Glued to the seat

Extended Weekend Warrior

2011-11-08T15:12:00.002+01:00

Introductory Home Guard Course passed, and some weekend meetings and training done the last months. And over the Halloween weekend I was at the exercise needed to fulfill my contract for this year.

Now I want to get morale patches, for example Chairborne Ranger, Space Shuttle Door Gunner and FIGMO. I've already got BOHICA.

Weekend warrior

2011-05-16T21:18:00.003+02:00

I like nature and some things that go boom, so I joined The Swedish National Home Guard.

A side benefit: I like headwear. The equipment I was issued included cap, winter cap, balaclava, helmet and a beret. The Swedish defence forces like to prepend most equipment designations with protective-, field- or combat- and since I'm assigned to the staff platoon I'll be wielding a field-pen and a combat keyboard.

I haven't done the introductory course yet (happens in June), so at the moment I'm not even a private.

Resuscitation

2011-03-10T19:47:00.002+01:00

Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?

*crickets*

I haven't written anything in this blog for over a year, time to do something about it. But not now.

Stay tuned for a long overdue update on birdwatching, photography, bowties, PS3 and poker.

The future's so bright

2010-01-22T17:08:00.004+01:00

I lost my newest pair of prescription glasses last summer but had an older pair that I've been using, but I'm not really comfortable with them so I ordered new ones.

Ray-Ban® Wayfarer to be more precise. Stylish, classic, yet I only have to add a short-sleeved shirt, tie and pocket protector to get that "60s NASA engineer"/geek/nerd look I have no problem with.

I'm very near-sighted but I wear contact lenses all waking hours, I almost only wear glasses between bathroom and bed and vice versa (and on those rare occasions when I can't use contact lenses) but that's no reason to have ugly or weak glasses. In fact, with these Wayfarers, I will probably use them in the daytime sometimes.

And for when I don't do that, I won an auction for Ray-Ban® Wayfarer sunglasses at Tradera (the "Swedish eBay). Half price, special for you, my friend.

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

I'm cheap, thrifty, money-pinching or what you may call it, so I'm putting thoughts about laser surgery on hold for a year or so more, so I haven't spent money on this for nothing.

Nom

2009-12-11T22:15:00.002+01:00

I've used dry macaronis as poker chips once. (And sips-of-beer once, but that didn't end well).

see more dog and puppy pictures

The Grand

2009-11-15T14:38:00.003+01:00

Just saw The Grand, which had been waiting in my DVD stack for a while. I thought it was a quite good poker comedy or indeed a good poker movie. A "mockumentary" in the style of A Mighty Wind or Best In Show.

Also, I've enrolled in Full Tilt Poker Academy. There's a time and place for everything - and it's called college.

Also, you have corn in your teeth.

Fizzle

2009-11-03T16:55:00.002+01:00

Brag: In the District Championship in online Texas Hold'em at Svenska Spel Poker, I lasted longer than last year's winner. Everybody did, since he was the first one out in 40th place (two pair vs flopped flush).

Beat: AKo vs AT clubs, rereraise all in before the flop. A Ten on the flop and I'm out in 13th place.

Variance: One player was sitting out the whole tournament, seats won in satellites were not redeemable. Still, he beat more than half the starting field. 15th place, I think, since I was the one who knocked out him and one other shortstack in the same hand with a runner-runner straight making me 10th of 13 remaining.

Not bluffing

2009-08-09T21:12:00.001+02:00

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

At least a small profit

2009-06-01T19:12:00.002+02:00

I travelled south to where I grew up last Friday to go to a kind of high school reunion. My sister and her family were going to be out of town so I would stay at their house but didn't have any particular scheduled time to be there.

So, I made a detour and left my bags in a locker at the train station and went to the casino in Malmö (one of the four legal casinos in Sweden) to play poker.

I've been there quite a few times especially this last year now and know how it works and the style of play. 20/20 (Swedish crowns, say US$2.5) blinds on NL Texas and recently they changed it so you can buy in max 200 big blinds instead of 100.

I get seated right away at a newly started table and recognize a few regulars in the room. At my table, a loose Danish "semi-pro". Several bought in short, 1100, and I don't want to risk too much, I buy in for 1500.

I'm not going to stay all night, I have to take a late connecting train onwards. I play conservatively but hope to hit my draws. The chips in play are 20, 100 and 1000 so a raise is often to 120 or above instead of 4 BB to 80 and such, like you would see online. Twenties are scarcer than hundreds, like at the Vegas $1/$2 tables where the $5s are what you play and the ones are change.

Fold, limp, fold, limp, raise, fold to big reraise. I get 44 and call a small raise, hoping to get a set. And yes, a 4 on the flop, no immediate draws. A shortstack goes all in with a bit more than 300 and I'm the only one still in, I call. I crack his KK.

QK spades, call a raise preflop and the flop is QKx, all clubs. Hmm. Guy to the right goes all in with 3000+. I decide that this is where I double up or bust in this loose-passive room. I call with my remaining 800 with the assumption that the guy to the left will fold his flush draw, which he does. Flip the cards, he has Q4, no clubs. 4 on the turn. Here, live, there must be fewer suckouts than online because there is NO 4 on the river and I get a nice pot. I leave one orbit later, up 500 gross (I had two beers, but the beer money is in another money clip).

I later see in a Swedish poker forum that one guy was there Friday and switch tables because at his table there were "six tight players and two fishes". I wonder if he was the guy to my right with Q4, he seems like the type. I also wonder if I was classed as a tight one or a fish. :-)

When I get home Sunday evening, I haven't played online for four whole days (jonesing!) so I open a €0.25/0.5 and intend to leave if and when I am up, no matter how much. €1 is enough.

KK, flop Q and I call opponent's irregular (but large) bets down all the way to the river all in. They hold up to his AQo, there was no funny business with a weird two pair Q7 or a set of rags. Out up €36.

Maybe I will repeat my casino visit next Friday, I'm going southwards again. And this summer I will repeat what I did last summer, stay in town at hotel or hostel and play several nights.

Sidenote: WSOP has started. A play money Holdem client in Facebook, Zynga, have a promotion. Win a tournament of certain ones run June 8-22 and you get entered into a draw where 18 randomly selected tournament winners will play a final tournament June 30. Up for grabs is two WSOP Main Event packages. Here's the weird part: It's open to the whole world, just meet the age limit (21 to play in USA). The winners are announced July 1. Main Event starts July 3. A bit of a tight squeeze... Also, in addition to the buyin you get travel (good luck arranging that with two days' notice) and three hotel nights at Rio. But, but, but, what if you're still in after day 2? Are you on your own then? Oh, and you get VIP Lounge and backstage passes. Uh-huh, just you and a few thousand other online qualifiers will get that same exclusive treatment. Having once won a WSOP Main Event package and having been in Vegas I can just say; YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!

The reunion
I showed up at the auditorum of my old high school and was greeted by a woman I then realized was the current principal. I introduced myself with name and graduation year, 1989. "Oh, great that you youngsters come too." Uh oh.

Inside, I see name lists of those who accepted the invitation, which this year was those who graduated in a year ending with 4 or 9 (i.e. it's a multiple-of-five anniversary). I knew that, that was what the invitation said. What it didn't say was that the invitation went out to only "20 years and up". Some ceremonies and stuff and at one time those from each year stood up. Quite a few 50 years anniversarians stood up. There were a handful of 1979 and 1984. I was the only one there from 1989... Toootally the wrong intended audience. I thought this was going to be more of a class reunion opportunity, not a historical society.

In the evening there was a dinner, and there two girls from my class showed up (the meeting in the auditorium wasn't "mandatory"), and one's parents were there (graduated in 1959 from the same school, and were high school sweethearts). From my year in total, seven had accepted the invitation but I don't think all showed up. Some gossip, some eating and drinking and an early exit. Sure, let's do this again in twenty years.

Both too tired to sleep

2009-05-13T10:41:00.002+02:00

Guitar Hero is fun. Rock Band is fun. Poker is fun.

The Gambler, with Kenny Rogers, is kinda the anthem of poker players.

Therefore, this recent Penny Arcade webcomic panel is fitting:

Cradle-Song of The Chickenman.

No dogs playing poker

2009-04-26T21:00:00.000+02:00

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Too easy

2009-03-25T09:39:00.002+01:00

So, I've bet on nine preseason Major League Baseball games in the last weeks of the Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues.

Result: One lost, one stopped at a draw after the 10th inning (money back) and seven won . Suspiciously easy...

My highly scientific method: If one team gives about 1.7 times the bet or lower and is above the other with >2 times the bet in the rankings (Won - Lost), bet. Just win or lose, no tricky over/under bets ("Well, Billy Bob Pugwash is probably pitching for the San Angeles Demons and it's partially cloudy so I don't think there will be many runs.") or messy parlays.

It goes better than my poker. No long-winded bad beat stories but: Several KK vs AA. Good hits vs better hits like JK (the very first hand after my quad Kings) flop QJJ, turn blank, river K for a full house... vs QQ for a flopped boat.

Let's see - I play poker, drink bourbon, follow baseball, have a lucky dollar bill in my wallet and a lucky halfdollar in my pocket sometimes. Is my honorary US citizenship in the mail already? Of course, weigh that against the fact that I've made jokes about the governor of Alaska and that my Delta Airmiles have expired (and that I got 4 S'ed once).

W Innings

2009-03-21T00:17:00.003+01:00

I'm reading Baseball For Dummies. I've verified that my TV channel package will show Major League Baseball this year as well (it was last year I saw some games on one of the sports channels and got hooked). I created an additional fantasy baseball lineup.

In preseason betting, I'm two out of three. I only make "surebets", low odds on favorites. Damn KC Royals. Go Cubs and Yankees.

I haven't found any cheap bats, balls or gloves yet.

Pass the beer and pretzels.

Batter up

2009-03-18T11:30:00.004+01:00

I wrote earlier that I was getting hooked on baseball.

Opening Day is approaching, and I've even created a fantasy baseball lineup at MLB.com, the Swedish Meatballs.

Even before I got interested in baseball, I bought an MLB baseball cap. A Yankees one. I don't have any particular team preference, I just like the design. Also, good luck finding anything other than a Yankees cap in Sweden, because it's more of a (hip hop?) fashion item/accessory. I think in stores, it's 90% NY or more, and a few of the other well-known Major League teams (Angels, both Sox). More for the look of the logo than any geographical preference. Something like Arizona Diamondbacks or Seattle Mariners would be a rare find.

I think I'll try to find a Mets cap and let it fight it out with my Yankees cap.

Also, maybe I should try to scrounge some equipment and get some people to play ball, or at least catch. That could be fun. But official baseball equipment is expensive, and there's not a lot of second hand stuff (other than bats from our local variation brennball and retired streetfighters). Also, I'm doublehanded. I would be a right-handed hitter but a left-handed pitcher. Gloves are hard to find, and then gloves for the right hand would be even harder to come by.

2009-02-19T14:36:00.000+01:00

Too keep my Blogspot "active", here's how I feel at the tables sometimes.

more animals

The last holdout

2009-01-01T14:26:00.002+01:00

Just before 2008 ended, I was the last person in the northern hemisphere with Internet to get a Facebook account.

Nom

2008-12-17T20:24:00.000+01:00

see more puppies

A first for everything

2008-12-16T21:11:00.005+01:00

Did the earth move for you too, honey?

I woke up half an hour early this morning hearing rattling and rumbling, and feeling some shaking. I didn't think much of it then, thinking it was a passing heavy truck, or a flyby from the nearby airbase (fighters or helicopters). It can't be, not in Sweden, right?

Wrong, it was a real earthquake, the first one I've felt.

Initially reported to be between 4.5 and 5.0 on the Richter scale (USGS first said 4.7), those bastards at USGS now seem to have downgraded it to a 4.2.

We want bragging rights, damnit! And T-shirts!

U.S. Presidential Election 08

2008-11-06T13:01:00.004+01:00

So Tina Fey didn't get enough electoral votes but Keegan-Michael Key will get an auger rated in January.

What will The Daily Show do now?

see Sarah Palin pictures

US and A

2008-08-08T22:24:00.002+02:00

I'm becoming Americanized... When I was in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2006 there were times when people thought I was a local. Not surprising, since I'm white, didn't wear the traditional national costume of Krepplachistan (I wore Hawaiian shirts, mostly), and my English language skills are very good according to TOEIC and university courses.

At that time, I didn't pay much attention to the TV screens lining many poker rooms. They showed sports, much baseball.

A while ago, I was channel surfing and saw that a sports channel included in my package showed at least one Major League Baseball game from NASN daily and I watched for a while and then decided to learn more about baseball. Much as I did with cricket, satisfy my curiosity about what the big deal was.

Now I'm hooked.

I'll probably start following it even more next season, from the start, and probably also partake in fantasy baseball. I'll learn more about the trickier rules and what numbers are considered good.

Part of the appeal I think lies in that it, like poker, is much a game about percentages and a little gambling. Should they give an intentional walk with runners on first and second with two outs at the bottom of the eighth with a weak hitter next in the lineup? I dunno.

It would be fun to try playing (or just pitching, batting and fielding) but baseball isn't a big sport here in Sweden and the nearest field and club that I know of is 40 miles (60 kilometers) away and that's a bit far to do anything serious.

A certain festive betting and gaming site gave me $10 again (they do that from time to time to lure me back) and I blew it all on what I thought would be a sure bet. But nooo, the D-Backs choked against the Pirates and lost 2-0.

Geez. The next time I'm in Las Vegas I'm going to be a total degenerate. I'll be at a poker table, drunk as a skunk on fine American products like bourbon and canoe lovemaking beer with half of my attention going to the TVs and ballgames "No, no, nooo, don't put in a rookie pinch hitter now, I've got three Benjamins on the over/under. Awfuhgeddaboudit, get me some racing forms..." Yup, it's the ponies next, I'm afraid.

Good read

2008-07-30T19:36:00.001+02:00

more cat pictures

We'll do it live!

2008-07-09T12:27:00.000+02:00

On an almost spontaneous whim, I quickly decided I wanted to play live poker at a real casino and made reservations at a hostel close to the nearest casino (which isn't so near, far enough that it isn't a one day affair) in Malmö, Sweden.

Took the train there, went shopping, and then checked in to the hostel. Exactly what I was looking for. I just need a bed, access to bathroom and shower and a door you can lock. Not a fancy hotel with oak furniture, carpets, trouser press, minibar, conference rooms and starred restaurant.

I get to the casino, have a burger and a beer, and soon get a seat at 20/20 (crowns, about $3). Yes, 20/20, not 10/20. No flop, no drop - meaning that if you just check or limp, there will be a flop and rake, and if you raise, there will be a larger pot and more rake.

I buy in max, 100 Big Blinds. I recognize a regular two seats to my right, I've seen him when the poker room was elsewhere in the casino (and I lost a good-sized pot at Fixed Limit with King-high vs Ace-high flush to him), saw him outside another time when I didn't play poker there, saw him in the poker room at another table when I played with dad. To the immediate left of me was an Englishman (?) who lost two big pots against Regular, reloading inbetween, and finally went all in in the dark with his last 2-300. I have QJo in the Big Blind, no other callers. Should I? Yes, I call. He turns up his cards, Ace-rag. And hey-o, a Jack on the flop. Dominating, but the turn causes me to mutter "hmmph, gutshot". And he gets the four-outer 4 for a wheel (Ace-to-Five straight) on the river.

Later, there are new players. I'm wedged in between three Danish semi-pros. I'm nearing the felt and reload with another 1000. That was necessary, to have ammo, and I fight my way up somewhat.

Hand of the night: I get KK, ye ole cowboys, of which one is a Spade. Bet hard, a Dane calls. Three Spades on the flop, one is an Ace, more betting. Bingo! Turn is the Queen of Spades, giving me the nut flush, there could be a straight now, a worse flush, he could try to represent a straight flush or even Royal Straight Flush but I'm blocking that with my King of Spades. I don't remember if the river paired (possible full house) but I don't think so, and the Dane is squirming, he has something halfway decent. I have about 1000 left and bet half of it, 500. If he calls, I have him and get a good pot. If he raises, I have him and get a better pot. I don't think he will fold, because he's got so much in the pot already and I think that he thinks that I think I can maybe buy the pot. Texas Hold'em and poker at its finest.

And I get confirmation that I've got him, he says "If you have the King, well played, otherwise not" and reluctantly calls. I flip my cards over and he mucks. He must've had a straight or Ten of Spades for a (non-nut) flus and straight flush draw.

After about five or six hours of play, I cash out about 50 Big Blinds down. Better luck tomorrow, you can easily double up with one good hand and also milk shortstacks.

Oh, I got a membership card, giving you free entry for a year at all the four state-run casinos in Sweden. They aren't allowed to give comps, meaning no free drinks, no bonuses, no enticements. They got into some trouble when they opened and they tried to act like a Real Vegas Casino giving out free alcoholic drinks and giving some high rollers free or discounted hotel rooms. As a welcome gift I got a pen and a 20-crown marker (you also get those if you get a dinner package) which you can use at any table game. However, you can only bet it on numbers at the roulette, not black/red, odd/even, so they will almost certainly get it back.

I never had reason to flash my WSOP T-shirt (Main Event started that day).

Straddle is allowed, but isn't live. Just as I had read on a Swedish poker forum, the poker room was populated with regulars, tight nits, "tourists" trying out something other than online poker for the first time with a minimum or half buy-in and the worst of all: The trashtalking hollaballa online pro, getting all Hollywood and getting seconds from getting Time called, folding their 78 on a AKJ flop saying "I put you on Tens or Jack Ten". After playing five hands: "Geez, you're tight at this table". And the pièce de résistance: Actually saying "LOL".

Day 2:

In total, I played for six hours. I cashed in for the max amount and took good care of my stack and took a break about once an hour, during which the button orbited approximately three times, meaning 30 hands/hour. Some times I was up about a 1000 and some change and thus break-even for the visit.

I'm not here for a Great Big Win, I'm "happy" breaking even, having had a mini-vacation with shopping, good eating and drinking and a lot of poker.

What caused me to go home was: 37 in an unraised small blind. Remember that it's 20/20, small and big blind are the same? Lo and behold, the flop is the perfect 456. Flopped a good straight! Pocket 78 could be better but after some moderate betting the turn comes 8. Don't think there's a 79 out there.

Hmm, the river pairs with a 6, the pot is about 1000. I beat most hands; all slowplayed big pocket pairs, flush draws (rainbow board), rag draws. What the heck, all in first to act. Last to act is Tanned Older Guy, who earlier got four of a kind in deuces with A2o. I saw him buy in with a Big Red Square 10.000 chip (what are they called?). 2000 is the max buyin at 20/20, so you pocket the 8000 and can refill up to 2000 if you're down.

Aw heck! Dang! Fork! Of course he was happy flopping two pair with 56 and riverring a full house. Why couldn't he have had a 7 for split, 23 for sucker straight or a big pair?

I shake his hand, no hard feelings, and leave, making a joke that doesn't translate well but is in the style of "well, I'll go home and continue folding, but sheets this time".

Online play, the days after that, things I've seen playing online.

At 1/2 tables, max buyin 400. One player with 1248 on one table and 160 at another. Variance!

Calling an all in with AA in a Speed tournament (3 minute blinds), he went all in with 99 and of course flops a 9.

AK, flop KKx, pot-sized bets on flop and river and he won't fold. river J and of course he has JJ.

AA. Flop AAx and several players in. Checked all around. Minimum bet on the turn, no callers. WTF?

Fold 78s against bet 5*BB, flop 569 rainbow. Fun.

Online and live poker is rigged...

Well, at least it's winning

2008-06-18T10:47:00.004+02:00

I played a LOT at Full Tilt in May, earning me a seat in the Iron Man freeroll at the Silver level. Also, I played every day in May and got a seat in the One-A-Day Freeroll
.

The one-a-day started one hour before the Silver freeroll and had a $2000 prize pool. After more than two hours, I finished in the money, there was 927 participants and 360 places paid. A bit much, a third "getting paid" instead of the usual 10%. A whopping $4 was my prize for 87th place there!

