Friday Nights Alright.......

I'm at the Sons of Italy tourney on Friday after work....and somebody pulls me aside...."Are you PokahDave"?...aaahh..wha? He could tell right away. I was taken aback. Not by him knowing who I was....but that somebody actually read my blog....and still sought me out! Anyway the tourney had about 60-65 people playing...not that many but much more than the previous one. I took 5th in the previous one for the 100.00 buy-in to Friday night’s tournament. I was starting to get a sinus headache early in the tournament. I asked "does anybody have any aspirin"? That way I can calm the headache down and still drink beers. Some lady (who appeared to be the gambling Grandma that mixes it up at any opportunity to gamble) says "I have some"...I was glad to hear it...she tosses a prescription bottle to me from the other side of the table (She's also sipping either scotch or bourbon from a glass straight-up). I took a look at the label and it says that this prescription "Should not be taken with alcohol" in at least two places. I said "this is Vicadin"!...you're not supposed to take this with alcohol...I'm just looking for some aspirin"!....She's like pie-eyed and says "it works for me"!....much laughter around the table...but then I could see that there were more than a couple people that were thinking the same thing I was. 'I hope I'm not on the road when she is"!

There were a few people who play at the Thursday night bar-league in participation so I knew that there were a few good players. I got some good hands fairly early to build up a modest stack of chips. Not close to the leader but good enough to stick around to the final table. I did get lucky twice while I was short stack with two tables left. I had about T2000 left and the Blinds were 1000-2000. I was under-the-gun and picked up Kings. I tried to make it look like I was totally screwed so I could get a couple of callers to triple up and it worked. Then I saw what probably was the worst call in the history of tournament poker. I had about T7000 left after the small blind was out. So I'm in the SB and there's a guy next to me in the BB(who had about T14000 left after the 2000BB)who's certainly going to make the final table with a large chip stack. The guy to his left (eventually finished 2nd) goes all in for about T13000. The guy next to him calls....and I folded my T1000SB. The guy in the big blind goes into the think tank...'he must have a great hand I thought'...he starts by convincing himself that he has to call this..."I gotta call this" he says....and proceeds to call 13000 of his 14000 left...with 2-3of fucking diamonds!! Everybody turns over their cards to see the flop, turn, and river. The table fell silent...everybody is staring at this guy in disbelief. He of course lost the hand and was out the next hand. I turned to the guy that won the massive pot and said "that was the worse call I’ve ever seen" and everybody agreed. I got lucky one more time right before the final table. I had pocket 6's with about T5000 left in the SB. I went all-in to take the BB and he called. He had pocket Q's I think...I couldn't remember because the flop was 3x-4x-Kx...the turn was 7x...and the river was a 5! I Rivered a fucking straight!

The final table was 10-man and I was the short stack. Come to think of it I was probably the short stack for most of the last two tables. (It's not the size of the stack its how you use it!) I survived to place 7th for 150.00. By the time I played my last hand I had half the BB which was at T4000. I swear I just didn’t get any good cards at the final table. I called all-in with Qs-3s looking for another lucky grab. No luck but still got 7th for a paid spot. Not too bad for two hours with a short stack. Aces were cracked by 9's when the two big stacks decided to battle. The guy to my left had 9's and decided to go all-in after some ribbing by the other big stack who just so happened to be holding Aces. The River does him in when the 9 completes the set....the guy with Aces goes ballistic (He was the same guy who was going ballistic on me when I won the bar league and had to chop with the points leader a few months ago...he kind pulled a 'Hellmuth' if you know what I mean). I had to agree with him though on this one...he was the chip-leader after coming back from T1300 in chips. He was in total control with the big stack at the final table and gets his aces cracked by the second chip leader....that was no doubt a bad beat. The tourney winner got 1,000 for first prize. Not bad.

I was probably going to Rockingham park in Salem if I didn’t last in the tournament (Their opening night for the new card room was taking place on Friday and is only a couple of towns away)….but then I thought….that old lady who’s lit up on Scotch and Vicadin is on the road right now….Run away!!!

In the Heart of the Evil Empire!

