Hosting the Home Game

Normally, my home game occurs every other Thursday night, during which time it's dealer's choice poker. The limits vary, but the games are generally Hold 'em, Omaha, and various Stud poker games. I wanted to change up the pace a bit and try a night where the only game we'd play would be no limit Hold 'em - basically clone the $25 NL tables at Party for a night.



I participated in such an evening over at Otis' house a couple of weeks ago. It was a grand ole time, but unfortunately for the bankroll, I dropped 3 buy-ins for a -$90 evening. The fun factor was huge so I couldn't complain too much. Two weeks ago, I ended up building my own poker table and was Jonesing to use it. What better way than to host my own version of the no limit Hold 'em game.



I sent out the invites to about 12-15 people, hoping to get somewhere around 8 participants. I ended up getting 7 players, 4 of whom are from my normal home game, 1 who's played a couple of times with us, and 2 from the Otis-realm of Greenville.



Here's a quick pic of the action:







From the left, it's Matty C., Otis, Rocket, BadBlood, and the Rankster. Saterman and G-Rob are out of view.



I believe this pic is an actual live capture of an Otis re-buy, however, I can't confirm....



The play during the night was incredibly fun again. I managed to lose two $30 buy-ins myself before I rebought for only $20. One of my all-ins, A,Qs vs. A,Js of course lost. A,Q became the hand of the night to lose with. Yours truly managed to crack Q,Q twice with a runner-runner flush and a straight on the other hand. Both parties on the losing end failed to bet their hands properly to get me out of the hand. I limped along for a couple of dollars here and there, then dropped the big bets on them in the end. I managed to turn my $20 buy-in back to $214 for a very nice $134 profit for the evening.



All in all, things went extremely well. Nobody even spilled beer on my table, amazing! I hope to host these type of home games on a somewhat regular basis - perhaps every other week or so. It's just too much damned fun.



Even if you lose.

WBT V Report

An amazing 133 players turned out for the Guinness and Poker Tournament held at PokerStars last night. The tournament was an event to celebrate poker bloggers and their readers; and the community came out in force.



I got home from mini-Blood's soccer game ready to rock and roll. Another goal from the 4 year old Pele-to-be would hopefully set the tone for a winning experience. I joined the blogger chat room about 30 minutes before hand to shoot the shit with everyone. The pre-tourney chat is almost worth the $20 entrance fee by itself.



This would be my 3rd blogger tournament, the first two were held at Pacific Poker. My finishes were both out of the money: 4th out of 30 and 13th out of 71. I was looking to improve.



Level 1 - T1500 - Avg. T1500 - 133/133 left

In the 2nd hand of the night, I'm dealt A,J hearts and flop trip J's. I do the classic slow play and win about T500 right off the back. The only other marginal hand I see a flop with that level is A,8 from the big blind. Even though there is an 8 on the flop, I fold to a bet at the river.



Level 2 - T1940 - Avg. T1558 - 128/133 left

I'm dealt pocket 8's or the snowmen in middle position. A raise gets me no action. I limp in early position with A,J off to a flop of K,T,4. No betting until a 9 hits the turn requiring me to fold. At my table are Landow from AlCantHang fame and HDouble from TheCardsSpeak. I get A,T in late position and raise to T100. The lone limper calls and the flop totally misses me. Undeterred, I bet out T150 and am quickly raised to T300. I have to fold as the initial raise was really a poor excuse for a blind steal attempt.



Level 3 - T1615 - Avg. T1596 - 125/133 left

I limp in with 5,6 suited from the small blind with 4 callers. The flop is J,5,2 which produces checks all around. Hank bets T100 on the turn when a 7 falls and I drop. I then fold K,J suited in late position to a T200 bet. I fold K,J off later on in the level and I'm hoping at some point to get some playable cards.



Level 4 - T1350 - Avg. T1797 - 111/133 left

I raise with the Hammer in the small blind with Hank to my left. He calls, but the flop has no nails. I check, he bets, I fold. Hank shows his 4,5 off. I congratulate him on taking down the Hammer. In the big blind, I'm dealt Q,9 off and see a K,Q,7 flop. It's just me and Blu and he's very shortstacked. We both check it to the river which brings an A. He goes all in and I call. I guess correctly and eliminate Blu. I'm hoping his bounty is a significant portion of the $12,000 he won last week in a Party tournament. I think it's at least 4 figures, right Blu? I manage to steal a decent pot with J,T when the board flops 3 hearts which gets me back near the average stack.



