Poker and Miscellaneous Stuff

Superbowl 46

2012-01-23T13:23:00.000-05:00

Super Bowl 2012, Patriots Vs. Giants: Pats To Face Giants In Epic Rematch - SB Nation Boston

It's on.......

Joe VS. the Gronk-cano

2012-01-17T10:32:00.000-05:00

It's going to be Joe VS. the Gronk-cano this week!!!!

God vs. Jesus

2012-01-09T14:13:00.000-05:00

This may be the most watched playoff game...ever....

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

2011-12-25T21:51:00.001-05:00

To everybody except the NFL football players who are going to lose my Fantasy Football championships...lump of coal for you bastards...

WPBT Weekend Part 3

2011-12-16T16:16:00.000-05:00

Sunday : 10:30 AM....look at the clock..fall asleep again....11:00AM (no problem....I'll go over to Aria and meet up with everybody to watch the Pats. Take a shower...oh...I'm 3 hours behind ET....fuck......) By the time I got over to Aria to meet up with everybody at the sports book the 1:00 (4PM ET) games already started and I missed my opportunity for bets. That would be my mantra for the weekend..I had so much fun the night before that I stayed up until 5 or 6 or 7 AM and overslept. What can I say...I'm not a morning person. Never was...never will be...

1:30 PM
Jordan from HoP and the fine people at Pokerist.com provided a damn nice looking/tasting cake with some food and pitchers of beer (Guinness and Stella among other beers) for the WPBT Sports book gathering..whatever you want to call it.

Photo credit : OhCaptain I think...or maybe this one

I talked with Lightning36 for a while and he decided to get out of there and go where Lightnings go...probably Ballys...

I had a few conversations with Grange95 and Pauly : Our conv. about the point shaving scandals, the infamous Tim Donaghy and my pestering Pauly about his upcoming projects are what I come to the WPBT for....fascinating stuff...and I'm not being sarcastic. After drinking some of the pitcher beer I decided to get a bucket of beer...a mixed 6 pack of great brews. I'm a pig so I gave away 3 and drank 3 myself...I WAS THIRSTY!!

4:30...One went to the Aria bar next to the poker room and hung out with a bunch of bloggers.....
"are you going to watch the end of the half marathon? .....mob mentality rules!" -StB
"....I'm getting hungry....haven't eaten in 10 hours again....sure...let's get more beers...."-Me
an hour later we see the bloggers that are running the half marathon walking out....
"They are actually going to run 13 miles in the cold desert winds...on purpose!"-Me
"The least I can do is go to the finish line and give these guys a hand"-Me

6:30 or 7:00....At or near the finish line after going with a group of bloggers through multiple casinos on foot.
apparently PokerPeaker, BadBlood, Otis, Mattazuma, and Doc Chako were running in this....much admiration your way dudes....I can guarantee I WON'T be joining you in this race but I have nothing but the highest respect to those who train and run in this race as I can imagine it being tough running against the wind in the desert...no matter how cold it is.

A side note...due to my washing my hands at an almost OCD-rate...my left hand was cracking...the cold wind and the hand washing were quickly drying out the back of my hand. I couldn't have gotten some kind of lotion but I had been drinking tons of water all day. I'll have to take care of that later...and EAT!! I forgot to eat more than a few stretches of time...sometimes...12 hours...no idea why...

We saw Peakr for a second...he breezed by but that was when we first got there on the rail....Blood came in after that to a hell of a roar from the crowd...then Otis...he was going nuts...it was cool to see those guys go by.
After this we went back to Aria after going to drink a couple at the Excalibur Sports book...or was it the Monte Carlo Sports book...yeah I think it was the Monte Carlo...I followed a crowd of bloggers led by Pauly and his bro Derek....who has a great post up at the moment by the way. Following the brothers McGuire through the casinos is like trying to catch up with the fastest of run-walkers in the history of run-walking. I was lagging way behind...hungry...drunk..tired....I was on the way up the stairs and they already realized they were going the wrong way and were passing me on the downstairs..."we're going that way dude"-everybody...."huh" *points the opposite direction* "ok"-Me...dang NY City speed walkers..

8:00...or is it 9:00
By now we are back in Aria Sports book and after walking 1,000 miles through casinos and connectors..I'm hungry. I almost successfully convinced a few people to go to the Hoffbrau house...but we decided on 'Lemongrass' in the Aria instead. Noodles...I can do Noodles...I'm so effin' hungry. We go over and sit down and get some appetizers to start out...
"Jellyfish...why not? I've never tried it...if you're gonna eat Jellyfish why not in Vegas?"-StB
"How can I argue with that...?"-Me
The Jellyfish was pretty good believe it or not...a little like Cucumber-flavored-chewy-jelly-spaghetti and some other pot sticker appetizer as well. Good stuff..but I need some kind of beef seeing as how I haven't eaten anything in 10 hours. I got the 'Pepper beef Udon' dish. It was just what I needed..I couldn't go the 'burn your face off noodle dish' the other guys ordered...I just needed noodles and beef...I will try the Noodles and seafood next time. Grange95 and Metsfan/GeekandProud and StB were all sufficiently stuffed and went to say goodbye to everybody. For some stupid reason I didn't say goodbye to everybody or anybody....I figured...I'll see them again tomorrow morning or something...completely ignoring my inability to get up early and my tendency to oversleep...and the impending Vegas intoxication/gambling/mayhem to come.
I guess I'll just have to see everybody next year.....