  

This was my view at the RedSox-Yankees game on Saturday the 16th. It was supposed to be an important game with playoff implications but.... They won anyway and Ching-Ming Wang is their bitch. I had a great time and it was a great gift from my wife for a future birthday present. I am much more thankful for the Patriots this year than any other. More on NYC later when other photos are developed...

The NL bar league finally ended and although I didn't reach the top ten I did finish +195.00 after the 15 tourneys at 40.00 per. I cashed in 5 of 15 and went to the final table in 6 of 15...so not too bad overall. The top ten get some big prizes in a final STT. I'll have to try it again sometime but not on Thursday nights...my wife is going back to school for the fall. I could however do the Monday night league at the same bar...something for me to think about. I actually have a choice of card rooms to go to now in my area. Before this year there was Online poker and Foxwoods. Now I have the choice of joining a private club (there are so many that I never new about) or I can go to a Dog track or Horse Track in New Hampshire. There is also the local bar that I go to that I cannot name. So many choices...so little bankroll!!
I already have a 100.00 buy-in to the Sons of Italy NL tournament on Friday night...if I win that one I will take 535.00 and enter the Foxwoods World Poker Finals for at least one event. Top prize could be 4K.

I played in the WPBT NL tourney on Sunday after a long weekend in NYC. there were only 21 entries. I was short stacked at the final table and had K's but got knocked out by Someone who thought I was stealing the blinds...he had A-K and caught the A. I think I went out 9th....got a couple of points for the WPBT race. I'm looking forward to the other upcoming tourneys like Omaha and Razz.

I have been playing and winning a lot of cash on those 4.40 180-player Sit'n'gos on PokerStars in the past month. The problem is that I can't play them on a weeknight because the running time goes 3+ hours when you get deep. In the six that I entered in Mid-Aug. to Mid-Sept. I spent 26.40 (4.40X6) and cashed a whopping +477.60. One first place and two second place finishes.

Shemp has an illegitimate son/grandson?

Is it just me...or does Mihn Ly remind anyone else of Shemp from the 'Three Stooges'??
I was watching a repeat of the Doyle Brunson championship and all I could think of was Shemp....I wonder if Dan Harrington was thinking the same as he was losing. Maybe he was thinking "Friggin Shemp...goes to Vietnam for a sex/drugs tour in the 50's and now I'm getting bad beat at the Bellagio!!!...Friggin Stooge!!"

Internet rights...Fight for them!

Just when I think I'm coming into my own on PokerStars the internet gaming legislation/threat looms....Do something!

Michael Bolcerek, president of the PPA, sent out a letter to all members asking them to take part. CardPlayer.com also encourages its readers to also take part. The letter reads:

Dear PPA Member:

Your urgent action is needed! On September 12, the Poker Players Alliance with the support of leading poker blogs and forums and others are organizing a “Phone March” on Capitol Hill. From 9 a.m. Eastern Time until 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, September 12, we are asking all PPA members and anyone interested in defending poker to call this toll-free number, 800-289-1136, and be patched through to one of your two U.S. Senators in Washington D.C. When you call the 800 number you will hear a recording from fellow PPA member Greg “Fossilman” Raymer and then you will be prompted to enter your five digit zip code so you can be directed, free of charge, to your Senator’s office.

Note: The 800 number will be active only between 9 a.m. EST and 5:30 p.m. EST on Tuesday, September 12.

Key points you should make:

* I am voter in your state.
* I strongly oppose any legislation that would prohibit online poker, and urge the Senator to vote against such legislation.
* Poker is a skill game enjoyed by 70 million Americans.
* The Senator should seek to regulate online poker much as the government regulates other forms of gaming, like lotteries.
* Prohibitions donÂ’t work. Any legislation that tries to ban online poker will only drive those players underground.
* Again, I urge the Senator to oppose any attempts to prohibit me from playing the great American game of poker on the Internet.

The threat to poker is real. Please forward this information to everyone you know who cares about poker and an AmericanÂ’s freedom to use the Internet. We need everyone possible to make their voice heard on September 12!

Sincerely,

Michael Bolcerek

President

Poker Players Alliance

Never Forget

9-11-01 Never forget....and Never again!!!

