I've never said that at an online poker table, but I probably would, if the amount wasn't placed next to the call button.
After messing around on Party Poker for a bit, or just enough to collect my Poker Source Online bonus, I've started working on a bonus from Full Tilt.
Now I hated Party Poker, as I've said before.
But I love Full Tilt.
Right away I could tell the games would be more challenging when a guy re-raised me with 9,9, pushing me off my JJ, in a cash game. I play $50 NL cash games, and for the most part, on the Mac Web sites, Hollywood Poker and Pokerroom (I know I should link these but nah), if a guy re-raises you, you can count on KK or AA.
You could argue that his play was a donkey move. I prefer to think of it as a good, aggressive way to make money from a pocket pair that is difficult to play post-flop. Had I re-raised him I'm sure he would have folded. Had I called I'm sure he would have played it cautiously. I folded because of what I've faced in the past.
Now I'll have to re-adjust my game.
And the biggest re-adjustment, I'm ashamed to admit, will be paying more attention to a player's image.
Through my two-tabling, chatting with or bugging other bloggers (hi, drizz!) and watching poker on TV, I have devoted maybe 25 percent of my attention to each table I play.
Unfortunately, or perhaps extremely fortunately, I've still managed to book solid winning sessions most of the time, or at least enough to show a decent profit every month.
I do this, of course, by playing tight, aggressive, ABC poker.
I may be wrong, but it seems to me that won't work on Full Tilt.
A guy to my left raised me continually throughout the night my first time on, pushing me off marginal hands that normally would take down pots on the other sites. I was down $15, mostly because I folded to his aggressively play. When I got A,J, I called yet another raise from him, about 4x the BB, his standard.
Now I never usually call with A,J in a cash game. There's no reason to, in my mind.
But this time I called. I even thought about re-raising, but I wasn't prepared to go to town with it. Yet.
When a J-high flop hit, with two diamonds, I bet about half the pot, and he re-raised me. I knew he would, and I decided right then and there that my TPTK, a hand I would normally toss to a re-raise, was good.
I raised him back. When he pushed (he had me covered by at least $75), I called.
He had a diamond draw and did not hit his flush. I won a $75 pot and wound up finishing up $20 for the night.
I paid attention and it paid off.
Last night, my second time on Full Tilt, twice I folded A,J with a J-high flop after he re-raised after my re-raise. I'm pretty sure I was beat there but I wouldn't know for sure.
I was watching ESPN.
There are still bad players on Full Tilt, some of them really bad. Last night I took $30 off a guy who played Q,4 os against my AA.
But it takes some attention to recognize them.
So I"ll still chat, as I enjoy that, and maintaining those relationships with the poker folk is definitely beneficial to my game.
But no more TV. Maybe, for now, no more two tabling.
And the Professional Poker Tour will have to accept 25 percent of my attention.
The rest I'm turning to the table.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Let's ban fantasy football too then
Five reasons why fantasy football and online poker are the same:
• I don't have to go to some bash on some boat to play it, even though I really, really, really, really, really want to but my budget won't allow it (that and my wife and possibly the 1-year-old would have looked like Linda Blair pre-Exorcist had I asked her after being gone so much this summer climbing).
• They take more luck than we want to admit, especially us "educated" players who hate, say, the guy who takes, say, Drew Brees in the first round and crushes your team with Terrell Owens and Steve Smith and Shaun Alexander as receivers (strictly a hypothetical, that's not me). Does this sound familiar with a guy holding A,5 against your A,K?
• It's really, really fun when it's going well and really, really crappy, almost tedious, when it's not.
• I say Who-hoo! when I'm doing well, as I did Sunday, when my team scored 91 points.
• It's a little geeky, but in a hip sort of way.
Bonus reason: Both go better with beer.
• I don't have to go to some bash on some boat to play it, even though I really, really, really, really, really want to but my budget won't allow it (that and my wife and possibly the 1-year-old would have looked like Linda Blair pre-Exorcist had I asked her after being gone so much this summer climbing).
• They take more luck than we want to admit, especially us "educated" players who hate, say, the guy who takes, say, Drew Brees in the first round and crushes your team with Terrell Owens and Steve Smith and Shaun Alexander as receivers (strictly a hypothetical, that's not me). Does this sound familiar with a guy holding A,5 against your A,K?
• It's really, really fun when it's going well and really, really crappy, almost tedious, when it's not.
• I say Who-hoo! when I'm doing well, as I did Sunday, when my team scored 91 points.
• It's a little geeky, but in a hip sort of way.
Bonus reason: Both go better with beer.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Fall is here, and that's really cool
Now that I’ve accepted the end to the summer climbing season, I had a wonderful run Sunday morning.
It was the perfect morning, the kind of morning you only get in the fall.
Climbing in September can be as addictive as crack to mountaineers. The changing leaves are a reason, but mostly it’s because of the weather.
Fall arrived this weekend, and it’s already creating some welcome weather.
The weather was bad this fall, but when it’s good, it’s realllllly good. It’s usually clear and cold, but not too cold.
I planned to go about eight miles Sunday as training for a half marathon I plan to run at Boyd Lake in November. I started out in my running tights (not exactly flattering but wonderful for those cold runs) and a warm top, and my hands were biting at me when I started with my running partner.
We ran down from Northridge to the Poudre Trail, down past the trail, up 83rd Avenue and to 20th and back to Northridge.
As the run progressed, the day slowly got warmer, as if it was camped under a small, blue, gas flame. By the end, I was sweaty and almost hot, but just in time for the run to be over.
The mountains to the west looked gorgeous, with deep, white snow coating their tops. The clear, cold weather gave us a good view, something you just don’t see in the summer, when smog and ozone gets clogged in the warm air, obscuring their view.
Once you accept the fact that fall is here, it doesn’t take long to really enjoy it.
It was the perfect morning, the kind of morning you only get in the fall.
Climbing in September can be as addictive as crack to mountaineers. The changing leaves are a reason, but mostly it’s because of the weather.
Fall arrived this weekend, and it’s already creating some welcome weather.
The weather was bad this fall, but when it’s good, it’s realllllly good. It’s usually clear and cold, but not too cold.
I planned to go about eight miles Sunday as training for a half marathon I plan to run at Boyd Lake in November. I started out in my running tights (not exactly flattering but wonderful for those cold runs) and a warm top, and my hands were biting at me when I started with my running partner.
We ran down from Northridge to the Poudre Trail, down past the trail, up 83rd Avenue and to 20th and back to Northridge.
As the run progressed, the day slowly got warmer, as if it was camped under a small, blue, gas flame. By the end, I was sweaty and almost hot, but just in time for the run to be over.
The mountains to the west looked gorgeous, with deep, white snow coating their tops. The clear, cold weather gave us a good view, something you just don’t see in the summer, when smog and ozone gets clogged in the warm air, obscuring their view.
Once you accept the fact that fall is here, it doesn’t take long to really enjoy it.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Goodnight season
This is dedicated to “Goodnight Moon,” one of 1-year-old Jayden’s favorite books.
Goodnight, climbing season.
Goodnight snow.
Goodnight weather that makes the wind blow.
Goodnight frustration.
Goodnight forecasts.
Goodnight summer, which really didn’t last.
Goodnight granola bars.
Goodnight sunlight.
Hello time with the little guy day and night.
Goodnight equipment, stashed out of sight.
Goodnight ruined plans - I’ve got no more fight.
Hello long runs so I’ll be ready.
For some snowshoeing and skiing come January.
P.S. Hello poker, time to play
So my aces can get cracked another day
Goodnight, climbing season.
Goodnight snow.
Goodnight weather that makes the wind blow.
Goodnight frustration.
Goodnight forecasts.
Goodnight summer, which really didn’t last.
Goodnight granola bars.
Goodnight sunlight.
Hello time with the little guy day and night.
Goodnight equipment, stashed out of sight.
Goodnight ruined plans - I’ve got no more fight.
Hello long runs so I’ll be ready.
For some snowshoeing and skiing come January.
P.S. Hello poker, time to play
So my aces can get cracked another day
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Worst. Champion. Ever.
Jamie, Jamie, Jamie.
Poker really doesn't need this. Poker is more popular than ever, but it's still kind of a sleazy game, so it still needs all the good publicity it can get. They're trying to ban what made it so popular, after all.
And so who do we have currently representing our game in prime time all over sport's biggest station?
No, unfortunately, it's not Allen Cunningham.
We've got Jamie Gold.
Ugh.
You could sort of excuse the flap with his promise to split half his winnings. Yeah, it's kind of sleazy, but it was bound to happen one of these days, with every player who didn't make it in through an Internet tournament or satelite backed by someone. And you could sort of excuse the fact that he's a geeky, shallow, smarmy person. This year's tournament was loaded with them, the result of too many Internet players in Mom's basement apartment. Heck, at least Eric Molina didn't win (I bothered to look up his name this time).
But the guy is SUCH a douchebag. So many times on ESPN yesterday I hid my head in a pillow. All that talking, telling players what he has and then pretending he was sorry to knock out another player.
"I said top top," he said to one player. "I'm sorry."
"I told him what I had," he said later.
These are exactly the kind of players I hate, in my poker game and my softball game. I'll slide cleats first into them without a second thought.
Gold has to be poker's most embarassing main event champion since Robert Varkonyi.
And I hesitate to say this because at the least, Varkonyi is good family man, a humble, nice guy who got Phil Hellmuth's head shaved. How can you not like him? He said at the main event this year they had a baby, and last year he stood by and supported his wife all the way to her cash in the tournament. I'd leave my 1-year-old with Varkonyi for babysitting.
I'd walk through fire to snatch him from Gold's arms.
My finger was in my throat the whole time they were doing the Gold story about his father. The soft piano music. The close-ups of Gold's sincere face. The tears.
Yes, it's a sad story, but I just don't buy that all of Gold's money is going to his Dad. Why fight to keep half his winnings then? His father may be dead before that money is released.
I suppose we've gotten lucky in the past. Joe Hachem and Greg Raymer were great champions. Even Moneymaker did a lot for the game by promoting the idea that anyone could win. He's embarassing himself now in those commercials, but they paid him a lot of money, I'm sure, so who can blame him for doing them?
Gold just makes me shake my head, a guy who thinks he's a great player and doesn't realize that he hit the run of his life.
Here's to seeing him get knocked out next year.
• • •
I haven't written much about football, even though I love it, because I'm a Chiefs fan, and I went to the University of Kansas. We're not talking powerhouses here. The Chiefs put on an inspiring 9-6 overtime loss Sunday.
So, yes, I love football, but I'll just keep quiet about it for now.
My fantasy team is pretty good. I've finished first in my league twice, second once and fourth once in six years.
I just made a brilliant roster move. I picked up a kicker to cover for Vinateri in case he can't kick (and how hurt, really , do you have to be to not kick a football). Except he's on his bye weeks.
Nice.
• • •
Now that my new MacBook runs Windows, I'll slowly work through Poker Source Online bonuses and then stick with the ones I like. So far Party Poker isn't going to make the cut, and that has nothing to do with the fact that I lost huge pots last night with A,Q and A,A against 10,9 and 3,4 when both hands flopped trips. And no I didn't slow play them. And you have to come to my house to collect your $1.
I just don't like the software, the poor customer service and all the bugs. But I do like the PSO bonus and free money.
I've played 250 raked hands there. Once I reach 1,000 I may move on.
Poker really doesn't need this. Poker is more popular than ever, but it's still kind of a sleazy game, so it still needs all the good publicity it can get. They're trying to ban what made it so popular, after all.
And so who do we have currently representing our game in prime time all over sport's biggest station?
No, unfortunately, it's not Allen Cunningham.
We've got Jamie Gold.
Ugh.
You could sort of excuse the flap with his promise to split half his winnings. Yeah, it's kind of sleazy, but it was bound to happen one of these days, with every player who didn't make it in through an Internet tournament or satelite backed by someone. And you could sort of excuse the fact that he's a geeky, shallow, smarmy person. This year's tournament was loaded with them, the result of too many Internet players in Mom's basement apartment. Heck, at least Eric Molina didn't win (I bothered to look up his name this time).