Level 5 - T2185 - Avg. T2241 - 89/133 left

At this point it looks like MaudieB is the top blogger, she's in 5th place w/T4290. I was thinking she'd make consecutive final tables, effectively becoming the Dan Harrington of the blogger community. The first hand of this level, I'm dealt K,Q and decide to fold. The flop was 7,8,9 proving me to be a true genius. Hank doesn't let me limp in the big blind with 2,2 and we never see the flop. Bastage! I'm then dealt A,7 suited and bet T400 into a T775 pot with Landow. Mercyfully, he folds.



Then it comes, the hand that cripples me like a Chris Benoit crossface hold.



A,7 of diamonds and I limp in. The flop is T,6,5 with 2 diamonds. I'm 3rd and last to act, so I'm in decent position. A reader named a104l9 bets out T450 and it's called. I decide that I'm at least as good as Greg Raymer and going all in with a nut diamond flush draw worked for him so why not me. I push. a104l9 calls with K,T off and I need that last diamond. Well, here's the difference between me and Greg Raymer: He gets his flush draws and I don't. It's as simple as that. I'm left with a meager T95 and put on my Chris Ferguson hat.



I wait for my hand and go all in with 4,4. I triple up, but lose nearly half of it when the T150 big blind hits. All in again with A,Q. My opponent holds A,J and I double up again. All in again with 9,9 and get no action. But I'm up to T705 and can breath just a bit.



Level 6 - T705 - Avg. T2695 - 74/133 left

In the small blind, I go all-in with 6,5 off in a pure, unadulterated big blind steal attempt. It doesn't work and I'm called. The big blind is holding Q,7, but a 5 on the flop keeps me alive. A,J suited comes again and I push. I'm called by a bigger stack holding A,T and I double up again to T2320. My Ferguson hat appears to have some magic in it. I fold Q,T suited to an all-in from a short stack, no need to get crazy just yet.



I get moved to another table with the infamous AustinKearns and Studio Glyphic. In the big blind, I get A,Q. With Kearns on the button, my Spidey Sense picks up something; I'm betting he's going to try to steal my blind. Not on my watch. I push and he folds. That felt good.



Level 7 - T2295 - Avg. T3764 - 53/133 left

It's a miracle I'm still here. I get moved to another table with SirFWALGMan, asphnxma, and The Venetian. The blinds and now the antes are killing me. I drop T450 before I even play a hand.



Level 8 - T1295 - Avg. T5115 - 39/133 left

I get 3,3 and that's as good a hand as any, so I go all-in. No action. All-in again with A,7. I'm called by two people, one with A,T and the other w/K,Q. The board shows 2,3,4,5,T and I split the pot, something I'm more than willing to do at this point. K,7 of diamonds lets me push all-in again and I get no action. Fine by me.



I have basically 2xBB in chips and am pushing anything that looks marginal. Q,5 spades looks good so I push. I'm called by a104l9, the reader/player who crippled me earlier. I forget exactly what he had, but it was more than enough to bounce me. I exit the tournament just seconds after Studio Glyphic in 31st place.



I think that this was the first multi-table tournament where I've had such dead cards. No pocket pairs higher than 9,9, no big-slick, it was horrible. I never got above T2400, so lasting so long was just by pure determination and luck. But what fun it was. I will be there for the next one without question.



As it turns out, my internet connection then went down for about an hour so I didn't get to see the final table action nor the winner. Lucky for me I busted out when I did. Or lucky for Charter. I would have hated to make a midnight visit to their local offices toting a shotgun had my connection gone down with me at the final table. Let's just not think about that.



So, if you're reading, a104l9 wins the BadBlood elimination bounty. Leave a comment, shoot me an email, whatever. I'll get to you your well deserved prize. Also, feel free to guess where my PokerStars avatar came from and you'll win the same prize.