In the Iron Man $15000 freeroll (Silver), there were 809 participants and 180 places paid. I finished in the money there as well. 25th and $60.

The trick is: Don't bust!

But here's my peeve: The payoff is so little. You could play for hours in a tournament and finish in the money, but in the lower parts of the payout structure, and you get 2 to 5 times the buyin when the winner or last three get 100 to 200 times the buyin. It almost doesn't seem "worth it". I put in a lot of effort to get to these freerolls. Well, at least in the Iron Man, there's more put into it by Full Tilt, since the winner of each of the four Iron Man freerolls plays for $5000 more, and the winner there plays for up to $100.000 more but couldn't they add more? A lottery for T-shirts, or random bonuses if you really play the freeroll. Bubble prizes?

On unique thing (I think) for Full Tilt that I've tried is the CAP cash games. I'm mainly a Texas No Limit player, but I'm a bit apprehensive about playing the higher levels. No fear, at the CAP games, which are still No Limit, the maximum you can put in the pot is thirty (30) Big Blinds, so you might not go busto to a suckout or a miracle flop (AK vs 88 on a AK8 flop for example). You can still wield the weapon of a big raise or trying the waters with check-calling/raising and sometimes get paid off, which is trickier to do in Fixed Limit. I railbirded a rare $500/$1000 6-seat CAP game. That was just sick. $30.000 is the maximum bet and there were preflop shoves and stacks of $60.000 shuffling back and forth.

Another somewhat lucrative type is the Token tournaments. $8 for a 18-seat Turbo Sit'n'Go, where five players win a $26 tournament token which can get you into any $24+2 tournament or Sit'n'Go and 6th place get $14. One third of the players get paid, not too hard to reach.

Some time this summer, I'll try the Sunday Brawl. I crave a Big Win.

I wanna go too

2008-06-16T08:48:00.004+02:00

Apparently, Iggy finally stopped writing about politics and started playing poker again.

The result? WSOP Main Event, baby!

Quoth:

I played the best weak-tight poker of my life.

Nine drunken hours later.

On a whim, I'm in the WSOP Main Event.

Congratulations...

RoundersBuzz

2008-06-13T13:01:00.000+02:00

I recently came across a new site that is interesting both for poker bloggers and card players, RoundersBuzz.com. It is a recently launched social voting website just for poker content. If you are a publisher looking to drive traffic to your site, you can submit poker articles, stories or news at RoundersBuzz. If you are a poker player looking to improve your game, you can quickly sift through the best poker content voted up to the main page by the community.

Besides the main page, there are five Category pages for specific stories. The most popular categories are the two strategy categories; Tournament Strategy and Ring Game Strategy. They also have categories on General Poker, Online Poker Tools and Poker News.

Mushy Shorts

2008-05-30T13:22:00.004+02:00

Wil Wheaton, in addition to being a writer, a blogger and for a while having been on Team Pokerstars is also an actor.

He's the one with the beard.

Feel the pretty.

Cat-ch the cards

2008-05-20T09:57:00.001+02:00

more cat pictures

Thunk different

2008-04-19T19:15:00.001+02:00

I haven't SWITCH.ed, I just got another computer. Now I have one in the kitchen (a laptop), one in the bedroom and two disused ones in the closet. I still lack a tablet PC and/or something like an UMPC.

My cutesy little Mac Mini arrived yesterday. It's got wireless keyboard and mouse and my flatscreen TV (bought with "poker money") has a VGA port.

Also, Full Tilt Poker has a client for Macs, so I rearranged the sofa and cushions and played lying down all evening and morning.

Play Online Poker

Two final tables out of two MTTs played and two SnG wins and one second place out of five SnGs.

I think I can attribute that to the relaxed playing style stemming from the ease of use and that I'm not rushed. Instead of multitabling and using the pre-select buttons - Fold! Check/Fold! Raise! - I seem to be more prone (didyer catch the pun?) to ponder the situation, not just playing the cards.

The fact that I'm streaming dubstep from iTunes radio also helps.

It kind of matches my Neil Poulton designed external hard drive (500 gigabytes, althought I'd like to say "half a terabyte!").

It just works.

Think of the children!

2008-03-27T13:12:00.000+01:00

Bet de haus

2008-02-28T09:08:00.000+01:00

see more loldogs are funny dog pictures!

A drim comm troo

2008-02-20T11:00:00.002+01:00

For a while, I've been addicted to the sites I Can Has Cheezburger? and I has a hotdog!, where there are funny pictures of cats and dogs and a witty caption or dialogue, most often it and the comments are written in LOLspeak. The Bible is available in LOLspeak...

In some earlier posts in this blog, I've found and linked some poker related lolcats and loldogs, as you can see.

Now they're having a poker cats contest. I can't wait to see what madness ensues. "We r sending a lucky winnar (+ friend) to Vegas baby!"

kthxbai, nom nom nom. moar plz, mai hed splort.

A family pot

2008-02-13T00:08:00.000+01:00

After one or two missed attempts, my and my dad finally went to the nearest (legal) brick&mortar casino together, to play poker.

One time before, we had booked a "Poker Night" package, where you get a dinner and then the dinner guests with the weekly Poker Night package play a tournament with a trophy prize. That night, us two were the only ones booked, we found out... We got "comped" some branded gifts.

Another night we went there just for dinner and some light lottery (slots and low-stakes table games) with a friend of dad. We didn't rule out the possibility of poker as well, but first they had a poker tournament filling up all the tables and dealers, then when tables opened up it was only high stakes.

But now, finally. I was going south (literally) anyway, to welcome my sister and her family back from a three week vacation in Thailand, and dad suggested we make another attempt. At the casino, they've relocated the poker room (more and better tables) and have more (and lower) blinds and buy-ins. Earlier the lowest was usually the rough equivalent of $6/12. 50/100 crowns. Now they have kinda-sorta $4/4. 20/20 crowns. Yes, small and big blind are the same. No flop, no drop, eh?

I get there, he's already waiting and has put us on the waiting list. The poker room doesn't open in an hour. We get dinner. Fish&chips!

I coach him a little, he has never played (that I know of, hmmm) poker at a casino. "The dealer is there to help you, don't make any rookie mistakes as acting out of turn, tabling your cards too early or misbetting" and such. On our way up to the poker room I also suggest that if there's few or no other players, we should hang back a while. It's no good idea to just shuffle the pot back and forth between us, taking money from each other.

No problem, when we get there, it's already full or filling up. We get seats at each end of the table, seat 3 and 8. I buy in for half the maximum buy-in, dad for a quarter of it (he later fills up to the same as me, when he understands that you have to have a buffer to absorb the normal swings in the stack).

My classification of the other players: To the right of me a good deep-stack, who plays the player and the flop. One-or two rocks, one or two maniacs, one or two willing to slug it out with huge bets and reloading. A good mix.

I hit nearly nothing. But daddy needs a new pair of shoes! Is that how the expression goes? *Google* *Google*. Uhm, no, "baby needs a new pair of shoes. He runs good, and has more than doubled up, with at least a nine for the straight (must be so, even if it didn't go to a showdown after the river) and big bets on all streets with two queens and two kings on the table. His opponent mutters something about "No, not this time, sir" and folds. So he didn't have a king. Aces maybe? Dad must've had the boat.

My hit finally comes. AQ and I raise somewhat substantially, get one caller and... nooo, dad also calls. We aren't going to softplay each other, so butt out.

An ace on the flop, good. I bet and they call again. Another ace on the turn, I bet even more and the other player calls, dad raises.

I go all in. With this board, the other player could be on a straight or flush draw, but probably not holding AK/anything better than AQ. What dad has, I don't know, but it's second best.

He calls?! The river is inconsequential, I show my trip aces and he has... two jacks?

So the only big pot I won, was from my own father. I hope he doesn't change his will. :-)

A while later, he's had enough, and I wait for the button to pass me. I'm up about 375 crowns, he's up 450. $1 is about 6.5 crowns. Good for two amateurs and an hour and a half of play. We have to do it again some time. I think we matched each other well. He had a beige suit and tan shirt on, I had black pants, black jacket and black shirt on. Sunglasses and headwear (also hoodies) are not allowed.

A pity that the only really big pot I won was against him. But he can blame noone but himself. At least there's no reason to suspect collusion or softplaying (and the brush knew that we are family).

We go downstairs to the main casino for some slots before we go home. I get a drink (Rusty Nail) and put a hundred in some machine, baffled by the several people I see playing two machines simultaneously. I semi-randomly select a play. 5 Lines, Bet 1, Spin. It bleeps and beeps and then the screen says something about "11 free games", meaning that it will repeat my first play (5 lines) eleven times. I hit some kind of bonus round, it seems. And there I hit some more wins, and more free games. I let it run its course until it finishes, and by then I'm up 150. And now the big question, where the house wins it back: "Do you want do Gamble?" This I've seen before. Double or Nothing on a coin toss, black or red. Heck no! I press Cash Out, after only one play and the coins start rattling out. Dang, another time I won some at a machine here, an attendant came with the winnings, and some machines give you a ticket, but not this one. I jump up and get a cup and gather it up. Maybe I sneer, smirk and scoff at the full-time slot zombies a little. I go back to where dad is, half a Rusty Nail in one hand, a cup full of coins in the other and a shit-eating grin inbetween them.

And I found another coin left in the coin changing machine. Can't lose, baby!

Do you expect me to talk?

2008-01-27T19:21:00.000+01:00

moar funny pictures

Fold

2008-01-17T11:24:00.000+01:00

moar cute puppy pictures

LOLCATS

2007-11-30T16:12:00.000+01:00

moar funny pictures

Czech it down

2007-11-21T19:36:00.000+01:00

Nope, no trip to Prague. Twelve participants, one prize, and I finished seventh.

A pair of eights with three big blinds left, calling an all in and getting called behind. Last caller had AQ and two Queens on the board equals Goodbye.

In other news: I saw a new thing in Full Tilt Poker's plethora of tournaments, Knockout. A bounty on every player! A portion of the buy-in goes to the bounty, the rest to the usual prize pool. Knock a player out, and you get his bounty. Knock five or six out and you're freerolling.

I played one and made it to the money. $3 buy-in, 50 cent bounty. I kept a careful count of how many I knocked out and it sums up to: 2. I called an all in with JJ, he has 33, haw haw. A 3 on the flop and I'm out. $5.21 prize plus $1 in bounty, minus $3 buy-in and 30 cent rake. Uhm, a neat little profit of almost $3. Go me!

Have quads, might travel

2007-11-14T14:05:00.000+01:00

Man, I've neglected my blog for ever. I'll have to make an über-post where I dump all of the good and bad plays I've made. I do keep a poker diary, of sorts.

In earlier blogs, I wrote a little about tournaments with monthly ranking points at a site where there is a kind of rakeback, you get shares. 50% of the shares will be given out over a two year period according to how much you rake compared to other players, and you also can win shares in tournaments and by being an affiliate.

Anyhow, twice I qualified by points to a monthly Sit'n'Go final (10 seats) where first place gave you a place in the site team and you would go to EPT Barcelona to play in a rebuy satellite to the main event. I didn't win in the finals...

But now I'm up again. In the Halloween weekend, they had a promotion. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, you got the buy-in refunded if you played in the "EPT Frenzy" tournaments. It was 10+1 Euro, so in essence you only paid the rake.

I played the Saturday tournament. There were 32 participants, and here I wonder if that's good or bad. You see, there was a prize for every eleven participants. So if there would've been 33 participants, there would be three prizes. On the other hand, maybe it's good if there aren't many prizes. You see, the prize(s) was a seat in the final. The prize(s) in the final is... a place in the rebuy satellite in EPT Prague in December.

So how did it go? 32 participants, two seats in the final and some Euros to third place.

The first hour went well, bouncing around in the top-5 and my AK hitting a K gets me to first place in stack-size out of ten remaining when the first hourly break gets closer. The good run continues and I have a bit over 13000 in chips while second place has 7000. Six players left. Second place with five players left.

Boom! I hit four Aces, quads, AAAA, and against the chip lead as well, so now I have 18000 against second place 9000. It didn't go to showdown, but I had to show it.

Chip lead with four players left, the stacks are evening out, at least among the top-3. More hits, and I'm chip lead with four players left, I'm the first player over 20000 in chips.

First break. Four players left and three places "paid", this is a nailbiter.

Break ends. And what's the very first hand I'm dealt after the break. AA! And what's on the flop? Ace, rag, rag. And here follows a complicated move, the checkrereraise. I have the best set and there are no good draws (flush or straight) available.

The turn is... A. Boom! Another four Aces, quads, AAAA. And it's against the same player I had the previous AAAA against. I get paid as much as possible on that one, I think, he has about 3-4 big blinds left when it's over. He must have hit a full house or something (two pair with KK?), thinking I had Ace-something for a set or was semi-bluffing.

Earlier there had been one quad Kings and a straight flush. Lots of high hands.

He's out a while later and now we're in the money. I have 37000, the two others about 5000, but let's not get to carried away. I want one of the two seats in the final, not the 100 Euros for third place. If one of the short stacks manages to double up twice, it's a whole different situation.

The waiting is over and we're about evenly stacked. Both places give a seat in the final, so it doesn't really matter. I make some half-hearted attempts to nail first place, betting on any hit, however small, but no. "Second" place.

So, tomorrow Thursday 15th I'll play in the final. Right now, there are seven qualifiers and one package (travel, accomodation, satellite entry and rebuys) for EPT Prague up for grabs.

One can also buy in to the final directly, with 100+10 Euros and it's "One seat for every 20 players". I don't think we'll reach 20+ players.

But, well, basically I freerolled into the final, and it will probably be a Sit'n'Go, a single-table tournament. And in my experience, there's always one or two that can't make it and will be sitting out. And one who will play wildly even in the first levels, doubling up or busting. I think I have a good shot at this.

Got into WSOP 2006 via a freeroll, had a one in ten shot at EPT Barcelona twice and now a shot at EPT Prague. And if that doesn't work out, there's always next year.

Funny concidence: A friend of mine, who's now a Ph.D., has in his programme been to conferences and such (guest researcher for example) in Barcelona, Prague and Bologna. Bologna, Italy, is not that far (at least on a map, if you squint a little) from San Remo, where there will be an EPT stop in April 2008. Am I following in his footsteps?

Expletive not deleted

2007-06-03T12:04:00.001+02:00

So, played the final with a first prize of a seat in a live satellite to EPT Barcelona. Ten-player SnG for those who got the most points in the May ranking tournaments.

One player, let's call him Ass, was very reckless even before, and when his AA was sucked out by a J on the river giving the player with JJ a lot of chips all hell broke loose.

Ass raised or went all in almost every hand, and the second worst thing was that he was completely unpredictable. Sometimes completely empty, sometimes high pocket pair. Sometimes bluffing, sometimes hit the flop very good. Noone dared face Ass down.

The worst thing was that it was around the time of the AA vs JJ hand Ass commented that he couldn't and wouldn't go to Barcelona in September!

So why play in the ranking tournaments? Why play in the final?! Why not Sit the fuck Out?

He knocked me out! Stack dwindling since everyone was careful and didn't want to risk everything on a draw or against this maniac. Starting stack was 2000, I'm down to 800 and get pocket Eights. Blinds 75/150. All in. Everyone folds, except Ass(clown) who has AQ. Board QQ4JJ and goodbye. Then soon after he knocks one more out with rags. He had a 6 giving him the 6-high straight with another player having KK. All in after the flop I think and drawing to the straight.

Then he sits out. Saboteur!

Oh well, that's poker. But he won't get any respect from me next time, if any, I see him again.

So now I'm going for the June ranking. It starts well, with a third place in the first ranking tournament.

Played live Saturday, a rebuy tournament. Didn't have to and couldn't make a rebuy (since I was never under the bar) but didn't get many playable hands. Made the addon, then out in sixth place of nine.

I recovered that, and then some, in the cash game. Then I got home and got to the final table in a multitable but was annoyed by the payout structure. Here I get to the final table after three hours with 230 participants and I get three times the buy-in back. First place got 68 times the buy-in back. I could've made more playing SnG. Skim a little from first place and let it trickle down to the final table so you at least get more than from a SnG.

Be that as it May

2007-05-31T15:18:00.000+02:00

During May, I've played almost all of the tournaments at a site that count towards a ranking. Points awarded for 1st to 15th place, usually between 20 and 30 participants and your best ten placings count.

The last tournament was played Wednesday, and I was already in the top ten in the ranking, but I came to the conclusion that I would have to play this last tournament as well. I came to that conclusion after I looked at the scoring and who were registered for this last one. If that player placed very high (1-3) thus giving him many points and this other player also placed reasonably high, out of four players who were a threat to me, then there was the possibility that this would knock me out of the top ten. So I had to play, and relax first when they were knocked out or placed such that they wouldn't score enough.

I outlasted all of the threats and actually finished third in the tournament and finally third in the ranking.

This was important because the top ten in the May ranking will play a ten-seat Sit'n'Go Thursday (May 31) evening. The winner will get to join a pokersite team (Team 5050Poker) which will eventually be nine or ten players, who will go to EPT Barcelona in September to play in satellites to the main event. Also sharing possible winnings 50/50 with the team.

So, there's a shot for another big live tournament. (I've already played in the WSOP, *yawn*. Been there, done that, got a T-shirt and a cap). It's going to be tough though. All players in this SnG are good, otherwise they wouldn't be in the ranking. This is different from some one-shot freeroll donkfest. Of course I think my chances are better than one in ten to win it, but nine other players also think their chances are better than one in ten.

:-)

Kind comments, best wishes and "good luck" have been expressed between the players on the discussion forum. We'll see what happens with that when the first bad beat or suckout happens tonight...

Do the right thing

2007-05-21T09:23:00.000+02:00

I had gone far in many satellite attempts for getting into one of the big satellites for the FTOPS Main Event, but not won. The subsatellites I played were all with only one prize, winner goes on to a bigger satellite. I had managed many final tables out of six or five tables starting, quite a few fourth places, some third places and one second place (with a good fair beat in that one, making fives full of Kings on the turn versus fives full of Aces with pocket Aces).

The last of the big satellites are nearing and I think strategically. I really want to get into the big one.

I buy in directly to the $100 satellite. Buyin for the Main Event is $500, meaning that about one in five will go on from the satellite. Definitely doable. If I can make a final table in a five- or six-table tournament, I can finish in the top 20% of a multitable tournament, and I don't have to win the whole damn thing, just reach top 20% and we're done.

When it starts, it's 1412 participants and 263 get a seat in the Main Event. Three other players will get a booby prize of dollars instead.

To the right of me is the classical online poker expert, commenting everybody's play and trashtalking. "66 lmao" when chip leader loses a small pot against a set of fours. One comment is "he only has those chips because he hit aces and played an idiot". I can't refrain from commenting "So, what you're saying is: He has more chips because he played and had the best hand?".

I mini-raise with TT and fold against a reraise from the chip leader and bully at the table. Not time to gamble yet.

"The expert" is out. Raises in middle position, big blind reraises, expert goes all in and big blind who covers him well calls. Big blind has AK suited. Expert trashtalker has... JK off suit. No hit and goodbye. So I comment "JKo lmao".

Wait for it. Wait for it. Yes! There it comes! "play me heads up p###y @ss donks". Uhm, no? We're kinda busy here with an important tournament.

He seemed to be the kind of player who absolutely can not let go of a hand once he's in it and sees it as a personal insult if someone challenges his initial thinking. "Ooh, suited connectors (89 spades). Against this and that, it is such and such favorite. Flop TKA rainbow. Heck, they're not holding any of that, I'll bet them off. Oops, two callers. Turn another diamond, I put him on a flush draw, bet him off dammit! What, he called? But but but, he doesn't have implied pot fold odds equity, I'm in position, his stats say he has a 18% thingamabob XLA and Jupiter is ascendant. OK, I'll checkfold the river but tell everybody what a great player I am."

It's a turbo tournament and blinds are going up. Lots of folds all around. And then the pivotal moment comes. I'm in the big blind and have AT diamonds. Fold all the way around and small blind whom I very barely cover thinks for a while and goes all in. Is he trying to steal? If he had something, and we're the only two involved, he won't gain anything more than my blind from going all in. He would've called or min-raised with a pair, A-something, connectors.

