty tourneys running now. Basically, there is the regular tournament buy-in and then an extra fee that goes to the bounty pool. Everyone in the tournament has a bounty on their head. If you eliminate someone you get their bounty. They seemed interesting, so I joined a $2.20 last night. So, $1.20 for the tournament and $1 for the bounty. They of course ran like just a regular tournament, but they were much more enjoyable, especially since I took out 6 people. So, before I even made it to the money, I had won $6! I did make it to the money, but not by much. Ninety places paid, I made it to 54th for a $2.56 payout. At least I made more from the bounties. I'm thinking I might do a few more of these.
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Back to UB
I cleared my Stars bonus the other day and since I have a bonus still at Ultimate Bet and they've fixed their hand history issue, I decided to put some money back into that site and continue to whittle away at it.
Now, I think I've found another reason to hate UB. Suckout city! I lost two buyins to the same donkey (V$PIP:80%, WSD:50%)! I had strong hands, he just kept outdrawing me on the river. Big pockets like AA and KK were no good. Flopping a set was no good. AK and flopping a K against AJ no good (good ole runner runner J). It was frustrating, especially because he was so eager to spread the money he won from me to everyone else at the table. He was a gold mine, but just not for me. And stupid me uninstalled Ultimatebuddy, so I didn't think to add him to my buddy list to follow him around, as I know once his luck runs out, I'll easily get my money back.
Now, I think I've found another reason to hate UB. Suckout city! I lost two buyins to the same donkey (V$PIP:80%, WSD:50%)! I had strong hands, he just kept outdrawing me on the river. Big pockets like AA and KK were no good. Flopping a set was no good. AK and flopping a K against AJ no good (good ole runner runner J). It was frustrating, especially because he was so eager to spread the money he won from me to everyone else at the table. He was a gold mine, but just not for me. And stupid me uninstalled Ultimatebuddy, so I didn't think to add him to my buddy list to follow him around, as I know once his luck runs out, I'll easily get my money back.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Some Updates
Well, so far this year, poker has been what you expect from poker. Some ups, some downs. I've played a few $5.50 SNGs; those did not go well at all. I did not make it to the money in any of them. And after checking Poker Tracker, well, I think I need to stop playing these. Although it's a small sample, it's still very telling. I've played 16 (lifetime, not just this month) and only made the money once and that was a second. Yuck!
I'm back to cash games for a bit, my work schedule lately has made it hard for me to find the time to put into tournaments. So far, $10NL is treating me well. I'm up, but knowing me, that could change. My cash games are chock full of swings. I guess it's to be expected, but I'm sure they are bigger than normal variance. I think I get impatient after folding and folding and folding, then when I finally get a hand to play, I don't want to get off it since I've been waiting so long to play. I also think I'm way too tight, but at micro-limits it's probably better to be too tight than too loose.
And finally, the Wii will be coming soon. I think Rob and I will start hunting for one anytime we go out now. Hopefully, stores will start to have them in stock. Plus Rob won a $3.30 triple shoot-out on stars so he's using that money to buy an X-box 360. I'm thinking poker will soon be taking a back seat to gaming.
I'm back to cash games for a bit, my work schedule lately has made it hard for me to find the time to put into tournaments. So far, $10NL is treating me well. I'm up, but knowing me, that could change. My cash games are chock full of swings. I guess it's to be expected, but I'm sure they are bigger than normal variance. I think I get impatient after folding and folding and folding, then when I finally get a hand to play, I don't want to get off it since I've been waiting so long to play. I also think I'm way too tight, but at micro-limits it's probably better to be too tight than too loose.
And finally, the Wii will be coming soon. I think Rob and I will start hunting for one anytime we go out now. Hopefully, stores will start to have them in stock. Plus Rob won a $3.30 triple shoot-out on stars so he's using that money to buy an X-box 360. I'm thinking poker will soon be taking a back seat to gaming.
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