But the guy is SUCH a douchebag. So many times on ESPN yesterday I hid my head in a pillow. All that talking, telling players what he has and then pretending he was sorry to knock out another player.
"I said top top," he said to one player. "I'm sorry."
"I told him what I had," he said later.
These are exactly the kind of players I hate, in my poker game and my softball game. I'll slide cleats first into them without a second thought.
Gold has to be poker's most embarassing main event champion since Robert Varkonyi.
And I hesitate to say this because at the least, Varkonyi is good family man, a humble, nice guy who got Phil Hellmuth's head shaved. How can you not like him? He said at the main event this year they had a baby, and last year he stood by and supported his wife all the way to her cash in the tournament. I'd leave my 1-year-old with Varkonyi for babysitting.
I'd walk through fire to snatch him from Gold's arms.
My finger was in my throat the whole time they were doing the Gold story about his father. The soft piano music. The close-ups of Gold's sincere face. The tears.
Yes, it's a sad story, but I just don't buy that all of Gold's money is going to his Dad. Why fight to keep half his winnings then? His father may be dead before that money is released.
I suppose we've gotten lucky in the past. Joe Hachem and Greg Raymer were great champions. Even Moneymaker did a lot for the game by promoting the idea that anyone could win. He's embarassing himself now in those commercials, but they paid him a lot of money, I'm sure, so who can blame him for doing them?
Gold just makes me shake my head, a guy who thinks he's a great player and doesn't realize that he hit the run of his life.
Here's to seeing him get knocked out next year.
• • •
I haven't written much about football, even though I love it, because I'm a Chiefs fan, and I went to the University of Kansas. We're not talking powerhouses here. The Chiefs put on an inspiring 9-6 overtime loss Sunday.
So, yes, I love football, but I'll just keep quiet about it for now.
My fantasy team is pretty good. I've finished first in my league twice, second once and fourth once in six years.
I just made a brilliant roster move. I picked up a kicker to cover for Vinateri in case he can't kick (and how hurt, really , do you have to be to not kick a football). Except he's on his bye weeks.
Nice.
• • •
Now that my new MacBook runs Windows, I'll slowly work through Poker Source Online bonuses and then stick with the ones I like. So far Party Poker isn't going to make the cut, and that has nothing to do with the fact that I lost huge pots last night with A,Q and A,A against 10,9 and 3,4 when both hands flopped trips. And no I didn't slow play them. And you have to come to my house to collect your $1.
I just don't like the software, the poor customer service and all the bugs. But I do like the PSO bonus and free money.
I've played 250 raked hands there. Once I reach 1,000 I may move on.
Monday, September 18, 2006
Mountaineering can mean pretty leaves as well as a summit
I scraped my first windshield of the season Sunday.
A thick coat of frost stuck to my car as my wife, Kate, and I walked out of the Alpine Inn, a quaint place we found in Gunnison a few hours after ditching my attempt to climb Vermillion.
That’s right. The climbing season might very well be over.
Fall is here, and in the San Juans, it appears, the cold and snow is leapfrogging fall and right into winter.
A windy, cold and unforecasted snowstorm knocked out my plans to climb the high 13er, what us climbers call a Centennial because it’s one of the highest 100 peaks in the state, near Silverton. It also may just end my season. I’m sick of fighting the weather every weekend — as I’ve already said, this was the fifth weekend in a row of bad weather — and I’ve only got this weekend before I can expect a path to a high summit without a lot of snow.
Driving home Sunday was, in a sense, as painful as the trip up would have been, as the skies were blue and crystal clear, featuring the kind of weather that makes mountaineers weep in gratitude.
But I left this weekend feeling like I had a good trip instead of crying over another lost chance to climb.
Kate, my wife, went with me, and we got to do see some of the best leaves I’ve seen in my life.
The best place we saw was over Monarch Pass on U.S. 285 outside of Poncha Springs. So that could mean by the time you make plans to go see it, that color might be over. The second-best place was over Red Mountain Pass just outside of Ouray, and even though the color was spectacular up there, it still has potential, and I’m guessing this weekend would be eye-popping.
We stayed in the Box Canyon Lodge in Ouray, where we could soak in several hot springs tubs. When I woke up Saturday morning, after reading a forecast of clear but cold and windy weather, the rain pattered against the window of my room. I couldn’t believe it. We drove up to Red Mountain pass anyway, thinking I could get a late start on the peak, and the mountains looked like ice cream cones, with harsh weather topping them like whipped cream.
Um, no.
But it didn’t seem to matter too much, once I got over my initial grumbling.
The drive up to the pass was beautiful, the kind of sights you only get to see three weeks out of the whole year. I still got to share with Kate many of my favorite adventures when I was chasing the 14ers, including the fun, 4WD road up to Mount Sneffels, Ouray’s king of the mountains, that I drove in hurricane-like weather the night before I planned to climb it, only to find starry skies at 3 a.m. when I got up from the back seat of my car to go to the bathroom.
On the way home, Kate said, “I want to go back next year.” She looked relaxed. It was good to get out of town and have a break from our little guy. And she realized, just like I discovered many years ago, that we are lucky to live in Colorado.
We started planning out next year as we drove back. We could stay a couple days in Lake City, where I staked my “base camp” the week I climbed five 14ers in a week and attempted a sixth (Sneffels the first time, when a thundersnowstorm drove me off). We could then go back to Ouray and get Vermillion. Maybe we could even bring Jayden, who would be 2 by then and might enjoy the sights.
Sometimes my most important mountaineering adventures, I am constantly reminded, come when I don’t even sniff a chance at making the summit.
Here are a few photos of the leaves and the snow later on. Check out the rainbow at the place we stayed Friday night. The hot springs were nice, too:
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Embarassing on ESPN
Well, I was pretty embarassed for poker last night during ESPN's World Series of Poker broadcast.
We live in an agricultural community out here in Weld County, Colorado, on the edge of both the mountains and the plains, but I saw far more jackasses last night than I have in my seven years here.
I can't remember all the names. They all run together anyway, and I don't want to spend one brain cell more on them anyway.
My favorite was the guy in the Sugar Ray "I just wanna fly" sunglasses who berated a player for calling an all-in with A,10 (correctly, but still...) and then called later with 6,5 os and a board that matched about as well as my junior high school outfits.
Norman Chad actually had some good lines last night berating the beraters. "How did you get here unsupervised?" was my favorite to a "How could you call that?"
I don't blame ESPN for showing all the sparks. It's entertaining.
But it's also embarassing to the game. All those hat/sunglasses/iPod dipshits thinking they're Phil Ivey, going all in with shit and then acting like it's the greatest move since the Stop N Go. Jamie Gold couldn't have come off as more of a douchebag if he gave off the slight odor of vinegar and baby powder. Even Jeffrey Lisandro, a classy, tough player, talked about taking off the head of a tournament director.
When do we get back to poker?
Poker is not the nicest game. I realize that. The objective is to take the other person's money. You do this through deception, trickery, bullying, besting or outright lying. But it's a beautiful, interesting, thoughtful game as well. And we don't need to muck it up any further by focusing on all the asses. There are plenty of classy players who, by the way, play a wonderful game, like, I don't know, Allen Cunningham. It would be nice to see a few more hands from him instead of brief clips of him dragging a pot or two.
My theory on all these guys is poker is basically for dorks, geeks and video game whizzes who have found a new itch to scratch. Before you flame me, yes, I include myself in that group, although I think the mountain climbing and running gets me out of the basement every once in a while. Many of you have kids or softball or gardening or something else.
These guys currently making a fool of themselves on ESPN don't seem to have anything else.
Suddenly these guys find themselves doing something somewhat cool and hip. There's a spotlight on them. They've never felt that before. So they have no idea how to act.
In the future, ESPN, can you please focus on those who do?
We live in an agricultural community out here in Weld County, Colorado, on the edge of both the mountains and the plains, but I saw far more jackasses last night than I have in my seven years here.
I can't remember all the names. They all run together anyway, and I don't want to spend one brain cell more on them anyway.
My favorite was the guy in the Sugar Ray "I just wanna fly" sunglasses who berated a player for calling an all-in with A,10 (correctly, but still...) and then called later with 6,5 os and a board that matched about as well as my junior high school outfits.
Norman Chad actually had some good lines last night berating the beraters. "How did you get here unsupervised?" was my favorite to a "How could you call that?"
I don't blame ESPN for showing all the sparks. It's entertaining.
But it's also embarassing to the game. All those hat/sunglasses/iPod dipshits thinking they're Phil Ivey, going all in with shit and then acting like it's the greatest move since the Stop N Go. Jamie Gold couldn't have come off as more of a douchebag if he gave off the slight odor of vinegar and baby powder. Even Jeffrey Lisandro, a classy, tough player, talked about taking off the head of a tournament director.
When do we get back to poker?
Poker is not the nicest game. I realize that. The objective is to take the other person's money. You do this through deception, trickery, bullying, besting or outright lying. But it's a beautiful, interesting, thoughtful game as well. And we don't need to muck it up any further by focusing on all the asses. There are plenty of classy players who, by the way, play a wonderful game, like, I don't know, Allen Cunningham. It would be nice to see a few more hands from him instead of brief clips of him dragging a pot or two.
My theory on all these guys is poker is basically for dorks, geeks and video game whizzes who have found a new itch to scratch. Before you flame me, yes, I include myself in that group, although I think the mountain climbing and running gets me out of the basement every once in a while. Many of you have kids or softball or gardening or something else.
These guys currently making a fool of themselves on ESPN don't seem to have anything else.
Suddenly these guys find themselves doing something somewhat cool and hip. There's a spotlight on them. They've never felt that before. So they have no idea how to act.
In the future, ESPN, can you please focus on those who do?
Monday, September 11, 2006
Scraping by on the SnG short stack
One of my best traits at the poker table is my ability to sip on a short stack until the money comes in a SnG.
It is unfortunately, something I've had a lot of practice doing.
I'm fine with that. I prefer to wait for good starting hands instead of think I'm Phil Ivey and shove my chips in with, say, A,4, as many of my opponents prefer to do, at least at the levels I play ($10 + $1 is my highest stake, but I've started to play those more frequently).
Actually, I don't even think Phil Ivey does that.
Anyway, probably half the time I play, I find myself nursing a short stack and waiting for a good opportunity.
You probably do to, if you're like me and:
• You fail to catch a fish
• You fold to most raises and refuse to get involved early on in the game unless you've got a hand you simply can't fold
• You are satisfied with cashing most of the time instead of taking chances so you can win
• You bluff sporadically but not enough to steal more than once per orbit
• You get a cold run of cards
• You suffer at least one suckout (par for me in an SnG is at least once, usually when something like my A,K loses to 10,3 sooted)
• You think patience, rather than aggression, gets you more money in an SnG (anyone who believes differently can look at my 67 percent ROI according to Sharkscope and see how they match up)
So, you've played good poker and you've been rewarded by having half as many chips as three of the other world-class poker players who doubled up by playing J,10; Q,K and 5,5 to a raise, respectively, the last guy tripling up when he went all-in against QQ and KK and spiked his 5 on the river.
Here's a few tips on how to make the money. This is mostly the same as Harrington's low-M stragety and his short-stack advice in his latest, Vol. III. But read on because you may offer a few more tips after mine here.
• When you're in, you're all in - Your equity gives you a good reason to push with hands like 9,8 soooted or Q,10 if your M drops below 5. On the bubble, most players won't take a chance of getting crippled unless they've got a monster, and if they do, well, there's nothing you can do.
But...
• Don't call an all-in unless you either have a great read on a guy, and you might by this time, or you have a 10-percent hand like AA, AK sooted, KK or maybe QQ and JJ. Anything beyond that and you're likely in a coin flip, unless, again, you think the guy is a maniac.
But....
• Trust your instincts. In fact, players become chip leaders in SnGs because they're idiots, took chances and got lucky. If you have A,10 and you're against one of those players, and you're really short, call. Occasionally you have to take a chance to win at SnGs.
However...