I call. And oh my how right I was. He has J8 off suit. Flop is 7x9, not too worrisome. More cards help me than help him. Turn a blank.

Fukitol tahelweit. The river is a Ten filling a gutshot straight for the bastard. Smooth move, ex-lax. J8 ftw... "J8 lmao".

When I've posted the small blind of 60, I have 25 left. Surprisingly everyone folds and it's only a matter of protocol to toss in the rest with my 58o. And big blind who can't act has 24 and I "double up" to 170. Fold, fold, fold until I get somethng playable, which is 55 in UTG+1. Called by big blind with AT suited (hey, I recognize that from somewhere) and a ten on the flop, no fives come and I'm out at 966th.

Isn't it a b*tch when you do the right thing and lose like that? Someone, David Sklansky I think, wrote something along the lines of that you shouldn't play differently from how you would play if you could see all the cards the players have.

For fun, I checked it in an odds calculator. Preflop I was a 65% to 35% favorite. Likewise on the flop. On the turn, 80-20.

Would I have called with ATs versus J8o preflop if I knew what both of us had? Very very probable. Of course, he wouldn't have played J8 against AT, and if he did he would be the object of general ridicule and scornful fingerpointing from everybody at the table. Even if he is getting short, he has a whole orbit before he has to make a gambling decision again.

Would I have played the flop if I knew the cards and we assume that he just called with his small blind and I checked? Yes, and any sane player would've folded if they also knew what each had.

On the turn there's no question about it. He would then still have about 1000 chips left.

So, what's next? Some long shot attempts at WSOP satellites and if all else fails, try the one on June 17th at Full Tilt with 100 seats guaranteed.

Trying to play my way into a team which will go to EPT Barcelona.

Maybe some more live play.

Going for it

2007-05-20T19:17:00.000+02:00

Working on the FTOPS... I continued with several attempts at getting into a satellite to the final by way of cheap satellites (counting the buyin in points or dollars). Almost, but not quite. More final tables but by then the blinds are so high (Turbo tournaments) that there isn't much play anymore, what brought me to the final table, just "all in or fold".

The worst of my bad beats was: Dealt AA in very first hand. And a player before me goes all in, yesss! Insta-call. But a player after me also calls, that worsens the odds. All in-guy has 44. I AA and last one QQ. OK, not too shabby. Flop and turn nothing special regarding draws. River Q and a split last place.

An interesting one: Everybody played carefully after the flop AA4, and I river a flush. Hopefully someone has a naked Ace or a pocket pair? Hell no, opponent slowplayed A4! I'm down to a third of the starting stack but I manage to turn it around (don't give up until it's over, a poker tournament is generally a zero sum game) up to finishing in third place. Of course another bad beat. 88 short stacked all in before the flop and the one caller has AQ, classic coin flip situation with overcards vs pair. Flop 9x9, good, good. Turn K, liking it, liking it. River another K making my two pair a counterfeit. My hand is then KK998 and opponent's KK99A. Any other cards than K, A or Q on the river would've kept me in the tournament. But you only remember the losses in great detail. My AJ against AK preflop and riverring a J soon fade from memory.

So, now I'm tired of trying to subsatellite into the Main Event. So my plan is this: To heck with trying to get in cheap. I've made it far in many of these tournaments.

The buy-in for the main event is $500. There are satellites for $100, meaning that one in five goes on from the satellite. So I'm gunning for the big satellite with many participants. You could play very passively and reach the top 20%. Strategy and tactics. There are many other tables where players can get knocked out, whereas if you play a five- or sixhanded Sit'n'Go where the winner goes on, you can't make any mistakes. So the big satellite it is. Wish me luck.

Oh, by the way. At the flea market this morning, I found and bought a Laughing Buddha figurine. Quoting from the Wikipedia link: "One belief surrounding the figure of Budai in popular folklore is that if a person is to rub his belly, it brings forth wealth, good luck, and prosperity."

I'm covering my bases with a Bible quote as well:

A slack hand causes poverty,
but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
Proverbs 10:4

It even has more "oomph" in the King James version.

He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

More FTOPS attempts

2007-05-19T00:38:00.000+02:00

I've still got it in me. Made more attempts at by way of satellites getting into the satellite to the FTOPS Main Event at Full Tilt.

Out of 54 starting players and only one (1) winner I placed 11th, 21st, 46th, 4th, 15th and...

The 46th place was AK and hit an A on the flop which had two diamonds and I went all in for him not to try to draw, but he did, and he did have diamonds, and he did hit the flush. And another fourth place for the statistics.

The and... maybe the last one for today. Shall I stop trying, or shall I make a push all night? I made some miracle recoveries in that one. AJ vs AK and hitting J on the river for example. It's only a bad beat if it happens to you, not someone else. :-)

At last we are TWO left, heads up. Could this be it? I hit QUADS Jacks and I don't scare him off, I want him to bet into me so I don't waste the monster hand but he doesn't so I have to make a move on the river but no call. I show it and tell him to "BET!" and he says he almost did, he hit the 7 on the flop.

I lost fair and square, what else can you do? K something and I hit a K on the flop K55 and then a 5 on the turn and he plays carefully. Not many hands can beat me and heads up you have to play a made hand.

One of the hands is AA and that is what he had. 2nd place and no consolation prize. Couldn't it be so that you could get a second chance when you've placed so well often as I have. X final tables and you get to play a shorthanded table, for example six players and two qualifiers?

OK, at least one more. Gotta play, gotta play!

Edit, footnote: Man, oh, man. Once again, I get dealt AA in the very first hand. And YES, someone to the right of me goes all in. Instant call! But... one player after me also calls. That worsens the odds. Oh well, let's see what they have. The one who went all in first has 44, hah haw. I have AA and third player has QQ. OK, not to shabby and the flop and turn show no danger. River is a Queen and we're out at a split 53rd place. Out early in another one, turning a Jack-high flush with a straight draw out there which was what I was hoping someone had hit. Nopers, winner of that pot and knocking me out had a Queen-high flush.

Now I'm calling it a night.

I see that a DrPauly is already registered for the FTOPS Main Event. Is it, and I think it is so, the Dr. Pauly? Yes, it is.

Funny, he writes in his blog that "I'll have a quiet weekend to myself where I can finally get some sleep, work out, read, write, and mentally prepare for seven weeks of WSOP insanity.". Pffft, huhmmph, lying through his teeth *mumble* *grumble*.

Not quite there

2007-05-18T11:03:00.000+02:00

I've been neglecting this blog for a while, but I'm preparing a longer posting (a.k.a. an "uber") where I mostly will whine about bad beats and suckouts, something I'm sure you are very eager to hear about from a low-stakes player. OK, there will be some poker philosophizing and rambling as well.

What else has been up? Started playing at a new site in March, where the rakeback (of sorts) is that you get shares according to your rake and bonus level. Shares are also added to the prize pool in some tournaments. At the moment I own 0.0008% of the company. The first/next shareholder meeting, if there is one, will be interesting. Since we're a group (and not "the public"), it's perfectly legal for us to play live poker, something that is otherwise a gray area in Swedish gambling law.

Playing above your comfort level makes you sharpen up. I played in a $25 Deep Stack tournament (I mostly play $5 to $10 SnG and multitable tournaments with the occasional foray into $20 if I'm "up") and whaddya know, I won it! Nervous at the start because... Very first hand dealt to me was AA. In a Deep Stack tournament, starting with 5000. You'll either win a small pot or lose a big one. And I don't want to go out in the first hand in a Deep Stack. I played it somewhat carefully and won it, up 1000, although it was a troublesome board. Not any obvious draws, but since it was DS, there was always the possibility of "any two". "Jack Six off suit? Sure, I'll look at a flop, I've got plenty of chips".

And I played in a live tournament also above my comfort level. About $140 buy-in to a freezeout, usually it's $30 rebuy. Twenty participants, five paid and I wasn't worried at the final table. I know some shortstacks will knock themselves out, out of necessity. Yup, third place and a small win at the post-tournament cash game meant I left with three times as much cash as I arrived with. A good day. It goes into my "poker kitty", where I'll get cash for the next time I'll play live. A nice feeling, having (thin) wads of cash lying around the apartment. I also have a (very) small bundle of dollar bills left over from my trip to the US and Vegas and the WSOP last summer. Some day, somehow, I just know I'll go around at home gathering it all up for That Big Score, like in Rounders.

I coulda been a contender. I wrote earlier about trying to satellite into the monthly $750.000 Guaranteed at Full Tilt but not making it. I got to the satellite by way of a 54-seater SnG that I won. Now I'm gunning for the FTOPS IV Main Event with $1.5 million Guaranteed.

Yesterday I played four supersatellites, 54 players and the winner goes on to the satellite with the standings yesterday at 45 seats guaranteed to go on to Main Event and 1900 participants. My results: Fourth, fourth, twentyninth (bad beat, AQ vs JT all in preflop and him hitting trip Jacks) and third. Three final tables and good results. At the times I made it that far, the blinds were so high (it was Turbo tournaments) it was mostly "all in or fold" and all knockout situations were classic coin flips; two overcards (AQ) versus a pair (99) or face cards against face cards with shared cards (KQ vs QJ) and someone hitting or outkickering.

But I feel confident. Three final tables out of four. The satellites I've played have been bought in for with frequent player points, there are also $ buy-in satellites. I've got a good "bankroll" of points, so I'll keep trying Friday night, making a push towards the Saturday satellite for the Sunday final. I really would like to strike gold again.

Also trying WSOP freerolls. And I'm doing well in another grind at the site where you get shares, they have Ranking tournaments where the top 15 in each of the 17 Ranking tournaments get ranking points and the top 10 points rankers meet in a SnG at the end of the month. Winner gets on the team which will go to Barcelona in September to play in the EPT, in a live satellite to the main event, and team members splitting possible winnings 50/50. 50% to the player, 50% to the team. I'm in the top 10 and will probably make it to the SnG if I don't mess up. Like if I play in more ranking tournaments and don't get enough points, or someone lower in points makes a big rush and passes me. Ya gotta play to win!

Not this time either

2007-03-18T22:29:00.000+01:00

Nope, it didn't work out in the satellite I wrote about earlier. It was a Turbo tournament, with 408 participants and 9 prizes (entry into a $750.000 prize money Guaranteed tournament). I really only made two plays.

First one was TJ on the button. Just call it unraised and no raises. Hit a T on the flop, mini-bet, the blinds fold and one caller. Check on the turn. The river is a king, I just make a mini-bet again. He (just) calls and has KT.

Nothing playable after that. Changing tables, pay the blinds, flat call and don't hit any flops. I'm down to about 1000, starting with 1500 and the blinds are now 60/120. Middle position, one raiser in early position to about 3 times big blind. I have AKo... Ace of clubs and King of diamonds. I might as well make a move now if I'm going to have a shot at a better position. All in. All fold except for the raiser who calls and has 77. Such situations (AK vs pair) are about 50/50, which is shown by what the board became.

2TJ9, out of which three are clubs. I still have a shot. But the river is not an Ace, King, Queen or club. It's an eight of hearts, giving him a straight to really rub it in and I'm out at 233rd place.

But I will not stop trying.

Could work, could work...

2007-03-18T19:06:00.000+01:00

I've made more attempts at the WSOP freerolls at Full Tilt Poker, as I've written about earlier.

Then I laid my eyes on another opportunity. From my January attempt at the Iron Man Challenge (where I in the end ended up in the money (a pittance) but did not win it going on to lots of money) I had a healthy supply of Full Tilt Points.

There's the Sunday $750000 Guarantee tournament. I made several attempts this weekend at satellite tournaments costing Full Tilt Points and...

Attempt 1: A 54-player Sit&Go tournament costing 50 points, with 1 prize. Eighth place.
Attempt 2: Same thing, 54 players, 50 points, 1 prize. Second place! But only one prize.
Attempt 3: 9 players, 300 points, 1 prize. Fourth place.
Attempt 4: 9 players, 300 points, 1 prize. Second place again.

Well, it's going well, but not well enough. Second place is best loser, especially when there's only one prize.

Attempt 5: 54 players, 50 points, 1 prize. First place, winner, da man, qualifier, entry gained.

Yes, finally went on! Practice makes perfect. IMHO, I must be doing something right.

On to what? Well, another satellite, but/and I like the odds. In the satellite (which you can buy in to directly for 2500 points), the final table, 9 players, go on to the big game. At least that what it looks like now, could be more places "paid" if more qualify for the satellite. Since I've gone far (but, alas, not far enough apparently) in other tournaments recently, I feel I have a shot. I don't have to win, just place high. Anyhoo, the big game I'm talking about is the $750000 Guarantee tournament (which you can buy in to directly for $500), and I like the numbers there as well. Last time I checked, 430 were already registered and 216 places were paid.

It's doable. Finishing "in the money" twice more today, and I have a shot at six figures. Or three. Last time I checked, first prize was $141000 and last ITM was $750. Anything is a plus for me, the low stakes dreamer.

Just don't play like a total donkey.

Shameless panhandling

2007-03-13T13:32:00.000+01:00

If you're not registered at Full Tilt Poker, why not give it a try and at the same time slip me some kickback greenbacks by using the signup code MARTILT ?

You get a 100% (up to $600) bonus on your first deposit. Paid out incrementally as you meet the requirements.

Play Online Poker

Giveaway

2007-03-06T21:50:00.000+01:00

Since last weekend I've been struggling, fighting, kicking and screaming at Full Tilt Poker's WSOP Giveaway.

Yup, they're giving away WSOP Main Event seats, but not without effort. For a while now, they've been having Sit&Go Freerolls continuously, with 315 (named .COM) or 630 (named .NET) participants. One prize, and one prize only, in each of them - the winner gets entry into Round 2 next Saturday, the rest get absolutely nothing.

I see that for Round 2 there's max 5000 participants, but it's still only half full. In Round 2 the whole final table (9 players) get entry into the final on Sunday, the real WSOP Giveaway where there's two (2) WSOP Main Event seats up for grabs.

And there are other ways to get a WSOP seat by way of Full Tilt, check it out.

So how have I done? Well, I've played three dozen or more of these freerolls. One third place, one fourth place, one sixth place, two eleventh, two fourteenth and some more "last three tables" and generally often high placements (if it had been "normal" tournaments where about the top ten percent gets paid, I probably would have made a profit. But here it's only one prize and... second place is best loser.

Anyway, I must be doing something right if you look at how I've placed. It's worth a shot. I could go all the way. I wanna go to Vegas again! And again!

For make benefit

2007-02-26T11:40:00.000+01:00

More exotic places showing up in my Google Analytics of what visitors I have to this blog and where they come from:

The Azores. Yep, those islands waaay out there in the Atlantic Ocean.
Malaysia.

A small world

2007-02-15T15:55:00.000+01:00

Should I worry?

I checked my Google Analytics visitor data and I see that I had had visitors from such places as Dublin (Ireland), Fort Myers, San Francisco and Washington D.C. (U.S.A.).

But also from Bogotá (Colombia) and Rasht (Iran).

So... I believe the scenario is something along the lines of me being checked out by U.S. gubmint officials (the D.C. visitor) for possible airdrop into Iran, bringing poker to the masses there. This is not possible without training and preparation, so station agents in various places have been involved. First, I will be sent to Dublin for physical training, i.e. ingesting copious amounts of Guinness. From there, I will proceed to Fort Myers, Florida. Why? If you look at a map and draw a line between Fort Myers and San Francisco, what point do you cross? Yes, Las Vegas.

Well, you do. If you use a small map, a large marker or pencil and squint a little. I will make a parachute jump into Las Vegas (in standard issue white Elvis jumpsuit).

This will be financed with Colombian drug money.

See? It all fits together.

The good old times

2007-01-27T02:21:00.000+01:00

Like, yould would believe the time I would have tome to concentrate right now?" I am verily focussing on evey keystoke.

OK, here we go.

Remember when you hit that flow? I am far from it.

Blargh. I just have to tell you.

OK, department party where I:

Danced
sang
bought drinks

fuck it

I will exp... env... all...

Talk more later.

Fuck, I'm incapacitted, yet I´d put it in more whatchamacallit. words.

bye.

Twelve hours later.

Note to self: Don't blog drunk. Who, in their right mind, stagger home and then start up a computer and ramble in a semicoherent way?

At least I enjoyed myself.

December gloom

2007-01-05T11:56:00.000+01:00

In December I had a hefty decline in my bankroll, but I'm still "up". Nevertheless, it feels like I wasted the profit. The cause: Second best and suckouts. The usual; KK vs AA, set vs higher set, AA vs miracle. Flop two pair (for example KQ) to be sucked out by set on the turn.

Before Christmas I had a good run at a live cash game, doubling up twice with JQs flop TKA and 88 flop A8X where opponent hit a pair of Aces. At the live game after Christmas those profits went away. First, an expensive tournament where I chickened out with KK allowing the opponent to draw to a river Full House with 22. Then in the cash game I lost one buy-in with AA, flop A but a third Club on the turn and indeed he had the Flush (29!) "but I had outs". Then another buy-in where I don't hit anything and donk away the rest around closing time.

When will I learn?

In the two days before Christmas Eve (when we celebrate Christmas in Sweden, while some celebrate on Christmas Day) I just played around online and also played my father heads-up (he's had a good run online on low-stakes short-handed and heads-up) where I won the majority of the matchups.

Online, the days after Christmas, I tried to recoup my losses but was just treading water. Made a few attempts at satellites for a big-buy-in tournament on New Year's Day but the best I did was second place in a five-person Sit'n'Go where the winner got a seat.

Plans for January: Drop down one level in online cash games, try to place well in cheap multi-table tournaments. And make an attempt at the Full Tilt Iron Man Challenge.

Plans for 2007: Win a seat online to a major live tournament in WPT, EPT, WSOP or some Open/Million(s) or big tournament and get In The Money this time.

And/or win five figures or more in a Guaranteed/Megasatellite/Tiered kind of thing online.

Things not to do, or be reluctant to do: Play in a team or get staked. Well, I wouldn't mind being sponsored, but I don't want to share profits at a flat rate, and in a way it feels as if I would be playing with scared money.

-"Congratulations Martin, you won $100,000!"

-"But I have to split 50/50 with the backer..." *mumble mumble* *gripe gripe*

-"But that still leaves you the nice amount of $50,000!?"

-"Yeah, but those 50 could have been 100, all mine."

Usurper

2006-12-07T10:15:00.000+01:00

Mixed emotions, buddy. Like Larry Wildman going off a cliff in my new Maserati. - Gordon Gekko in Wall Street

I got my third Royal Straight Flush in Texas Holdem (online) recently. Woohoo, yay, whee, uhm...

The ultimate nut! I got it on a draw. On the turn I put my opponent all in when I needed a Jack for a nut straight or a Heart for a nut flush and both my wishes came true when a Jack of Hearts fell on the river for a Royal.

But...

I'm not terribly excited about it. My first Royal came early in a multitable tournament with blinds 15/30 and the opponent had only hit two pair, so I just scooped 300 (ten big blinds). My second came in a Sit'n'Go where I ultimately didn't even finish in the money (I think). I wrote about it before and complained about it not coming in a cash game where the opponent also had hit something good or at a jackpot table. Now it finally happened in a cash game and the opponent hit an Ace high straight on the turn. Very good conditions. If not for one little fact. He was very, extremely, laughably shortstacked. It was a 2.5/5 table and he had only 20 left. Boo fricking hoo. And no jackpot.

Oh well, I'm on a winning streak anyway. Not least thanks to "fish" like these:
I get AA in early position on a 2.5/5 table, raise it to 20 to get a feel. Middle position raises minimum to 35. Late position raises minimum to 50. OK, put a stop to this right now, there´s enough/a lot in the pot, with a raise to 250 (thats fifty (50) times the big blind) to get a call or all in from another AA for a split or possibly a KK. Or lure fish. MP goes all in with 550! LP folds of course. I call.