10:30 Head back to the I.P. StB had an early flight Monday in the AM so I'm basically left to my own devices again. I'll find the Lightning....I sent a text and he was haunting Harrah's Poker Room. I can stay up all night and just take a nap tomorrow. That was my thinking. I go on my way to Harrah's and find L36 in the Poker Room. I quickly jump on the one of the two 1-2 NLHE tables. By now my left hand a gnarly rawhide cracked skin bloody mess that resembled a velociraptor claw...a bloody one. Besides that I was feeling great...I can stay up all night...get some sleep...wake up for breakfast....take a shower....gamble a bit...then head to McCarren airport and take my plane home at 5:00. Plenty of time to spare....right?

Drinks...drinks...beers....beers....drinks...drinks...Bud Light and screwdrivers....all night long....

1:00AM
Turbo nightly 25 buy-in at Harrah's poker room. These blinds are lightning fast....push or die. Ironically I played only a few hands but I was soon at the final table. I forgot to bet Lightning36 on a last longer...which I would have killed! I had a pretty good stack at the final table but I was concentrating on getting 1,000 bud lights delivered and drunk in orderly fashion. The blinds were up to 2000-4000 and I had 16,000...some dude pushed on my BB...I looked down and had A-6o...I called...he had pocket 10's. He won...had me covered....I couldn't fold that just to limp into the money..it was a 25 dollar turbo.

2:00AM Beer...drinks....beers...drinks...feeling it now....bloody claw is now permanently in curled bloody clutching mode...only a bud light or a screwdriver drink would fit. There is now only one NLHE 1-2 table left. I jump back in and join the Lightbulb.
Me-"Where the fuck did everybody go?!...I need another screwdriver..FUCK!!!"
Dealer-"Sir please refrain from swearing"
Me-"Ok...."
Lightning36 comes back from the bathroom.."I think I'm gonna take off"....
Me-"No Fucking way!...get back in here...there is still one seat left:
Dealer-"SIR....Please...I'm going to give you a warning..."
Me-"oh yeah..OK...OK..OK....Jesus man what's the story...nobody else is complaining about this..."
Dealer-"It's my discretion...blah...blah...blah...."
I know it's the dealers discretion...but nobody was complaining...as a matter of fact..everybody was having fun at this one table...but when he was there....STOP! I was pretty drunk by now...there was music playing on the speaker in the room. It was a great classic rock radio station playing some good stuff...

I started singing....Poker Karaoke....Pokeraoke....my invention....if I can't swear I'll sing to that FUCKFACE...and totally annoy him...it was actually pretty damn fun. I must say that my voice is stellar...ask anyone in that room that night....the man with the bloody hand....and the Golden voice....

'Got me under pressure'
3:00 AM
I got warned one last time...the dealer heard me say 'FUCK'...and he motioned to the poker room manager.
Dealer-"this guy won't stop swearing...I have repeatedly asked him to stop..he is creating an atmosphere or animosity"
Me-"Can I get a waitress...uh...sorry I won't swear again...I swear it!...Ha ha....ooops...."
Poker Room Mgr.-"cut it out...I won't kick you out but it is his.."
Me-"DISCRETION....I know..I know..sorry sorry...dealer (bitch)...I won't do it again"

Back to playing cards..and Pokeraoke.....
Lightning raised in early position....I look down at Ad-10d? in the BB I don't know...something to that effect...I know he's either got a high pair or A-K....somebody else called as well....I call in the BB

Flop Ax-Jx-Xx...I bet out....Lightning goes in the tank and raises...prob. 3X my bet...just then the song 'Got me Under Pressure from ZZ-Top is piping over the speakers in the poker room....
At the particular moment they are waiting my move and in unison with the song I look at Lightning and sing...

"You got me under pressure......ba daba daba daduh...got me under pressure.....bup bah...." I'm singing this out loud in unison to the song and playing guitar and drums all at the same time....
The table erupts in laughter....
"WAITRESS to table in Poker Room please...the only table that is...."

A couple of hands later the song 25 or 6 to 4 by Chicago comes on.....
A guy in late position raises my blind...
Me Singing in unison with the song again...."IF You raise my blind I'll raise you mooooooooore.....I'll pump it up to 25 or Sixty-fourrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....bada bada bump...bada bada bump...bada bada bump...bada bada buddda budda...."
Guy looks at me and the table erupts in laughter again...at this time I'm sloshed...everybody is having a great time...chips were slinging....I was Elvis....Stu Ungar...and Redd Foxx all rolled up into one...
Lightning disappeared...he snuck out while I was in the bathroom and took off....

5:00AM...no problem...I'll just jump into this 25.00 turbo and then take off...
First hand....Ac-10c...I push...get called....by a guy with Ax-Kx....I'm out....
Back to the 1-2 NLHE table...by now I've had approx. 1000 bud lights and 1000 screwdrivers....I played for a while...maybe two hours...then decided to head back...or rather...stagger back to the I.P.