• If you do call a maniac, or you push all-in because you're close to gasping for air, try to push with a hand that won't be dominated. Avoid hands like A,4, where someone will mostly likely call with any A, leaving you dominated. Try to push with, say, Q,10 or possibly 9,8, giving you a greater chance for a pair.
Also, if you get a pair, any pair, run with it if you're below 4.
And...
• Don't wait until you're almost dead to push. Your equity is your best weapon. If you have an M of 2, all you're doing is pricing someone into calling you. You have to have the chips to hurt someone if they call. If you do, most of the time, they won't call, and you've stolen some significant blinds.
Finally....
• Once you're in the money, you can loosen up, but only slightly. I can't tell you how much extra money I've won because players go back to their usual "Hey, I've got Q,5, I'm pooooshing here" and knocked themselves out. Obviously push if you have to, but don't just go all-in on the next hand because you've barely doubled your buy-in with third.
Good luck riding that short stack.
It is unfortunately, something I've had a lot of practice doing.
I'm fine with that. I prefer to wait for good starting hands instead of think I'm Phil Ivey and shove my chips in with, say, A,4, as many of my opponents prefer to do, at least at the levels I play ($10 + $1 is my highest stake, but I've started to play those more frequently).
Actually, I don't even think Phil Ivey does that.
Anyway, probably half the time I play, I find myself nursing a short stack and waiting for a good opportunity.
You probably do to, if you're like me and:
• You fail to catch a fish
• You fold to most raises and refuse to get involved early on in the game unless you've got a hand you simply can't fold
• You are satisfied with cashing most of the time instead of taking chances so you can win
• You bluff sporadically but not enough to steal more than once per orbit
• You get a cold run of cards
• You suffer at least one suckout (par for me in an SnG is at least once, usually when something like my A,K loses to 10,3 sooted)
• You think patience, rather than aggression, gets you more money in an SnG (anyone who believes differently can look at my 67 percent ROI according to Sharkscope and see how they match up)
So, you've played good poker and you've been rewarded by having half as many chips as three of the other world-class poker players who doubled up by playing J,10; Q,K and 5,5 to a raise, respectively, the last guy tripling up when he went all-in against QQ and KK and spiked his 5 on the river.
Here's a few tips on how to make the money. This is mostly the same as Harrington's low-M stragety and his short-stack advice in his latest, Vol. III. But read on because you may offer a few more tips after mine here.
• When you're in, you're all in - Your equity gives you a good reason to push with hands like 9,8 soooted or Q,10 if your M drops below 5. On the bubble, most players won't take a chance of getting crippled unless they've got a monster, and if they do, well, there's nothing you can do.
But...
• Don't call an all-in unless you either have a great read on a guy, and you might by this time, or you have a 10-percent hand like AA, AK sooted, KK or maybe QQ and JJ. Anything beyond that and you're likely in a coin flip, unless, again, you think the guy is a maniac.
But....
• Trust your instincts. In fact, players become chip leaders in SnGs because they're idiots, took chances and got lucky. If you have A,10 and you're against one of those players, and you're really short, call. Occasionally you have to take a chance to win at SnGs.
However...
• If you do call a maniac, or you push all-in because you're close to gasping for air, try to push with a hand that won't be dominated. Avoid hands like A,4, where someone will mostly likely call with any A, leaving you dominated. Try to push with, say, Q,10 or possibly 9,8, giving you a greater chance for a pair.
Also, if you get a pair, any pair, run with it if you're below 4.
And...
• Don't wait until you're almost dead to push. Your equity is your best weapon. If you have an M of 2, all you're doing is pricing someone into calling you. You have to have the chips to hurt someone if they call. If you do, most of the time, they won't call, and you've stolen some significant blinds.
Finally....
• Once you're in the money, you can loosen up, but only slightly. I can't tell you how much extra money I've won because players go back to their usual "Hey, I've got Q,5, I'm pooooshing here" and knocked themselves out. Obviously push if you have to, but don't just go all-in on the next hand because you've barely doubled your buy-in with third.
Good luck riding that short stack.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
A reminder
Kinda frustrated right now.
After a week of beautiful weather for climbing, it's depressing, damp and dingy outside, and that's kinda how I feel on the inside. The forecast calls for a 60 percent chance of rain, which, all you poker players now, means 100 percent chance you will get sucked out on if you are ahead that far. It also means 100 percent rain, basically, in the mountains, or storms or snow. A high of 35. Winds up to 25 mph.
Does that sound fun to you?
Me either.
So I'm staying home unless the forecast changes.
People ask me if my climbing has changed since I had Jayden. Not really, I tell them. I still do dangerous routes.
But this has changed me in this way: Before I'd be more willing to just risk it and see if the weather suddenly got better. Now if I'm going to spend that much time away from him — usually climbing is at least a 12 hour day when you factor in the driving — I want a decent shot at the peak.
It doesn't sound like I'm going to get even that.
I may regret it tommorow, but I'm not going unless I pull a three-outer and the weather clears. As the forecast just keeps getting worse, I doubt it will happen.
Sigh.
• • •
I'm not a "God Bless the U.S.A." kind of guy. I think Bush is probably our Worst. President. Ever. I really hate the war in Iraq. And now they want to ban online poker. Hmph.
But I wrote this editorial for the Tribune that will run Sunday, and I believe every word of it. I hope you enjoy it and have a good weekend.
It’s still painful to see clips from what was one of our worst days in America’s history.
Even five years later, seeing that second plane slam into the innocent World Trade Center sends a spike through our hearts. If you catch any video of those people jumping out of the buildings, chances are you still have to avert your eyes. And footage of the collapse of the two towers can still bring tough, brave men from our local fire departments to tears.
But one memory, an important memory, should bring a smile to your face.
We responded with a patriotic flourish we haven’t enjoyed since World War II.
We sang “God Bless America” at ball games. Flag pins, flag shirts and flag hats became hip additions to our wardrobes, as if they were endorsed by fashion gurus from the show “Project Runway.” We even cheered for the hated, rich and somewhat snobby New York Yankees because we knew that city deserved a World Series after taking the kind of punishment no place should ever have to bear.
Most of all, we brought our flags out of the attic, dusted them off and flew them proudly, day and night, as a defiant fist-shake to the cowards who attacked us.
On the five-year anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, even for just one day, it’s time to fly them again.
The way we showed our love for our country was something positive out of all the horror. It was proof that good things can come out of unspeakable acts. It was a way to show terrorists that nothing will shake us from our foundations of freedom.
It’s probably safe to say that we always loved our country. We just forgot along the way to show it. Marriages suffer from the same natural tendency to take something so stable, so comfortable and so natural for granted. And yet, just as a heart attack, a car crash or the need for counseling can bring back the affection married couples once shared so freely, watching so many of us die so unexpectedly and without warning made us realize how dangerous it is to assume our country will always be there for us.
It seems funny to fly our flags on a day that was so terrible. After all, we fly our flags on holidays, days that are fun to remember and enjoy and celebrate, such as our nation’s independence.
Fly our flags on Sept. 11, then, to celebrate how our nation responded to such a knee-buckling strike.
Fly our flags to celebrate that patriotism and keep it in the backs of our minds.
Fly our flags to celebrate how one of our worst days soon became some of our best.
After a week of beautiful weather for climbing, it's depressing, damp and dingy outside, and that's kinda how I feel on the inside. The forecast calls for a 60 percent chance of rain, which, all you poker players now, means 100 percent chance you will get sucked out on if you are ahead that far. It also means 100 percent rain, basically, in the mountains, or storms or snow. A high of 35. Winds up to 25 mph.
Does that sound fun to you?
Me either.
So I'm staying home unless the forecast changes.
People ask me if my climbing has changed since I had Jayden. Not really, I tell them. I still do dangerous routes.
But this has changed me in this way: Before I'd be more willing to just risk it and see if the weather suddenly got better. Now if I'm going to spend that much time away from him — usually climbing is at least a 12 hour day when you factor in the driving — I want a decent shot at the peak.
It doesn't sound like I'm going to get even that.
I may regret it tommorow, but I'm not going unless I pull a three-outer and the weather clears. As the forecast just keeps getting worse, I doubt it will happen.
Sigh.
• • •
I'm not a "God Bless the U.S.A." kind of guy. I think Bush is probably our Worst. President. Ever. I really hate the war in Iraq. And now they want to ban online poker. Hmph.
But I wrote this editorial for the Tribune that will run Sunday, and I believe every word of it. I hope you enjoy it and have a good weekend.
It’s still painful to see clips from what was one of our worst days in America’s history.
Even five years later, seeing that second plane slam into the innocent World Trade Center sends a spike through our hearts. If you catch any video of those people jumping out of the buildings, chances are you still have to avert your eyes. And footage of the collapse of the two towers can still bring tough, brave men from our local fire departments to tears.
But one memory, an important memory, should bring a smile to your face.
We responded with a patriotic flourish we haven’t enjoyed since World War II.
We sang “God Bless America” at ball games. Flag pins, flag shirts and flag hats became hip additions to our wardrobes, as if they were endorsed by fashion gurus from the show “Project Runway.” We even cheered for the hated, rich and somewhat snobby New York Yankees because we knew that city deserved a World Series after taking the kind of punishment no place should ever have to bear.
Most of all, we brought our flags out of the attic, dusted them off and flew them proudly, day and night, as a defiant fist-shake to the cowards who attacked us.
On the five-year anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, even for just one day, it’s time to fly them again.
The way we showed our love for our country was something positive out of all the horror. It was proof that good things can come out of unspeakable acts. It was a way to show terrorists that nothing will shake us from our foundations of freedom.
It’s probably safe to say that we always loved our country. We just forgot along the way to show it. Marriages suffer from the same natural tendency to take something so stable, so comfortable and so natural for granted. And yet, just as a heart attack, a car crash or the need for counseling can bring back the affection married couples once shared so freely, watching so many of us die so unexpectedly and without warning made us realize how dangerous it is to assume our country will always be there for us.
It seems funny to fly our flags on a day that was so terrible. After all, we fly our flags on holidays, days that are fun to remember and enjoy and celebrate, such as our nation’s independence.
Fly our flags on Sept. 11, then, to celebrate how our nation responded to such a knee-buckling strike.
Fly our flags to celebrate that patriotism and keep it in the backs of our minds.
Fly our flags to celebrate how one of our worst days soon became some of our best.
Monday, September 04, 2006
We now interrupt this blog...
(Let's pretend I have on a tacky checkered suit, a sweaty handshake and a bad haircut).
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Sunday, September 03, 2006
Freerollin'
I got my new laptop, a Mac Book that is my reward for a long summer of guiding, and so I spent Friday figuring that out rather than play poker.
Except that I did play one game, telling myself it would be a nice reward for a day of watching Jayden and figuring out the new computer.
And I played another $10 + $1, 30-person SnG, figuring I was freerolling for the week after my $120, first-place win the other night.
And I took second.
And won another $85.
You ever start avoiding the poker table because things are going too well? Like you figure variance is gonna kick you in the nuts one of these days?
I'm going for a hike Labor Day.
I just don't want to mess with karma right now.
Except that I did play one game, telling myself it would be a nice reward for a day of watching Jayden and figuring out the new computer.
And I played another $10 + $1, 30-person SnG, figuring I was freerolling for the week after my $120, first-place win the other night.
And I took second.
And won another $85.
You ever start avoiding the poker table because things are going too well? Like you figure variance is gonna kick you in the nuts one of these days?
I'm going for a hike Labor Day.
I just don't want to mess with karma right now.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Get a goal and get off your butt (so sayeth the Fitness God)
I've decided to pimp myself a bit more. I'm posting this story just because I think you'd enjoy it and I like to share what I'm doing for the Greeley Tribune.
Plus a lot of you are great writers and I like your thoughts on the craft.
Here's the story
• • •
We're also blogging now for the Tribune, as per our editors' requirement because without the Internet, we're nothing as a paper now. My editors, surprisingly enough, didn't like the idea of a poker blog. They wanted something that has something to do with my beat.
I cover adventure sports such as mountaineering (I know, shocking) and entertainment, so now I've got a blog about fitness sports, outdoor recreation and running.