He has AK. Off suit. The way I see it, I´m holding up a big neon sign saying "AA". Not a handwritten PostIt note with QQ or a wooden plaque with KK. So he would need the board to hit kings, TJQ or four to a flush in the suit where I don´t have the Ace. A third Ace comes on the board, even, and he leaves after some muttering. It would have been different in a tournament setting, there he could have called the preflop bet and seeing that there was no miracle or dubious flop folded.

The day after I get in a similar situation; AA, raise, reraise, I bet 250, another goes all in and I call. Yes, he has AA and we split the pot from the other bettors, gaining very little because of the rake, but anyway...

The tilted fish

2006-11-20T10:51:00.000+01:00

I had a good run at the poker tables this weekend, following a crash&burn during the week where I squandered my winnings from the weekend before but now I'm back on track. Bankroll increase: 30%.

My strategy is to play either Sit´n´Gos (two or three at the same time) or three to four cash games but not mix them up (too much). Sometimes you hit a good streak and just pocket away the winnings (if my stack has increased by 25% or so at NL, leave the table to "secure" the profit and pick a new one).

I´m halfway to a Ferrari! Explanation: My goal is to win enough to buy an Acer Ferrari high performance laptop computer.

This weekend I poured and drank a Guinness Canned Draught for the poker blog of poker blogs, which is going into hiatus. No, I did NOT pour out some on the ground (or floor) for our dead homie. This is Guinness, my good man, I´ll have you know, and It Is Simply Not Done.

As I wrote in an earlier post from my stay in Las Vegas, one fine thing about playing there against "real people" was when you got praise, respect or a nod of approval. When someone said "nice hand" or "well played" and you were 85-95% certain they were sincere. It´s different from "nh wp KTHXBYE" online.

Another thing happened yesterday (online) along those lines but completely different. I played a cash game (one of four) where I spiked a (gutshot, I prefer open-ended) straight on... Was it the turn or the river? Don´t remember. However, the turn was a third Heart and that was what I was fearing, a flush. Nope, my remaining opponent had flopped a set. Of fours. I scoop the pot, not huge but not minimal either.

He went ballistic and simian feces (that´s a finer word for apeshit) in the chat window, bellyaching for a few hands about fishiness, OF COURSE IN ALL CAPS. And here´s the good part: He wrote "I already had five notes on him as someone who chases straights."

That fills me with such pride and joy. Firstly; I have been noticed! Someone deemed me important enough to take notes about me earlier. Maybe even fear me? Secondly; Now I know that he knows. If I´m ever at the same table as him and hopefully in the same pot I can bully and goad him. Hey, buddy, I won the pot at the showdown, you only had the best hand for a while. What should I do, give you a percentage?

I´m someone who can fold even if I´ve put money in the pot if things look suspicious, when the cards fall as such that you can be outdrawn. It´s not only the cards you have, it´s what the opponents have or might have. "If he has a Jack, he has a straight but he didn´t bet much and now the river came eight of hearts which gives me the flush but ooops, it paired and if that guy over there has 99 pocket he has a full house but he checked and doesn´t seem like the slowplaying type." The constant inner monologue.

Back to school

2006-10-12T19:24:00.000+02:00

I mentioned in the beginning of my überpost about my week in Vegas that I'm taking a university course - Applied English. It's nearing its end and after that there's the following course. Way back when I was a full time student I took the two first courses in that series. When I'm done (and have passed) these two I'm taking this semester I will have the equivalent of a whole semester of only university English.

Just some self-improvement. My thinking was the same as some years ago when I took a law course, two computer science courses and an economics course - since I work at a university (but not in an academic role, I'm a systems administrator), why not benefit from the opportunity and add to your competencies?

So the other day I sent in the application for two more courses next semester. "Web 2.0 in theory and practice" and a short law course "IT law".

As I'm writing this, I'm also playing poker at the Swedish state-run poker site. lol :) nh ty. Whereas the USian online poker players are in trouble from puritan political trickery.

Crush. Kill. Destroy.

2006-10-03T23:41:00.000+02:00

The curse is repelled. I've written before about our little biweekly homegame, a tournament (No Limit Texas Hold'em) with (progressive) rebuys with a handful of regulars and some sporadic guests. I, the most active player when it comes to hours played online and live, played nineteen (19) times with six second place and five third place finishes before finally winning.

Now I'm on a roll. Today was my third straight win in a row. Feels good. Anyway, I've always been in the lead or top two-three "scorewize" with 44 tournaments played if you use our quick'n'dirty scorekeeping with 5 points to first place and 1 point to fifth place if we're five players in the tournament. Six points to first if we're six players and so on. You see the correlation? I knew you would.

But who's counting?

Me, that's who! *mumble* *grumble*, dang young whippersnappers...

It can be done

2006-10-03T23:28:00.000+02:00

Just some shameless self-promoting bragging to show that any two cards can win. The infamous Hammer for example.


PokerStars Game #6143398561:  Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25)
2006/09/02 - 14:44:23 (ET)
Table 'Ianthe' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: YumchipsYum ($4.65 in chips) 
Seat 2: lbcpa ($15.45 in chips) 
Seat 3: Marthyn ($4.85 in chips) 
Seat 4: MrPristine ($25 in chips) 
Seat 5: inecita2004 ($21.15 in chips) 
Seat 6: Mad Ukie ($9.70 in chips) 
Seat 7: uneedaspankn ($17.90 in chips) 
Seat 8: kahnman849 ($22.25 in chips) 
Seat 9: SamyLony ($28.95 in chips) 
Marthyn: posts small blind $0.10
MrPristine: posts big blind $0.25
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Marthyn [2c 7d]
inecita2004: folds 
Mad Ukie: folds 
uneedaspankn: calls $0.25
kahnman849: folds 
SamyLony: folds 
YumchipsYum: folds 
lbcpa: folds 
Marthyn: raises $0.75 to $1
MrPristine: calls $0.75
uneedaspankn: calls $0.75
*** FLOP *** [2s Ts Qs]
Marthyn: bets $3.85 and is all-in
MrPristine: calls $3.85
uneedaspankn: folds 
*** TURN *** [2s Ts Qs] [7h]
*** RIVER *** [2s Ts Qs 7h] [Ac]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Marthyn: shows [2c 7d] (two pair, Sevens and Deuces)
MrPristine: mucks hand 
Marthyn collected $10.20 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $10.70 | Rake $0.50 
Board [2s Ts Qs 7h Ac]
Seat 1: YumchipsYum folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: lbcpa (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Marthyn (small blind) showed [2c 7d] and won ($10.20)
 with two pair, Sevens and Deuces
Seat 4: MrPristine (big blind) mucked [Kc Qc]
Seat 5: inecita2004 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Mad Ukie folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: uneedaspankn folded on the Flop
Seat 8: kahnman849 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: SamyLony folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Twice. (In one day).


PokerStars Game #6144258990: Tournament #31144954, 
$5.00+$0.50 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 
2006/09/02 - 16:05:25 (ET)
Table '31144954 1' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: joshuae411 (3375 in chips) 
Seat 4: eldixio (1715 in chips) 
Seat 5: lemieux66 (1845 in chips) 
Seat 6: M1964S (1845 in chips) 
Seat 7: MoButta (2240 in chips) 
Seat 8: Marthyn (1380 in chips) 
Seat 9: Twisten (1100 in chips) 
MoButta: posts small blind 75
Marthyn: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Marthyn [7h 2d]
Twisten: folds 
joshuae411: folds 
eldixio: folds 
lemieux66: calls 150
M1964S: folds 
MoButta: calls 75
Marthyn: checks 
*** FLOP *** [Kh 6c 4d]
MoButta: checks 
Marthyn: checks 
lemieux66: checks 
*** TURN *** [Kh 6c 4d] [5c]
MoButta: checks 
Marthyn: bets 150
lemieux66: calls 150
MoButta: folds 
*** RIVER *** [Kh 6c 4d 5c] [3d]
Marthyn: bets 300
lemieux66: folds 
Marthyn collected 750 from pot
Marthyn: shows [7h 2d] (a straight, Three to Seven)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 750 | Rake 0 
Board [Kh 6c 4d 5c 3d]
Seat 1: joshuae411 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: eldixio folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: lemieux66 folded on the River
Seat 6: M1964S (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: MoButta (small blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 8: Marthyn (big blind) collected (750)
Seat 9: Twisten folded before Flop (didn't bet)

They (the opponents) didn't really make mistakes, per se. I'm all in with a pair of twos against a pair of Queens and catch the turn in the cash game and catch the gutshot straight on the dang river in the Sit'n'Go. But ain't it extra special fun to win with 27o?

Bubble Boy returns with his brother

2006-09-25T11:09:00.000+02:00

I've written earlier about not giving up in a poker tournament just because conditions look bleak at the moment.

This weekend I played in two multitable tournaments where this was proven once (or twice) again.

First one, 500 participants and 50 paid. When we were 51 left, I was at 51st place stackwise, but in a good position to wait a few hands more and to hope that someone else was knocked out on the bubble, there was no ante. But no, and finally I'm the Big Blind and I just about have enough to cover it and get some change, so I go all in no matter what the others do. And whaddya know, my JT hold up against J9 and I survive.

The very next hand I get KA and all in again. And they hold up against JJ when I flop another A. In the end, I finished 17th.

Second one, 233 participants and 30 paid. One of the very short-stacked ones with 31 left (and the two tournament chip leaders at my table).

But just wait and someone is knocked out at another table so I'm in the money. Finished 27th.

It didn't pay much, just about three times and twice the buy-in respectively. But if you've played for 2-3 hours, why not hang in there by the teeth and nails so you've at least not wasted the buy-in. In another MTT this weekend, I finished 89th of 533 participants with 60 paid, that's just how it is.

My week in Vegas

2006-09-20T13:20:00.000+02:00

Oops, somewhat belatedly I remember to make a writeup of my Vegas experience. It will be more of a diary than a journalistic masterpiece of never before seen eloquence. (Can you tell I'm taking a university course in Applied English? Me can talk English good.)

Wednesday

This is July 26. An early flight from Copenhagen airport. I had some leftover Danish cash, I spent it on breakfast and the rest of it on the combined muscle relaxant, tranquilizer and fluid replacement known as Gammel Dansk bitter and Carlsberg beer.

The trans-Atlantic flight was uneventful. Movies and recorded TV shows interrupted by food and snacks.

Arrive at Atlanta and stand in line a lot. Immigration, baggage claim and reloading, security. I see a vending machine for iPods, I might get one of those on my return trip. I ride in the driverless subway train for quite a while to get to the right concourse.

The flight to Las Vegas showed better what Economy/Coach is about. I've ridden on old buses with better comfort, but who cares? I'm going to Vegas!

Finally arrive after getting a small freebie. I ordered a beer on the plane and they're supposed to cost $5 but the flight attendant forgot to get my money.

It's what I heard it would be like. Get off the plane, go through the corridor and the first thing you see is a cluster of slot machines. Then you get to the facilities they have at all airports. I get my checked-in baggage, eyes still wide open and mouth agape. Only a few steps to the doors and the taxi line and *FLOMP*. The heat strikes me like a wall. Like standing in front of an open oven, or a hair dryer. I get assigned a cab and the driver says "Sit up front, it's cooler."

We drive to my hotel, the Gold Coast. I check in, unpack some stuff, freshen up, and go on a reconnaissance mission just to get a feel for the place.

I'm happy to report that I won some money gambling the very first time I gambled in Las Vegas. It was on a slot machine. A Kenny Rogers-themed slot machine. A penny (1 cent) Kenny Rogers-themed slot machine... But a win nonetheless. I then lost the winnings on an Elvis Presley-themed one.

Thursday

At breakfast (the Deuces Wild menu; two sausages, two pieces of bacon, two eggs and two flapjacks) I run into two other Swedes at a nearby table. One of them says that they have a morning poker tournament here, so I decide to enter it.

A bit of a weird structure. Fixed Limit the first hour, then No Limit. I finished 11th of 60+ participants.

I head over to Rio to get my player registration sorted out, and to get in touch with Pokerblue, the site where I won my Main Event seat. Papers retrieved, I head to the room of the representative. After passing through the poker exhibition and loading up on free stuff.

On my way there, I pass by an Italian restaurant which also has tables along a wall of the corridor, taverna style.

At one of those tables sits... Joe Hachem, talking to someone. I wave and smile at him. He smiles and waves back. You and me, Joe.

I get told that all the Pokerblue-qualified players will meet in a Rio suite later this afternoon, so I head back to my room to freshen up and rest.

The suite is nice. Floor-to-ceiling windows with a full view of all of central Las Vegas. I feel somewhat left out at the get-together, because I won my seat so early. Later they had it like so that a tournament winner got on Team Pokerblue, where all the players in the team will share winnings. I got asked to consider joining, but opted not to. Either I win, and then I want all of it myself, or I don't win and maybe only get a small sum or nothing at all. Either way, there would have been a lot of hassle over taxes. And either way, I'll have played in the WSOP ME. But right now at least I get free food and drinks.

Friday

I take the free shuttle bus to the Orleans, thinking about playing in a tournament there. However, this day the noon tournament was Omaha Holdem, so I play 1/2 NL cash game instead. I got out exactly break-even (after tipping) but still benefited. I've never played poker at a real casino with a professional dealer before (well, once, but only for a short while at a Swedish casino), just online and homegames. I learnt how to act and how to "communicate" with the dealer.

I head home and then head over to Rio to check out the Main Event now started. Wow. The room is huge. But not much room for spectators, and it's full (and will continue to be for these the first four Day 1). I find the table I'll be playing at tomorrow and get my bearings.

At the exhibition I get more free stuff. Some have it set up like so that you have to sign up on a list with name and/or addresses to get stuff. I didn't want to do that yesterday since I didn't want to get spammed later. But, doh! It's not like they check ID. Say hello to Bob Smith from Topeka, Kansas.

Dinner is a Texas T-Bone Steak Special. I usually clean the plate but this was too much for me. Had to leave about a kiddy portion.

Saturday

The big day. Today at noon my long wait will reach fruition.

I hang the Do Not Disturb sign and get ready.

I get to the room with plenty of time to spare, but they don't let people in until half an hour before the start. I'm the first one at my table, getting my gear in order. Each player gets a practical seat cushion (sponsored by PartyPoker) with a pocket.

I knew beforehand, and verify with a floor manager its appropriateness, that you couldn't have .com poker advertising on your clothing or apparel. .net is allowed however. I had crossed out .com on my T-shirt.

People fill up rapidly and we start, after commemorating the 30th anniversary of Doyle Brunson's first Main Event win.

And now: How not to do when playing early in the World Series of Poker Main Event, with a stack of 10000 and blinds at 25/50.

The very first hand is dealt. I'm in seat 5 and fold some trash hand. Seat 7 raises, nothing wrong with that. But he raises to 2000. Seat 8 reraises to 4000. Of course everyone folds all around back to seat 7.

Seat 7 ponders. Seat 7 goes all in!

Seat 8 ponders. Seat 8 calls!

There's only two hands possible for that kind of play, and even then it's not proper play at the very first hand in a tournament.

Yes, seat 7 has KK and seat 8 has AA. No help from the board and some guy has played only one hand and it will be mentioned in some asides or footnotes in WSOP reporting. The only hands that would call a 40 times Big Blind bet at this stage is KK or AA and the only that would raise is AA. We (the table) didn't even have time to get a camera crew over to witness this.

How do I fare? My stack is between 9000 and 14000 most of the time. I'm not the kind of guy with photographic memory recalling every hand I played. But two stand out:

A short-stacked guy before me goes all in preflop with about 4000. I have AA and call (or raise to get those behind me out, I don't remember. Standard play.). He has QQ and catches another Q on the flop. I'm then down to 9500. Had I won it I would have had a niiice(r) stack and one player would've been eliminated. Only 8700+ more to go. But that's poker.
A tricky hand, probably what cripples me. One of those "almost any card will help" that don't go all the way. Open-ended straight draw, a face pair, and a flush draw. But there was heavy betting from my opponent and at the end I hadn't hit the good stuff and he outkickered my pair.

Phil Hellmuth was knocked out at around five o'clock. At ten to ten Doyle Brunson was knocked out. I read later that Ron Jeremy (at a table across the aisle from me) was only knocked out before me. But just before ten our table is broken up and I get assigned a new table across the room. I don't even need a rack to move my chips, I can carry them in my hand IN FULL VIEW AND PLAIN SIGHT! (Don't make that mistake, a Swedish player put his chips in his pocket when switching tables and they were thus eliminated).

I can only survive about two more orbits of antes and blinds. I have K5 in an unraised Big Blind and there's a 5 on the flop. Any hit must be played and I go all in with my pittance of a stack. Two or three callers but lots of play on turn and river and they had hit much better hands.

I'm out after about ten hours. If I read the wall screens right, there were more than 2200 players starting this day and now there's over 1400 still left.

And that's it.

But I'm not bitter. Really. I can forever say "I've played in the WSOP, have you?" and I have a week in Vegas already paid for (site gave me travel money that about covers both flight and hotel).

Sunday

Early poker at the Gold Coast. KK and Ace High flushes give me mo' money. I head over to the central Strip and play at Ballys. Lose some of my winnings from Gold Coast and head over to Flamingo. There's a long wait list for cash games there, so I take a daily tournament instead. $60 buy-in with 40 players. Only 1000 in starting chips with blinds 25/50. Two are out early, in the very first hands, then it's my turn at 37th. I did have the best hand when all in, but he outdrew me with bad starting hand.

Back at the Gold Coast, I sit quiet at the 1/2 NL cash game. Why? Because there are four other Swedes at my end of the table and they're very inebriated, loose and chatty, talking among themselves. Maybe I can get an advantage if I'm in a hand with them. But after a while that gets old and tedious (and I never get an advantage) so when I scoop in a large-ish pot I say "Tack, det var en fin pott och en fin hand." which is Swedish for "Thank you, it was a nice pot and a nice hand.".

One of them still doesn't get that I'm Swedish as well until a while later.

I learnt a new concept, which I hadn't experienced before. The "live straddle". Look it up. It's fun.

Monday

Play at the Flamingo again, cash game this time. I buy a really vulgar novelty tie with cards, fake gems and the text "Texas Holdem" on it. And a CSI Las Vegas cap.

Then I head over to Caesars Palace. Now, that is a nice poker room. Huge hall with maybe 30-40 tables. And an almost as large room just for tournaments. I lose my whole buyin in a bad-ish beat. I have 44 in an unraised Small Blind and call. Big Blind checks. I flop a set of fours and bet out, get called by BB, similar on turn and river and it doesn't look dangerous. However, there was one hole card combination that could beat me, and he had it. A5 for a wheel (Ace-to-Five straight). I didn't think of that the Big Blind was unraised before the flop, so he played that for free.

I look at, just look at Bellagio and The Venetian. Lu-xu-ry.

Back to Gold Coast and cash game. I'm exactly break-even at the poker table when the night is over, but have gotten "free" drinks and lots of entertainment. Nice people at the table. Big tattooed colored guy with gold front teeth. A big friendly Texan with a mustache. The two Swedes from Thursday. A Canadian whom I've been in contact with since he was a spectator at the final table where I won my WSOP seat. He also won a WSOP seat a few weeks before me. And he's also knocked out of the Main Event on the first day.

After that, I and one of the Swedes head to a Pai Gow table for slow play and as many drinks as possible. It's very hard to lose at Pai Gow, and the game is slow (if the table is full) so you can get in many drink orders.

Tuesday

I check out the Rio and WSOP again. I buy a bagful of WSOP merchandise; card guard, T-shirt, cap, pins, fridge magnets, small LCD games with Holdem. For me, and as gifts to poker players back home.

Ooh yeah, I hit a High Hand Jackpot at the 1/2 NL at Gold Coast. Four Kings! On the flop! But... It had hit recently and been reset to its starting value, so I just get $50. Boo hoo. But! I'm on a plus otherwise as well.

Back to Rio to look at WSOP again, in the evening. First I look at Show in the Sky and get some beads thrown at me.

Mark, the guy from Saturday who knocked out a guy in the very first hand with AA vs KK is still in. Playing Day 1A and he's at about 80000 at the dinner break. Go him.

