Thursday, February 23, 2006

Foxwoods trip report....2-19-06......

Went to Foxwoods and stayed overnight on the 19th (Sunday…the most crowded weekend in the history of Foxwoods) in the Grand Pequot Tower…20th floor. It was a nice room…right on the opposite side of the elevator. The only problem was that everybody else in the Northeast decided to go down to the casino at the same time. I wanted to play some Black Jack and of course Poker. The Black Jack tables were so packed that you had to wait 2 hours just to get to a 25.00 bet table…not me. I would have to say the ratio of tables for Black Jack was 75% 50.00-bet and 25% 25.00-bet. I couldn’t believe it…. so I left my buddy in the 25.00-bet tables to go to spend the majority of my time in the Poker room. I lost about 100.00 on the craps table on the way over to the poker room because it was the only table open under the price of 25.00 dollars a bet. (Stick with poker Dave…stick with Poker).

I’ve never seen a casino so crowded…people get crazy during these long weekends. On my way to the Poker room I saw two children fending for themselves outside the entrance of the casino while their parents stayed inside for who-knows how long. I love the casino trips as much as the next guy but I felt bad enough to tell the security guard. The two children were a 6-7 year old girl trying to keep her little 2-3 year old brother entertained…she was visibly mad/frustrated. The security guard did nothing…. I just don’t get it…people shouldn’t have kids if they can’t baby-sit or get a baby-sitter to watch them. Anyway, I at least told the security guard and that was the best thing I could do.

The Poker room was also packed but the wait wasn’t nearly as bad as the other tables. I decided to put my name in on a 1-2 NL table while I played an ACT I tourney. I placed 3rd in chips in the ACT I (NL STT), which is good enough to get a $150.00 buy-in to an ACT II. I had to wait until 10:00AM the next morning to get into that one. They start running the ACT tourneys at 10:00AM-12:00AM every day. So after placing 3rd out of ten and getting my voucher or lammer to the ACT II I went over to the board to see if my 1-2 NL table place was ready. I guess it was about 12:30 at that point. Some guy had the same initials as me in different order (DDP) mine are (DPD) and he was supposed to be first a the table. I pretended to be confused about the situation and the guy bumped me to the top of the list…score! It probably would have taken 2 hours to get on a table if I didn’t do that.

I get to the table and there seems to be a couple of guys that were there for a week straight. The table had from left to right is a cast of characters. To my left was an Orthodox Jewish guy…(not sure about the denomination but he had a yamika on, and a bunch of his friends were scattered through the poker room…high-fiving each other…. I have nothing against anybody but it looked kind of funny to see them really getting into it) every time someone bet he called all the way to the river. After he called all the way to the river he would muck his cards and wave his hand and mutter something like “take it”. Next to him was a couple of young newbies…. aggressive until you played back at them. Next to them was an Indian guy that I put all-in and I had his A-Qo beat. I rivered a boat with my two pair 10’s full of 8’s. He re-bought and became more aggressive as the night went on. Next to him was another young newbie who lost all his chips by going all-in with mediocre hands. He soon lost his chips and left. Next to him was this monster of a guy (Pauly as his buddy next to me called him…looked like the ‘Big-Show’ professional wrestler…he must have easily weighed at least 4-bills and was 6 and half feet tall…he also had tattoos all over his neck) who was obviously a semi-pro or someone who has been weathered by way too many hours at the poker table. Next to him was….somebody who I can’t remember….obviously he wasn’t too active on the table. Next to him was another young newbie with shades on….almost all of the newbies had there Oakley’s on…except for one. I got into it with him when I had pocket J’s. I bet he raised…I re-raised…..he called to see the flop. A K-9-10 mixed flop fell. I bet he raised all-in…I had to muck. He showed pocket K’s and flopped a set of K’s. I got out of that painfully but at least I didn’t lose my whole stack. The guy next to him on my right was also about 4-bills….not too healthy. He was the talker of the table…Phil was his name. He and “Pauly” were obviously good friends who were sort of colluding (he says out loud “I’m not going to call his bet or raise his bet. HE’S MY BEST FRIEND”) Every time I said anything he had a story…you know the type..Anything you’ve done he’s done better. Maybe so but at least I got my health…I mean if this guy “Phil” and his buddy “Pauly” went to a buffet they would think about charging them extra or shut down. I stuck around until 3:30AM and ended up leaving with 205.00..Not bad considering I lost 75% of my buy-in when my J’s ran into K’s. I told Phil that I can’t stay up until 6:00AM anymore now that I have a 91/2 month old at home. Of course he added in the comment “What do I smell or something?” The guy next to him left at the same time…….if he smells as unhealthy as he looked he may have been on to something.