Trials&Tribulations

Things didn’t go as planned at the bar league tourney last night. I know its 40 bucks a week but it still hurts not being in the top ten for the final STT. I’ll have to really kick ass in the final week. I think I’m in 13th or 14th. Last nights tourney was going well until I got moved to a different table. I bled some of my chip stack on a bad bluff. I raised 2.5 the BB and some guy with Ax-9x went all-in…I should have seen it coming but there were about 20 left at this point. I decided to save it for a play later. I also wasn’t paying attention and threw my cards into the muck while I was in the BB…stupid…stupid…mistake. I had about T2500 left and decided now that there were 17 left that I would make an all-in bluff to force the limper and blinds out…with Ac-3s (what…A-3o?). It worked for the blinds but not the limper-dummy. He called my all-in with A-6o…hey what the hell he’s got nothing to lose right? I’ve knocked him out of the tourney one week….and I think he got me on another week. WTF are you doing calling all-in with A-6o? So he spikes a 6 and takes away half of my T2500. Two hands later I have 6x-6x in the third spot from the BB and went all-in again….BB calls with 7-8o and spikes an 8 to end my night. I had to get aggressive exactly when I did to make the final table but it didn’t work last night. I could have folded my way to the final table but that’s the pussy way out.

Things are going well for me on PokerStars…who says you can’t build a bankroll on tournaments alone? I’ve been playing a lot of STT’s again and the results are great. I recently moved to a new Compaq Presario so I’ll have to figure out how to move my PokerTracker database to the new PC. I’m having a tough time keeping both laptop PC’s attached to my wireless router at home. It seems like I can only have one at a time. I’ve been through the configuration a couple of times and everything is correct. It still won’t accept both wireless laptops at the same time. I’m sick of fucking around with it though. The old HP Omnibook that I have has served me well…but it’s time to put that one to rest. The new Compaq has 1 GB of RAM among other things that I ordered. I can play an MTT now without worrying about my HP crashing. It developed this problem where the power cuts out and it freezes. I figured it out when I jostled the power connection on the back and the power lit back up again. It crashed a couple of months ago when I was 14th in chips in a PokerStars 6.00 buy-in MTT. It wasn’t a big deal that I was involved in a small buy-in tourney but I was 14th in chips at the time it crashed and there were over 1,000 players. By the time I got it back up and running I was blinded out in 10th place. I missed my first 1,000+ person final table because my fucking PC crashed. Well, I don’t have to worry about that anymore.

Poker Tournaments

I've been playing a lot of tourneys on PokerStars lately and the results have been really good. I took second in one of those 180 Sit'n'gos last night...after 4.5 hours I got a nice little 144.00 for a 4.40 buy-in....good stuff. The heads-up battle at the end lasted something like an hour. I lost on a draw to a flush with my 2h-4h and two hearts on the board. Too bad the pokerDB doesn't show Sit'n'Go results. I think my ROI is ridiculous on the 4.40 tourneys since I entered 4 and got a first and a second place finish out of them.

The bar league tourneys haven't been going too well as of late though. I did at least get some good points this past week but I have only two weeks left to crack the top ten. I think I'm probably in 13th or 14th right now. This past week I was short-stacked under the gun..I had Jd-10d and had to go all-in. The Blinds were at 200-400 so I was in need of getting one caller and then getting lucky. I had the one caller and two diamonds fell but not my flush. Oh well...my progress so far is 6 of 13 final tables and 5 of 13 cashes.

The RedSox have shit the bed officially. Too bad they had to be that way this year...I'm going to NY City/Yankee Stadium for a weekend trip. I think I'll be there for the 1:00 PM game on Sept. 16th. They'll have to play the role of spoiler this year I guess. The Patriots are going to have to save my sports year.

This Sept. is going to be a busy one. I finish the bar league. I play a 100.00 buy-in at the Sons of Italy on Sept. 23rd. I think I still have a 2.5 Million PokerStars freeroll (second round) next Sat. Among other poker things. I'm going to enjoy the NYC atmosphere from Sept. 15th to the 17th. End of Summer isn't so bad afterall!