So now I get to write blogs like the one I wrote below. I like it, sort of, but it will sound preachy as hell. The message is good, but I sound like fucking Richard Simmons.
Anyway, here goes:
Sometimes the news is so obvious we miss the underlining message behind it.
We're getting fatter, the Associated Press reported Wednesday. Obesity now exceeds 25 percent in 13 states, and 31 states reported a rise in obesity.
I know. You’re shocked. Health officials have wagged a collective, fried finger in our face for a few years now, saying that our taste for triple-decked desserts, portions the size of Kentucky and sitting on our butt will continue to plump us up more than a turkey before Thanksgiving.
But did you notice something else? Colorado, our state, is the thinnest.
We’re not Olive-Oyl thin, so let’s not get cocky about it. But we’re still the thinnest.
Why? Well, to me, it’s obvious, even if my answer will appear incredibly self-serving (but a blog is pretty self-serving, too, so deal with it).
We have mountains here.
That’s it. The mountains mean our state offers far more recreational opportunities than most other states, and trail for trail, we probably have more recreational opportunities here than any other state. In fact, we probably have more things to do here that involve a little sweat and a lot of fun than all the southern states combined (and all those states were the fattest).
You don’t have to get high, like I do (anything above 13,500 is my preference), to enjoy the mountains. There’s fishing, hunting, boating, hiking, wildlife watching, leaf gazing, star searching, camping, skiing, snowboarding and mountain biking, and all of those activities are better in the mountains. If you combine that with the trail running, recreational sports such as softball (the Trib’s coed team is 2-0, who-hoo!) and biking already available in other sports, there’s really no excuse for not getting enough exercise in this state.
And exercise, dear reader, is why I can eat whatever I want and still weigh as much as I did in high school.
It’s hard to stay motivated to exercise when we don’t have any motivation other than a stern health official clucking her tongue at us. It’s easy, however, to work out when you know you’ve got something waiting for you.
I wouldn’t work hard nearly as hard if I didn’t have the mountains to motivate me to stay in shape to climb them.
You want to keep the weight off? Find a goal. Say you’ll hike Flattop in Rocky Mountain National Park by the end of the year. Say you’ll bike the Poudre Canyon. Say you’ll ski a black diamond.
Say you’ll start to appreciate Colorado’s mountains, a big reason why this is the best state in the lower 48.
And say hello to the thousands of state residents who have already used the mountains as a motivating tool to stay fit.
• • •
So, the point is good. Just one activity can motivate you to get or stay in shape.
Look at what softball has done for Drizz. Dude looks like Hulk Hogan, so I've heard.
Look at what gardening has done for Felicia. Girl looks like that chick on the Bravo show "Work out."
Look at what bowling has done for Low Limit Grinder. The guy is the next Walter Ray Williams Jr.
Or, at least, they are in better shape than many. Some? At least that.
• • •
Poker? Oh, yeah. I won a $10 SnG last night and a $5 SnG last night.
Things are going so well right now. Mostly I'm getting good hands but I've picked off several bluffs in a row. The dudes seem to think that going all in when the board doesn't seem to match their bet and they didn't raise will scare me off, especially when I'm chip leader.
Sorry, think again. Nice play with Q,8 though.
Mostly, my lesson here is by bonus chasing a little too much, my cash game had grown really, really stale, and I played it far too much. I'm refocused now by playing strictly SnGs this week.
The lesson? Always mix it up, and switch to another when one isn't going well.
Have fun this Labor Day. The Jman is teething about seven pearly whites right now so the nights are a little rough these days. Being a parent will get you in shape and out of shape at the same time.
Plus a lot of you are great writers and I like your thoughts on the craft.
Here's the story
• • •
We're also blogging now for the Tribune, as per our editors' requirement because without the Internet, we're nothing as a paper now. My editors, surprisingly enough, didn't like the idea of a poker blog. They wanted something that has something to do with my beat.
I cover adventure sports such as mountaineering (I know, shocking) and entertainment, so now I've got a blog about fitness sports, outdoor recreation and running.
So now I get to write blogs like the one I wrote below. I like it, sort of, but it will sound preachy as hell. The message is good, but I sound like fucking Richard Simmons.
Anyway, here goes:
Sometimes the news is so obvious we miss the underlining message behind it.
We're getting fatter, the Associated Press reported Wednesday. Obesity now exceeds 25 percent in 13 states, and 31 states reported a rise in obesity.
I know. You’re shocked. Health officials have wagged a collective, fried finger in our face for a few years now, saying that our taste for triple-decked desserts, portions the size of Kentucky and sitting on our butt will continue to plump us up more than a turkey before Thanksgiving.
But did you notice something else? Colorado, our state, is the thinnest.
We’re not Olive-Oyl thin, so let’s not get cocky about it. But we’re still the thinnest.
Why? Well, to me, it’s obvious, even if my answer will appear incredibly self-serving (but a blog is pretty self-serving, too, so deal with it).
We have mountains here.
That’s it. The mountains mean our state offers far more recreational opportunities than most other states, and trail for trail, we probably have more recreational opportunities here than any other state. In fact, we probably have more things to do here that involve a little sweat and a lot of fun than all the southern states combined (and all those states were the fattest).
You don’t have to get high, like I do (anything above 13,500 is my preference), to enjoy the mountains. There’s fishing, hunting, boating, hiking, wildlife watching, leaf gazing, star searching, camping, skiing, snowboarding and mountain biking, and all of those activities are better in the mountains. If you combine that with the trail running, recreational sports such as softball (the Trib’s coed team is 2-0, who-hoo!) and biking already available in other sports, there’s really no excuse for not getting enough exercise in this state.
And exercise, dear reader, is why I can eat whatever I want and still weigh as much as I did in high school.
It’s hard to stay motivated to exercise when we don’t have any motivation other than a stern health official clucking her tongue at us. It’s easy, however, to work out when you know you’ve got something waiting for you.
I wouldn’t work hard nearly as hard if I didn’t have the mountains to motivate me to stay in shape to climb them.
You want to keep the weight off? Find a goal. Say you’ll hike Flattop in Rocky Mountain National Park by the end of the year. Say you’ll bike the Poudre Canyon. Say you’ll ski a black diamond.
Say you’ll start to appreciate Colorado’s mountains, a big reason why this is the best state in the lower 48.
And say hello to the thousands of state residents who have already used the mountains as a motivating tool to stay fit.
• • •
So, the point is good. Just one activity can motivate you to get or stay in shape.
Look at what softball has done for Drizz. Dude looks like Hulk Hogan, so I've heard.
Look at what gardening has done for Felicia. Girl looks like that chick on the Bravo show "Work out."
Look at what bowling has done for Low Limit Grinder. The guy is the next Walter Ray Williams Jr.
Or, at least, they are in better shape than many. Some? At least that.
• • •
Poker? Oh, yeah. I won a $10 SnG last night and a $5 SnG last night.
Things are going so well right now. Mostly I'm getting good hands but I've picked off several bluffs in a row. The dudes seem to think that going all in when the board doesn't seem to match their bet and they didn't raise will scare me off, especially when I'm chip leader.
Sorry, think again. Nice play with Q,8 though.
Mostly, my lesson here is by bonus chasing a little too much, my cash game had grown really, really stale, and I played it far too much. I'm refocused now by playing strictly SnGs this week.
The lesson? Always mix it up, and switch to another when one isn't going well.
Have fun this Labor Day. The Jman is teething about seven pearly whites right now so the nights are a little rough these days. Being a parent will get you in shape and out of shape at the same time.
Enough Negreanu already
So far, so weak for ESPN's broadcast of the Main Event.
Unlike many of you, I love ESPN's poker broadcasts. I think the network really tries to capture the strangeness of the poker boom as well as the seriousness of it, something the World Poker Tour could, I don't know, maybe learn from, given that that show takes itself far too seriously.
The Nuts stories are usually funny, short and interesting. ESPN manages to find stories that the Denver papers here missed, including one on a guy with brain cancer and his crew who came here to follow his progress through the tournament.
Yes, many times ESPN focuses too much on the "heartwarming" stories, as if it was NBC covering the Olympics, when we all know that the main event is packed with guys you really wouldn't want to sit next to on an airplane. But ESPN does a pretty good job of something impossible, and that's making sense out of more than 8,000 players in a poker tournament.
Having said that, ESPN obviously rushed the telecast this year, and while I don't blame the network's officials for making that decision — the Internet, something that fueled the poker boom, also squeezes all the drama out of it, so you might as well get it on while it's still somewhat fresh, or at least not rancid — it's made it too easy to focus on the easy stuff.
Last night we basically got two hours of Daniel Negreanu and Joe Hachem. I think focusing on Hachem is a wise decision — it's nice to appreciate him for the great player he really is — but ESPN basically just switched back and forth between Hachem and Negreanu, with tiny bits of Raymer, Moneymaker and a couple movie, music and boxing stars thrown in for good measure. Last night Hachem talked about a hand with his playing partners when quads got beat by runner, runner straight flush. It would have been nice to see that. Or did I miss it?
Negreanu had a good showing in this tournament, but it's time to focus on someone else, like, maybe, Cunningham, who made the final table.
I'm a huge fan of Negreanu. It's quite possible he's my favorite player. But he's getting far too much face time lately. He's all over High Stakes Poker, the Professional Poker Tour can't pull away from him and he's in a Pepsi commercial.
Partly that's because he's good at what he does. He's a wonderful player, and he's engaging and articulate and funny. But that's also precisely the problem. He makes it far too easy for the networks to cover him instead of finding the real stories behind these poker tournaments. Why dig when you can just go to camera one on Negreanu for two hours?
Negreanu deserves the publicity. But poker deserves to be covered as well.
• • •
Labor Day weekend is supposed to be beautiful here, and I'm taking the weekend off. This is when I question why I need the break.
But I do. Friday night I'm going to see my brother's house, and Saturday night I'm playing poker with the guys. In between all that, I'll have plenty of time with Kate and the J-man. That's still needed: Jayden last night favored Kate pretty heavily again despite me watching him all day Monday.
• • •
Our coed softball team last night crushed a good team 18-9. We've got a lineup no with no easy outs, and that's the key to winning at coed (at least in our weak league), is when your girls can hit or at least not strike out.
It should be fun. If I can get the damn ball over the plate we'd be even better.
• • •
I played three SnGs last night and bubbled all three of them. I didn't catch many cards and I didn't win the races when I had to push.
That stuff happens, I guess. I'm sure I could have played better, but I took it as paying the piper a bit after Saturday's awesome take.
Have fun this Labor Day weekend.
Unlike many of you, I love ESPN's poker broadcasts. I think the network really tries to capture the strangeness of the poker boom as well as the seriousness of it, something the World Poker Tour could, I don't know, maybe learn from, given that that show takes itself far too seriously.
The Nuts stories are usually funny, short and interesting. ESPN manages to find stories that the Denver papers here missed, including one on a guy with brain cancer and his crew who came here to follow his progress through the tournament.
Yes, many times ESPN focuses too much on the "heartwarming" stories, as if it was NBC covering the Olympics, when we all know that the main event is packed with guys you really wouldn't want to sit next to on an airplane. But ESPN does a pretty good job of something impossible, and that's making sense out of more than 8,000 players in a poker tournament.
Having said that, ESPN obviously rushed the telecast this year, and while I don't blame the network's officials for making that decision — the Internet, something that fueled the poker boom, also squeezes all the drama out of it, so you might as well get it on while it's still somewhat fresh, or at least not rancid — it's made it too easy to focus on the easy stuff.
Last night we basically got two hours of Daniel Negreanu and Joe Hachem. I think focusing on Hachem is a wise decision — it's nice to appreciate him for the great player he really is — but ESPN basically just switched back and forth between Hachem and Negreanu, with tiny bits of Raymer, Moneymaker and a couple movie, music and boxing stars thrown in for good measure. Last night Hachem talked about a hand with his playing partners when quads got beat by runner, runner straight flush. It would have been nice to see that. Or did I miss it?
Negreanu had a good showing in this tournament, but it's time to focus on someone else, like, maybe, Cunningham, who made the final table.