The next day (Monday) I went to the poker room to play the ACTII (NL STT). They started promptly at 10:00AM. I’m glad I got the Foxwoods tournament Poker monkey off my back. They really don’t take to all the questions if you don’t know what is going on. I asked the same questions as about 20 other people (I stuck around to find out why they were snippy with the questions). The ACTII quality of play went up dramatically from the ACTI…there must have been a bunch of direct buy-in for 150.00. I busted out in 5th when the guy next to me rivered a K to pair his K-7o. I had A-3o and was short-stacked so when I flopped a 3 I thought I was good. Most of the pros buy into the ACTIII’s for 1050.00 (NL MTT and top 5 get buy-in to the big one for 10,000.00). I got a chance to peak at the new area for the Poker Room and it’s going to be huge. I guess the WPT is going to brand the tourney sections or something like that. If Foxwoods grows anymore they’ll need their own friggin airport. Every time I come down here there is some new construction or expansion.

I was thinking of playing a local Charity Tourney tomorrow for a 100.00 entry fee but my recent diagnosis with Bronchitis will probably stop that. I chopped the last two paid spots last spring at that same place (Knights of Columbus) with some old guy who had a mountain of chips. Thanks daycare…I been fucking sick about 6 times since September. My daughter’s immune systems and mine should be superhuman strength by springtime.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

My list of the biggest Assholes of the last 6 months

This post doesn't have much to do with poker.....But I was thinking of doing a list of the biggest Assholes of 2005. I think that the last 6 months as a time period will do. Why am I doing this? I watch the news....I read the news....I search the internet...I listen to talk radio all day and all night long. I do have a job but the internet and radio are always on. I fall to sleep at night with CNN on in the bedroom. I listen to talk radio on my long commute to and from work. I need to get this off my chest before I beat the shit out of some smarmy-holier-than-thou prick that cuts me off in traffic with his freshly polished BMW. Wait a minute...I'm veering off on a tangent...Back to the topic at hand.

The List :

1. Ray Nagin
The Mayor of Nawlins
1a. Kathleen Blanco
The Governor of Louisiana
2. Mike Brown
The Head of FEMA at the time of hurricane Katrina
3. Ted Kennedy
Senator of Massachusetts
4. Neil Entwistle
The alleged killer of wife and baby
5. Al Gore
Total Dumbass...And I am ashamed to admit I actually voted for him in 2000....There it's off my chest...
6. Hollywood Scientologists
Travolta....Cruise....
7. Religious Radicals
OK...Terrorists...Domestic and international
8. Bleeding-heart liberals
I live in the cradle of the Bleeding-heart liberal..AKA Massachusetts...Lucky me...

That's my list...I feel much better now... If I missed any other Big, Brown, Festering Assholes on my list then feel free to add-on.

Saturday, February 11, 2006

Killing two birds with one stone

I don't usually post hand histories but.....this one is different...
Full Tilt is a totally different animal on weekends than weeknights as you can see.....