7:00 AM....I see Lightbulb bounding out of the I.P. with this brother who was like Howard Hughes that weekend...never saw him until then...I shook his hand and went to take a quick nap...or so I thought...
Lightning36-"You wanna go to the buffet with us?"
Me-"nah...I'm gonna grab a quick nap...I'll get something later"
*shuffle...stagger...crawl...crawl...rolll...shuffle*

2:00 PM
*BANG BANG BANG*...what the fuck? *BANG BANG BANG*
"Room Seviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiccceee"
Me-"FUCK!!!! OK...I'm going to be out of here soon....FUCK it's 2:00PM!!! FUCK!!"
I grab a quick shower and head downstairs to check out...I was hung over..but not sick hung over...
I negotiated a deal with the I.P. Checkout lady....22.00 bucks for 3 hours and a shower before getting on a plane for the rest of the day...a win for me....I jumped on to the shuttle at 3:00 and was on my way....
The airport had a couple of surprises for me....my luggage broke open...the zipper broke...I had to buy a M&M nylon strap and wrap it around my luggage just to keep it together. Then I went to Wendy's...I forgot to get something to eat again...I had the best burger and fries in 5 minutes flat...It was the best ever.
Oh yeah..I can't stay up until 7:30AM and get up early...not a chance....

See you guys next year!!

WPBT weekend Part 2

2011-12-09T17:26:00.003-05:00

9:00 AM
Got up....went to Starbucks in Harrah's....which is attached to the back end of the I.P. There is friggin' cowboys everywhere...especially in Harrah's where Toby Keith's bar is like the Mecca of Cowboy bars....even at 9:30AM Its funny but there where whole cowboy families milling around. I didn't really notice too much until Sat. morning. Took my time getting ready for the WPBT winter classic

12:00
I haven't played any live tourneys for a few months...feeling a little rusty...found out you can't register without an Aria/MGM card. registered just in time for the tournament to start after a long walk from the I.P.

First table for a couple of hours :
Seat 1 : Change100
Seat 2 : California April?
Seat 3 : Penner or Metsfan or Geek and Proud
Seat 4 : PokerGrump?
Seat 5 : Blinders
Seat 6 : C.K.
Seat 7 : Shelly?
Seat 8 : Grange
Seat 9 : Me (I did prove to be rusty...a bit nervous for whatever reason...I am also probably wrong about this starting table somewhere)

I don't know why...I was nervous....I'm sure it showed. I haven't played a 100.00+ buy in for ages. This was 100+25...or was it 30? Then the last longer team bets...5.00. My team was myself, Yestbay, and Lightning36...we would be named 'Imperial Phallus'. So with the best team name in the books it was time to go to work. I built up a small amount with a couple of blind steals and early position raises and continuation bets...nothing substantial. Most of the action involved C.K., Metsfan, and PokerGrump? I believe. The guy hosted the announcements was also the tournament director and I have to say I'm quite impressed. He was damn funny as well..."yes people...there are still no bust outs...you know..the point OF a tournament is to build your chips and take others away!" etc. He had a couple of good ones in queue. There were some pretty sweet bounties to be had for knocking out some people. I grabbed a small bottle of 'Tums' on my way....that was my pathetic bounty...but at least somebody could use it at the final table.
C.K. had the best bounty at the starting table..it was a tall ceramic mug that had the logo of a Black Widow on it. Just after the second break Grange took the sweet bounty and then there seemed to be a slew of knockouts on the rest of the tables. The hand that had me nervous was of course Aces. I raised in middle position to T350 Bs were 50-100....I figured everybody would fold per usual...but when I limp with aces I get slapped...hence the raise. I was playing a little tight but not anything noticeable. So unknown to me on the other side of the dealer Change100 raised to T1000. Everybody folded around to me and I thought everybody folded and the measly blinds were taken....I held out my aces as I was about to muck them...then I pulled them back and realized I'd been raised. I had a headache from the night before and it was around 3:00 PM so no drinks were to be had yet...that's why I probably got a little nervous. So I pull back my aces from almost mucking them and I tried to calmly re-raise. I should have called but I bumped it up to T3000. Change100 looked over and studied me for a minute and folded...then the table broke soon after.
I walked over to her and kind of apologized for what I thought looked like a 'Hollywood' move...or pretending to fold only to raise....I genuinely didn't hear her on the other side of the dealer after she raised. I almost mucked my aces. This is a huge tell...she says..."I didn't care about that...I folded because your hand was shaking like crazy when you re-raised me!" I was a little hung over and a little embarrassed...I thought to myself...."She's GOOD". When the case is that I actually SUCK...I thought I'm going to have a to get a drink to soothe my nerves a bit. I was about to leave the table and move to the second table with about 15K in chips. The tables consolidated after that and we all moved. The new table I was at was loaded as could be expected.