More walking, and I head over to Palms. Ehm, a sort of embarrassing mistake. The NL was very full and long waiting list, but there were many openings at the Fixed Limit tables. My standard so far had been to buy in for $200 at a 1/2 NL table. Now I buy in for $300 at a 2/4 FL, three racks of ones. Then when I sit down I see just a few recreational players with only one rack, or less. But the two girlfriends sitting next to each other and chatting had nice racks. Eh, eh? Double entendre, do you see it? I don't play for long, just run them over with aggressive NL-style play and leave up $50.

Back to GC for some Pai Gow and drinks. I swear, it must have been Walter Matthau's younger brother or a relative sitting two chairs to my right. Looked like him, sounded like him, acted like him. He had a thin mustache though.

Ooh, very stuck at the poker table later. Flop a set, turn a boat, get riverred by a bigger boat. Get Aces cracked by J9. Just a day at the office, m'dear.

I love the atmosphere at the poker tables though. All I thought it would be. But off the table? I'm already sick and tired of hearing all the fragments of conversation in the corridors at Rio and outside of poker rooms. One half of cellphone conversations and frustrated storytellers. You know, "So I had kingqueen and he flat calls with pocket eights. Checkraise a flop of rag rag Jack and he catches a runner runner". Yada yada.

Wednesday

Not much gambling today. I go to Fashion Show Mall for shopping. I wish I had found a credit card (AmEx Gold or Platinum maybe?) and picture ID looking like me and a note attached "Have Fun!".

Dressed neatly I go to Palms in the evening to lounge around. Yuck. I lose at Fixed Limit. Against old ladies! They hit their Aces.

There's a boutique there that just sells Breitling watches. A small place with a few display cases. I see noone and just look in shortly. Then a woman steps out "Can I help you, Sir?" "Uhm, no, just browsing." "Bright and shiny, eh?" "Yes, very bling-blingy." No price tags, of course. Say it loud and say it proud: "If you have to ask what it costs you can't afford it".

Thursday

Has it been a week already? But there's so much to do!

I play the Gold Coast morning tournament again. Exactly the same result, 11th of about 60 players.

After that, I was going to lie by the pool for a while. What are the odds? After lying there for half an hour it starts to rain. In Las Vegas in August. Just my luck, when I voluntarily will be outside in the heat. Back to my room and it goes over and dries up in just about a quarter of an hour.

In the evening, it's time for a bowling tournament, Swedes only, at the Gold Coast bowling center (just seventy lanes there...). I'm absolutely definitively the worst roller among us. I haven't bowled in a year or more. When I finally gets the right wrist twitch in, it's over.

I get an email (WSOP) update from Pokerblue and I'm not mentioned, just the ones in the Team. Hello? You put up $10000 from me and that's it? Well, I'm dropping them later, and will aim for WSOP 2007 or some other major tournament at another site that takes care of "their" players better. We're even now.

Friday

I play at The Venetian. Now, that's a classy joint. I'm getting stuck. Preflop raises or calling raises preflop, without hitting, too often. But it was fun nonetheless. It seems like that at any table I've played at there has been one or more players who've been (note the tense) playing in the WSOP, or a WSOP dealer off the clock.

"Hey, I got the rock to straddle", was the comment from a guy in a Seattle Mariners cap when I make a live straddle. Huh, I'm a rock. All in all, I think it's nice with the praise and encouragement I've gotten during this week. "Good call", "Nice hand, sir", "Nice bet", "Well played". It carries more weight than NH, WP, GL, TY in a chat window online. And nearly everybody is polite in Vegas. Players, dealers, brushes and other "support staff". The only rude person I've met was a drunk Swede (sorry) the other day. Spilled on the table, swearing, insulting, bullying, getting warned by several dealers and finally a Security guy. Massive overbets that he sadly won or scared people off with. And then he donks away more than $500 in ten-fifteen minutes. Everybody at the table was salivating, waiting for that AA, KK or flopping a straight or better.

I proceed north, so far I've only seen the central Strip and around my home quarters. Now it's time for the north parts. That was more run down and B-list. Circus Circus, Riviera, nearly nameless hole-in-the-walls. I buy some sunglasses for 99 cents each. And a bumper sticker "I experienced Las Vegas. One dollar at a time.". It will go nicely on a souvenir plaque I'm going to make. I've saved a $1 chip from every place I've played at and I'm going to mount them together with other memorabilia.

I go up in Stratosphere Tower. I had bought a ticket for the X Scream ride, but when I get a closer look of it in action (it propels you head-first over the edge of the tower) I change my mind and change to the meeker Big Shot with just catapults you to 1081 feet. After the ride I lunch at the Starbucks up there.

The Deuce gets me to Mirage just in time to see the volcanic eruption. Didn't want to wait for pirates at Treasure Island.

Home and freshen up, then more spectating at WSOP. I run in to Tammy, the marketing manager at Pokerblue. Nice gal. Go 'Bama! Pokerblue still has four players in the tournament, five came in the money.

The stuff around tournament could be done better. Spectators aren't let in freely, only a few at a time. But there have been thousands playing and then there's the hangarounds. I think many are interested in how it's going, but outside of the Amazon Room there's no way of knowing what happens inside. If only they had had a few big screens or something, with Players Left and some quick stats.

It almost feels like Harrah's just want these pesky poker players to finish up and leave so they can start setting up for the South Dakota Plumbers' Convention. Unless they can squeeze more dollars out of the WSOP franchise.

Saturday

Last day in Vegas! Hepl! Hepl!

It's time to cover the last part, the southern parts. I'm skipping Downtown entirely, from what I've heard it's the worst part of the touristy Vegas.

I play some at the small and empty poker room at Tropicana, just enough to sneak away a souvenir chip and get lunch money.

And then... Hooters! Nice view... Another souvenir chip, then I lose my small buyin when I with AJ hit an A on the flop. I was going after a drunk maniac who was donking away his huge stack, not the strong silent type who happened to have hit a set of Deuces. Argh! Well, the waitress (Michelle) called me Sweetie, instead of the usual Honey.

Luxor. You need a room key to ride up in the elevators, but I sneak in with a group and get a good view and photos of the inside. When I pass by their poker room, at that very moment someone has hit a Royal Flush. The pot is his of course, and a $1000 bonus (I think).

On my way back home I finally find him, been looking all week. Elvis! In a white jumpsuit.

My last Texas T-Bone Steak Special at the Monterey Room at Gold Coast. And, get this. There's a beer included. The waiter asked for ID! I'm 35... I told him I was very flattered.

I get my baggage in order and double check the packing. Everything done? Ready for takeoff? Now I'll just play, my flight leaves in the morning Sunday.

It goes unexpectedly well. After midnight I'm a little more than doubled up and I comment to my neighbor (who knows I'm leaving) that now it's really just time to play until time to leave. That was my plan, bust the remaining cash, get "rich" or get too tired to play. Going to bed would be risky, what if I oversleep?

During the evening and night (I play until about 5.30 AM) I experience all the phases of a poker room. From crowded to lively to a lull. Dealer shift changes, player rotation. Twice a High Hand Jackpot hits. Once a Royal in diamonds, for more than $3000 and at my table (against me) a quad Tens for $800. Of course everybody start chasing jackpot hands.

For the first time in a while I'm successful with AK. Except once, and it was a good laydown. I have AK. The flop is AJ9, I bet heavy. Turn is another 9, I bet my two pair appropriately. An Englishman goes all in. It looks dangerous and I fold. Discretely I later comment that I folded AK, and it's revealed that he discretely showed a neighbor his JJ. We get to know this and he's impressed and later at a break he once more lauds me, shakes my hand and says "Not many players would lay down Ace King like that." My comment: "Well, I've learnt the hard way not to get greedy with AK."

Sunday

So I've been up more than 24 hours straight when my plane leaves at 9 AM.

Strange thing at the security check. Boarding Card Guy at desk at the lane I took points out "You've got four S-es on you boarding card, you should go to Lane 19". I start looking around for Lane 19 but obviously not quick enough. "DO! YOU! SPEAK! ENGLISH?". Why, yes, but this is my first time in the U.S. and first time going out from McCarran, I don't know all the details whereas he works there every day. I go there and it's nothing much, they just check my carry-on, no rubber glove and lubricant. The SSSS on the boarding card stands for Secondary Security Screening Something, I think. Maybe I got it automatically since I changed seats.

A little bit of moisture in my eyes (chucks, I must have gotten some desert grit in them or something) when we take off and I in a window seat on the left side of the plane get a perfect view of all of Las Vegas as the plane gets to an eastern heading over the south parts of Vegas. I don't wanna leave!

At Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson I don't find any of the iPod vending machines I saw on my way in. Maybe just as well, because later I find other brands and models that look better, and cheaper. For example the Creative Zen Vision:M.

The Atlantic crossing is a mishmash of movies, slumbering and eating.

Back where I started nine days ago, at my sister's. I stay there for two days and then go home. One of the days, we were at the zoo with my niece. Nice and all, but they've got lions at MGM Grand...

Still jet lagged, it show when I get home. I start unpacking, then just a short nap on the TV couch browsing through channels. I wake up and continue clicking. "Oh, CNN, I've got that at home too. Well, my bags are nearly packed but I've got cash left, I can still go down to the oval tables and play some more. Oh. Fuck. I'm home."

Summary

This was my budget version of a Vegas trip. I'm not the type to schmooze around Las Vegas in a limo betting thousands of dollars. I take a taxi or bus and gamble in the hundreds.

I never played without a drink or beverage in front of me. Alcohol, water or coffee or Red Bull. I always tipped.

If you are a serious poker player you simply have to make a pilgrimage to Las Vegas.

I heartily recommend the Venetian and Caesars Palace poker rooms. Flamingo, Ballys and Gold Coast are also OK. You can do without the rest, unless you happen to pass by or stay at that hotel.

C-notes ($100) in one pocket and singles ($1) in another pocket. 100s for gambling and 1s for tipping. Don't mix them up. You can't gamble much for a dollar (but you can get a lot of play out of a penny slot) and $100 is overtipping.

I didn't experience any "Sin City" stuff. The closest of that was the guys handing out stripper cards. You know, the color printed cards with a semi-nude and a phone number and a price. Yeah, right, the $199 Special is just stripping.

Just a little mild flirtation or ogling.

Check out what you can get "for free", register for comps, I didn't think of that until it was too late. But/And I played at lots of places, not just one place where I might've earned a free meal or something with accumulated time. At least I could've gotten something at Gold Coast, because the brush started recognizing me after a while. I didn't even have to speak, just walk up to the desk and look and he goes "Hey Martin. Two hundred?". I'm a regular :-).

So. I'm definitely going back, one way or the other. I'll look for tournaments where the prize is a Vegas live tournament, or other major tournament.European Poker Tour for example, and then my goal would be to win money that I can use to go to Vegas for.

I would rather be playing

2006-08-04T10:38:00.000+02:00

Instead of day-by-day updates of my stay in Las Vegas, I'll make an überpost with a complete summary after I return home. I'd rather be out on the town than typing in the hotel room.

Not this time

2006-07-30T09:50:00.000+02:00

WSOP update:

Waited nine months and I'm out after nine hours.

Simply Vegas

2006-07-29T04:47:00.000+02:00

Been in Vegas for two days and nights now. Lovin' it, but too zonked out to write anything lengthy right now. More on Sunday, the day of rest. My WSOP play starts tomorrow Saturday. Been getting up to speed with a $22 morning tournament at the Gold Coast where I'm staying. Placed 11th of 62. And the $1/$2 NL cash game at the Orleans.

Joe Hachem smiled and waved back when I smiled and waved at him. I've seen Greg and Doyle. Rawk.

All systems gogogo

2006-07-23T12:44:00.000+02:00

This is Sunday. Wednesday I leave for Las Vegas and playing in the World Series of Poker Main Event. Did I just say that?

Found out my starting day, I'll start playing Saturday, day 1B. There will be four Day 1 since there are so many participants. They're expecting 8000 or more, and I read something somewhere a few days ago that there are already more than 5000 registered.

So, play Saturday. Then day 1A and 1B are combined on Tuesday and then the next day of play is Friday where some time during the day the players will be In The Money. What will it be for me? Ones or zeroes? 0, 10000, 100000, 1000000 or 10000000 dollars?

Finished packing today, now I just have to leave. Will be flying for fourteen hours plus some hours waiting at airports. Who cares, I'm going to Vegas. Vegas, baby, Veeegaaas!

Seat unglued

2006-07-03T14:07:00.000+02:00

Silly me. Airplane seating crisis averted. No longer relegated to the worst seats in the back.

You see, they (Delta) have this neat thing called Internet and a website. In color! There you can log in with your confirmation number to check your itinerary and choose your seat. Silly silly me. Available seats shown, just click and select, with a SeatGuru browser window open beside it to get the best pick.

So now I've got window seats instead, I'd like that so I can see the U.S. (first time over there, ya know), gaze across the Atlantic Ocean, and see Las Vegas from above when we arrive, and so on. Except on the return flight across the Atlantic, instead of the large-ish economy section with hundreds of seats there were some Economy seats in a sort of mini-cabin with a dozen seats or so near the front, just behind the Elite and Business sections. So I might sneak in there and gather up the leftovers, some pate de foie gras , Bollinger and marinated lark's tongue.

Or I could simply get lucky and be upgraded. Just because I'm so nice.

Playing position

2006-07-03T10:27:00.000+02:00

In some games of poker, your position on the table in relation to the dealer matters. But that's not what I'm writing about right now. Oh, come to think of it, what's the name of this blog? "Glued to the seat".

I just got an updated and detailed itinerary for my flight(s) to and from Las Vegas. I'll be flying from Copenhagen airport with Delta, who started flying from there in... May 2006 , I think.

Over at SeatGuru, "The ultimate source for airplane seating, in-flight amenities and airline information", you can find information about good and bad seats on many, if not all (major) airlines and their different aircraft.

Looks like I drew the short straw in seating assignment, the itinerary I got had seat numbers on it. On all flights (two legs, Copenhagen-Atlanta and Atlanta-Las Vegas, return ticket) except one, I got a seat farthest back. The Atlanta-LV one is the worst, marked in red at SeatGuru. And all except one are aisle seats. Hope I make it to the money at the WSOP so I can get another classier flight home.

Not good... Farthest back will probably mean last one off, having to go through the whole plane when boarding with everybody and their grandma, farthest from everything (amenities) et cetera. Worst of everything.

How could this be? I booked early (in March, for travelling July-August), but maybe that's it? "They" start filling from the back.

My hope will be that they're not booked 100% full and that my timing is right at the check-in desk. Just point out to them that I got poor seats all over and could they possibly put me anywhere else?

Any hints on how to play that? I'm not looking for a free upgrade to business or first class, just out of the back. Found some, the number one tip is to be at check-in early when they can still juggle around. Number two seems to be to get "tagged", so to speak, as someone who can be moved around. Easier to shift one person/seat around when filling out the plane than to accomodate a group (a family or other group who want to be seated together). But arrive early.

Or maybe I just misinterpret the Seat: field in the itinerary, and they're not assigned until check-in.

Best of

2006-06-25T12:45:00.000+02:00

A little collection of my best posts in this little poker blog, maybe showing my progress from "working" for three-four hours in a $1-$5 tournament and being proud of a small winning that I nowadays would consider "loose change", to going to the World Series of Poker.

Not going to Vegas anytime soon - Little did I know, then. April 2004.
I won at WSOP 2004 - I placed a bet on who would win the WSOP 2004 Main Event, and I picked right (Greg Raymer, he was chip leader when the final table started). May 2004.
Showdown - My first live tournament. September 2004.
Rounders - First time I win (1st place) a live poker tournament. April 2005.
Bubble boy - I do well, but don't finish In The Money. May 2005.
Getting Even - I don't finish In The Money, but I make it up in a cash game. May 2005.
Home game family pot - I play poker with the family. June 2005.
Regal colors - I get my first Royal Flush. September 2005.
The Big One - I win a seat in the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event. November 2005.
Exclamation marks - I get congratulated!!!!! November 2005.
Passive - I finish In The Money in yet another live tournament. January 2006.
Never give up - The importance of not quitting. February 2006.
My first comp - I get my first "freebie" at a real casino. March 2006.
Morale booster - Doing well. April 2006.
Three times - You have to look good while playing. Options: White tie or Black tie. May 2006.

Promises

2006-06-20T09:39:00.000+02:00

Some promises before my going to Las Vegas and playing in the WSOP Main Event:

As usual, a continuous "inner monologue" when I'm involved in a hand. "This player did that and that player did this. I flopped a set but if either one has J9 he has a straight, and if another spade comes there could be a flush, but do they have it? What do they think I have?"
I will play as if I had several commentators watching my every play. "Whoa! Martin, this promising player from Sweden flopped a straight but Bob Smith from Alaska got a flush on the turn and the 2 of Spades on the river filled an ace-high flush for Martin. Little does he know that Bob got a straight flush from that card."
Check-raise, re-reaise, get "Time!" called.
I will truly enjoy myself. I will see in person all the sights I've so far only seen on TV and in movies (Las Vegas, CSI:Las Vegas, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Casino, Ocean's Eleven, National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation, uhm, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas). I will be walking around in a daze with my mouth open and just gawk at all the pretty lights. Swimming in the Bellagio fountain, climbing the Luxor pyramid, engaging a Caesars Palace staff member in gladiatorial combat...
Drink. Not get staggeringly drunk or intoxicated. Just want to get that feeling, a warm buzz, of having had a shot or three at two in the afternoon on a Sunday, or a few beers in the evening while playing poker. Or a post-dinner cocktail after being comped a meal.
On that note, I also have to buy someone or several people one or several drinks.
I will blog as often as I can. Here, and in a Swedish (poker) discussion forum I participate in. The posts may be terse, I won't have the whole afternoon or evening to compose, and I'm not a journalist. No essays going into detail, just recounting some of what happened since the last post.
Do something "crazy". Not necessarily gambling related, definitely not the classic and bland "Everything on Red!". I dunno, maybe a pie eating contest or karaoke or a dare. Any suggestions?
Schmooze. As I said before, I'll see all the sights I've only seen on TV. Now I can meet the people I've read about and seen. Bloggers, celebrities, pros. Blogging celebrity pros.
Make bad jokes. I simply have to arrive at the hotel desk and do the "I just flew in from Sweden and boy are my arms tired" routine.
I will NOT wear sunglasses and a hat at the 1-2, 2-4 or 3-6 table.
I WILL wear sunglasses at the WSOP tables. In fact, I'll bring several pairs. Wraparounds, Ray-Bans, novelty. I WILL do the "sunglasses upside down" thing.
At least once I'll have to use some really stupid deal, like "free coupon" or "players club". You know, the kind where if you "bring this voucher to the Blinga Blanga Hotel Casino and Laundromat or other venues in the Hoobadahonga chain before 2PM on Tuesdays to Thursdays and get $25 in tokens and wait an hour" you get a free meal, 10% off in the gift shop and a T-shirt.
Maybe I'll go to a really old, run-down place in downtown Las Vegas. Or some shady joint off-off-Strip.
If out from the Main Event early, either try to get sponsored into another WSOP event (or sell percents) or just enter some cheap-ish ($50-$100) tournament at some other casino, or a side game.

I love this game

2006-06-04T11:16:00.000+02:00

Played a live tournament Saturday. It was a rebuy+addon tournament and I had "budgeted" three or four buy-ins.

Play was wild during the rebuy blinds levels, I think there was more than thirty rebuys+addons. With only twelve players! I didn't make an addon (but I made one (1) rebuy) since it wouldn't have increased my stack much. Four kings helps build a nice stack.

I got praise from some players, I made some nice calls on the river with a large-ish bet against me. I had hit something, or even only had Ace High but there were possibilities on the table, obvious draws for flush, straight or higher pairs/trips. But I sensed that the opponent didn't hit his draw. I wouldn't have called a very big bet or all in, but the situations were such that I could gamble and call.

