PokerStars final table bubble....

Played the PokerStars 5+1 buy-in last night and my friggin PC froze while I was in 14th place...I guess I folded to 10th...1 away from the final table. When I finally got back in they were already playing for the lions share of the cash...un-fucking-believable...

(Long) Weekend Events and Past Events

Gotta love Massachusetts...I have "Patriot's Day" off from work....good for a lazy day of watching the Sox and laughing at the Boston Marathon runners as they roll into Boston. They stagger to the finish line as all of the Sox fans stagger out of the ballpark because of the 10 16-oz beers that were consumed before the 16 draft-beers in Fenway.

I used to go to the Patriots day game often..I think I went 4 years in row ending with the 2001 game. One of the games I went to...I think it was the '99 game went from incredible to downright scary in the span of a few hours. I was partying with friends from 8:00AM to about 4:00PM and I sort of lost my head. I left my jacket at the Cask'n'flagon (bar outside of Fenway)...With my keys in it! I was drinking constantly all day long and was out of my mind...by that time everybody wanted to leave...you know...Because they wanted to get home to sleep so they wouldn't be extremely hung-over for their day at work the next day. I was like..."no way I'm leaving now...look at all the hot chicks here"....my friends were all leaving and I was not having it. I was just getting out of a relationship at the time...it was a four-year waste of time. This is all pre-wife and family of course. So anyway...I start talking to some girl and it seems to be going fine...friends start to leave one by one and I am constantly asked if I want to go with them...I refuse to leave. Soon enough all my friends were gone and I'm absolutely stewed...three-sheets-to the wind...wasted. I stagger out of the bathroom and the girl or girls I was talking to were also gone...No doubt due to my slurred speech and frat-boy like attitude. I think to myself "oh well I wasn't going to get lai....wait a minute!....where is my jacket?!...fuck!...My keys!!!" I stagger around the bar and realize I can't find my jacket/keys/brain/friends or anything else. Although I did have my wallet and some cash...I still felt lost. I thought...well we did take the train into Boston and my car is parked at my friends house. I know...I'll just take the train back to Woburn (suburb of Boston) and call my buddy (more like wake him up out of a drunken stupor) to come and pick me up. (I was also living at home at the time with the parents due to my recent break-up with my ex.....living at home with parents for a couple of months when you are in your late 20's is also known as the 9th plain of hell to those who've been through a similar experience). So after I look around the party at the bar for my favorite jacket and my keys I come to the conclusion that it is just flat out GONE! My plan at the time is just to get on the train and get back to Woburn where my car is at my friends house. At that point I accept my drunken fate and hop or stagger to the train. After looking around for the right commuter rail I get on and try not to pass-out. I get to Woburn and find a pay phone...no I didn't have a cell-phone at the time! I was not a cell phone type o' guy until later. My buddy...we'll call him Dudley..picked me up at the Woburn train station and was laughing at me for not leaving when everybody else did as well as losing my jacket and keys. At this point it's about 8:00PM now...I'm thinking.."I'll call my father and ask him to bring my extra set of keys to Woburn so I can drive home...but I'm too drunk...so I'll get him to drop me off tomorrow morning before work.!" I call and it's immediately a mistake...my parents start fighting on the phone. My father is yelling at me like I'm a 15-year old punk who got drunk for the first time. (I did deserve it but at the time I was pissed off due to the fact I just needed a ride home and to get to sleep ASAP...after all I did have to go to work the next day!) The next revelation is the real bad one...my "other" set of keys is gone...I left it at the ex's house when I broke it off with her and moved out. FUCK!! Now I'm out two sets of keys and there is no way for me to get my truck out of my friends house...I'm living at home with my parents...who are pissed off and have to come pick me up...who now think I'm "On the drugs!" as my mother would say......I'm now starting to get a bad hangover....and I have to go to work the next day!
....As I am typing this up...the Red Sox come from behind and win in the 9th on a Mark Loretta 2-run homer off of "everyday" Eddie Guardado....
The next day I get a ride to my buddies house...I have to call a locksmith to make me a new key for my truck (150.00 bucks for un-locking and new key making services)...I'm obviously late for work...I have to go to work and start my week of hungover and miserable...and my parents lost that much more respect for me...as I am "On the drugs!" The thing is...that I would have been fine if I left the party when everybody else did! I am now known for this day....I'm infamous for losing my keys at the Sox game and being too drunk to think. The people I went with after that were watching me to see if I would do something stupid again. I am happy to report that I didn't create anymore Opening Day/Marathon Monday stories.

On Saturday I was driving back to my house with my wife and daughter from my friends daughter's birthday party. It was at one of Chuckie Cheese-like places where there are two-thousand rugrats running around in their socks and screaming bloody murder. I've never seen so many kids getting hepped-up on Goofballs and sugar. As I was saying..I was driving home and I saw a Poker tourney being advertised on the sign outside of the "Sons of Italy" club which is half a mile from my house. I look at my wife and say..."charity tourney honey....I think I'm in.." she looks at me and says "of course you are honey". I'll spare the details on this one...but it was a 100.00 dollar buyin for the tourney. The money that was donated went to scholarship funds so it was worthy. The prizes for the tourney were good. 5 paid places split the 1800 dollar leftover. I think there were 36 players. I placed 5th...for my 100.00 back...it actually goes to a buy-in for the next tourney in June. I got called by some lady who had ace-rag and I had pocket Q's. She of course rivered my with an ace and I was out soon after that. I was so close to getting some real cash but hey...I sucked out on somebody on the river before that to survive and get to the final table anyway. I had A-8o and the guy who called had A-9o....8 on the river appears and everybody watching freaks out....