Seat 1 : Penner/Metsfan/GeekandProud
Seat 2 : Ryan/Absinthetics
Seat 3 : Pebbles of Pebsn'BamBam fame
Seat 4 : Me
Seat 5 : Dan/Poker Peaker
Seat 6 : Otis
Seat 7 : Hoodie Sunglasses dude - made final table
Seat 8 : Jordan/HighOnPoker
Seat 9 : Special K
Seat 10 : BadBlood

So I get to my second table and I know I'm not going to be long for this tournament unless I double up...at this point I only have 15K and the blinds were rising fast. There were probably less 50 left...people were getting knocked out fast though. I think that we went down to 30 pretty soon after this...or maybe because I started to pound Sam Adams lagers it seemed to go by fast....what the hell....1$ tip for a Sam Adams...gimme until I fall over. This is where I got wind of three of the participants at the table were running in the half marathon on Sunday....Otis or Brad(who I had no idea at the time that his father passed away very recently....My Condolences sir..can't imagine the grief but condolences nonetheless), Dan or PokerPeaker and BadBlood (who didn't know that the 'Gin Blossoms' the band was a huge influence on the band 'Skeleton Witch'...LOL).I would push with Ax-Kx and folded to most all pushes as well. There are a couple of hands that yo-yo'd my stack. all 3 in Team Imperial Phallus was still in.
The action on the table was predictable....the big stacks were pushing around the short stacks...I needed a double up and I got it....Pebbles who fell victim to my Aces. I got aces twice in the tournament and this time they paid me off.
I had Aces in the BB and Pebbles apparently had Ac-Kc....Special K raised in mid position with 7's.(I found out later on the cab ride over back to the I.P.) Peb's raised all in from the SB and I insta-called with my aces. Special K really tanked for a while...then folded. the flop was Xc-Xc-Xh....she flopped two clubs! The board ran out with two rags and I dragged a large pot and now I had doubled but there was quite a while to go. I got the sweet sweet Peb's bounty...I forgot to take a picture but it was a Pebbles pin and a wind-up Pebbles that actually crawls when you wind it up...much fun would be had with that for the next 12 hours or so.
After there were probably 20 more bust outs and tables consolidating I had 16-17BB's left and Ryan pushed all in with 7's in the SB....I looked down and saw A-Ko and insta-called. Much to my chagrin I didn't spike a K or A so I went down to about 8BB's. There was 25 left and I pushed a few more times.
There was a raise in early position by Jordan and I pushed...we had a banter between us but that was before I knew who he was and I don't think he knew me either. I pushed with A-Ko again and tried to get him to call but he tried to steal the blinds with 'the Hammah"! I was genuinely surprised when he flipped over the 2-7o but didn't call. (Later he came over and said..."hey your PokahDave?...if I knew that I would have pushed you all in every time you were in the Blinds!") I think everybody did anyway so...somehow I survived. Apparently Jordan also got some sweet deal from the website 'The Pokerist'...here is a description on April's blog about the website and all the sweet things they added for the WPBT.
I was fueled by Sam Adams at this point and NumbBono came over and introduced himself. I am currently 9-3 in both my FF leagues on ESPN going into this weekend and it looks good for playoff mobneys!. CaityCaity also made herself known as my opponent last weekend...and she was also running the last longer pool money. Also at this point I was the last man standing in the LL pool. I would have had to win to also get that money.
Some guy by the name of Tim...or Timtern as it where sat at the table and I was running good against him..I won multiple races against him but I was still running on Sam Adams and fumes when it got knocked down to 18...and we also moved/consolidated tables.

6:00 PM

So we moved down to two tables and I didn't last too long after that. I basically had to push with Kh-Jh under-the-gun and got called when girl next to me had A-Ko...she pushed all in and everybody folded and I got knocked out 18th (which comes with a whole lotta nuthin'!) I stuck around and talked to Numb and Astin who was staying at Aria and soon after came over with a handful of 100's after he won 900.00 on a 5cent slot...lucky bastard. So the final three chopped the pay 3 ways and then played for the trophy...it was Some lady that AlCantHang brought who won the trophy...not sure what her name was. A guy named Dave from St. Louis (Chilly's friend), and Timtern who couldn't knock me out but finished in the top three so good for him and his wad of cash! The hoodie dude from the table I was on before that had 1 BB left after a race and the guy actually came back to bust out 5th or 6th? He tripled up twice and then doubled after that to get back to a normal stack at the final table...it was pretty incredible and gave new meaning to the phrase "a Chip and a Chair is all you need".

6:30
So after the tourney we headed back to the I.P. for massive amounts of drinks and cards...I jumped in a cab with Shelly, BrainMc, Heather aka Pai Gow princess , NumbBono and, Special K. I met most people last time I was in town for the WPBT in '07 but I didn't meet BrainMc and Special K before that....come to think of it I didn't meet Shelly either. Everybody wanted to play some more poker...I was needing more card games but I had enough of NLHE Poker for the day.