WBT V

Just some random thoughts about tonight's tourney.



I will offer up bounties on my head this time as well. First bounty goes to whomever can correctly name the artist and album name from which my avatar comes. There's even a small hint in that last sentence. The prize is the same the one for the bounty below.



The knock-me-out-of-the-tournament-bounty will be similar to the last one, but not the same. The last custom CD focused on Blood. This one will focus on Pain and Killing.



1. The Haunted - One Kill Wonder (Get this CD now)

2. Arch Enemy - Let The Killing Begin (Johan Liva era)

3. Judas Priest - Painkiller (Last CD w/Halford until the next one)

4. Helloween - I Live For Your Pain (Euro-power-rockers)

5. Kreator - Some Pain Will Last (Under-estimated classic stuff)

6. Pro-pain - The Truth Hurts (Don't hold being from NY against these guys)

7. Slayer - Here Comes The Pain (Where is Brock Lesnar?)

8. Sum41 - Pain For Pleasure (kidding)

9. Megadeth - Kill The King (Decent stuff from mega-Dave)

10. Children of Bodom - Angels Don't Kill (New and good)

11. Himsa - Kiss or Kill (Excellent choice)

12. Motley Crue - Looks That Kill (Old school classic)

13. Agony Scene - Paint It Black (Stones song done right)

14. Pro-Pain - Don't Kill Yourself To Live (Words to live by)



Good luck to everyone. I'm going to be clicking fold unless I have the goods or the HAMMER!

Shock and Awe

Ok, I'll get back to poker soon, I promise.



I am in shock at the RedSox winning. True shock. Thank you Pedro for making it more interesting than it had to be.



Also, Joe Torre - absolute class act. If Steinbrenner blames him in any way, that would be tragic. As much as I hate to say it, Derek Jeter - also a class act. He is an amazing athlete.



I will not gloat, I will not denegrate the Yanks, they are baseball's giants. Beating them is just simply amazing and I'm sure they will be back to their winning ways soon. Also, the Sox have more work to do, it doesn't end here.

My Friend in Misery

I can't help myself. I wasn't going to post anything on what's turned out to be another epic battle between the Sox and the Yanks. I realize that by me posting this, I risk further jinxing the franchise already cursed by decades of disappointment.



Anyway, here's a small glipse into the minds of 2 Sox fans pondering the events of the past 3 days and the upcoming finale in Game 7 tonight:

FellowSoxFan Believe?

BadBlood oy, they're killing me

FellowSoxFan the 8th and 9th were gut-wrenching

BadBlood gay-rod and his gay-swipe. sit your ass down!!!!

FellowSoxFan ha ha

FellowSoxFan some of the boston press is calling him A-Fraud

BadBlood yeah, he knew he was out of line, and now he's saying he should have just run him over.

FellowSoxFan what was that, any way?

FellowSoxFan so bush league

BadBlood no kidding

FellowSoxFan from the $250M man?

BadBlood really. i'm glad we didn't get him. he's kind of a pussy.

FellowSoxFan yeah

BadBlood i still can't believe they're still playing.

FellowSoxFan so it all comes down to derek blowe?

BadBlood lord help us all

FellowSoxFan maybe he can give you 3-4 innings

BadBlood that would be a gift

FellowSoxFan a couple from wakefield?

FellowSoxFan then the usual suspects...

BadBlood weren't we saying lowe could come up big in this series?

FellowSoxFan it can still happen

BadBlood It could be clemens vs. pedro game 1 on saturday even

FellowSoxFan the yanks can still use brown, vazquez, el duque and loiaza tonight

FellowSoxFan so i have to give them the edge

BadBlood you know, those reversed calls reminded me a bit of the tuck rule 2 years ago

BadBlood we never get those calls

FellowSoxFan making the sox a team of destiny like the pats?

BadBlood i hate to say so right now, but kinda

FellowSoxFan i just hope it's not lucy pulling the football away from charlie brown yet again

BadBlood i know, but at least this series evolved into another memorable one and we didn't just get swept

FellowSoxFan if we lose, make it 10-2

FellowSoxFan then i can look back and say how much heart this team showed....

