Socially Redeeming Value?

Legion update:  dealt, $27 tip, 1st out on final table (9th place).  'Nuff said.

I have been thinking about gambling some due to an email I received from an old friend.  Let me begin by saying that they were a'gin it due to family history.  I proceeded to give my defense of it, including the arguments of game of skill, managing and playing within my bankroll, enjoyment, limited loss in tournaments, etc.  The more I have been thinking the more I see the huge problems I witness almost daily when playing.  I personally know three people whose lives have been destroyed by gambling (but not poker).  On the other hand, I know more people whose lives have been wrecked by alcohol and/or drugs.  Let's just say that addictive behavior is problematic.

I think we all recognize some of the people in the casino who should not be gambling.  The guy who is young, working, and playing in the middle of the day, the woman who consistently loses....large amounts, the guy who is trying to get away from a bad situation at home, the poor folks literally playing with the rent money.

When I kept careful track of my wins/losses, I was apparently a winning player.  My total win or loss over my entire career probably would not buy or lose a decent used car.  But, that is not really the point.  What is important long run is how your habit may affect your character and your relationships.  I like to think that poker is my "social hour", though we all know it is much more than an hour.  I have made many friendships around the poker table, and with a lack of other contacts, that is a good thing.  Having an addictive personality I probably could have channeled the last few years more productively into business, exercise, reading, writing, or something more socially acceptable and redeeming.  But as my little sister says, "It is what it is".

All of this reminds me of a joke I heard recently.

A woman sees a man smoking and decides to educate him.
Woman:  How many packs of cigarettes do you smoke a day?
Man:  About 3
Woman:  How much does each pack cost?
Man:  Around 5 dollars.
Woman:  How many years have you been smoking?
Man:  Ten years, why?
Woman:  Well, if you would've saved all the money from buying cigarettes you could have bought a Lamborghini by now.
Man:  Wow!  Do you smoke?
Woman:  No.
Man:  Then where's your Lamborghini?

Feeling All Twerked Out

Rainy day at the coast.  All of my projects are outdoors ones like painting.  Guess I will just have to sit by the fireplace and play online poker all day (boo-hoo).  Makes me feel all twerked out.  Am I using the word correctly (LOL)?  Have heard it a lot on t.v. lately. 

Playing in a larger than normal limit Omaha game today I ripped the table a new one.  The players were surprisingly bad, chasing straights, flushes with the board paired, and chasing low draws when only one low card flopped.  Read some great articles about Omaha and am trying to improve my game so I can try the higher limit games next time I am in Vegas.....which if I have my way.....which I usually do......will be sometime in the next couple of months.  Had to turn down an invite from one of my local friends in early September due to work requirements.  His wife was out of town and he wanted to go mid week.  Could have done it if it had been the weekend.

One more day till the Legion tournament.  Planning on a repeat of last week.  Then, on to Seattle on Sunday and Tri-Cities on Monday.  Looking forward to everything, especially seeing "The Peanut", Eva.

Visiting the tooth fairy.  Hope she doesn't turn out like Miley. 

Why Do I Have Such Horrible Problems (1st World Variety)

1.  The battery on my cell phone is low and I am trying to play poker online.

2.  The ice cream is almost finished in my freezer.

3.  There are no movies on HBO that I want to watch.

4.  I occasionally drop calls on my 4G smartphone.

5.  The coffee shop I go to is closed on Wednesdays.

6.  My hot water in the shower takes a few minutes to warm up.

7.  I am totally out of brie.

8.  None of my friends have posted anything interesting on facebook today.

9.  It's a little rainy today in the resort beach community I live in.

10.  The recycling machine wouldn't give my credit for some of my empty beer bottles.

11.  My espresso machine is making some funny noises.

12.  They didn't offer me free refills for my chai at the Indian restaurant we ate at yesterday.

13.  Someone had an auto accident on the highway yesterday and I had to take a detour.

14.  Had to walk all the way to the basement to get another roll of toilet paper.

15.  My bank changed names so all of my checks look incorrect.

16.  Not all of the kernels popped in the big bowl of popcorn I fixed last night.

17.  My favorite tv shows are still on summer reruns.

18.  My view of the ocean is partially blocked by a new house.

19.  I ordered pizza, now I have to put on pants.

20.  There's nothing to drink at home except an endless supply of clean fresh drinking water.

21.  I am only getting one bar of coverage with my new 4G phone in the bathroom.

22.  My wallet won't close, there's too much money in it.

23.  I want food from the back of the fridge, but it's blocked by food in the front.

24.  Tried to carefully open the cereal bag but tore a huge opening down the side.

So This is What Running Good Looks Like. King of the Legion.