I missed another meal so I was starving....I went straight for the Hash House A-Go-Go as soon as I went to the I.P. I got this freakin' incredible fried chicken sandwich...this was almost as good as the BBBLT I had the day before. I could have fell asleep after that...but I got my second wind soon after. I'm trying to think of how many beers and drinks I've had up to now but I was feeling it...I went to the Pai Gow table...soon after I was joined by Heather, Chilly, Dave friend of Chilly who chopped for almost 2K and did not care about the trophy...I mean...why would he?, and a few people who stopped in to say Hi. I ordered a thousand beers after this and was doing pretty well on Pai Gow for my second time playing. Heather was spillin' drinks and cussing up a storm and had us all laughing. She managed to piss off the waitress who looked at me...pointed to her massive fake boobs and said "by the way...they are fake!"....I said "...and they are beautiful....can I have another Bud Light please?" She didn't seem to mind too much and I didn't have to sit on the toilet after she may have pulled that old waitress trick for obnoxious drunks...you know...add a little Visine to the drink and you get to sit on the toilet for 24 hours after. So anywayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.....the bar was rockin' at the I.P. somebody bought me a shot of SoCo...I bought a few shots for a few people. I look up at the clock and suddenly it's 12:00!

I played Pai Gow for 4-5 hours at the I.P.....my chips were floundering...I didn't care...was having fun. Pretty soon after everybody moved out of the I.P. and I found myself ready for a solo rager. I went over to O'Shea's and walked around a bit. There was a bunch of beer pong tables but I just kept walking...I figured I wanted more Pai Gow so I went over to Harrah's. This is where...things get a little foggy.....I somehow lost the Peb's bounty when I wound it up and sent it crawling to the dealer at the first Pai Gow table I went to...not sure what happened but I was wearing Cargo pants and I thought I kept it.....somebody probably STOLE it! After a hundred more beer and bankroll killing games like 'Crazy 4 Poker' and 'Texas HoldEm Special' and some craps...I went back the Pai Gow table AGAIN! Next thing I knew it was....

6:00 AM...Oooops....I'll get up in time for the WPBT/Pokerist football at the Aria Sportsbook tomorrow...noooooo problem!!!

WPBT weekend Part 1

2011-12-08T17:07:00.001-05:00

I got up at 4:15 AM and drove to Manchester airport in N.H....parked the car and was good as gone at 7:00AM on Friday.

Isn't this the John Lithgow/Twilight Zone Movie freak out seat?

I arrived at 10:30 AM Vegas time...friend sent a text asking if I wanted to see the Allman Brothers at the Orpheum in Boston...."yes...but I just landed in Vegas" I sent..."fuck off...have a great time...you fuck" sent back by friend.

I checked into the I.P. around 11:00...went up to my room...sat down on the bed and...fell asleep...I was tired!
1:30
Hooked up with John aka Lightning36 and Dave (I love the band YES)...aka Yestbay/Westbay to check out the Pinball H.O.F...promptly kicked ass on the KISS pinball and another couple called Kings and Queens and on the Family Guy one as well. Lightning got lucky on the Bubble-boy hockey when my left defenseman was rendered useless by a bum stick controller...he moved to this one when the other one was working fine. I think he has been here before and wanted the advantage...well there you go. We saw Iggy there with the girls....Caity, DawnSummers and April

After that we went to a cemetery.....why? to see some gravestones of course! Two legends...one was Redd Foxx and the other...none other than the greatest NLHE tournament player ever...Stu Ungar! Here are a couple of those pics...It seems like I took a lot of pics but I really didn't...the first day I did...the rest of the weekend...not so much.

That was at Palm East Cemetery or something similar to that name....was a couple of miles away from the Pinball H.O.F and since John rented a car...why not?
6:00
After this I realized how I didn't have anything to east since about 7:00 PM the night before...almost 24 hours!
We headed back the I.P. and went straight to the Hash House A-GoGo (I highly recommend this place for any meal...I got the BBBLT....it was the best BLT I ever had bar none). I would go back many times during the weekend...I went long periods of time between meals for some reason.

8:00 :
We met back at the Geisha bar before going to Aria that night for some 1-3 NL and some Limit mixed games...couldn't get to the limit mixed so I played at the 1-3 NL game for most of the night. I was in the 1 seat. Kat was in the 2 seat for some of the time...then C.K. Brother of Luckbox in seat 4 (name escapes me at the moment..I remember you not being offended by Bro Of Luckbox so I must have filed that in my pickled brain)....C.J. the Luckbox in seat 5.....April in seat six....Falstaff (who also writes books..check 'em out) in seat seven......a couple of people sat in seat 7 for a while...Joe Speaker (Congrats by the way on your news...I overheard) among others in seat 8....Lightning36 in seat 9 and Dave Westbay in seat 10 for a while. This table was a little crazy after an hour or two....after C.K. moved to my left in seat 2. "Pims cup!!" was repeatedly yelled. This looked like some kind Long Island Ice Tea with fruit. Somebody may have elaborated..."it looks like the stuff from the bottom of the sink after the dishes are gone"....or something like that. Whatever it was C.K. went on a tear....I saw many a suck out and a few people leaving the table...with no chips. I lost a semi-large pot with a raised A-Ko on the button...Falstaff called with A-9s....flop was 9x-9x-Kx...a few raises and a bad call by me on the end resulted in a lighter chip stack. Lightning took that stack a little while after that...one of the many 500.00+ pots I saw the Lightbulb take this past weekend. I would get a lot of my chips back by hitting some cards later. I'll remember this table as the 'Pims-cup-Push' table....as C.K. rolled over the table with a Crasian Steamroll. :-)