I'm a huge fan of Negreanu. It's quite possible he's my favorite player. But he's getting far too much face time lately. He's all over High Stakes Poker, the Professional Poker Tour can't pull away from him and he's in a Pepsi commercial.
Partly that's because he's good at what he does. He's a wonderful player, and he's engaging and articulate and funny. But that's also precisely the problem. He makes it far too easy for the networks to cover him instead of finding the real stories behind these poker tournaments. Why dig when you can just go to camera one on Negreanu for two hours?
Negreanu deserves the publicity. But poker deserves to be covered as well.
• • •
Labor Day weekend is supposed to be beautiful here, and I'm taking the weekend off. This is when I question why I need the break.
But I do. Friday night I'm going to see my brother's house, and Saturday night I'm playing poker with the guys. In between all that, I'll have plenty of time with Kate and the J-man. That's still needed: Jayden last night favored Kate pretty heavily again despite me watching him all day Monday.
• • •
Our coed softball team last night crushed a good team 18-9. We've got a lineup no with no easy outs, and that's the key to winning at coed (at least in our weak league), is when your girls can hit or at least not strike out.
It should be fun. If I can get the damn ball over the plate we'd be even better.
• • •
I played three SnGs last night and bubbled all three of them. I didn't catch many cards and I didn't win the races when I had to push.
That stuff happens, I guess. I'm sure I could have played better, but I took it as paying the piper a bit after Saturday's awesome take.
Have fun this Labor Day weekend.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Maybe I should stay home more often
Slb already did the bragging for me, so perhaps I shouldn't puff my pigeon chest out any further, but Saturday was a fun night of poker.
I entered a $10, 30-person tournament Saturday night at Pokerroom, one of the few places you can play on a Mac (more on that below). I have played these 30-person SnGs with good success, and I picked the $10 one instead of the $5 tournament mostly because it was about ready to go, and they can take a while to fill up.
I've heard there isn't much difference between $5 and $10 SnG players, and I'm sure that's probably true, but I'm still a little intimidated by the $10. I know that sounds really stupid, but I have about $1,000 for my online bankroll, so I still need to be cautious about what I play.
I had a goal of making the final table and possibly cashing.
I started to stack a bit with raises and continuation bets and one small showdown, and then I had 4,4 and folded to a big raise. When the board hit 4,5,J, I was cursing myself for being a pussy, my worst tendency as a player. I had the chips to gamble a bit and felt like I blew a big chance to really grab a big stack early.
When the two others players pushed I gritted my teeth.
Until I saw what they had.
5,5
J,J.
No shit.
I even stood up and caught myself from saying, "I can dodge bullets baby."
My next hand I got QQ and doubled up when the other guy pushed with 10,10 on a flop with all undercards. I figured that's what the guy had, given that he had played poorly. Still, I took a chance and it paid off.
The Poker Gods, it seemed, were rewarding my patience.
I caught some hands at the end, survived when my K,Q went against A,9 and I flopped a K (my only suckout), and I found myself heads up with a wild but aggressive and strong player. I won when I flopped a flush and he refused to believe me. Then I called him down to the river with A,10 and one from a flush. When he pushed, I called and he had K,J. Neither of our cards matched and I took down $120, my biggest tournament score yet.
I wound up winning another SnG that night for another $25 score while watching "Silence of the Lambs" on Bravo. My heads-up match with the other guy in that one lasted 15 minutes. It was really fun, although patience, once again, paid off. He had me 4-1 at one point but I hung in there and kept chipping away. I need to remember that because at times I just push in heads up, yet that's when you really make your money is by winning and not placing.
Maybe I should stay home from mountain climbing the rest of the year.
By the way, I heard two 14ers about three hours from home got a foot of snow.
Wow. Winter's coming in a hurry.
• • •
My weekend at home, by the way, was wonderful. I took Jayden swimming and read him a bunch of books and just spent some good quality time with him again. He actually cried when I went to work today. It's not all about Mom anymore, and I'm feeling our bond is strengthing every day after the damage I might have done to it this summer climbing all those peaks.
• • •
I bought a new computer, a laptop, with the money I made guiding this summer. It's a MacBook and will be a definite improvement over my 1999 500 Mhz iMac. I'm really excited too because this is an Intel, so it will run Windows, and that means I'm signing up for some more poker Web sites.
How has it gone for the rest of you using Poker Source Online? I'm going to try it with Party Poker (I just have to see how juicy these $25 NL cash games really are) and I'll see how it goes. It seems like a really good deal, so I'll probably use it again after I clear my first time.
I just wonder if it's better to go through PSO or the Web site's bonus itself. I figured PSO for Party given that it doesn't offer a bonus there.
• • •
I'm reading Harrington's Volume III, and I really love the guy. I've learned more about tournament poker from his books than anything else. His style fits my style as well, so it's a good fit. Volume III, the workbook, is definitely worth picking up. I hope one day I can meet Harrington so I can tell him how much his books have helped me.
• • •
I'll leave you with some sad news in the jazz world. Maynard Ferguson, perhaps my favorite artist after Miles Davis and John Coltrane, died Wednesday.
His music, especially in his later years, may sound like cheesy disco to many of you, but the guy, as they say, had chops. He could hit the highest of notes, and his band was always awesome, pumping life and excitement into the sometimes tired jazz world. He was one of the greatest trumpet players who ever lived, and he brought some great music to the jazz world. Without him, I would not have loved jazz the way I did, and I doubt I would have played in college.
Thanks, Maynard, for a great career.
I entered a $10, 30-person tournament Saturday night at Pokerroom, one of the few places you can play on a Mac (more on that below). I have played these 30-person SnGs with good success, and I picked the $10 one instead of the $5 tournament mostly because it was about ready to go, and they can take a while to fill up.
I've heard there isn't much difference between $5 and $10 SnG players, and I'm sure that's probably true, but I'm still a little intimidated by the $10. I know that sounds really stupid, but I have about $1,000 for my online bankroll, so I still need to be cautious about what I play.
I had a goal of making the final table and possibly cashing.
I started to stack a bit with raises and continuation bets and one small showdown, and then I had 4,4 and folded to a big raise. When the board hit 4,5,J, I was cursing myself for being a pussy, my worst tendency as a player. I had the chips to gamble a bit and felt like I blew a big chance to really grab a big stack early.
When the two others players pushed I gritted my teeth.
Until I saw what they had.
5,5
J,J.
No shit.
I even stood up and caught myself from saying, "I can dodge bullets baby."
My next hand I got QQ and doubled up when the other guy pushed with 10,10 on a flop with all undercards. I figured that's what the guy had, given that he had played poorly. Still, I took a chance and it paid off.
The Poker Gods, it seemed, were rewarding my patience.
I caught some hands at the end, survived when my K,Q went against A,9 and I flopped a K (my only suckout), and I found myself heads up with a wild but aggressive and strong player. I won when I flopped a flush and he refused to believe me. Then I called him down to the river with A,10 and one from a flush. When he pushed, I called and he had K,J. Neither of our cards matched and I took down $120, my biggest tournament score yet.
I wound up winning another SnG that night for another $25 score while watching "Silence of the Lambs" on Bravo. My heads-up match with the other guy in that one lasted 15 minutes. It was really fun, although patience, once again, paid off. He had me 4-1 at one point but I hung in there and kept chipping away. I need to remember that because at times I just push in heads up, yet that's when you really make your money is by winning and not placing.
Maybe I should stay home from mountain climbing the rest of the year.
By the way, I heard two 14ers about three hours from home got a foot of snow.
Wow. Winter's coming in a hurry.
• • •
My weekend at home, by the way, was wonderful. I took Jayden swimming and read him a bunch of books and just spent some good quality time with him again. He actually cried when I went to work today. It's not all about Mom anymore, and I'm feeling our bond is strengthing every day after the damage I might have done to it this summer climbing all those peaks.
• • •
I bought a new computer, a laptop, with the money I made guiding this summer. It's a MacBook and will be a definite improvement over my 1999 500 Mhz iMac. I'm really excited too because this is an Intel, so it will run Windows, and that means I'm signing up for some more poker Web sites.
How has it gone for the rest of you using Poker Source Online? I'm going to try it with Party Poker (I just have to see how juicy these $25 NL cash games really are) and I'll see how it goes. It seems like a really good deal, so I'll probably use it again after I clear my first time.
I just wonder if it's better to go through PSO or the Web site's bonus itself. I figured PSO for Party given that it doesn't offer a bonus there.
• • •
I'm reading Harrington's Volume III, and I really love the guy. I've learned more about tournament poker from his books than anything else. His style fits my style as well, so it's a good fit. Volume III, the workbook, is definitely worth picking up. I hope one day I can meet Harrington so I can tell him how much his books have helped me.
• • •
I'll leave you with some sad news in the jazz world. Maynard Ferguson, perhaps my favorite artist after Miles Davis and John Coltrane, died Wednesday.
His music, especially in his later years, may sound like cheesy disco to many of you, but the guy, as they say, had chops. He could hit the highest of notes, and his band was always awesome, pumping life and excitement into the sometimes tired jazz world. He was one of the greatest trumpet players who ever lived, and he brought some great music to the jazz world. Without him, I would not have loved jazz the way I did, and I doubt I would have played in college.
Thanks, Maynard, for a great career.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Rain over me
The rain splatters against my basement window.
The scene has opened many prison movies. The rain is supposed to represent sadness, or at least that's what I'm assuming most of the time. Prison, the director is telling us through the obvious metaphors movies like to use, is a lonely, depressing place.
But I'm smiling as I hear the rain.
Instead of being in prison, I am, in fact, free.
I was supposed to go with my 14ers buddy and two other climbing partners, his wife and another guy who I climbed a couple peaks with last year.
Aspen. Capitol. The toughest 14er in Colorado out of the 54, and one of the state's toughest mountains.
I first climbed it in 2001, with a guy who had climbed almost 1,000 of them. My story on him ran across the national AP wire, along with my photo of him walking across the famous knife edge, which, if you imagine an ant walking across a butter knife, you'll get an idea of what we had to do to get to Capitol's rare and unforgiving summit. He said it was one of the toughest he's done.
Still, Captiol is awesome, and I was looking forward to it.
But I was also longing to stay home, with Jayden and Kate and my bed and dogs and poker.
I climbed Longs Peak Thursday, leading a group of seven up. It was a 17-hour day by the time I got home, and it was my 14th time up, and though the mountain is one of my favorites, it's always a hard and, well, long day.
I was sore, tired and not really anxious to do another mountain.
It's been a long summer.
But now I can stay home, relax and have fun.
Capitol is no mountain to mess around with a forecast of snow, cold and, at least, rain all day.
The weather gave me a reprieve.
I will stay home the next couple of weeks. Then I'll pounce on a couple more peaks, and, finally, fall will come, with nothing to do but the occasional half-marathon, play with Jayden and bitch about my fantasy football team.
I'm really looking forward to it.
• • •
People do ask me why I would climb Longs 14 times. Aside from the joy of leading clients up an awesome mountain for their first time,and enjoying the money they paid me (I bought a new laptop, a Mac Book that will run Windows).
I'll leave you with the reason why. I especially like the first one. Although it looks like that would be my inner self after I take a bad beat (like last night in Omaha when I lost to runner runner straight flush, I know there aren't many true bad beats in Omaha but I think that qualifies), it's actually the first hint of the sun at 12,700 feet. You start the 14,250-foot Longs at 2:30 a.m. because it's the only way to avoid the afternoon thunderstorms that happen almost every day. After all, the mountain is 15 miles and you gain more than 5,00 feet, and over its rough, Class 3 terrain, that takes a while.
The first two pictures are your reward for getting up early (other than remaining fried free and staying alive).
Here's Longs. That east face is one of the most awesome sights in mountaineering. Many come from around the world to climb it. We skirted around the back side through the "keyhole" route, probably the most popular route in the state - and one of the hardest.
One of the scary parts of Longs, the aptly named narrows.
Here's the final 250 feet. It's not as bad as it looks. But it's not THAT easy either. :)
CUTE BABY ALERT!!!
Finally, here's the best reason for staying safe and staying home, the 15-month-old Jayden Miles England.