FellowSoxFan just to get this far

BadBlood right, but tonight would be a good night for a laugher

FellowSoxFan i feel so drained from these games

FellowSoxFan i can't get anything else done

BadBlood me too, and there's no break, it's all one night right after the other

FellowSoxFan yes

BadBlood would we have it any other way?

FellowSoxFan nope

BadBlood agreed

BadBlood so how are the bruins doing???? :)

FellowSoxFan very far from good

BadBlood lol

BadBlood alrighty, looks like we'll regroup for tomorrow morning

FellowSoxFan keep on hoping

BadBlood can't do much else

FellowSoxFan talk to you tomorrow

BadBlood k, l8r

Vegas Visions

My desire to go to Las Vegas with the other bloggers is tremendous. My family situation has forced me to potentially be traveling the 15th of December to Florida to spend an early Christmas with my parents. The scheduled trip to Vegas is the 10th to the 14th. I don't have much margin for error nor much cash for the trip. Excuses, excuses. I'm still going to at least try.



In the meantime, the following is what my vision of how a perfect trip would be.



Leaving the 10th at GSP with fellow blogger and South Carolinian Otis, we hit the bar early in the morning to waste some pre-flight time. For me, flying on a plane isn't the most pleasant of experiences unless I'm inebriated. I used to work for an aircraft engine company. I know how engines work and how they break all too well. Ignorance is bliss, but not in this case.



During the flight, the abnormally hot stewardesses have graciously allowed us to sit in first class. More drinking ensues.



We arrive in Vegas and meet up w/BG, Pauly, Al and the rest of the blogger crew. (Who else is going by the way?) Did I just type crew? Bleh. Need another word for us...perhaps posse? No, that's kinda goofy. I don't know, but it's a gaggle of blogging, poker playing degenerates ready to leave their mark (stain?) on Vegas.



Staying at the Bellagio, we all win entries into the 5-diamond classic by virtue of a satellite, except me. I win my entry in a fluke meeting with Gus Hanson in the Bellagio fitness center. He's working out and I challenge him to a bench-press contest. To even things out, it's a contest to determine who can do the most reps benching our body weight. It's not even close, so he forks over the 10 grand. (Personal note: my weight is 182 and I can do 23 reps at 225)



Defying the odds, the final table at the 5-diamond classic consists only of bloggers. We agree to split the winnings against the WPT's wishes, and show the world how bloggers play poker. Aces get cracked by the hammer and shouts of "Oh the Humanity" fill the airwaves.



We individually wager who can cop the best feel on Shanna Hiatt during our exit interviews. Pauly wins in a landslide.



I then ask for my tournament winnings to be paid in $1 bills. We then spend the rest of the weekend at Club Paradise getting AlCantHang-drunk, drowning in cheap booze and strippers.



If you listen closely enough you can hear Janie Lane singing "Heaven isn't too far away....."

Grim

Saturday started off so well. I took mini-Blood to his first college football game, Furman vs. The Citadel. Even though it was only Division 1AA, it was still quite a treat. I didn't expect him to last the whole game, so leaving after the first half was quite OK. The game was already decided by that point anyway with Furman up big 27-0.



I got home all geared up for Game 3 of the ALCS. Food, beer, widescreen TV: Check, check, and check.



I think the first pitch of the game to Derek Jeter was the high light of the night. As is common knowledge, the Sox got utterly destroyed by the Yankees. Game 4 tonight will be but a formality.



How best to drown your sorrows? Well duh, off to Party Poker. I figured that late on a Saturday night the games would be loose so I logged onto a $1/$2 no limit game hoping to catch some cards.



I did.



But the river caught the maniacs.



Man, I'm telling ya, the $25 buy-in tables on Party Poker are so much more like real poker sometimes. The $100 buy-ins are a push fest. I made decent decisions, but came out on the losing end each time. Kinda sucked.



So back down in limits for me...again.



For the record, I've registered for WPT V. Look for the real scary player avatar. That will be me.



Also, the BadBlood-T0-Vegas-O-Meter currently reads at 35% chance. I'll be updating that through the next few weeks as I make my bid to get there for the first time ever. Home Equity line of credit sounds good, right?