12:00 AM
Joined everybody at the bar at Aria after that...met (met again as I haven't been to the WPBT weekend since '07) lots of bloggers and twitterers formerly known as bloggers. Good times. I congratulated Pauly on his highly entertaining books (Jack Tripper Stole My Dog, and Lost Vegas buy and support the man like I did). I also talked to Kat for a moment and was impressed with the cover design on 'Jack Tripper...'. I talked to Drizztdj for a moment but he lost his voice...d'oh! I've been expanding my beer selection by getting on the website 'Untappd'. I mention that because StB08, Chilly (on the now defunct I.D.S.N), and OhCaptain joined and let me just say.....bloggers know beer. The WPBT weekend was in full force.
1:00 AM
Decided to head back towards the I.P. with Lightning and OhCaptain....I should have listened to Tim and went back to call it a night...but noooooooooooooooo. I decided to take what was left of my chips to 'Ballys' and play some 1-2 NL. Lightning walks through there like he owns the place...for good reason...because he runs good there. I was getting really tired by now....but I decided to sit in anyway. I witness another Lightning pot...he really ran great...especially at Ballys. I got felt'd when I got into with two other players...I flopped a flush draw and a straight draw and pushed...got called and didn't hit. I think that was how it went down...maybe John can correct me. I decided to put my 23 hour day to bed at around 3:00 AM.

WPBT trip report delayed...

2011-12-07T11:31:00.000-05:00

Gimme a break...I have to put the pieces back together and relive one of the best long weekends ever. Epic! I'll need a couple of days....

WPBT

2011-11-28T17:28:00.000-05:00

I am going this year...I am playing in the WPBT winter classic this year....and of course I am going to win said tournament this year. OK?
1. I would like to see the pinball H.O.F
2. I would like to know if anybody wants to eat/drink at the 'Hoffbrau House'.
3. I will take my WPBT winnings in 100's and 20's please.
4. I hope to win the last longer challenge with one Lightning36 and Yestbay....(with a team name like Imperial Phallus...how could we lose?).
5. That is all.
edit : I just got 'Jack Tripper stole my dog'...and I will have read and enjoyed it by the time I get to Vegas. Sweet!

Edit : I found the Hammah! Given to me I believe by Iggy 4 years ago at the Friday night meetup at MGMGrand. Obviously this bodes well for the WPBT Winter Classic!!!!

Happy Turkey Day

2011-11-23T17:06:00.002-05:00

Let the games BEGIN in Taxachusetts!!!

2011-11-22T11:19:00.000-05:00

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1383013

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!!

Rusty

2011-11-21T11:50:00.001-05:00

When I get to Vegas for the WPBT there will certainly be some rust. I have played a total of 4 times live since Black Friday. Three times I played tournaments and once I went to Mohegan Sun for a bachelor party and got in a couple of hours of cash games. Rusty is putting it lightly. I'm obviously playing the WPBT ~~open~~ Winter Classic but I'm not sure how many other tourneys I'll be playing if any. I will entertain a turbo/bounty type tourney though...I did pretty well on those before the Big Black Friday smack down. Apparently I am teaming up with Lightning36 and Yestbay for the last longer bet. I have a feeling we'll have a humorous name for our team. It's only 11 days away.......
I should be arriving at the Imperial Phallus...I mean the Imperial Palace around 12 noon on Friday. I wouldn't mind seeing a good band that weekend....any suggestions?

John Tierney’s wife to invoke spousal privilege - BostonHerald.com

2011-11-16T11:26:00.000-05:00

John Tierney’s wife to invoke spousal privilege - BostonHerald.com

The sordid tale goes on....

In other Taxachusetts news :

Lawmakers in rush to pass casino bill - BostonHerald.com

Booked for Vegas!!!!

2011-11-14T23:35:00.000-05:00

Staying at the Imperial Palace Friday-Monday....flight just booked. Southwest is gold. See you there...bitches!!!!!

11-11-11-11-11

2011-11-11T11:11:00.000-05:00

ELEVEN!

Coincidence?

2011-11-09T15:26:00.001-05:00

You decide...everytime I see this :

I think of this :

Witness: Tierneys dined at gaming offices

2011-11-09T12:05:00.000-05:00

Witness: Tierneys dined at gaming offices

Update from last post....

John Tierney’s stepson says he was fired from family’s gambling ring

2011-11-04T10:08:00.000-04:00

Back during the elections of 2010 :

The inevitable stupidity of Massachusetts voters ultimately wins over rational decision....back during the election of 2010....EVEN AFTER THE ALLEGATIONS HAD BEEN MADE MONTHS BEFORE "It's good to be da King...I'll get re-elected the Massachusetts voters are stupid"-speculative comments by yours truly

This past week :

John Tierney’s stepson says he was fired from family’s gambling ring

- Metro Desk - Local news updates from The Boston Globe You have to be kidding....

Moving on...but still paying attention.....