With seven players left I had had cold cards for a long while and my stack shrinks. I have about 4100 in chips and blinds are 800/1600. Something playable comes along, JQo and I go all in, on the button. The big blind squirms and calls, wondering "I have two overcards at least, huh?". He thinks I have a pocket pair. Well, he does have overcards, AKo vs my JQo. I'm the dealer and I lay out the flop one card at a time.

First card: K. Dang, not good. Second card: J! Ah, I have a shot. Third card: J!!!11!!one! Trip Jacks vs pair o' Kings.

The turn: K... so I have a JJJKK Full House vs KKKJJ Full House. But I'm not dead yet, the river could be a Jack, that would have been be-e-a-ootiful. But no, and I'm out in 7th place.

The next player is out in another hand that shows the beauty of Holdem (that a hand could swing back and forth). Another short stack goes all in with JJ and gets called by AK. The flop is laid out one card at a time.

First card: Q. Second card: J, trip jacks vs nothing. And then I don't remember if it was the third card or the turn, but a Ten came, nut straight vs trip Jacks, but he's not dead yet. But no quad or boat for JJ.

I don't think I ever would've done differently in either of those two situations, before or after the flop. Short stacked and hitting a good flop, go for it.

Three times

2006-05-10T13:37:00.000+02:00

Three times these past few days, or should I say thrice, I've played live Texas Hold'em in white tie. No, not a white tie. "White tie". Full dress tailcoat. Full evening dress. Tails.

Saturday, before a full dress dinner, an annual Guys Only thing I've been inducted to. We had a little 5-seat Sit'n'Go and a few beers at my place before the dinner. Very loose play of the "any two" variety. Second place.
After the dinner some time during the night (not allowed to leave until at least sunrise). Of course I brought a chip set, especially since I'd heard that the year before they'd also played poker but didn't have any proper equipment and used crackers, olives and pieces of sausage for betting. Very very loose play of the "any one, two or zero cards can win" variety. In honor of Joe Hachem's winning hand in the WSOP 2005 Main Event, I played 37o. The flop: x37 = two pair. The turn: 3 and Full House. All in! A caller! He "only" has pocket Queens = two pair against my Boat. River: Q, better Full House for him. Don't know which place I went out in. We had a very wet bar...
Tuesday, before another little affair where white tie was required. Just a little Heads Up of the "we'll at least have to see a flop every time" variety. Won!

And a last one that doesn't really count. After coming home after midnight from the Tuesday affair I played two 0.5/1 NL THE tables while gradually getting out of the clothes, slightly inebriated. Poker had been a topic of conversation, so I simply had to top off the evening with some quick'n'dirty power poker. After ten-fifteen minutes I was wearing only pants and up 60 and that's a good time to stop playing unless it's strip poker.

Countdown until takeoff towards Las Vegas, Nevada and the WSOP Main Event: 77 days

Morale booster

2006-04-24T10:03:00.000+02:00

I'm feeling quite confident in my Texas Holdem playing. I'm somewhat winning but one also has to remember why I play. I'd like to point you toward G-Rob's ponderings on the subject. He writes "I think the solution is to remember WHY I play. I'm not in it for the money. I mean, we keep score with money so I want as much as possible. But I'm not a poker pro... and I don't use the income for my everyday life. Really, the poker bankroll is just that. I use my poker winnings to play poker. That way I don't have to use the family's actual money to play... and I can keep playing bigger games."

That's how I play. I play at the cash games, and when I'm up enough for a buy-in, I go to a Sit'n'Go or a multitable tournament or sometimes a higher level of NL cash game. I had a good run and was up 200, so I entered a tournament that cost 100. Finished 17th of 114! Too bad it was 15 paid. But I knocked out the "celebrity guest", in that particular weekly tournament they have a guest from the world of sports or poker. My AJs vs his AK preflop and I hit a J and he nothing. He's out in 32nd place but it was a pity that they didn't have a bounty on him. And I wasn't even mentioned by name in the post-game "article" on the poker site's webpage about the tournament. Just "the opponent". *pout* *sulk* I then entered a 100 SnG and finished 4th (with three paid).

So, I'm feeling confident. I feel that I can do well in cash games and go far in tournaments. When you reach a certain level of winning play, it is a near coin toss. All in with the best hand and maybe just maybe you get sucked out. But if not, you're doing great. Win big pots, lose (or fold) small pots. In Holdem in particular, sometimes you do have to gamble to win really big, but make sure you're the favorite when you do so.

I've been playing a lot lately at the government-run Swedish (Swedish citizens only) site Svenska Spel. First I had an initial semi-bad run but then I adapted. Lots of In The Money in SnG, or 4th place (see previous comment about having to gamble but you're the favorite) and I've never left the site for the day on a minus. Sometimes up a 100, sometimes up 10 but that's a good goal to have. The NL low-limit cash games are "easy". 6-8 limpers before the flop is not rare. So, bet 4*BB with top starting hands to isolate and then play good flop hits hard and possible draw hands soft. Also, limp with any pair or connectors. Flop a set or better or a good draw and cash in. Be wary of reraises and checkraises but pounce on them with nuts. Hmm, I'm starting to get a hang of this poker lingo now.

The biweekly homegame is getting tough! We're usually 4-7 players and have a rebuy tournament (if you're empty you can rebuy for the first four blinds levels) with a three beer minimum. Nowadays the first player is knocked out first in the 6th or 7th level and always on coin tosses or very close calls. Obi-Wan has taught you well.

Tournament at the local poker club yesterday. Nineteen participants, five paid. Rebuy tournament and I made two (pair of Aces vs four Kings hurts! And it was the husband of the lady who hurt me with four Tens in a previous tournament). But I'm prud to report that I played The Hammer (27o) and won. A proper Hammer, raised UTG before the flop which had two Sevens. Niiice.

I'm out at 5th place (ITM) and it was A Hand of Justice. Pocket Aces! Isolated one player, Mr. B, whom I've knocked out of these tournaments twice with AA so I have to make this an all-in situation (although he has me covered). And on the turn it happens, I go all in and he thinks, squirms and calls. I say "You know what I have, we simply have to do this.". I show my AA and he shows an open-ended straight draw. He needs an 8 or a King. A King comes on the flop but smiles, applauses and handshakes occur. Couldn't have done anything differently. There were about 36 cards left that would not help him. 52 minus our 4 hole cards minus the 4 on the table minus the 4 Eights and 4 Kings. 36 for me, 8 for him. That's how I'm thinking at least. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

So, 5th place which pays 650 but I made two rebuys in a 200 tournament so I'm up 50. But up! And had a shot at even bigger winnings. And more points in the leaderboard for the "freeroll" we'll have at the end of the year for the ten with the most points with the prize money taken (5%) from all tournaments during the year. As of now, I'm at a split 10th place.

Oh, and all amounts in this post are in Swedish crowns. $1 = 7.5 crowns.

I hit an important threshold last week. Monday April 17 it was 100 (one hundred) days until my flight leaves for Las Vegas and the WSOP Main Event.

And this weekend Vegas Vacation was on TV. No poker but lots of Vegas lights and images.

"Cousin Eddie: I haven't seen a beatin' like that since somebody stuck a banana in my pants and turned a monkey loose."

Presidents and small winnings

2006-03-29T13:16:00.000+02:00

When I went south to go to the casino as mentioned in the last post, I thought "what the heck" and passed through a currency exchange and got US$1000 in cash. Way ahead of time but I want to get my travel kit in order. Already I have a bag where I gather all things needed for my trip to the WSOP Main Event. Passport, papers (reservations, contracts, info, numbers, plans), power adapter, diverse security/safety items, and now a wad of pieces of paper with dead presidents on them. I particularly like the Franklins. It's all about the Benjamins, baby.

So now I have $1001.26 at home. The bills plus two halfdollars, a quarter and a penny from a coin collection. The halfdollars are one JFK and one Liberty Bell, the JFK one is my lucky coin for use in poker games as a token in my pocket or as card protector.

I had hit a downward slump at Partypoker, never making it big and seeing my bankroll slowly dwindle. Finally won (1st place) a SnG the day before yesterday and hope to turn upwards now.

Got a bit stressful yesterday. It seemed like our regular biweekly homegame wouldn't happen since people were busy and we would be only three then, so I got in a cheap SnG at Partypoker. When we were four left J called and said the homegame was on, so I got super aggressive in the SnG (but didn't want to pish it away either) and whaddya know, I knock one player out, so I won't leave empty handed at least. All in with any hit and actually win some but out at third place.

The homegame: Four players, four rebuys (one each). We're getting really evenly matched now. Second place, almost gave it away because we had been grinding heads up for nearly half an hour, it was nearing midnight (started late) and those of us who weren't at home already wanted to go home.

I've got such a yearning to go to Las Vegas! And I will, it's all been arranged now, but it's three point nine months left. Whoa, it is getting close. Almost within my reach. But I'm getting paranoid; I keep imagining situations where I walk up to the airline counter and get "Oh, that flight has been postponed two days." or "Certainly sir, one return trip to Kuala Lumpur coming rrright up!". Or at the hotel desk "There is no reservation under the name Huykenschmitt.". Or at the WSOP registration at the Rio "As per regulation C, paragraph 15, since you entered the country less than 72 hours ago and are a pre-registered European player in casual clothes, you are not eligible for play.".

Almost daily I browse the web, reading travelogues, reviews, tips. Look at Vegas in Google Earth. I even look at traffic cams! What's with all the (white) Ford F150s? And it warms my heart to see all the lights on and limos passing by. At 5-6AM Vegas Time on a weekday.

My first comp

2006-03-21T22:49:00.000+01:00

Got my first "comp", sort of, at a brick&mortar casino yesterday.

I play a lot of poker, online and live. My father only plays around a little online with play money and the occasional (but rare) family homegame, so as a birtday gift I gave him a "Poker Night" at the regional state-run casino. It's a package deal where you get dinner and a poker tournament for the dinner guests. I arranged it well in advance and this Monday we went. The in-law that also was supposed to be coming along was ill, so we were only two. When I called to notify them of the change they said there were no other people booked for Poker Night. We decided to go anyway, now that I had travelled to attend.

When there, I let dad do the talking. We had the dinner, the casino apologized for not notifying us of the cancellation and we got a free dessert (panna cotta, yum). Got a quick runthrough of how poker cash games and tournaments work at the casino by a cute brush and got more freebies. Sunglasses, lighter-that-looks-like-poker-chips and a deck of cards. Each.

As part of the package you also got three 20-crown chips (20 crowns = $2.50). Dad put one down on the roulette, at 14/17. Clickettyrattle, fourteen red.

We played around on slot machines and video poker and then at Casino Holdem, which is a bastardization of Texas Holdem where you play against the dealer. Put one chip down to get cards, if you want to play them after you see "the flop" you put two more chips down. Then the turn and river comes and the dealer has to have a pair of fours or better to "qualify". If the dealer doesn't qualify you win one chip regardless. If he does qualify, your hand has to beat the dealer's hand and if you do, you win all that you've bet. Also some extra payouts if you have better than... straight (I think).

All in all, I think we were break-even on table games and machines, got some father-son time, drinks and dinner and some stories to tell.

The standard of the casino (Cosmopol) was... questionable. Never having been there (yet!), I would think that if it was in Las Vegas, it would be a run-down backstreet joint in downtown LV. But good staff.

Yet again

2006-03-15T08:15:00.000+01:00

Another homegame tournament No Limit Texas Holdem, wild and crazy. We were six players and there were seven rebuys. I made one, one guy made three.

Same procedure as always, I do well in the middle of the game, I was in a massive chip lead in the middle phases, helped by for example a flopped Aces full (had AA, flop comes QQA, bingo, yatzee). Then much of it goes away when I with A3 in an unraised big blind flop two pair and the guy with a straight draw and a flush draw tags along and after all in hits the case flush on the river.

One hand can make you and one hand can break you. Third place, on the bubble.

My participation in WSOP 2006 Main Event draws ever nearer. Only four months to go now! I made the hotel reservation two weeks ago and last week I arranged the flight, finally. Now it's just waiting, waiting, waiting annnd lift-off!

Next Monday I'm treating my father and brother-in-law to a Poker Night at the regional casino. A package deal where you get dinner, gaming introduction and a Holdem tournament with some tin cup as first prize. Just so dad can try it "for real", he plays around a little online but only with Play Money.

Another Royal

2006-03-03T08:35:00.000+01:00

I got my second Royal Straight Flush yesterday!

Too bad it was once again in a tournament setting. It was in a Sit'n'Go.

Dagnammit, I don't want it then and there. I want to get it when it really matters, on a High Hand Jackpot table, in a multi-way all in in a cash game or at the final table of a large prize pool tournament with lots of callers and audience.

Well, it's probably karmic payback for my miracle river straight on the bubble this weekend.

Two seven

2006-03-01T12:31:00.000+01:00

Homegame, six participants.

Blech, it didn't go well at all. Cold cards, chasing didn't hit anything on the flop. Made two rebuys.

And I ran into The Hammer, the infamous 2 7 off suit (although one time it was suited, Spades) twice. First time it filled a 5-9 straight against my pair of Queens with Ace kicker, second time it was a stone cold bluff, he put me all-in when I was shortstacked.

Just one of those days.

Never give up

2006-02-27T12:36:00.000+01:00

In tournament play especially, in Sit'n'Gos and multitable tournaments, all you need is a chip and a chair. Never give up, you can make it. Some stories of my recent tournament experiences:

In a SnG, in the second deal, I get KAo, raise and get one caller. I hit an Ace on the flop and go all in although there are two Diamonds there. He calls! Oopsie, he has AT Diamonds and he hits the fifth diamond. But! He had called (blinds 15/30) in the first deal and I hadn't, so I have 30 T$ left. When I at last play them (with K9), I succeed and afterwards my stack goes to 60, 200, 270, 700, over 1000. I make it all the way to fourth place and could've maybe made it to the money if someone had made a mistake. But not bad, from 30 left to fourth place.

But sometimes you get impatient. Was in a tournament with only eight participants and three places paid. We were in the money after an hour. After yet another half hour I lost patience and went all in with a flopped pair of nines. Couldn't be bothered to fight for a few dollars. Third place.

And now a big payoff: Was in a $50 tournament with 43 participants, $3000 Guaranteed. 43*50=2150 so there was overvalue. I did well in the beginning but went down to 465 in chips (starting with 1500) with a flush against a weird full house. The flop was K99 with two Clubs and I get my Ace-high flush on the turn. From the opponent's betting, I get the feeling that he doesn't have a King or KK. Maybe he got trip nines and is happy? The river was a five. He had 55 and got a backwards full house. I fight my way back up to 900 with KA diamonds that hit an ace on... the river. It really does flow both ways! Around the second hourly break I'm at eleventh place of eleven, having had my JJ all in busted by A5 that hit two pair.

Final table! But only five places paid. Some more drop off and stackwize I'm at fifth of seven. Two others are also relatively short, I'm hoping that some of those screw up, or that two big stacks start butting heads.

Oh dear, oh dear, I only have 575 left. The blinds are 300/600 now. Six players left, five paid.

Then it happens. The poker gods smile upon me. The Big Blind comes to me and I'm all in from that. I have Q8o. Crap crappity crap.

I hit a Queen-high straight.

On the river.

And the one raiser-caller had AA.

I survive. Win an all in later with AA against AT. Have Q3 in an unraised Big Blind and flop two pair, I win that all in. Up to around 5000, getting back in the game seriously. AJo, all in. The board comes 49382 and will I get this from Ace high? (the cards aren't shown until the river at all ins here). Nope, he had pocket fours and I'm out at fourth place. $360 to me!

So never give up, you can make it even if it looks troublesome. Have confidence and don't throw the chips away.

I've made the Vegas hotel reservations. This week I'll have to take care of the flight too and then I'm set, just wait a few more months... Still watching prices and sites to make a call on the best deal, I want it as cheap as possible. The very cheapest one has a bad return leg though, I'd then leave Monday night, have to wait twelve hours or more in Atlanta and land in Copenhagen Wednesday. Now that's jet lag. I live in Sweden and Copenhagen is the nearest airport with flights over the Atlantic.

This because I don't want to have to stay for the full two weeks if I don't make it in the tournament (WSOP Main Event). It ain't free to stay in Vegas. If I make it to the money I can afford another flight home. But, anyway, I want to have the arrangements finished this week. Then all that's left to do is the packing and starting stashing away cash. I want to have a HUGE gangster roll for tipping and table games. I've already got a money clip with a large $ symbol on it, very low-key bling-bling.

Greed kills

2006-02-21T13:56:00.000+01:00

Last week's poker results. During the week I had a good run at Pokerblue. I had had a hiatus a few months ago, then made a deposit (nibbling at the $2000 "travel money" I got in connection with winning my seat at the WSOP Main Event 2006) from the cashout I had made to Neteller and started playing again, then cashed out the deposit amount again when I had built up a bankroll, for example with winning a $5 Limit tournament and grinding at low ($0.25/$0.50 and $0.50/$1) tables. Now, during the week I had a good run and made a good plus. Enough to cover the big Sunday tournament.

Pokerblue changes their "flagship" tournament once in a while. For a while it was "Play four hours and you get a seat in the Sunday $12000 freeroll with a WPT/WSOP seat at stake", then "Play four hours, WPT/WSOP seat and added prize money to the top 20" (been there, done that, won it), then "Play four hours and you get a seat in the Sunday freeroll with $6000 prize money to the top 20" (got a 17th place in one of those). Now it's no "Play four hours" anymore, it's a $50 tournament (usually they only have $5-$20 hourly tournaments) with $2000 added. I got a promotional email saying that last time there were only 31 participants, so it's a good overlay.

So I entered. It starts with 39 participants, top 5 paid ($1500 to the winner).

The headline for this post is "Greed kills". I got into a situation with a guy with a shorter stack than me (two thirds?) where I flopped a gutshot straight draw (lacked the king) and a flush draw (lacked a club), but I don't have a hand yet. Bet 300, half his stack, to push him out but he goes all-in on me. I ponder, and I call. But, no, no king or club on turn or river and now I'm shortstacked. But ya gotta dare to win.

How would've been better? Just a low bet to test the waters and if nothing comes up there's always the next deal, and the next. Or putting him all-in on the flop? It's a case of "If I had hit the straight or flush", then it would have been a good play, "I had at least twelve outs".

Next hand, KA off suit. All-in with the 150 I have left but no hit and I'm out at 28th.

But at least I played. Who dares wins.

In other news: Dicked around at Full Tilt. I entered a multitable tournament and did well in the first blinds level. Then I was surprised when I got four hole cards and looked closer at the Tournament Info. Oops. I entered a HORSE tournament. That's where you play Texas Hold'em, then Omaha Hi/Lo, then Razz, then Seven Card Stud, then Omaha Eight or Better. Then start over again. Oops indeed. Haven't played much Omaha, and definitely not the other three "for real". I once entered an Omaha Sit'n'Go by mistake, quickly browsed around for rules and tips and played so carefully I finished third and in the money. So, I did well in Hold'em, survived Omaha Hi/Lo (actually picked up one Lo pot) and then I was out in Stud.

Played a tournament at Full Tilt with 440 participants, 45 paid. After three hours, I was at the final table! Finished 7th, of 440. Good! Too bad it was a... wait for it... $1 tournament. Won $14.30. A good return on investment. But not good hourly wages. Had it been a $100 tournament I could've gotten $1430 (or 1st place and $10000) and that would've been gooood.

But I'm not in it for the money...

Eh, well, only kidding. I'm not in it only because you can win money. I don't want to gamble hundreds of dollars even if I could because you can lose it and then what do you do? Never play with money you can't afford to lose. And if I liquidated my assets and plopped down in a seat at the $50/$100 tables or thereabouts I would be playing with scared money. However, if I won or placed well in a huge multitable tournament and got a few hundred or thousand, then I'd go up a level. What I'm saying is that I also find it rewarding when you win at low levels, the moment of triumph when you rake in a big pot in a cash game because you did everything right and read your opponent(s) correctly or place in a tournament because your overall strategy and tactics worked. The important thing is that you should enjoy playing poker. Not much fun to just sit there and click click click if you'd rather be doing something else. Consider it a hobby.