The scene has opened many prison movies. The rain is supposed to represent sadness, or at least that's what I'm assuming most of the time. Prison, the director is telling us through the obvious metaphors movies like to use, is a lonely, depressing place.
But I'm smiling as I hear the rain.
Instead of being in prison, I am, in fact, free.
I was supposed to go with my 14ers buddy and two other climbing partners, his wife and another guy who I climbed a couple peaks with last year.
Aspen. Capitol. The toughest 14er in Colorado out of the 54, and one of the state's toughest mountains.
I first climbed it in 2001, with a guy who had climbed almost 1,000 of them. My story on him ran across the national AP wire, along with my photo of him walking across the famous knife edge, which, if you imagine an ant walking across a butter knife, you'll get an idea of what we had to do to get to Capitol's rare and unforgiving summit. He said it was one of the toughest he's done.
Still, Captiol is awesome, and I was looking forward to it.
But I was also longing to stay home, with Jayden and Kate and my bed and dogs and poker.
I climbed Longs Peak Thursday, leading a group of seven up. It was a 17-hour day by the time I got home, and it was my 14th time up, and though the mountain is one of my favorites, it's always a hard and, well, long day.
I was sore, tired and not really anxious to do another mountain.
It's been a long summer.
But now I can stay home, relax and have fun.
Capitol is no mountain to mess around with a forecast of snow, cold and, at least, rain all day.
The weather gave me a reprieve.
I will stay home the next couple of weeks. Then I'll pounce on a couple more peaks, and, finally, fall will come, with nothing to do but the occasional half-marathon, play with Jayden and bitch about my fantasy football team.
I'm really looking forward to it.
• • •
People do ask me why I would climb Longs 14 times. Aside from the joy of leading clients up an awesome mountain for their first time,and enjoying the money they paid me (I bought a new laptop, a Mac Book that will run Windows).
I'll leave you with the reason why. I especially like the first one. Although it looks like that would be my inner self after I take a bad beat (like last night in Omaha when I lost to runner runner straight flush, I know there aren't many true bad beats in Omaha but I think that qualifies), it's actually the first hint of the sun at 12,700 feet. You start the 14,250-foot Longs at 2:30 a.m. because it's the only way to avoid the afternoon thunderstorms that happen almost every day. After all, the mountain is 15 miles and you gain more than 5,00 feet, and over its rough, Class 3 terrain, that takes a while.
The first two pictures are your reward for getting up early (other than remaining fried free and staying alive).
Here's Longs. That east face is one of the most awesome sights in mountaineering. Many come from around the world to climb it. We skirted around the back side through the "keyhole" route, probably the most popular route in the state - and one of the hardest.
One of the scary parts of Longs, the aptly named narrows.
Here's the final 250 feet. It's not as bad as it looks. But it's not THAT easy either. :)
CUTE BABY ALERT!!!
Finally, here's the best reason for staying safe and staying home, the 15-month-old Jayden Miles England.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Shocked! Shocked? Really?
Well, now Marion Jones, the darling of the 2000 Olympics, says she was shocked (shocked!) at her positive drug test.
Um, yeah, I'm sure you were sweetie. Maybe because all the blood cleansing drugs or Gatorade or whatever you took to get it out of your system didn't work.
Jones already had a cloud of suspicion over her for years after being attached to practically every doping scandal in the last few years. My wife, a physical education teacher, was convinced she was doping in 2000 just by looking at her.
"She just doesn't look natural," Kate said.
I, for one, am not shocked, surprised or even the slightest bit stunned when another athlete is caught with his or her hand in the performance-enhancing cookie jar. After Floyd Landis, Justin Gatlin, Barry Bonds, Ivan Basso, etc., etc., etc., I'm so cynical that I'll be shocked when an athlete does something amazing and isn't taking drugs.
Thank God for Tiger Woods, or else my faith in our sports scene right now would cracked into dust.
Um, yeah, I'm sure you were sweetie. Maybe because all the blood cleansing drugs or Gatorade or whatever you took to get it out of your system didn't work.
Jones already had a cloud of suspicion over her for years after being attached to practically every doping scandal in the last few years. My wife, a physical education teacher, was convinced she was doping in 2000 just by looking at her.
"She just doesn't look natural," Kate said.
I, for one, am not shocked, surprised or even the slightest bit stunned when another athlete is caught with his or her hand in the performance-enhancing cookie jar. After Floyd Landis, Justin Gatlin, Barry Bonds, Ivan Basso, etc., etc., etc., I'm so cynical that I'll be shocked when an athlete does something amazing and isn't taking drugs.
Thank God for Tiger Woods, or else my faith in our sports scene right now would cracked into dust.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Reptiles on a runway - A review
Overheard from my friends yesterday as we exited a (mostly empty) theater Friday night showing "Snakes on a Plane."
"So, did you like it?"
"I don't know. It should have been more over the top."
Really?
WARNING! SPOILER ALERT!
In the first half hour, we got to see:
• An angry Korean/Chinese/Japanese "mobster," not to be stereotypical or anything, beat a guy to death with a baseball bat, a la Al Capone.
• A snake bite a woman's eye.
• A snake bite a nipple.
• A snake bite a guy's joint while he was taking a pee pee.
• A snake bit a guy's throat.
• A snake come out of barf bag.
• A snake go up a fat, ugly woman's skirt (of course she was fat and angry, the implication being that this was the first action she'd felt in years).
• A "hip-hop" artist who looked like Kayne West and Puff Daddy's offspring. He would later grab a gun and wave it around because that's the solution to all black people's problems.
• My favorite plot point, though, is the fact that simply by dressing up as a baggage handler, a dude is able to sneak aboard dozens of deadly snakes with a timed release that resembles a bomb attached to a cage aboard a high-security airplane. This, of course, means that all those security measures at the airport? The ones that include, but aren't limited to, taking off your shoes, anal cavity searches, making you take off your pants so you don't get beeped, forcing you to dump your shampoo, your water and your baby's juice, answering questions about whether you've seen your baggage the whole time (and God help you if you answer no) and presenting three forms of ID? Those will all be for naught because of a clever terrorist with a baggage uniform.
Later, we saw:
• A monster snake squeeze a guy to death after crashing through some window in the plane (what the hell it was, I couldn't tell you) and start eating him.
• A little kid somehow survive a cobra bite after a woman puts olive oil on it and suck the poison out (which, by the way, doesn't work).
• Samuel Jackson shoot a snake with a spear gun that just happened to be in a person's suitcase.
• The "snake expert" who looks and acts sort of like the guy who says he killed the little Ramsey.
And at the end:
• One of the rapper's thugs (friendly and fat, of course, because all rappers' homies roll that way) land the plane because he played a plane simulator on his Playstation.
• Samuel Jackson and the other star (sorry, I don't know his name, and I don't care) both hook up with the stewardesses.
• We find out that the snakes came from some redneck guy "who lives in the desert."
• The video to the awesome (I'm serious, I love it) "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It) by, get this, Cobra Starship.
Now, I'm not saying the movie was bad. Quite the opposite. It was what I expected, a cheesy, fun summer movie that featured lots of snakes, my favorite animal.
But it was PLENTY over the top.
I think what happens is when you hear so much about a movie - and lots has been said about this one - you go into it with too many expectations. I'm afraid the new "Star Wars" movies, save for the third one, were victims of this, as my expectations were far too high for what turned out to be fairly decent but not great or even that good pictures.
We all expected this one to be so crazy, so wild, so, well, over the top, that NOTHING probably could have lived up to it without it turning into a parody. And clearly the director, screenwriters, producers and star weren't shooting for a parody. They were shooting for a wild horror flick.
As a rolled out, one of my friends pulled up beside me.
"You remember Tremors?" he said.
Yes, I said.
"THAT'S what the movie should have been. Tremors on a plane!"
He was sort of kidding, but I think I knew what he meant. Tremors was over the top, fun and, as a result, a cult classic with some humor and some thrills. It was, in fact, what "Snakes on a Plane" wanted to be and very well could have been.
Imagine if "Tremors" faced that kind of pressure.
"Snakes," I'm afraid, will be strangled by all the blogs, all the press and the Internet chat groups. Do yourself a favor and wait three years, until it comes on late one night, on the USA Network, when you've got a bowl of popcorn and the kids are in bed, and you've forgotten about all the chat groups.
I promise you'll laugh, you'll jump and you'll think, wow, now THAT movie was over the top!
"So, did you like it?"
"I don't know. It should have been more over the top."
Really?
WARNING! SPOILER ALERT!
In the first half hour, we got to see:
• An angry Korean/Chinese/Japanese "mobster," not to be stereotypical or anything, beat a guy to death with a baseball bat, a la Al Capone.
• A snake bite a woman's eye.
• A snake bite a nipple.
• A snake bite a guy's joint while he was taking a pee pee.
• A snake bit a guy's throat.
• A snake come out of barf bag.
• A snake go up a fat, ugly woman's skirt (of course she was fat and angry, the implication being that this was the first action she'd felt in years).
• A "hip-hop" artist who looked like Kayne West and Puff Daddy's offspring. He would later grab a gun and wave it around because that's the solution to all black people's problems.
• My favorite plot point, though, is the fact that simply by dressing up as a baggage handler, a dude is able to sneak aboard dozens of deadly snakes with a timed release that resembles a bomb attached to a cage aboard a high-security airplane. This, of course, means that all those security measures at the airport? The ones that include, but aren't limited to, taking off your shoes, anal cavity searches, making you take off your pants so you don't get beeped, forcing you to dump your shampoo, your water and your baby's juice, answering questions about whether you've seen your baggage the whole time (and God help you if you answer no) and presenting three forms of ID? Those will all be for naught because of a clever terrorist with a baggage uniform.
Later, we saw:
• A monster snake squeeze a guy to death after crashing through some window in the plane (what the hell it was, I couldn't tell you) and start eating him.
• A little kid somehow survive a cobra bite after a woman puts olive oil on it and suck the poison out (which, by the way, doesn't work).
• Samuel Jackson shoot a snake with a spear gun that just happened to be in a person's suitcase.
• The "snake expert" who looks and acts sort of like the guy who says he killed the little Ramsey.
And at the end:
• One of the rapper's thugs (friendly and fat, of course, because all rappers' homies roll that way) land the plane because he played a plane simulator on his Playstation.
• Samuel Jackson and the other star (sorry, I don't know his name, and I don't care) both hook up with the stewardesses.
• We find out that the snakes came from some redneck guy "who lives in the desert."
• The video to the awesome (I'm serious, I love it) "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It) by, get this, Cobra Starship.
Now, I'm not saying the movie was bad. Quite the opposite. It was what I expected, a cheesy, fun summer movie that featured lots of snakes, my favorite animal.
But it was PLENTY over the top.
I think what happens is when you hear so much about a movie - and lots has been said about this one - you go into it with too many expectations. I'm afraid the new "Star Wars" movies, save for the third one, were victims of this, as my expectations were far too high for what turned out to be fairly decent but not great or even that good pictures.
We all expected this one to be so crazy, so wild, so, well, over the top, that NOTHING probably could have lived up to it without it turning into a parody. And clearly the director, screenwriters, producers and star weren't shooting for a parody. They were shooting for a wild horror flick.
As a rolled out, one of my friends pulled up beside me.
"You remember Tremors?" he said.
Yes, I said.
"THAT'S what the movie should have been. Tremors on a plane!"
He was sort of kidding, but I think I knew what he meant. Tremors was over the top, fun and, as a result, a cult classic with some humor and some thrills. It was, in fact, what "Snakes on a Plane" wanted to be and very well could have been.
Imagine if "Tremors" faced that kind of pressure.
"Snakes," I'm afraid, will be strangled by all the blogs, all the press and the Internet chat groups. Do yourself a favor and wait three years, until it comes on late one night, on the USA Network, when you've got a bowl of popcorn and the kids are in bed, and you've forgotten about all the chat groups.
I promise you'll laugh, you'll jump and you'll think, wow, now THAT movie was over the top!
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Where's my $175,000?
Last night, at our high-stakes, $5, home game Wednesday night, I took a tough beat.