Finally, running very good at the American Legion.  As usual, I am dealing table 2 to cut my expenses with the dealer tip fund.  I am distracted, not playing as well as I could as evidenced by my brain fog on one hand.  I raise pre-flop with K/K and am called by K/10 (can you tell he might be in some trouble?).  The flop is K/8/8 and the player leads fairly large into me.  I count my chips, I have him covered and figure he is pot committed so I re-raise all-in which he insta-calls.  I figure him for an 8 and am very happy to see his hand.  The turn is another 8, and the river a blank.  I get all pissed off and start chopping the pot when another player points out that I have the overfull.  Duh!  Never would have had that brain fart if I was not dealing.  Player down.

All told, had pocket kings three times last night, winning all three, and knocking another player out on the final table with my K/K vs Q/Q.  Ended up with a three way split of $225 each and the best part, my $20 tip at the end came back to me as my dealer tip!!!  Ended up knocking 3 players out, 2 on the final table and had 2nd most chips after being the short stack at the start of the FT.  Had AK several times and several pocket pairs.  Makes a huge difference when your great hands hold up and you are actually getting some good starting hands.

Dealing with our Addictions (Poker included)

Showboat

Great classic song in a classic movie.  Got hooked last night and had to watch to the end.  This was the original version from 1936.  It is considered a masterpiece, and one of the best adaptations from a stage play ever.  The racial and interracial themes are pretty amazing for this time.  Pretty choppy by today's standards, and the acting is....interesting, but somehow is totally compelling.  I wanted to add one of my favorite songs, "Lovin' Dat Man of Mine", but they disabled the embedding on youtube, so you will just have to go to this link instead:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5WEQ8j1Me0

There are like a million versions of this on youtube, so take your pick from Annie Lennox to Ella Fitzgerald or Barbra Streisand.  Also, you get to see Hattie McDaniel in an early movie.

Now sleep deprived and with a headache I have tasks to do.  Have a good day.
 

S'more Poker Jokes

Poker jokes are like butt cracks- everyone has one and they all stink.

Q: What does a poker player eat for dinner?
A: Whatever his comp card allows him to.

 What is poker hell like? A limit game at 9:00 AM.

Besides lovemaking and singing in the shower, there aren’t many human activities where there is a greater difference between a person’s self-delusional ability and actual ability than in poker.
-Anonymous

In a book store:
“I am looking for the book named 'How to win easily and fast with poker.'
Clerk says: “Please check the science fiction section.”

I couldn't hit a river if I fell out of the boat.

A Disturbing Week

This week was going so well.  Picked up my sisters-in-law on Monday and enjoying a visit, looking forward to entire family coming this weekend.  Then, I receive a very disturbing email from my lessee on our commercial property.  They have been on a lease with option to purchase for the past 7 years.  They have been successful in their business, improved the property by adding an addition, and made a substantial down payment.  Trouble was on the horizon when their balloon payment came due in May.  They were unable to obtain financing, so I granted an extension for 6 months with their assurance that they would be able to make it happen by then.  On Tuesday I received an email informing me that they were going to move their operation to Portland and close the store in September.  I am now back to square one, albeit with some money and a better building.  I am now weighing my options, which include:  selling the building, leasing the building, or re-opening my old business there with some changes.  I am not excited about running a seasonal business in a resort town again, but it may be my only option.  The cost of keeping a building is fairly cheap with utilities taxes and upkeep, but it is a constant drain on my resources. 

Pocket Jacks & C-Bet Pro Advice

Source: www.foxnews.com via Filadog on Gentlemint

Testicle biting fish may be invading Denmark.  Places I have taken off my "want to visit" list:  Denmark

 

Exceptions to the "no cash game rule"

Every rule should have an exception, right?  I have been determined this week to play only in tournaments and stay the hell away from the Moose cash game.  Mission sort of accomplished.  Played in 3 tournaments Friday (8 & 10 a.m. Moose, then the 3:00 Jokers).  Made the final table all three times, but only got money bubble $40 at Joker's.  What was bad, was that they chopped after I was eliminated for $240 each.  The hand I lost was K7 on the button, flop was K/10/7.  Small bet from SB there is a flush draw, I shove, he calls with K/10.  How sick is that?  The worst part was that I stayed in the tournament so long that I lost my seat in the Omaha game.  Fearing that I would not get a seat....and yes I know this is a cash game.....was ready to leave but stayed and chatted with a player that I had not seen for a while.  Then a seat opened up and bought in for $200.  The usual suspects were playing, Dougie Fresh, old Bob, my friend Bob, Matt the dealer, Evan, and a couple of others I recognized.  I lost about $20 early on, but from there it was nothing but win.  The manager, Steve, even commented, "Getting any flops you like Phil?"  Oh yeah.  Draws came in, I folded early when beaten, scooped several....which is key in high/low....too many chops are really bad.  Long story short, I broke several players and broke the game when I left with 6 full racks of chips.  Excellent session of poker, and covered all tournament buy-in losses for the week.