So it's a good thing I haven't paid $10,000 (lets give that amount the respect it deserves and spell it out: TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS) of my own money to be in the WSOP because then I would just sit there frozen and not dare to play anything other than a flopped Aces over Kings or four of a kind. In an unraised big blind. "I don't wanna lose my money! Mommyyy!".

It is drawing closer, day by day. "Wow, did you figure that out all by yourself, professor?" Shuttup shuttup. Anyway, when I won my seat, WSOP was about nine months away. Now it's only five months before I board a westbound flight in Copenhagen and cross the Atlantic Ocean. Quite a few biweekly homegames and also some local poker club tournaments available in the meantime to get practice in. I've transferred the travel money to my bank account and soon, maybe even this week, I'll make the reservations. Hotel and flight. I've done some scouting with Google Earth. Message to the guy with the red car who parked at the southwest upper parking deck at the Rio when the aerial photo was taken: Leave your car there, so I'll know where to cross the road.

Will be staying at The Gold Coast. A small hotel, just 700+ rooms. The local hotel here, "one of Sweden's larger conference hotels", which I can see from work, only has 200+ rooms. Gold Coast also has 70 bowling lanes. We only have 10 (or less) here

I'm ready. Bring it on! I've got plenty of sunglasses!

Bubble again

2006-02-12T19:40:00.000+01:00

Just a quick post, soon the $50,000 freeroll "for Swedish players only" starts at Partypoker.

Was at a freezeout tournament at our local poker club today. Twenty players, four players paid.

The pivotal point (last time it was when I flopped a set of Aces) was probably when I with K9 turned a King-high straight and called an all-in. Made it to the final table where:

My raise with AA under the gun wasn't called.
My all-in shortstacked with A9o was called after some goading (against the guy I've knocked out of tournaments twice before with AA), he had ten-something and wasn't helped.
My all-in with pocket nines was called. By pocket threes.

Getting short, the blinds are high, antes are in effect. Play KQo, no help on the flop, call a high bet (five times big blind?) on the turn, no paint (Jacks, Queens, Kings and Aces). Yes, a King on the river! I call the all-in (I'll beat almost any pocket pair, Ace-anything/Ace high). Nope, he has KAo and I'm out.

At the effing bubble. Fifth place with four paid.

I hope I do really well in the freeroll. How sweet it would be to finally strike gold and win a big one or be at the final table. Says the guy who won a seat in the WSOP 2006 Main Event on a freeroll... But I'm not there yet, hearing "Shuffle up and deal". And my Internet poker play is low-limit ring games, preferrably $0.25/$0.50 fixed limit or $0.05/$0.10 no limit, cheap ($5-$20) Sit'n'Gos and cheap ($10) multitable tournaments. I do OK, but no "holy sh*t that's a lot of money!" moments. I'm tight when it comes to money management, I never go "OK, I won $100, now I'll play a $100 tournament tomorrow". Instead I finish fourth or once or twice third in five $10 Sit'n'Gos and tilt in a $20 multitable plus I hit a bad streak in the ring games and it's back to square one. Or win a $2 or $5 Sit'n'Go. Woohoo... Uhm.

As I've said before, I play a lot of poker with my bankroll but there's never been that Big Moment yet. But maybe I'm downplaying the wins I've had, after all I've won or been in the money in live tournaments. But there's never been the Quadrupled Bankroll, merely the Octupled Entry Fee or so.

Who dares wins.

Catching up

2006-01-30T12:09:00.000+01:00

Oops, I've neglected my poker blog for a while.

In the words of Iggy, an überpost. I might not ramble as much or paste in outside content, so let's call it eine mittelpost. Unterpost? Ganz klar?

Let's see. Biweekly homegame tournament: Second place with seven players and no less than seven rebuys, total (I made one). Two newcomers and one of them won.

Played a little at Full Tilt Poker (use signup code MARTILT for a 100% bonus up to $600) and also watched the pros. They have quite a few; Chris Ferguson, Eric Seidel, Jennifer Harman, Phil Ivey and others, who have to play a while each week. The tables they're at are highlighted in red in the lobby. Seen Phil Ivey sitting lonely and forlorn at a $500/$1000 table one time, but a while ago I saw a lot of action at the table, $50/$100 NL THE, where he was sitting. Looots of railbirds wondering "Hey Phil can you stake me?", "Hey Phil, that hand at WPT Thingy Mastership in North Southwood, why did you raise with A8 hearts?". Luckily you can turn off Observer chat. Saw him take a heavy blow for a few thou (I say with a casual voice) but definitely not fatal when he had TT and the flop came ATx. Opponent had AA, so he was happy. Phil made it back quickly. Btw, saw him in a WPT event on TV this Saturday. He looks ANGRY! Arr, arr, rawr!

The site I mentioned in the last post, where I got $12, well, I'm up to $130 now. Heeere fishy fishy fish. And if I should be outdrawn at the microlimit NL THE tables, just go to the Limit 5 Card Draw for a while and grind a buyin back.

Tournament in our local poker club Sunday. Blergh, not good. Buyin, one rebuy (when I had two pair or a set and was all in. Opponent didn't have many outs, the most prominent one being a six to fill his gutshot straight. The river is... a six. I felt like kicking and punching the dealer, but in that hand it was... me.) and the addon. And I'm out at 12th place of 13. Had A7s, the board is K7xKx. Two pair K7 with Ace kicker. I thought and gambled at that the opponent who put me all in maybe tried to bully me out with a bare Ace or scaring me off/making a continuation bet for an unfulfilled draw, but nope, he had a King.

Home, James.

Played a cheap Sit'n'Go at Full Tilt. When we were three left, in the money, I pulled a fast one. Quite even in stacks. I get 27o (The Hammer) in the small blind. Minimum raise. Big Blind thinks a little and then says "27o" and folds. I show my 27o, and hilarity ensues. Uhm, OK, I got a "lol" in the chat window. But it was fun and appreciated. KJo, hit a K on the flop and all in. Nope, he had AA. Third place.

On to the freeroll at PokerBlue (Signup code: Marthyn). Play for four hours and you get entry into the Sunday freeroll, which nowadays is a $6000 prize pool to the top 20. It was in one of PokerBlue's freerolls I won a seat in WSOP Main Event 2006. The four hours are easily done, it isn't four hours played, sorta, it's total. So play two tables at the lowest fixed limits ($0.25/$0.50) for two hours, or four for an hour and you're ready.

After some technical difficulties, it starts. Good or bad thing, but they remove inactive (not logged in) players after the first fifteen minutes, and then we were only 84 (eightyfour) left. Btw, I placed 697 of 2480 in a $25,000 freeroll at another site without even playing (got called away). 220 paid but I placed better than people who actually played actively.

I see one player make a fantastic recovery, he hit a semi-bad beat and was down to 10 (ten!) in chips, with blinds 10/20, we start with 1500. At that level, many just call call call so it mounts up. And he wins, wins, wins the all ins he's involved in and fifteen minutes later he's up to 900 (and later 1900).

I'm far down on the leaderboard. When I raise I get no callers. When I get playable starting hands I get a large raise or all in before me and I chicken out, or a reraise. Lost count of the number of K8o I got. Obviously I won some hands since I'm still alive but nothing remarkable. Hey, players are dropping off. Im 30 of 33. 25 of 30. I'm 22 of 24 with blinds 200/400 and I have T$1325. Up a bit to over $2000 with semi-bluffstealing the blinds once, twice or thrice. Play it cool and nearly max out the timer to allow other tables to knock someone out, we're now 23 left (I'm in 22nd place) and it's 20 players paid. And I'd rather be blinded off than taking a wild chance and going out on the bubble with Fancy Play Syndrome.

Oooh, hey. In the money! 19 of 21, 17 of 18. I have to make a move. A3 clubs, all in with not even 2 times the big blind. One caller. I hit the Ace on the flop! But nope, so did the opponent and he had a Q kicker. Why couldn't he have had QQ, KK, QK, or some measly pocket pair without hitting anything?

16th place, $75 to me. 1st place $2500, 2nd $1000. Not a huge win but good for my level of play and bankroll. Never play with money you can't afford to lose, so I'm not taking any wild chances "Hey, I'll take a shot at this $500 tournament, I know I can play well". Not sure if I mentioned my $100 win (1st place) in a $5 Fixed Limit Tournament.

Heard of a horrible bad beat from the poker club forum. X was playing online, cash game, with $5000 at the table and so had the other players. He loses a small pot (I think) and then in the next hand, in the small blind, he gets AA. And four other players before him go all-in. So does he. The pot is approximately $25,000... Cards flipped over. Think it was 88, 99, JJ, his AA and 23. 23? We'll get back to that.

Flop is A23. Yay, a set (three of a kind) for him. The turn, a 3. Full house, all the others are now drawing dead, almost. There's Mr. 23 with threes full of deuces, beat. If you have any experience in reading poker hands and thinking of outs you see what's coming next. So, he's got AA. Set. Full house. The river is... 3... Four of a kind 3 (beats Aces full) to the IDIOT who goes all in with about $5000 holding 23. Maybe they were suited.

Someone crunched numbers with PokerStove and mentioned that "yada yada, with that kind of action AA only wins 48% of the time" and so on but I and many others would have done the same with that huge a pot and AA preflop, unless huge buyin tournament life, all your and your family and friend's money or your actual physical life was on the line. And then seeing it just getting stronger and stronger and finally getting sucked out like that on a ONE-outer. On the river. So he writes about it on the club's Internet forum and "and that's why I won't play poker anymore".

Sure, it can happen, has happened, will happen and could happen. But man what a bad beat.

Passive in the moh-nayh

2006-01-15T13:15:00.000+01:00

Played a live tournament, the second one in our recently started poker club.

Twenty participants in a freezeout, quite high buy-in (for me at least). Three tables, seven max, and when down to ten players it will be one table. Five paid and extra bonus from our sponsor to the winner: travel, accomodation and buy-in to a tournament in Estonia.

Quite passive (I read some comments about me in a poker blog written by a regular that I "say eight words in six hours" and "solid player") but I double up quite early. How? By hitting the 99% nuts, raising, getting reraised and getting my all-in called.

I had AA... Flop is A, 4, something. The above betting takes place and opponent turns over A4 = two pair whereas I have three of a kind, Aces. Another four would only give me a better full house against his full house. A bit hazy on the details, the all-in could be on the turn.

To add insult to injury, it was the same player I knocked out with AA vs JJ last time.

Patience, Grasshopper. My stack gives me opportunity to just wait and wait, and since it's a freezeout (no rebuys), if you're out you're out and can't make a comeback and I have to massacre you once more. Suits me well.

Before you know it (actually, quite a while), it's the final table, and I'm on it. I really should start taking notes to give better recounts. It's my rock-style, machine-like play that does it. As usual, some good laydowns, working semi-bluffs and taking advantage of player curiosity or getting them pot committed or low stacks keeps me in the game (QQ vs 66 for example, he even said "I shouldn't, I know you have a pocket pair").

Finally down to five players, In The Money. I'm to the left of a player similar to me (not wild, no bully, quiet rock), and we're both shortstacked, but he's shorter than me and we get to a three-way all-in situation pre-flop where I simply had to do so because if I don't do it, I'll barely have the big blind which comes to me next deal. 8T suited... Flop comes up and I have a gutshot straight draw but no help to either of us two, we're out. But since he had less than me he's out at fifth place, getting the buy-in back and I'm out at fourth, getting buy-in times two.

And since we're a club now and well organized, they'll have a longer term ranking list for 2006 and a prize place in the first tournament this year ain't bad.

In other news, I got an email from yet another poker site that had some sort of "evaluation promotion" going. Register, download and try out our poker client, no deposit necessary, and we'll give you 100 SEK = $12 to play for and you are also eligible for the $100 Raked Hands bonus.

I quintupled (fancy word, eh?) the $12 in two short weekday evenings at the $0.05/0.10 NL THE tables and two second places in $3 Sit'n'Gos, up to $60 and then getting the first payoff from the Raked Hands Bonus. Blew some at Multitable tournaments but I'm still up and rising. One could almost say that there's no fish there... It's a barrel full of caviar and you've got your own spoon.

A knack

2006-01-05T10:16:00.000+01:00

I hadn't played a tournament at Pokerblue for a while, and after watching the TV show "Las Vegas" (the one with James Caan), I entered one. $5 Fixed Limit, 59 entrants, 9 paid.

Grind grind grind (this is Fixed Limit, no fancy play) and three hours later... I'm number one! Switched gears at the right moments (in hindsight) and met good resistance from the final five or six. $103 to me, from an entry fee of $5. Feels good. As I commented in the chat "Hmm, maybe I have a knack for this poker thingy.". I had a good feel for the cards, knowing/feeling when the opposition was on a draw and didn't hit it, having a good draw myself and hitting it on the turn or river, knowing when to hold and to fold. That little "edge" that makes it proper poker, not just lottery.

In my mentality, that win gives me a good bankroll to give twenty more $5 tournaments a try, or ten $10 tournaments, or keeping it and do as I use to, grind at fixed limit until I have enough plus to enter a multitable tournament and maybe get a good ROI (Return on Investment) again.

"Our" poker club has a freezeout tournament the weekend a week from now. Extra bonus from the sponsor, first place gets a weekend trip to a tournament in Tallinn, Estonia. Could be nice for a warmup, I'll certainly give it a shot.

They are learning

2006-01-04T14:56:00.000+01:00

Our regular loose homegame tournament is getting routine now, but there's always some little quirk to make it interesting. We're really getting to now each others' styles and can add a little finnesse. Hehe, there were two plays of the special hand "The Hammer", which is 2, 7 off suit, raised before the flop. I had one, no more betting until showdown where I lost, and one other player who did get trip sevens with it.

Other hands: Four of a kind, Kings. Short 77 all-in vs AA, flop Axx, turn 7, river not a 7. Me knocked out with a flopped trip Queens, which the opponent also had, with better kicker.

If it weren't for the fact that we have rebuys for the first four blinds levels, I think I would place better. The same scenario often occurs: I don't have to make a rebuy, when the rebuy period is over I have three, four or more times the starting stack. No other player is very short stacked and I cant push them out of a pot. Players get knocked out so the blinds that have risen come around often and nibble away 5-10% at a time.

Six players, I came in third. Winner: Miss P, our female regular player. She has placed first three times now, whereas I've only placed first twice. This cannot be! But I've got lots of second places, and in the long run scoring, unweighted, with 3 points to place 1, 2 to place 2 and 1 to place 3, I'm in second place.

I really would be more comfortable with more players, we're short handed, I'd like 8-10 around the table. It's so marginal. Lately there has been more close calls all around; Pair of 10 vs pair of 9. Jack-high straight vs Queen-high straight. Flopped straight vs turned flush. When we started it could be highest card King that scooped the pot at showdown, but we don't get to those situations anymore. All have enough sense now to not just play made hands, but also outs and not necessarily going to a showdown. They know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em. But why do I have to be the Obi-Wan?

Near the dang bubble

2005-12-30T12:30:00.000+01:00

Big local live poker tournament yesterday. 46 participants, all male. One rebuy and an add-on possible (I did those).

I got AA three times, and won all of them. Botched a QQ against a flopped straight. Won two or three hairy all-in situations that could've gone either way.

Knocked out a guy from our own homegame, I raised with 55, he went all-in in the Big Blind (I think) and we were evenly stacked. Call, and he turns over KA but no help for him.

There were 29 rebuys and 36 add-ons making for a nice prize pool (and the recently started poker club also got sponsorship; logo chipsets for the club and bonus money deopsited at the poker site for the top three finishers, also monthly freerolls for the members). New for today was the introduction of antes at the thirteenth blinds level.

Shortstacked but doubling up sometimes but I'm hanging on the ropes. Out at 11th place in the fifteenth blinds level with prize money for the top nine... At least I had a shot. Ooh, I wanted that money, I want a laptop so I can play poker in the living room couch. I could probably wrangle anything cheap from second hand or discarded equipment from work, but when you start to look into it, you want a big screen (15 inch), integrated network, reasonable prestanda and weight and then you're up a range or two.

I helped out with the tournament, provided a laptop with The Tournament Director and did the counting out of the prizes. Munn-ey! I luv handlin' munn-ey! Those of us involved in the running of the tournament had to wear santa hats while playing. I also wore the Las Vegas hooded sweatshirt I got for Christmas. With 47 people (one girlfriend spectator) in the room, it was hot. By the way, the spectator was the grillfiend of the tournament winner. Buy her something very nice, since she had to hang out there for the approximately six hours it lasted.

Another $50,000 freeroll at Partypoker tonight Friday, for Swedish players only. I'm so there.

Poker Christmas

2005-12-28T12:12:00.000+01:00

I got a lot of poker related Christmas gifts this year, I wonder why? Just because I'm going to the WSOP in seven months, maybe?

A hooded sweatshirt with Las Vegas and generic casino-ish neon signs printed on it
A map over Las Vegas
Hellmuth's "Play poker like the pros"
Shot glasses with the card suits on them
A poker magazine

And when shopping the days after christmas I got for myself some tumblers with Jack, Queen, King and Ace cards and the card suits on them. And some lighters that look like a stack of three chips.

The only poker related gift I gave was to my dad, I'm treating him to a "Poker Night" at a casino. A package deal where you get a three-course dinner, Hold'em introduction and a tournament without prize money, just a tin cup. Just so he can try it "for real".

In no position to talk

2005-12-19T12:52:00.000+01:00

Played at PokerBlue again last week and yesterday after a hiatus. Not many players, and if you play for four hours at any cashgame table there you qualify for the Sunday freeroll. That's how and where I won a seat at WSOP 2006. The $12K freerolls are over, now they have a freeroll each Sunday with $6K to the final two tables. $2500 in first prize.

So I played, qualified, and entered the freeroll, having a shot at getting some spending money for my Vegas trip. 160 players had qualified (Overlay! 20 out of 160 paid).

My stack remains around par for the first fifteen minutes, make some plays the next fifteen but don't get much response. Next fifteen minutes, well... to the left of me is Sh****, a previous $12K freeroll winner. He is very aggressive, often raising, never letting me get a free or cheap card to fill out a draw. Stack getting shorter and shorter, twice I go all-in with paint but get no callers. Finally all-in in early position with the around 300 I have left (started with 1500) with QKo. Called by JJ and I'm out at 69th place.

Interesting note: I saw in the player list three players with location = the city nearest my home town. One of them was placed at my table and I chatted briefly with him. Maybe they had read about me? A pity they didn't sign up under my affiliate code, but you can. Use this link or signup code "Marthyn" at PokerBlue.

Marginal calls

2005-12-14T10:26:00.000+01:00

Tuesday means homegame night. This time we were seven players, nice with a larger number than usual and new blood.

As usual there's a lot of theoretical poker discussions. I, for example, think I've foundd a weakness in my live game, at least at this homegame. We bet carefully, when there's a raise it's usually just 2*BB. The more aggressive betting style of our guest the last time was different and seemingly more correct. My weakness? Well, when I've gotten a good hand on the flop or have lots of outs, I tend to want to play it to a showdown, wanting to show my good hand to the admiration and praise of the others. However, "poker isn't a game of cards, it's a game of money played with cards". You don't score points for playing well but losing or get a bonus for good-but-second-best. At least not in Hold'em, but there are table games where you kinda sorta can.

So, the weakness is that by not bringing the hand to an early close, I leave myself open to being outdrawn. Stop it when you have a winning hand, don't let the bastards grind you down, Illegitimi Non Carborundum. Outbet the opposition.

Situation: I'm in the unraised BB with K6 of clubs and the flop comes K6 + something, all diamonds. Small blind to the right of me goes all-in shorter stacked. Hmm, two pair but a flush draw. There are two or three players to the left of me still in the hand. I go all-in with my big stack because that's probably the only thing that can scare them off, a raise or "just" calling SBs all-in could leave them open for hanging in there, and have any diamond or two. I have outs for a full house, which beats a flush if SB should have it which I don't think. The others fold and SB has nothing, at least not anything better than my two pair.

Or the time when I gambled and played 23 suited and the flop comes 23K. Knocked a pair of kings out calling his all-in.