FullTiltPoker Game #432367246: Table Baysinger - $0.10/$0.25 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:44:23 ET - 2006/02/11
Seat 1: DDionysus ($23.50)
Seat 2: polak_power ($25.50)
Seat 3: SoCooLBob ($24.75)
Seat 4: bramplay ($18.10)
Seat 5: DonkeyDeck ($14.10)
Seat 6: jacht ($5.20)
Seat 7: Mully ($23)
Seat 8: DjBreeze81 ($9.50)
Seat 9: BoatsOPlenty ($22.70)
bramplay posts the small blind of $0.10
DonkeyDeck posts the big blind of $0.25
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DDionysus [6d Kd]
jacht folds
Mully calls $0.25
DjBreeze81 folds
BoatsOPlenty calls $0.25
DDionysus calls $0.25
polak_power folds
SoCooLBob calls $0.25
bramplay calls $0.15
DonkeyDeck checks
*** FLOP *** [Jc 2d 9d]
bramplay checks
DonkeyDeck bets $1
Mully folds
BoatsOPlenty calls $1
DDionysus calls $1
SoCooLBob folds
bramplay calls $1
*** TURN *** [Jc 2d 9d] [Ad]
bramplay checks
DonkeyDeck checks
BoatsOPlenty bets $5.50
DDionysus calls $5.50
bramplay calls $5.50
DonkeyDeck folds
*** RIVER *** [Jc 2d 9d Ad] [Kh]
bramplay checks
BoatsOPlenty bets $15.95, and is all in
DDionysus calls $15.95
bramplay calls $11.35, and is all in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BoatsOPlenty shows [Ks As] (two pair, Aces and Kings)
DDionysus shows [6d Kd] (a flush, Ace high)
DDionysus wins the side pot ($9) with a flush, Ace high
bramplay mucks
DDionysus wins the main pot ($53.25) with a flush, Ace high
bramplay is sitting out
BoatsOPlenty is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $65.25 Main pot $56.05. Side pot $9.20. | Rake $3
Board: [Jc 2d 9d Ad Kh]
Seat 1: DDionysus showed [6d Kd] and won ($62.25) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 2: polak_power didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: SoCooLBob (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: bramplay (small blind) mucked [Kc Jd] - two pair, Kings and Jacks
Seat 5: DonkeyDeck (big blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 6: jacht didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: Mully folded on the Flop
Seat 8: DjBreeze81 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: BoatsOPlenty showed [Ks As] and lost with two pair, Aces and Kings

Saturday, February 04, 2006

Full Tilt Pigeon Fest...

For the record I am going to call Fish/Donkeys....Pigeons from now on because I've been saying pigeon since I was in high school.......Anyway.....

The 25NL or .10-.25 tables were having a firesale on chips last night...pigeons! I bought in for 20.00 and left with 45.50...not bad for a couple of hours of bonus whoring. I also played a couple of low buy-in NL MTT's on PokerStars. Cashed a whole .20 in one! The buy-in was .10 and I figured I'd multi-table on PokerStars and FullTilt. It's not worth the time if you can't multi-table with these low buy-in tourneys. The tables are so noticeably different on Weekend nights compared to weeknights. Even though I toss back the beers while I play I am able to keep my strategies and hand selections steady. Very different than when I first started playing two years ago. I'm cashing in a lot of tourneys but not big cashes or final tables. I think my strategies have improved by leaps and bounds lately but I'm going to have to get more aggressive and take some more chances. After reading some of the tourney strategies on some of the better blogs I've ramped up the aggression. I've won a couple of satellites lately so it seems to be paying off.

Well it's superbowl time again and my Patriots aren't in it...oh well. They will be back next year with a vengeance. So if Pittsburgh doesn't win it this year they NEVER will. I actually like Jerome Bettis..He's one of the good guys. Roethlesberger has really come into his own this year. He manages his team well and doesn't turn the ball over. Hasselbeck has really come into his own also...He's a version of the "good" Brett Favre. They have their work cut out for them with the SeaChickens. Imagine an NFC team with a good chance to win...Hasn't happened for a while.
I would have won my Fantasy Football league this year if I picked Sean Alexander as my first pick..I passed over him..What a moron.

Well I just booked a room at Foxwoods on Feb. 19th. So if anybody reads this...and I'm really not sure if anybody still does....I'll see you at the 1-2 100 buy-in NL tables. Last time I went it was a drunken pigeon fest. I still left +200 but it was my birthday and I wasn't exactly trying to play at an optimum level. I actually played up the drunk thing and it paid off. If the other people see that you are visibly drunk they are more inclined to call. I also added in that I've only played online...that induced tons of "feeler" bets for sure. You can see some of the other guys perk-up around the table when you say things like that. Unfortunately Foxwoods isn't offering any satellite tourneys on Sat. or Sunday. That really sucks...I think I'm ready to try a live 150.00 buy-in satellite NL MTT. I've played plenty of charity tourneys around Mass. in the past two years also. There are plenty of good players out there. Even though we don't have a casino in the general vicinity. Ahhhh.... the wonders of internet poker...Creating great players and easy pigeons....EVERY DAY!