Quads over quads.
It was seven-card stud, five-handed, and there was one wild card.
Maybe the wild card makes it easier to get quads.
I dunno.
At Blackhawk, they pay you $175,000 for the bad beat jackpot if your quads loses to quads.
I'll take my $175,000 now, please. I'll even take installments.
• • •
The good news is I finally wiggled my way out of my tight-assed self and starting bluffing last night. I do bluff, but not nearly as much as I should. The problem is I've been a winning player for months now, so the incentive to take chances wasn't there. Tuesday, however, I got four monsters, like stacking, pot-cleansing monsters, and they were only paid off in pieces. That tells me I need to loosen up a smidge at the table. I am playing a higher limit, $50 NL, so I think the players at least aren't masturbating to porn, texting a friend, petting their dog, watching poker on TV and checking out their fantasy football players while playing poker. They're actually paying attention to table image.
One time I raised one of my best friend's blind for like the 5,000th time that night and bluffed him off the pot despite him saying, "I shouldn't fold here based on principle." I showed him 5,2 os when he folded.
I probably won just as much money through the bluffing as I did through my good hands. I"m still learning how to bluff with regularity, but last night was an important step.
• • •
Last night I ran hard in the track group, and it felt really good. It's so nice to finally be healthy again after three weeks of coughing.
• • •
Snakes on a plane. Friday.
I can't wait.
Quads over quads.
It was seven-card stud, five-handed, and there was one wild card.
Maybe the wild card makes it easier to get quads.
I dunno.
At Blackhawk, they pay you $175,000 for the bad beat jackpot if your quads loses to quads.
I'll take my $175,000 now, please. I'll even take installments.
• • •
The good news is I finally wiggled my way out of my tight-assed self and starting bluffing last night. I do bluff, but not nearly as much as I should. The problem is I've been a winning player for months now, so the incentive to take chances wasn't there. Tuesday, however, I got four monsters, like stacking, pot-cleansing monsters, and they were only paid off in pieces. That tells me I need to loosen up a smidge at the table. I am playing a higher limit, $50 NL, so I think the players at least aren't masturbating to porn, texting a friend, petting their dog, watching poker on TV and checking out their fantasy football players while playing poker. They're actually paying attention to table image.
One time I raised one of my best friend's blind for like the 5,000th time that night and bluffed him off the pot despite him saying, "I shouldn't fold here based on principle." I showed him 5,2 os when he folded.
I probably won just as much money through the bluffing as I did through my good hands. I"m still learning how to bluff with regularity, but last night was an important step.
• • •
Last night I ran hard in the track group, and it felt really good. It's so nice to finally be healthy again after three weeks of coughing.
• • •
Snakes on a plane. Friday.
I can't wait.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Too much is more than enough
In the winter, the weeks without a mountain start to pile on like snow, making me edgy, even cranky. As spring approaches, and the weather delievers blue skies and mild winds but snow still packs the trails, I start to almost crawl up the walls, as if I'm going through heroin withdraw and I've misplaced my methadone.
But now, I have a weekend without climbing, and I can't be more grateful.
I am sick of it all.
This summer was my first guiding clients up mountains, and in some ways, it's sapped the joy out of climbing.
In the past, my summers would consist of doing a few 14ers in June, with maybe a snow climb or two. Then In July I'd climb in Rocky Mountain National Park with my Dad and a few family friends. Finally, I'd wrap up the summer with some epic trips up more 14ers, some of the harder routes, and then relax and wait for the coming year.
It was always hard, at times, but you only really get two or three great months of climbing before the snows hit again, so you have to take advantage.
This summer I took three weekends out of my schedule to lead clients up 14ers. Next Thursday I'll lead a few other paying clients up Longs Peak, the state's most popular 14er (and one of the hardest).
In many ways I'm grateful for the part-time job. It's something I love to do, and I'm getting paid for it. I will use the extra money, around $1,000 (or about as much as it feels like I've lost lately overplaying QQ) to buy a new computer, a MacBook Pro laptop. And I've enjoyed sharing my passion with others and seeing their eyes light up when we reach the summit.
But climbing is hard enough already, and I've discovered that doing it for others has made it a job, and a tough one at that. I'm no longer doing it for myself. I'm doing it for a computer.
So this weekend I cancelled a trip for the Colorado Mountain Club. I'm tired of guiding, and I'm tired of climbing. I plan on being a normal person again, playing some poker (and there are signs that, maybe, I'm doing a little bit too much of that as well), hanging with my wife and the kid and, finally, going to see Snakes on a Plane!!!
Then I'll do the Longs Peak trip, then over to Aspen to help my friends climb the hardest 14er in the state (I'll post pictures of that, you'll be blown away).
I'm looking forward to September for two reasons.
One, I'll be climbing for myself again. I'll try to knock off a couple Centennials for my quest to knock off the top 100 peaks in Colorado. One of those trips, down to the San Juans over several days. should be spectacular.
And second?
By the time mid-September rolls around, the weather will turn colder, the snows will start to fall again...
And I'll be done.
But now, I have a weekend without climbing, and I can't be more grateful.
I am sick of it all.
This summer was my first guiding clients up mountains, and in some ways, it's sapped the joy out of climbing.
In the past, my summers would consist of doing a few 14ers in June, with maybe a snow climb or two. Then In July I'd climb in Rocky Mountain National Park with my Dad and a few family friends. Finally, I'd wrap up the summer with some epic trips up more 14ers, some of the harder routes, and then relax and wait for the coming year.
It was always hard, at times, but you only really get two or three great months of climbing before the snows hit again, so you have to take advantage.
This summer I took three weekends out of my schedule to lead clients up 14ers. Next Thursday I'll lead a few other paying clients up Longs Peak, the state's most popular 14er (and one of the hardest).
In many ways I'm grateful for the part-time job. It's something I love to do, and I'm getting paid for it. I will use the extra money, around $1,000 (or about as much as it feels like I've lost lately overplaying QQ) to buy a new computer, a MacBook Pro laptop. And I've enjoyed sharing my passion with others and seeing their eyes light up when we reach the summit.
But climbing is hard enough already, and I've discovered that doing it for others has made it a job, and a tough one at that. I'm no longer doing it for myself. I'm doing it for a computer.
So this weekend I cancelled a trip for the Colorado Mountain Club. I'm tired of guiding, and I'm tired of climbing. I plan on being a normal person again, playing some poker (and there are signs that, maybe, I'm doing a little bit too much of that as well), hanging with my wife and the kid and, finally, going to see Snakes on a Plane!!!
Then I'll do the Longs Peak trip, then over to Aspen to help my friends climb the hardest 14er in the state (I'll post pictures of that, you'll be blown away).
I'm looking forward to September for two reasons.
One, I'll be climbing for myself again. I'll try to knock off a couple Centennials for my quest to knock off the top 100 peaks in Colorado. One of those trips, down to the San Juans over several days. should be spectacular.
And second?
By the time mid-September rolls around, the weather will turn colder, the snows will start to fall again...
And I'll be done.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Why why why?
Why do we continue to make plays that we know are bad, when we know we are beat, even when that inner voice is screaming at us to just put down the mouse and walk away until you're timed out?
Three reasons.
• We're tired and we don't know it.
Saturday I signed on just expecting to play an hour of poker. I really needed some alone time, and I was looking forward to it after leaving Greeley at 2:30 a.m. and leading my 14ers group up the last mountain of the year. Yes, I seemed tired, but I was really looking forward to the poker.
It was a great day, and I was feeling good. The group responded well despite me having to be much more of a hardass than before because of the inclement weather and the need to get down. We did make the summit up Elbert, Colorado's tallest mountain, and we made it to the van three minutes before a huge storm ripped through Leadville.
Soon after, I got K,A. A guy raised 4x the big blind, and I called, along with one other player. The flop came K,3,Q, with K,3 hearts.
I bet half the pot, $3, and the guy to my left raises, and the other pushes for his last $12.
Understand that all last week, I played patient, solid poker and did not sniff A,K. I barely got any solid starting hands and yet managed to squeak out a $25 profit for the week on the cash games. It was the kind of week I'm proud of, a week that requires great discipline (I folded several hands when I was in the lead until I got a bad feeling on the river, like the guy flopped the kicker I thought he had, giving him two pair and giving it up when he would excitedly overbet the pot) and a week that also means I avoided losing my whole buy-in every time that week.
So what do I do? Do I take the warning sign that my TPTK is not good here? A raise and a re-raise?
No. I call the $12.
It's a great play because what I essentially did was price myself in when the other guy pushed, meaning I had to pay $33 to win $100. Those odds are pretty damn good. I figured I would gamble and pay attention to that. I also now have a lame excuse for losing this hand. And, finally, I gave up all fold equity to the other guy, making him the aggressor.
The raiser had QQ. The re-raiser had K,Q.
I had a losing hand.
I was too tired to play. I was exhausted, in fact, and I let my want (need?) to play poker get the best of me. Had I been sharp, I would have of course recognized that I was beat after I was re-raised and simply folded, saving me a lot of money. It requires discipline to fold TPTK (more than it should, really), and my mind wasn't sharp enough for that. It's why you fuck the ugly girl in the bar when you're drunk. It's hard to turn down a blow job, any blow job, but if you're sharp, you do it when the girl who looks like Spock hits on you.
• You refuse to believe your luck is that bad, even when you know it is.
So Sunday I'm at it again, telling myself that I was going to play smart, disciplined poker, the kind of poker that has helped me fatten my bankroll.
And not long after, I get QQ.
QQ has not been kind to me lately. In fact, if QQ was my wife, I would have divorced her and left her with nothing but the weeds in the backyard. While JJ has been so good, I feel like going "Brokeback Mountain" over it, QQ has been a nasty bitch.
I feel kind bad for her, though, because it's really not her fault. Her ex-husband, KK, has been stalking her.
So I raise 3x the big blind.
And someone re-raises me.
Now, this will sound like incredible whining, the kind of bitching that donkeys do, i.e. "My Aces Always Get Cracked." So you don't have to believe me. Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.
But four out of the last five times, my QQ has run into KK.
I've kept track.
It's cost me a lot of money. Not my buy-ins every time. But too much money.
When the guy re-raised $1, alarm bells went off. No one seems to re-raise in my level, $50 NL games, unless they have KK or AA.
I called the $1.
And here's what happened:
Texas Hold'em $0.50-$0.50 NL (Real Money), #848,139,803
Table Valparaiso, 13 Aug 2006 10:50 PM ET
Seat 1: Chippsmith ($95.40 in chips)
Seat 2: scottyrob1 ($45.75 in chips)
Seat 3: bloodndef ($71.40 in chips)
Seat 4: prolox29 ($15.85 in chips)
Seat 5: Pokerpeaker5 ($48.75 in chips)
Seat 7: Crow Magnon ($80.75 in chips)
Seat 8: masinnerx ($24.45 in chips)
Seat 9: itchybelly ($7.50 in chips)
Seat 10: steppa30 ($49.65 in chips)
ANTES/BLINDS
scottyrob1 posts blind ($0.25), bloodndef posts blind ($0.50).
PRE-FLOP
prolox29 folds, Pokerpeaker5 bets $1.50, Crow Magnon folds, masinnerx folds, itchybelly folds, steppa30 bets $2.50, Chippsmith folds, scottyrob1 calls $2.25, bloodndef folds, Pokerpeaker5 calls $1.
FLOP [board cards 2S,10D,4D ]
scottyrob1 bets $3, Pokerpeaker5 calls $3, steppa30 bets $10, scottyrob1 folds, Pokerpeaker5 bets $43.25 and is all-in, steppa30 calls $36.25.
TURN [board cards 2S,10D,4D,6S ]
RIVER [board cards 2S,10D,4D,6S,KD ]
SHOWDOWN
Pokerpeaker5 shows [ QS,QC ]
steppa30 shows [ KC,KH ]
steppa30 wins $102.50.