Chip lead for long, but I lost a biiig chunk of it with a marginal call, after agonizing for a while. I have AQo, raise it to 1200 (blinds 200/400 I think) and a player goes all-in with about 7000. Think, think, think, groan. He's a bluffer and loose. Call. I have AQo, he has JKs. Coin toss, but he pairs on the flop and gets a straight on the turn.

Knocked out by him later with A7s against... JKs again! This time flopping trip kings.

Winner tonight, with seven players and four rebuys is... same as last time, our regular female player. She's on fire!

Go Sweden!

2005-12-12T10:06:00.000+01:00

PartyPoker had a freeroll (NL THE) this Sunday for Swedish players only. A sweet deal, only players playing from Sweden and it was a... $50,000 freeroll. Holy schmoly, and apparently they had run ads in two large newspapers

2800 registered, 220 paid. From $10,500 for first place to $35 for 220th. Ten thousand five hundred! $1000 for eighth and so on.

After the usual few hundred had fallen out in the first fifteen minutes (a standard freeroll behavior, all-ins aplenty, double up or bust) it was very tight poker for everyone. Blinds stealing, check-raising and premium hand against premium hand. I managed to pull off a real doozy, had QJs and it became a three-way all-in against AA and KQ, I think. A queen on the flop and a jack on the river and I'm table captain.

Stack dwindling and finally when the big blind comes to me it takes a third or quarter of my stack. Ace Three of spades, all-in. Nope, I'm up against AA. I manage to hit a three and an ace but as you can see this was no good.

Out at 369th place. Not in the money, but we verified in a poker forum that in addition to the $50K prize pool there was a gift (most probably a chipset) to the top 500. So now I'll have three :-).

Media attention

2005-11-30T13:43:00.000+01:00

A reporter for a regional newspaper, the partner of the sister of the wife of a friend of mine (are you with me so far?) heard at a party this weekend (couldn't attend the party, had previous arrangements, a pre-christmas dinner with the (extended) family) that I'd won a seat in the WSOP 2006. He needed material, so we did a little interview where I explained the usual stuff about Holdem and WSOP. And Rounders. So there I was in Tuesday's paper over half a page and with a picture of me looking dorky, some poker chips and a deck of cards.

But that's not all! A regional radio station had seen the article and they also seemed to need material. Any news is news. So they called and we did a short bit over the phone to be broadcast later that day.

So, have I used up my fifteen minutes of fame? Or is there some algorithm to recalculate depending on people reached? Is the fifteen minutes quota for a specific event, for a person or for a year or other amount of time?

Tuesday means homegame night. We gathered at the usual place and when we went inside we turned on the radio and just heard the radio hosts wrapping up "So, how do you think Martin will do?". Dang!

The usual people and a new guest, J. Who happens to be a local reporter for the other regional newspaper. He also wants to do an interview, but later, when WSOP comes nearer. He has arranged some other tournaments that I've played in, for example the one I won. A change in style, because he had another betting pattern than we usually have, more aggressive. We were few, I pulled in some good pots but didn't place well. It was him and a regular heads-up and in the final hand the player had minimized his chip lead to having only 300 more, very even. Regular won and it was none other than our female player. Congratulations to her! She has been grumpy ever since I was heads-up against her and won with 2-6 straight against A-5 straight with 2345 on the board.

No local hero

2005-11-21T12:56:00.000+01:00

There has been a local series system, where the winner in each "satellite" and those who have scored enough points based on placement are qualified for a grand finale. No Limit Texas Hold'em poker of course.

Winner of that one, the final, (prize pool is from percentage taken from the satellites) is the town champion. I played in the last one of the satellites yesterday. Three tables, twenty players. My first table was ultra tight, there wasn't a showdown until a bit into the second blinds level, I think. I survived until we were down to two tables, having been saved on the river twice.

My knockout hand: Down to 1100 in chips. Big blind comes to me and there goes 800. Look down and see J9o, this I will play. Player on the button goes all-in, I call and UTG is also all-in. Cards are turned up, they have an Ace each. No hit on the flop for anyone but the turn is a Jack. Yay, I've tripled up! No, river is an Ace and I'm out at thirteenth place.

All kinds of players. Nervous beginners, pros or semi-pros, hobby players like me, one confirmed maniac, any combination of loose/tight passive/aggressive.

Got to get a lot of live practice in before I go to the WSOP, ya know?

Back to normality

2005-11-16T08:00:00.000+01:00

Winning a seat in the WSOP doesn't matter, the biweekly homegame No Limit Texas Hold'em tournament still has to be played. Six players, I made one rebuy, there were four other rebuys.

Some fun hands:

My rebuy was necessitated by an all-in situation pre-flop. It turns out he was trying to bully with pocket threes against my pocket Jacks. The board? x3x77. Full house for him.
I have pocket Tens, on the flop I get three of a kind. On the turn it's a full house tens full of aces and lo and behold, it's a three-way all-in. Cards revealed, I have the best hand (as I suspected). On the river another ten, four of a kind, thank you.
Or the panicking player who goes all-in with K7o and is met by pocket Aces. A King on the flop and another on the river and he's saved. For a while.

Since my big win, I'm more or less forced to win or place in the money in our homegames and other local tournaments from now on. Well, the rules (of poker and probability) are the same, but it's a real confidence booster. And I have to scrape together spending money. Grind grind grind.

Planning has already started. I don't get it, a one way flight ticket costs twice as much as a round trip. I will do like so that I book a flight (there and back) and hotel for a nine day stay. If I need to stay longer, it means I'm in the money and can afford to reschedule and extend my stay. If I need to stay the whole two weeks the main events lasts I can buy my own damn hotel and airplane.

WSOP!

2005-11-12T13:45:00.000+01:00

"'Multiple exclamation marks,' he went on, shaking his head, 'are a sure sign of a diseased mind.'"
(Terry Pratchett in "Eric")

"Five exclamation marks, the sure sign of an insane mind."
(Terry Pratchett in "Reaper Man")

"'And all those exclamation marks, you notice? Five? A sure sign of
someone who wears his underpants on his head.'"
(Terry Pratchett in "Maskerade")

I don't know much about the mental health of these people, but in a comment to my posting about winning an entry into the WSOP 2006 Main Event, the blogfather used nine exclamation marks. So did another person in a congratulatory email; "THAT IS THE MOST AWESOME NEWS I HAVE HEARD IN WEEKS!!!!!!!!!". Others have used two or three (thus not reaching the insanity level of five).

At the moment I'm grinding away at the $1-$2 FL tables on
PokerBlue. Play for four hours on that level or above and you qualify for the weekly freeroll. This week first prize is entry into WPT World Poker Challenge at the Reno Hilton, Nevada, on March 27. Could be nice for a warm-up...

My playing in the WSOP Main Event (No Limit Texas Hold'em, buy-in $10,000) is many months away, but since (looking at the schedule) they're aiming for 8000 players (in 2005 there was more than 5600) it would be prudent to make arrangements early on. I've looked at travel guides and websites and will try to stay at the Rio where the tournament is held or across the street at the Gold Coast.

Hey. Whoa. Reality check. I'm making plans for going to Las Vegas and playing in the World Series of Poker? Yes. For "free"?. Yes.

WOW!!!!!!!!!

The Big One at PokerBlue

2005-11-09T19:15:00.000+01:00

The day before yesterday, I just made a quick post; "Stand by for an important announcement", waiting for a certain thing to be finalized.

Are you ready? What could it possibly be? It has something to do with No Limit Texas Holdem.

Well, the fine folks at PokerBlue have had a series of freerolls where first prize is a $10,000 seat at your choice of some WPT tournaments and the 2006 WSOP. Also prize money to the final table. This Sunday was the last one in this series but they will continue to have Big Fat Weekly Freerolls. I had qualified three times before and been able to participate twice, placing around 70th and 30th of around 170 qualified.

So, this Sunday, I and 177 others had qualified. The playing field gets thinner and thinner. Looking at my scribbled notes, I see I don't have many hand histories, just noted my position. But here's for example one very important hand. I have AQ, the flop is Ace-Ace-something. Betting this three-of-a-kind with good kicker and getting called by one. The turn is a 4. I have more than the opponent and put him all-in. The cards are revealed. Big oops! He has A4, a full house. Oh noes! Buh-bye stack! ... The river is a Queen, I'm saved. After the first hour I'm 22nd of 82 remaining. 26 of 63, folding for a long while. 20 of 45. 11 of 37. 25 of 31. 22 of 30. 11 of 30.

At the first break after two hours I'm at 9th of 28. More positions, you say? OK, 10 of 26, 12 of 19, slipping down to 18 of 19, 15 of 18, not looking good.

Whammo! Second of 16. Oh my, now I can wait for the short stacks to die off.

I'm in the money... 4 of 8, 2 of 7, 2 of 6...

I turn a set of Jacks and I'm FIRST of 5. Chip leader when we are three remaining.

Then two.

I'm heads up in a tournament where second prize is $1000 and first prize is a $10,000 WPT/WSOP seat + $2,000 Cash.

The final hand: I have Queen Ten off-suit. The weak and shorter opponent calls my raise. I hit a pair of Queens on the flop and automatically go all-in.

He calls. When the river is dealt, I have two pair, Queens and fours. His hole cards: Deuces.

Wow.

Wow.

I won.

I'm going to the World Series of Poker 2006 Main Event, thanks to PokerBlue.

The day after, I get in touch with a previous winner who was railbirding this tournament, and also sent a Huge Thank You to the woman who invited me to PokerBlue.

Wow. I'm going to the WSOP.

Use the banner, this link or the signup code Marthyn if you want to join me.

Maybe in my wildest dreams

2005-11-07T08:39:00.000+01:00

Stand by for an important announcement.

Why bother, when the daily hits on this humble poker blog are measured by the handful? Oh well, just waiting for a certain thing to be finalized, then there'll be a huge or important post.

Triple AA

2005-10-19T14:07:00.000+02:00

Our regular homegame tournament...

This evening I had AA, pocket rockets, American Airlines three times, winning with them each time. The last time I apologized insincerely for it, the opponent had QQ and had indeed made a comment about "uh, he doesn't have it again". And one time when I won a pot with "only" one ace on hand I first only showed that one and then the deuce underneath. And hilarity ensued.

Nevertheless, I finished third of four because of tremendous outdraws by the final winner. Flop a set and he rivers a flush. Flop a flush and he rivers a full house, kings full of aces to really rub it in. Well, the winner and host was kind enough to give us each a tumbler with Islay whisky.

Drinking, gambling and chasing girls

2005-10-17T13:47:00.000+02:00

What about that for a headline, eh? Drinking, gambling and chasing girls.

Well, this weekend I, my brother-in-law and some of his friends went on an organized bus tour to a whisky tasting exhibition where you had a selection of hundreds of whisk(e)ys to choose from. Me, I deviated from the single malt scotch purists and sampled the Jack Daniels, Four Roses and Jim Beam Single Barrel Bourbons in addition to some fine Bowmore and Caol Ila, confirming my opinion that I prefer Bourbon and/or Islay.

From there, the tour went on to the casino for a three-course meal and then gambling. I've never played Hold'em at a real casino before but I know how to behave, so I went to the poker room and politely asked the brush if there was room for me at a low-limit table. I was put on the waiting list and sat with the guys at the low stakes Black Jack table for a while (a slight profit there), then went and asked again. And again. Then a spot opened up and I could sit down, provided that noone above me on the waiting list arrived within fifteen minutes.

How nice and cool it was to sit at a Real Poker Table with a Real Dealer! In a black suit and plaid tie. I couldn't do it for long and grind all night since the bus tour leaves at eleven thirty sharp. Pity, because I took a hit on my stack with my King-high flush against Guy With Diamond Earstud to my right who had the Ace flush. Oh well, we must do it again some time.

Now, what about the "chasing girls" part of the headline? My nice little niece celebrated her first birthday this weekend and although she doesn't walk unsupported yet, she can achieve high speed crawling. I helped out with the party with approximately ten other kids from four months to five years. I was in charge of the fish pond, translating video games and general herding.

More overlay

2005-10-06T12:45:00.000+02:00

In yesterday's post, I told you about PokerBlue and the overlay.

They day after, participated in a similar tournament, i.e. a $10 tournament with $100 added and this time as well there were only thirty participants. Finished fifth then (in the money) and this time I did even better. Third place.

Whooped up some real doozies (I have only a vague idea what that means). For example, had AA, the flop comes KKA and I could milk the others until the river where my bigger bets were called. Ka-pow, up to first place on the leaderboard and on it (shows 1st to 6th largest stacks) I stayed the whole tournament. Fold, fold, fold, steal blinds, fold, fold, fold, bully, fold, fold, draws and outs hit, fold, fold, fold, bluff, fold, wait for shortstacks to knock or blind themselves out, fold, fold, and win.

With only three evenings played, I've already more than doubled up my initial deposit (fresh fish daily indeed) and I've got a seat at this Sunday's freeroll where a $10000 WPT or WSOP seat is up for grabs.

If signing up at Pokerblue, use my bonus code Marthynor this PokerBlue link.

PokerBlue

2005-10-05T12:19:00.000+02:00

I started playing at a fairly new site, PokerBlue. Since it's new, there aren't many players, on a typical day maybe 700-800 logged on (as compared to the bigger sites with (tens of) thousands. And this is good how? Well, not much competition in tournaments. The key word here is overlay. I participated in a multitable tournament with $10 buyin with $100 added by the site and there were only thirty participants meaning the prize pool was $400 instead of $300, that's a big difference. Yes, I finished in the money.

Also (as the banner above says) fish. At a fixed limit table I saw one player capping the pot a few betting rounds and at the river there were four hearts on the table. Showdown and the opponent shows a heart face card, winning. The capper/loser? King and Ace of spades. "Gee golly gosh, they say you should raise with Big Slick, huh?" Yeah, preflop... And look at the board will you?

Some facts:

A 100% up to $600 signup bonus which you fulfill by playing raked hands (Frequent Player Points).
Big Fat Weekly Freerolls. To be eligible, simply open an account with $100 or more, then play four hours on PokerBlue.com at $1/$2 limit or higher or any no-limit game. Then you get invited to a freeroll in which you can win a $10000 seat at a WPT or WSOP live tournament. This offer is open until October 16 2005.

To get this, use my bonus code Marthyn or use this PokerBlue link.

Hubris

2005-10-04T23:42:00.000+02:00

Don't get cocky... Our regular homegame and we were only four. One by one I made all the other three make a rebuy and thus had a massive chip lead. When the blinds were higher I got a lot of draw hands (suited connectors, pairs, ace+face and so on) that didn't hit anything and my stacks were munched up. Final hand I had 99, there are two sixes on the table and the river is an Ace. Opponent makes me go all in (shortstacked) and I have two pair, so I call, thinking he is bullying me out. Nope, he had the ace and I finish second, but still gaining money since I was the only one without rebuy. Humph!

TANSTAAFL

2005-09-25T21:38:00.000+02:00

Live poker tournament (NL Texas Holdem) today, with rebuys and addons.

Not much to say, same procedure as last live tournament, I made rebuy and addon, did well (My KA-allin stood up against pair, my calling a KA-allin with pair (nines) worked (flopped a set). Then a large portion was eaten up by chasing a nut flush draw and I get rags for a few blinds and get very short and the last all-in didn't work, as per usual.

I helped out by providing and running a laptop with Tournament Director on, and counting out the prize money. (I love handling MONEY.) For that I got "comped" the table fee and intermission meal.

But TANSTAAFL means "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch". I made the buy-in, rebuy and addon and ended up in 17th place of 29 players. Oh well, 16th place went to the winner from last time. Variance, you know.

Played a quick S'n'G online when I got home. 4th place of ten, not in the money. Pocket aces, all-in preflop and the b'strd who calls with 9T rivers a straight.

Regal colors

2005-09-24T21:04:00.000+02:00

Tadaa! Today I got a Royal Straight Flush (Ten to Ace straight in the same suit) online. My first, on- or offline.

But... As I exclaimed in the chat window; "Why NOW?!"

You see, it was in a multitable tournament, only one player against me after the turn comes (where I get the nut flush) and when I river the Royal he (as you can see in the transcript below) doesn't even have a flush with four Clubs on the table, just two pair. So I only rake in a mediocre pot (300 with blinds 15/30).

Why couldn't it have come sometime somewhere where it mattered? At the final table of a televised event. At the final table of a huge multitable online tournament. In a position where several players have flopped, turned and rivered good hands and go all-in in an orderly fashion. Somewhere at a table with a High Hand bonus/jackpot.

Later, I was knocked out in fourth place when I stood up against a player who went all-in on almost every hand when the blinds hade gone up to something substantial. I have KAo, he has pair of fives and I'm not helped. Dang! That is my nemesis hand. At a live tournament a while ago I got a caller with K5o against my KA and he flopped a pair of fives and I was out at 42nd of 48.

I see in the Hand History from this tournbament that the last hand was a pair of aces (player dealt Ac, 7c) against a pocket pair of fives and the Aces won. Oh, NOW it works the other way! Because the ace-winner was the all-in maniac from before who knocked me out with fives.

I'm Marthyn.


***** Hand History for Game 2767115362 *****
30/60 Tourney Texas Hold'em Game Table (NL) (Tournament 16024575)
Sat Sep 24 12:19:31 EDT 2005
Table Table  11623 (Real Money) -- Seat 9 is the button
Total number of players : 8
Seat 1: arl39c (380)
Seat 3: listendick (760)
Seat 4: jjjed6 (560)
Seat 6: genoa2005 (3005)
Seat 7: flajetq (310)
Seat 8: Marthyn (615)
Seat 9: Boomern (735)
Seat 10: No1Auzzie (1635)
No1Auzzie  posts small blind (15)
arl39c  posts big blind (30)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Marthyn [ Kc, Tc ] 
listendick folds.
jjjed6 calls (30)
genoa2005 calls (30)
flajetq folds.
Marthyn calls (30)
Boomern calls (30)
No1Auzzie calls (15)
arl39c checks.
** Dealing Flop ** :  [ Jc, 4h, Ac ] 
No1Auzzie checks.
arl39c checks.
jjjed6 checks.
genoa2005 checks.
Marthyn bets (30)
Boomern folds.
No1Auzzie calls (30)
arl39c folds.
jjjed6 folds.
genoa2005 folds.
** Dealing Turn ** :  [ 3c ] 
No1Auzzie checks.
Marthyn checks.
** Dealing River ** :  [ Qc ] 
No1Auzzie checks.
Marthyn bets (30)
No1Auzzie calls (30)
** Summary **
Main Pot: 300
Board: [ Jc 4h Ac 3c Qc  ]
arl39c balance 350, lost 30 (folded) 
listendick balance 760, didn't bet (folded)
jjjed6 balance 530, lost 30 (folded) 
genoa2005 balance 2975, lost 30 (folded) 
flajetq balance 310, didn't bet (folded)
Marthyn balance 825, bet 90, collected 300, net +210 
[ Kc Tc ] [ Royal Flush -- Ac,Kc,Qc,Jc,Tc ]
Boomern balance 705, lost 30 (folded) 
No1Auzzie balance 1545, lost 90 
[ Qs Jh ] [ two pairs, queens and jacks -- Ac,Qs,Qc,Jh,Jc ]

Another win

2005-09-21T15:08:00.000+02:00

Yes! Regular biweekly homegame (NL THE), five participants and I won.

Made good calls on the hands that mattered, set traps and often won with ace kicker or overcards.

The final hand was great. Had A6 of spades and at the river there was 2345x on the table, although the last three cards were diamonds. Do you see it coming? Our regular female player (also the hostess) whom I was heads-up against also went all-in with the remaining 4050 she had (about 30000 in chips in circulation, and we have rebuys) and I promptly called. As I thought, no flush, she had an Ace and had hit the Wheel (A2345 straight). I first showed my Ace "Oh, split pot?!" and then my 6, 23456 straight "Daaamn!".

I deserved that win, having played our homegame twentytwo times now and with this only won twice and lots of second places. But she deserves a win too, not just this time. :-)