On another note...a good one...I was listening to a local sports talk radio show (WEEI) and was late for work today. I wasn't late because of traffic as usual...I was late because they were interviewing Tony LaRussa. It was a fascinating and I couldn't get out of the car while the interview was still going on. Too bad he retired...the Sox could certainly use a coach of his caliber. I'm not saying Terry was bad coach at all...in fact he is and will be the best manager they ever had or will have. He just lost his way this year because of all his 'off field problems'....and the team did whatever they wanted too....and that of course is a recipe for disaster. Another recipe for disaster...Theo's last three years in Boston. He deserves all the credit in the world...but the last 3 years....not so much. I wish nothing but the best for Terry Francona and Theo Epstein in their new jobs. They certainly teamed up to be the best duo Mgr./Gen. Mgr. that the Boston RedSox could have ever hoped for. Things change and nothing good lasts forever. Good luck.

Last and certainly not least.....

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIOdvXE7kbI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Any deals out there for Vegas WPBT dates?

2011-10-27T16:08:00.000-04:00

Anybody know of any deals that could be had for :
A. Somebody who wants to combine a Friday arrival-Early Monday leave travel/stay package....
B. Wants to travel on JetBlue from Logan Airport in Boston....
C. Somebody who hasn't been to Vegas since Dec. of '07???
D. Wants to be relatively close to all the former bloggers of the WPBT??

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm???

The One-Eyed Albino Shark

2011-10-19T11:16:00.000-04:00

It's getting ugly up here in Boston. The circus that surrounds the RedSox and their record setting collapse is getting out of control. Let's hope in RedSox nation that this season is the One-Eyed Albino Shark of seasons for the RedSox.....that is...one in a million. It could represent the we here at PokerandMiscStuff Inc. will call it the RedSyclox season from now on.

Early Oct. means it's time to go to the beach....

2011-10-10T10:30:00.000-04:00

Yup....I was swimming at the beach yesterday like it was late August. The water was warmer than it was when I went on my annual vacation to Salisbury Beach. I went swimming twice no less!! In poker news.....Full Tilt Poker continues to suck ass. Absolute Poker continues to suck ass and I haven't played in months. I can't go to the Poker Classic at Foxwoods and probably won't be able to go until late Oct. when my birthday rolls around. After the Red Sox set the record for all time futility I am really happy that the Patriots and Bruins have started their seasons and both are doing well. I can't believe that the Sox, Phillies, and Yankees are all out of the fall classic. That is going to make for some interesting baseball series for baseball fans around the country...but I won't be all that interested. I would like the Milwaukee Brewers to win a world series but anything goes this year. Back to Full Tilt poker for a second.....back when the pro reps went to D.C. for hearing on the viability of legalizing online poker...they sure seemed confident that something would happen soon. A certain pro was quoted "I am really confident something will get done in the next 6 months...it looks really good" and it was also reported that he was confident in his mannerisms as well. I wonder if they knew what was going to happen before it happened on Black Friday?? It kind of seems that they must have known. I wonder if any of these Russ Hamilton type players will suffer the same image destruction that the latter suffered. It doesn't seem to have happened yet...it doesn't even seem like it is going to happen. My questions are plenty. The Government is in tough enough shape and they are being investigated for all sorts of scandals. The guy in charge of enforcing the ban of online poker is being investigated himself for not only crimes punishable for life but also perjuring himself in front of Congress. That can and will mean that online poker is going to be on the back burner forever. Sometimes I really miss online poker but I can't believe that I was walking through life playing almost every night...I don't know how I functioned. I don't miss it as much as I used to...I think I would play a lot less if it was ever to come back though. What I really do miss is the bloggaments...those were some fun tourneys. I miss the banter on the Instant Messengers etc. during the tourneys. That is probably what I miss the most.

Highest of Highs and Lowest of Lows

2011-09-29T13:33:00.001-04:00

In a Sports sense of the phrase that is.
Well...it happened again. The Sox outdid their own record setting past and set a new record in futility. The biggest collapse yada yada yada. I'm guessing that everybody knew in their gut this was going to happen to this team this year. They showed no heart at the start of the year going 2-10. Then they had a succession of great months culminating in a stellar July.....but nobody cares about baseball in July anymore. It happened in slow motion as most things in baseball do. Yooooooouuuuu caaaaaann'tttt looooooooose twennnnnnnnnnnty ooooonnnnneee gaaaaaaaaaaaammmesssss in Septemberrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr (best slow motion sentence ever). Yes you can...and not only that you can do it with the highest payroll in all of baseball. You can't buy team chemistry. You can't do it. 1978, 1986, 2003, now 2011. These are all now part of the lowest of lows. I'm not going to sugar coat any of this. The rest of the country is laughing and well they should. It's too bad that Tito Francona will probably end up leaving or getting fired. The guy that brought two world series championships to Boston shouldn't be the guy to take the fall should he? He has to (or so the boston sports-talk media would have you believe). These overpaid baseball players should but their contracts are guaranteed. I'm not saying all of them are overpaid...but when you look at the salaries of Lackey (good god what is wrong this fuckhead), Crawford (what a waste), Drew (my middle finger hurts), and probably a few others they were doomed. To have that much locked up to non clutch baseball players is a travesty. Sure....great on paper but terrible over 162 games. If I was younger this would have devastated me and I would be sad all week. After seeing the past decade full of championships and some of the Highest of Highs in the sports world it just doesn't matter much anymore. I mean the Patriots and the Bruins are starting up right around the corner. The Bruins of course brought us from the Lowest of Lows in 2010 to the Highest of Highs in 2011. The Patriots have been on a Lowest of Lows streak lately but after 3 Super bowls they were destined to come back to earth. Basketball and the Celtics...well their recent surge is going to be over if the NBA even gets their negotiations completed. This is a rambling post....I guess there isn't really any one point to it. If I put more time into it may look like a real writer actually took some time to craft a nice article. Nahhhhhh. I have an idea for the Sox though. Theo Epstein may just be the person that needs to go....that way you can tinker with the roster (maybe buy a few bad contracts and beg a team to take some of the losers I listed with bad contracts) and you can keep Terry Francona. Epstein is should certainly be under the ownership microscope this off season. Maybe this time he can leave in a clown suit instead of that Ape suit he used last time he left the Boston Red Sox. Anybody remember that? I do.....