The more final tables I make the more I find that aggressive play gets you killed. But, then again it is like starting the tourney over and starting a new STT. So my aggressiveness deserves to get me killed. Sit back....let everybody else knock themselves out..and then go in for the kill if you're in the last 5. It didn't work on Saturday..but I was sucked out on when I held a high pair. So I don't think I would play it any different. Damn Pocket Q's...Hilton Sisters...Bitches!!

As for the rest of this weekend..I did the Easter family thing with my wife and daughter yesterday. I'm hungover on food and beer. Also trying to play off that PartyPoker bonus that requires 700 raked hands or something like that.

Last nights WPBT circuit "Hammer out Cancer" tourney was a a great time for a great cause. I am always up for a charity tourney. I've seen plenty of Cancer in my family and some close friends so I was all over this whether it was for the WPBT or not. I got knocked out at 26th..I was short-stacked and it was folder to me before the button. I had Kh-7h so I push...I knew someone was going to call and they did...with K-8o! What a call...Congrats to FrankL66 and DrPauly for 1st and 2nd place respectively. I'm still in 5th in the WPBT POY standings and this is a ridiculously tricky field of players. I'm pleased with my overall play so far.....

For all you Yankee fans....

The true reason that Johnny Damon went to NY.....

The Boys are Back in Town!!!

Thank god baseball is back....After a long period of nothing from the Bruins and Celtics and an unfortunate playoff exit from the Pats....The Boys of Summer are back to save us......

Joe Hachem-Geico Gecko

I was watching the WPT Aruba Classic last Wednesday and something kind of funny happened. I was also playing a STT on PokerStars while watching TV and a PokerStars commercial came on the tube. It was Joe Hachem making small talk to the camera like the other Moneymaker/Raymer commercials. Then a Geico car insurance commercial came on right after and I was half paying attention due to the STT I was currently in....segued into....."cheers...happy lovely...as you may..." (in your best Aussie accent). I did a double-take...it sounded exactly like Joe Hachem! I had to laugh at that..

WSOP Satellite...Busted out at 8th

First off...I was tired. I didn't get any sleep the night before and my daughter was coughing all night Sunday. She was a little better on Monday but still sort of miserable. I got home late from work..crap-ass commute as usual. My wife was also exhausted so she turned in early.....I fired up the PC at 8:30 after feeding and medicating my daughter. I'm already in violation of 4 of my "rules to play on-line poker". What the hell....It is my dream to play a tourney at the WSOP...isn't it everybody's? I find 92 player in the tourney...nice. My first table was a killer but I fluctuated from 4,500-5,500 for the first two hours! I really amped up the bluffs and they started to work after I showed a couple of real hands. Down to 30 left...I get put all-in after I raise the blinds...I look down at Qx-Qx and call immediately. Much to my chagrin Ax-Ax is staring at me again. I flop a Q and eventually double-up. That's really where I thought I had a chance...But I wasn't sorry about cracking aces. I forget the person who had the aces but he was a good player. (I'll have to check the hand history). I made 2 out of 4 of the final tables in the WPBT POY race. The PLO tourney was a milli-second appearance at the final table due to my being knocked-out but still placing 9th. Anyway, The final table was fairly even with big stacks..medium stacks (me) and small stacks. I find Ah-Jh and I raise...Lucko21 calls and he apparently flopped two pair on the Jx-10x-7x flop. He doubles-through me on that one...I was trying to be aggressive with the TPTK and it failed. I should have played that much more carefully..I know I'm better than that but I shouldn't have been playing anyway. I got knocked out soon after with pocket 3's by pocket 6's..I think it was GCox. He made a nice comeback from his short-stack with 66 twice in a row. I was so exhausted at 2:30AM that I was too tired to get mad.....the more I think about how close I was to going to a WSOP tourney the more I get mad. But...."that's poker...now suck it up" as T.J. Cloutier would say. I did still have a lot of fun and thanks to Iggy....no less than 2 people get to go to the WSOP. He donated 200 and change for the second seat...THAT IS UNBELIEVABLE. I guess I'll settle for 5th in the POY race.....

STT fever!

I've been playing a lot of STT's lately. I had to change my results from the MTT blues. I won a 10+1 on Paradise from the leftover money after the WPBT event. The PokerStars STT's are so loose its ridiculous. I also took second in my last 10+1 buy-in last night. I think I've been placing in 75% of the STT's lately I swear...just what I needed to change my results. I have been playing well lately in the WPBT POY race though...I'm in 12th place. I also played in a "local bar" MTT last Thursday and placed 7th...the last paid spot. I was kicking some serious ass when the money was announced. I wanted to steal the blinds and I looked at Ks-Qs...I pushed. Guy next to my inst-calls. He turns up K's and I'm done. That is also a league at the bar and I think I might go back to that tourney. It's still funny to see the young kids play...one is Phil Ivey wannabe the other is Mike Mizrachi wannabe (sideways-hat goof). I wasn't ready to deal at this tourney..I'm used to being dealt to especially at a tourney. The deal rotates with the blinds with the dealer behind the SB. I had a good image right away...I screwed up the deal and dropped one of my cards face up. Everybody sort of pegged me as a newbie. I started catching good hands late in the tourney and placed 7th so that's not bad out of 50.