Thursday, February 26, 2009

Time to Dust off the Keyboard

I know it has been a hell of a long time since I have posted anything, but to be quite honest I don't think many people have lost any sleep over it. My problem is this, I really hate reading blogs where it goes like this: I flopped top pair and bet the flop and a guy raised and I decided to just "smooth" it here and I wanted to check raise on the turn ..................yada yada yada you get the point. I have always hated reading those and actually just skip over them now, and I refuse to write one of those blogs because I will annoy myself. I actually started to write a blog about a month ago and attempted to save it and that obviously didn't work and I was not about to type it again. I also do not want to be one of those guys that blogs only when they are winning and you don't here from them when they lose. That has not been the case here; well not entirely as I have gotten my teeth kicked in in live action but I have more than made up for it online so for in 2009.

I started my poker playing online w/ the $55 70k tournament the night of the Sugar Bowl where I bested 1785 people to finish 3rd after taking a few disgusting beats as we played 4 handed for almost an hour. I followed that up w/ a 4th place finish in a $55 1 rebuy/1 add on tournament about a week later and finished 4th out of around 400 players. I had a few other insignificant cashes and then finished 11th at the end of the month in the $162 100k nightly on stars. I think all told for the month of January I actually played less than 15 tournaments online so needless to say it was a very nice month. I read "the honest players" blog (still having trouble with that) and he said something about playing distraction free. I believe there obviously is a lot to that as that has been my biggest challenge playing online. It is hard to register for a tournament when you are not sure if you have 5-7 hours to commit to it. In the past I have just signed up and played it like a wild child to get some chips, and if I did I would settle in and play and if not I would go deal with whatever else was going on. This is stupid and I am very proud of myself for fixing that major problem.

Live play has been the exact opposite in '09 so far. I have played four sessions and they have been a total disaster. The first 3 sessions were completely my fault as I played horribly and I know that I did. I am sure ya'll know those situations where you know you are doing something stupid but you do it anyway. That was me about 8 different times in a 4 hour session for 3 sessions.
The 4th session was at the shit hole in Amelia where Pobody Nerfect works (how you walk in that place everyday boggles my mind). W/out going into pointless hands about the night b/c it is boring (see opening paragraph for reason why) I can sum it up by saying it was just one of those nights where you get $500 in the pot preflop w/ AA vs. KK and the K comes in the window! It happens to all of us from time to time and you just have to except it. I am not gonna become one of these players that tries to out think the situation and say " what if I just call and see a flop and if a K comes and I think the guy has kings I can get away from the hand." I believe that is bullshit and if you do that you will lose way more in the long run than you will save in losing that occasional hand. If I know I can get my chips in as a 4-5 to 1 favorite then that is what I am gonna do. There is a time when I would have been more cautious, but the more I see people that have a clue play this game, the more I want to take advantage of the edges when they are in my favor.

What else is going on?
Honest player and I are making another adventure to Vegas in June. It is absurd how cheap trips are right now. If any of you are interested in coming give me a holla and we can fill you in on the details and dates. My wife has been kind enough to let me away with a then 1.5 year old running ramped throughout the house! I know a lot of wives that are not that giving w/ no children in the picture. I am sure glad I scooped her up young b/f she knew any better.

I had the privilege of playing online w/ Goondingy last night. I got word from a reliable source that he has been grinding at the micro tables on Full Tilt. I decided to look him up and sit on his left to give him a little shit. I chatted w/ him for a while messing w/ him and I know he was getting pissed b/c he had no idea who I was. It was fun, and the best of all I got to stack him (for $.97 mind you) when he raised pot and I decided not to believe him and repot it w/ the almighty k6 off suit. He came back over the top of my raise and at that point how am I gonna fold for 37 cents really? He had JJ and I ofcourse spiked a king on the turn. One of Ray's buddies was also in the hand and I drug a pretty decent little pot. It was fun although hectic as I was trying to talk shit at the same time I was heads up in a 6max sng at the same time. I really don't know how you people play 8 and however many table ya'll play. I can't do it.

To touch on the Honest Players blog, I have been trying to convince him to play online for like 3 years and I don't think it was me that convinced him as much as he has just realized how damn convenient it is. I don't care the reason, but I am glad he is b/c I think it will help my game just as much. Reid and I have been chatting back and forth as he is logging quite a few hours online and it always helps to critique each other and see other peoples point of view. That is how we became better players by sharing concepts and ideas and letting each other know what we thought, right or wrong. That is probably come off sounding like an ass when I do make comments from time to time. If we are being critical of each others play I don't believe it helps to sugarcoat things when we think someone misplayed a hand or whatever. I am a big boy I can take criticism so I expect other too also. If I am ever to harsh just let me know and I will try to be kinder and more gentle in my opinions b/c I know they aren't always right.

That is all for now. I am hoping to return to live action tomorrow night. Hopefully things turn around in that arena.
Lata