Saturday played in only 2, the 8 a.m. & 10 am moose.  We chopped the 8 o'clock 6 ways for $70 each, and I just missed cashing the 10 o'clock.

Finally, Sunday a.m. moose, I am playing well but not getting anywhere.  Missed a huge pot when Donna shoved $1900 with A/10 on a Q/10/x board.  I made the mistake of calling her instead of re-raising all-in with my K/J.  The action got to Marco who shoved about $4500 more.  A call on my draw would have cost me all but about 1500 of my stack, placing me on life support.  I considered calling for two reasons:  first the $10 bounties, second, I owed Marco a bad beat from my last visit.  I put out of my head that revenge idea and focused on the financial.  I knew they both had gotten a chunk of the flop (Marco had Q/10), and figured that keeping a decent stack was more important than the other considerations.  However, I did not consider that winning the pot would propel me to the top chips on the table and a great shot at winning.  I folded.  The turn was no help, the river brought the ace and Donna tripled up, hurting Marco.  Opportunity missed.

My last hand was at the 300/600 level.  I was on the button and there were 2 limpers, including Gary sitting in the cutoff next to me.  With 2100 in the pot and my stack at 4200, I find pocket 8's.  There was no hesitation on my shove.  Everyone folded to Gary, who commented that he thought I was stealing.  I assured him that I had a "real hand" but he called with his Q/J offsuit.  The flop brought k/k/Q and I could not catch a two outer.  This was the first tournament this week that I did not make the final table, and the second one that I lost with a race where I started with a pocket pair.

Final weekly tally (leaving tomorrow morning):  Played freaking 8 tournaments, final table on 7, two small cashes, total investment loss:  $255 buy ins, less $110 cash, $20 free play wins, net:  $125 loss.
Cash game:  $397 win.  Total net win for the week $272 for about 20 hours of play.  Better than minimum wage.  With just a couple of breaks it would have been double that. 

Loose and Fast

In the tri-cities for a few days and last night went to the Lucky Bridge Casino for the first time in over a year.  Very slow and quiet with no cash game going.  Signed up for the 6:00 deepstack $25 turbo tournament.  Despite the 10K starting chips, and 25/50 blinds, the ten minute blinds assure that the tournament will be over in a couple of hours.  I got wounded early when I raised in middle position with A/A.  Both blinds and the limper called.  The flop was K/Q/9, two hearts.  I did not have a heart.  One of the blinds led out for 1300 (pot size was 1600).  I re-raised to 3000 to isolate and test his strength.  The other players folded and he re-raised all-in.  I folded the aces face up, and said, "Nice Hand, I am trying not to stay married to my aces but divorce them when necessary".  The player later said that he had flopped a set of queens.  In any case, there was just too much possible to beat me either on the flop or later.  I thought it was good advertising value for me to show my big laydown as it could get respect later.  Boy, was I wrong on that one.  This table was way too loose and stupid to appreciate it.

A couple of hands I would like to describe, one I was not part of, the other my last one.  The first, a fairly tight player who had chipped up nicely and was table leader raised UTG about 4 big blinds (300/600) to 2400.  The next player flat called.  Everyone else folded to the big blind who shoved with about 12,000.  The initial raiser tanked for a moment, then folded.  The caller then called the shove for all but about 2,000 chips.  The all in turned over K/9 offsuit (really? Kevin?) while the caller showed A/J offsuit.  The ace paired and player down.  The original raiser made some comment about folding the winning hand, said he had A/Q, while the winner said, "you should have played it, then".  Uncomfortable moment.  We had a break shortly afterward and I was discussing the play with the winner.  I asked him if he played with the guy a lot and had a good read on him.  He basically said no.  I said it was a perfectly executed squeeze play, and I was surprised that he had called with AJ.  He said he would have folded if the guy had more chips.  Since he would have been totally crippled if he lost, with only a couple of blinds, I was confused at his thinking.  Such is the nature of a $25 game.