SUMMARY
Dealer: Chippsmith
Pot: $103.50, (including rake: $1)
Chippsmith, loses $0
scottyrob1, loses $5.50
bloodndef, loses $0.50
prolox29, loses $0
Pokerpeaker5, loses $48.75
Crow Magnon, loses $0
masinnerx, loses $0
itchybelly, loses $0
steppa30, bets $48.75, collects $102.50, net $53.75
Yes, for the fifth time in six QQs, it ran into KK.
I refused to believe that my luck was that bad. "There's NO WAY my QQ could run into KK again, right? I mean, he MUST have JJ. He MUST. There's just no way, right?"
Sure there is.
• Bad luck
I'm not going whine about my QQ anymore. In fact, I just demonstrated that it happens.
But I've noticed that when variance comes knocking, and she is this week, in full force, that not only do your great hands go down, your monsters don't get paid off.
Suckouts like this one happen all the time in a losing streak:
View Previous hand for this table.
Texas Hold'em $0.50-$0.50 NL (Real Money), #848,243,884
Table Giessen, 13 Aug 2006 11:20 PM ET
Seat 1: cleensweep ($17.75 in chips)
Seat 2: steve_albini ($51.85 in chips)
Seat 3: Chippsmith ($57.30 in chips)
Seat 4: Skip_Dr ($49.30 in chips)
Seat 5: turbox3 ($32.50 in chips)
Seat 6: Pokerpeaker5 ($47.50 in chips)
Seat 7: Cr3d ($30 in chips)
Seat 8: pm_abs ($68 in chips)
Seat 9: FloppinNutzz ($47 in chips)
Seat 10: newf01 ($24.85 in chips)
ANTES/BLINDS
Pokerpeaker5 posts blind ($0.25), Cr3d posts blind ($0.50).
PRE-FLOP
pm_abs folds, FloppinNutzz folds, newf01 folds, cleensweep calls $0.50, steve_albini calls $0.50, Chippsmith folds, Skip_Dr folds, turbox3 calls $0.50, Pokerpeaker5 bets $2, Cr3d folds, cleensweep folds, steve_albini folds, turbox3 calls $1.75.
FLOP [board cards 5S,9S,4S ]
Pokerpeaker5 bets $2, turbox3 calls $2.
TURN [board cards 5S,9S,4S,10D ]
Pokerpeaker5 bets $10, turbox3 calls $10.
RIVER [board cards 5S,9S,4S,10D,3H ]
Pokerpeaker5 checks, turbox3 checks.
SHOWDOWN
Pokerpeaker5 shows [ AH,AC ]
turbox3 shows [ 9H,9C ]
turbox3 wins $29.
SUMMARY
Dealer: turbox3
Pot: $30, (including rake: $1)
cleensweep, loses $0.50
steve_albini, loses $0.50
Chippsmith, loses $0
Skip_Dr, loses $0
turbox3, bets $14.25, collects $29, net $14.75
Pokerpeaker5, loses $14.25
Cr3d, loses $0.50
pm_abs, loses $0
FloppinNutzz, loses $0
newf01, loses $0
But that's poker. I played it well, checked on the river and saved some money. So OK.
But I would like some hands to be paid off. When I get AA a second time that night, I would like at least one caller to my raise of 4xs, please.
When I get quad 9s, as I did TWO hands after my QQ disaster, and there are five people in the hand, I would like action from at least one player, please.
When I flop a set of 6s, as I did TWO hands after my AA suckout, and there are four people in the hand, I would like action from at least one player, please.
And no, I'm not shoving when I get these hands. I'm betting half the pot each time.
Am I making excuses? Am I playing poorly? Or are there a number of factors at play here that are combining to possibly start me on a long-term losing streak?
I'm not sure. But the storm clouds are starting to swirl overhead. I just hope I can get to treeline safely before the real storm hits.
Three reasons.
• We're tired and we don't know it.
Saturday I signed on just expecting to play an hour of poker. I really needed some alone time, and I was looking forward to it after leaving Greeley at 2:30 a.m. and leading my 14ers group up the last mountain of the year. Yes, I seemed tired, but I was really looking forward to the poker.
It was a great day, and I was feeling good. The group responded well despite me having to be much more of a hardass than before because of the inclement weather and the need to get down. We did make the summit up Elbert, Colorado's tallest mountain, and we made it to the van three minutes before a huge storm ripped through Leadville.
Soon after, I got K,A. A guy raised 4x the big blind, and I called, along with one other player. The flop came K,3,Q, with K,3 hearts.
I bet half the pot, $3, and the guy to my left raises, and the other pushes for his last $12.
Understand that all last week, I played patient, solid poker and did not sniff A,K. I barely got any solid starting hands and yet managed to squeak out a $25 profit for the week on the cash games. It was the kind of week I'm proud of, a week that requires great discipline (I folded several hands when I was in the lead until I got a bad feeling on the river, like the guy flopped the kicker I thought he had, giving him two pair and giving it up when he would excitedly overbet the pot) and a week that also means I avoided losing my whole buy-in every time that week.
So what do I do? Do I take the warning sign that my TPTK is not good here? A raise and a re-raise?
No. I call the $12.
It's a great play because what I essentially did was price myself in when the other guy pushed, meaning I had to pay $33 to win $100. Those odds are pretty damn good. I figured I would gamble and pay attention to that. I also now have a lame excuse for losing this hand. And, finally, I gave up all fold equity to the other guy, making him the aggressor.
The raiser had QQ. The re-raiser had K,Q.
I had a losing hand.
I was too tired to play. I was exhausted, in fact, and I let my want (need?) to play poker get the best of me. Had I been sharp, I would have of course recognized that I was beat after I was re-raised and simply folded, saving me a lot of money. It requires discipline to fold TPTK (more than it should, really), and my mind wasn't sharp enough for that. It's why you fuck the ugly girl in the bar when you're drunk. It's hard to turn down a blow job, any blow job, but if you're sharp, you do it when the girl who looks like Spock hits on you.
• You refuse to believe your luck is that bad, even when you know it is.
So Sunday I'm at it again, telling myself that I was going to play smart, disciplined poker, the kind of poker that has helped me fatten my bankroll.
And not long after, I get QQ.
QQ has not been kind to me lately. In fact, if QQ was my wife, I would have divorced her and left her with nothing but the weeds in the backyard. While JJ has been so good, I feel like going "Brokeback Mountain" over it, QQ has been a nasty bitch.
I feel kind bad for her, though, because it's really not her fault. Her ex-husband, KK, has been stalking her.
So I raise 3x the big blind.
And someone re-raises me.
Now, this will sound like incredible whining, the kind of bitching that donkeys do, i.e. "My Aces Always Get Cracked." So you don't have to believe me. Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.
But four out of the last five times, my QQ has run into KK.
I've kept track.
It's cost me a lot of money. Not my buy-ins every time. But too much money.
When the guy re-raised $1, alarm bells went off. No one seems to re-raise in my level, $50 NL games, unless they have KK or AA.
I called the $1.
And here's what happened:
Texas Hold'em $0.50-$0.50 NL (Real Money), #848,139,803
Table Valparaiso, 13 Aug 2006 10:50 PM ET
Seat 1: Chippsmith ($95.40 in chips)
Seat 2: scottyrob1 ($45.75 in chips)
Seat 3: bloodndef ($71.40 in chips)
Seat 4: prolox29 ($15.85 in chips)
Seat 5: Pokerpeaker5 ($48.75 in chips)
Seat 7: Crow Magnon ($80.75 in chips)
Seat 8: masinnerx ($24.45 in chips)
Seat 9: itchybelly ($7.50 in chips)
Seat 10: steppa30 ($49.65 in chips)
ANTES/BLINDS
scottyrob1 posts blind ($0.25), bloodndef posts blind ($0.50).
PRE-FLOP
prolox29 folds, Pokerpeaker5 bets $1.50, Crow Magnon folds, masinnerx folds, itchybelly folds, steppa30 bets $2.50, Chippsmith folds, scottyrob1 calls $2.25, bloodndef folds, Pokerpeaker5 calls $1.
FLOP [board cards 2S,10D,4D ]
scottyrob1 bets $3, Pokerpeaker5 calls $3, steppa30 bets $10, scottyrob1 folds, Pokerpeaker5 bets $43.25 and is all-in, steppa30 calls $36.25.
TURN [board cards 2S,10D,4D,6S ]
RIVER [board cards 2S,10D,4D,6S,KD ]
SHOWDOWN
Pokerpeaker5 shows [ QS,QC ]
steppa30 shows [ KC,KH ]
steppa30 wins $102.50.
SUMMARY
Dealer: Chippsmith
Pot: $103.50, (including rake: $1)
Chippsmith, loses $0
scottyrob1, loses $5.50
bloodndef, loses $0.50
prolox29, loses $0
Pokerpeaker5, loses $48.75
Crow Magnon, loses $0
masinnerx, loses $0
itchybelly, loses $0
steppa30, bets $48.75, collects $102.50, net $53.75
Yes, for the fifth time in six QQs, it ran into KK.
I refused to believe that my luck was that bad. "There's NO WAY my QQ could run into KK again, right? I mean, he MUST have JJ. He MUST. There's just no way, right?"
Sure there is.
• Bad luck
I'm not going whine about my QQ anymore. In fact, I just demonstrated that it happens.
But I've noticed that when variance comes knocking, and she is this week, in full force, that not only do your great hands go down, your monsters don't get paid off.
Suckouts like this one happen all the time in a losing streak:
View Previous hand for this table.
Texas Hold'em $0.50-$0.50 NL (Real Money), #848,243,884
Table Giessen, 13 Aug 2006 11:20 PM ET
Seat 1: cleensweep ($17.75 in chips)
Seat 2: steve_albini ($51.85 in chips)
Seat 3: Chippsmith ($57.30 in chips)
Seat 4: Skip_Dr ($49.30 in chips)
Seat 5: turbox3 ($32.50 in chips)
Seat 6: Pokerpeaker5 ($47.50 in chips)
Seat 7: Cr3d ($30 in chips)
Seat 8: pm_abs ($68 in chips)
Seat 9: FloppinNutzz ($47 in chips)
Seat 10: newf01 ($24.85 in chips)
ANTES/BLINDS
Pokerpeaker5 posts blind ($0.25), Cr3d posts blind ($0.50).
PRE-FLOP
pm_abs folds, FloppinNutzz folds, newf01 folds, cleensweep calls $0.50, steve_albini calls $0.50, Chippsmith folds, Skip_Dr folds, turbox3 calls $0.50, Pokerpeaker5 bets $2, Cr3d folds, cleensweep folds, steve_albini folds, turbox3 calls $1.75.
FLOP [board cards 5S,9S,4S ]
Pokerpeaker5 bets $2, turbox3 calls $2.
TURN [board cards 5S,9S,4S,10D ]
Pokerpeaker5 bets $10, turbox3 calls $10.
RIVER [board cards 5S,9S,4S,10D,3H ]
Pokerpeaker5 checks, turbox3 checks.
SHOWDOWN
Pokerpeaker5 shows [ AH,AC ]
turbox3 shows [ 9H,9C ]
turbox3 wins $29.
SUMMARY
Dealer: turbox3
Pot: $30, (including rake: $1)
cleensweep, loses $0.50
steve_albini, loses $0.50
Chippsmith, loses $0
Skip_Dr, loses $0
turbox3, bets $14.25, collects $29, net $14.75
Pokerpeaker5, loses $14.25
Cr3d, loses $0.50
pm_abs, loses $0
FloppinNutzz, loses $0
newf01, loses $0
But that's poker. I played it well, checked on the river and saved some money. So OK.
But I would like some hands to be paid off. When I get AA a second time that night, I would like at least one caller to my raise of 4xs, please.
When I get quad 9s, as I did TWO hands after my QQ disaster, and there are five people in the hand, I would like action from at least one player, please.
When I flop a set of 6s, as I did TWO hands after my AA suckout, and there are four people in the hand, I would like action from at least one player, please.
And no, I'm not shoving when I get these hands. I'm betting half the pot each time.
Am I making excuses? Am I playing poorly? Or are there a number of factors at play here that are combining to possibly start me on a long-term losing streak?
I'm not sure. But the storm clouds are starting to swirl overhead. I just hope I can get to treeline safely before the real storm hits.
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