That brings me to my final hand.  With blinds at 500/1000, and only 6500 remaining, I am in the big blind with K/9.  There is one limper and everyone else folds.  The flop is 10/J/2 with 2 spades.  I have the king of spades.  I check, and the other player checks behind.  The turn is another 2, I check again and he bets 2,000.  I think for a moment and decide that there is no way he caught any of the flop, so it is a positional bet.  I have a draw for the straight and a king over card.  Plus, on a no pair showdown, the king has a lot of value.  So, I call.  The river bring another 2.  With trips on the board and my decision that he has none of it, I shove for 3500.  He calls with 6/6 and wins, eliminating me.  I was surprised by his holding (I would think he might shove/raise preflop) as he can only beat a bluff, and my call of his turn bet should have put his spidey senses on alert that I had caught part of that.  Oh well.  Like I said, a loose and stupid table.     

Overfull vs. Underfull

 

The screenshot above is the best example I have seen for a while about the perils of under-full vs. over-full.  The player in the 1 seat has 4's full of 10's, the 2 seat has queens full of 10's, while the 5 seat has 10's full of queens.  You don't see many of these full over full over fulls, but as you can see by the pot size of $754 in a 10/20 game, it can be expensive with raises and re-raises the whole way with 2 flopped boats and one rivered one (the one seat flopped trips with a good kicker, then hit his set of 4's to fill up on the river). 

 

The other idiot, the guy in the 4 seat, kept calling with his open ended draw till he ran out of money.   I fold straight and flush draws if the board is paired, my cards always show on a replay screen save which is why you see them.  These types of hands are very difficult to fold, and most of us will not, particularly since some players are absolute idiots or geniuses and will ram and jam with two pair, flushes, straights and low draws.  Sometimes you just have to lose your money, but I have learned to fold these with multiple players jamming.

 

Here is another example of a huge pot with full over full.  Notice that SGTDANA flopped two pair.  His fate was sealed when I flopped a set of aces as he was drawing dead except to running 4's or 10's.  I never lose any sleep (anymore) when I flop the best possible full house and lose to quads.  Shit happens.  Also take note of hand selection.  I have a pair of aces with a nut flush draw, but otherwise barely playable hand.  The other player is starting with 3 high cards and a "dangler", the 4.  Even though the 3 cards are connected, which is great in Omaha, they are the same suite, which reduces the odds of getting the flush, which you can also note he would lose to me with my ace high spades.  His hand is one that I would lose no more than a big blind, as I would fold it pre-flop in any other position.  Big blind, I call one bet with the two pair, but check and call the under-full to the river.  Two pair in Omaha virtually never wins, and even if you fill up, this can happen.  I am learning to fold two pair to aggressive betting as it usually means a set, a made straight or draw, a made flush or draw, or low hand (or draw), that will make it very expensive to win a half of a pot.  There are just so many better spots to get your money in.

 

Races, small pairs, curse continues

This is starting to look familiar.  I walk into the American Legion last night, fairly early, though there are no parking spots remaining.  Mary asks me if I would like to deal table 2.  I cannot turn down her request as there are few players willing to deal and they do so much more to run the tournament.  I admire their consistency, just being there from start to finish every week.

The players straggle in and we finally begin with 28 warm bodies.  I kind of like my table as there are few calling stations, but also there are 3 of my Nemesis's sitting around me.  I get injured early with a raise from my 8/8 and a call by A/9 (one of the above named).  The flop is 9 high, and I just cannot make myself drop it to relatively small bets.  If I was not dealing I think it would have been easier for me to fold.

I have said many times that you must win races to win tournaments.  I was eliminated with my shoved 9/9.  Blinds were 200/400 with one limper and my stack was 2500.  I was called by the limper, who also was the big stack at the table.  He had QJ suited and spiked a jack in the door.  Really bad luck as a little later I pushed pots to 3 all in's who had 6/6 vs. over-cards, and the small pairs held up every time.  I even managed to find a two outer for a shoved 8/8 vs. A/A.  In general, pre-flop shoves are fairly easy to read.  The person usually does not want a call, which translates to a pair, but not AA, KK, or QQ.  If you call with broadway cards, you should always realize that you are racing.  Therefore, I usually will not call with a medium or really big stack as I do not want to double someone up or cripple myself.  A small stack call is o.k. as you really do need to gamble it up at that point.  That said, QJ is really a bad call as some players will also shove with AK or AQ, which is bad news for that hand.

Races are inevitable in poker.  At some point you will have to participate in one, and you must win them if you are vulnerable.  My personal philosophy will continue to be happy to get my chips in with the pair vs. overcards as you have a "made" hand vs. a draw.  It absolutely did not upset me to be eliminated this way, but as I watched several small pairs win could not help but curse my continued lack of luck.

The players were very generous in their tipping, particularly the guy who cracked the aces.  I ended up with $30 in tips so my evening only cost me $10.