The sox won!?!?

2011-09-27T22:54:00.001-04:00

Yes it's true.... Can they pull out of their month long collapse? Tune in tomorrow to find out!!!

Taxachusetts poker news

2011-09-21T15:35:00.000-04:00

Barney Madoff...I mean Frank....Frankly my douche...I don't give a damn....

The history of proposed gambling in Taxachusetts.....

an interesting ANGLE

10 years...seems like yesterday

2011-09-11T00:36:00.000-04:00

Seabrook Poker Room

2011-08-30T16:24:00.000-04:00

Although I like the Seabrook poker room and the atmosphere I have had no success there. I've only been there twice....but I'm on a dry spell there anyway. I played the nightly 60.00 no re buy last Tuesday night and then when I got bounced from that I played the 40.00 turbo. In 3 hours of tournament poker the best hand I had dealt to me was pocket 8's. I shit you NOT....this was the worst continuous series of holdings I can remember. I have fallen far from my multi-MTT nights back in the days of online poker....far out of practice that is. I do remember being UBER aggressive at these low buyin tourneys at the tracks in the past and that is usually the recipe for success...I just couldn't pull the trigger in certain situations like I have in the past. Maybe it was the tired ~~recuperating from online poker depression~~ look or the fact that I was buying beers. Who knows. It seems like I've become more of a cash game player since April 15th. I had some real success at Rockingham just after the online ban...but since that just a general malaise about poker. I really do think I'm still recuperating from playing so many online tourneys. That last sentence is confirmation of a slight addiction to online MTT's by the way.
In the 60 NLHE there were 70 or 71 runners. I got knocked out in 40th place with Q-8 suited under the gun....the blinds were getting huge.....I did get one...count it....one good hand in 2+ hours. That was the pocket 8's...I still didn't win that hand but what are you going to do? The second tourney was pathetic...both my own poker play and the structure of the tourney. Sometimes I look around and just marvel at the degenerates that show up every day. There was one guy in the turbo (I am not saying that this guy was a degenerate as I don't make fun of people with a disease or condition very often...only when they piss me off...I'm still not really making fun of this guy but it is kinda funny regardless) who couldn't speak..he could only....gurglerasp. I'm not sure if that's a word but I made it up to explain the noise that he made when he 'talked'. Again I'm not making fun of this guy because he sounded like a balloon deflating that had liquid inside of it...I'm just saying it was a little disturbing. Thank god you can't smoke in a poker room anymore...he must have had his share in he past...I'm sure he would have been smoking if he could have...but Jesus H. Christmas. He questioned a hand I was in and I couldn't understand what he was saying. He raised under the gun and I pushed all in over his raise and another call. That's all I did....he said something. It sounded like "Rasssssspppgurrrrgle...ssphhhtt....hhhhaarrr UUUUuu...raasssppding". I said "Ummmm...what the fuck did you say?!" (I really didn't know..I just found out he spoke that way right before that) The 400 pound dealer with an oxygen tube coming out of his nose said "He said 'What are you doing' ya know?" I said "I pushed all in...wasn't that obvious?!". Just after that RaspGurgle folded after hemming and hawing and rasping and gurgling..then the other guy folded. After that I was trying to understand what he was saying and amazingly people knew exactly what he was saying because he is there every day. Little to no avail for me as I didn't even make the cash in the 10 person turbo. While this whole thing was going on in Seabrook my wife, daughters, nieces, sister, and sister-in-law were having their picture taken by THE Terry O'Reilly...at Salisbury Beach. I should have been there instead. I guess he was riding his bike past them as they were getting ready to take a picture. He offered to take the picture so my wife could get into the picture. Was he hitting on my wife or not? Sly bastard...she had no idea who he was of course. I do miss poker and I will get to the poker rooms soon...but I hate missing out on life these days.

Pretty sure I'm going to

2011-08-23T15:45:00.001-04:00

Pretty sure I'm going to Seabrook poker room around 6PM tonight!

2011-08-21T23:21:00.001-04:00

Two nights...two awesome dive bars...Uncle Eddie's....

2011-08-21T00:26:00.001-04:00

The Dolphin....A great dive bar for the first night.....

Going to the beach for a week....

2011-08-19T17:37:00.000-04:00

I'm outta here!!!! I will probably post some crappy pictures as usual but I'm going to be a son of the Beach for at least a week....I may even stop in at Seabrook and get my poker on!!! I'll be right down the road....

2011-08-06T21:07:00.002-04:00

Just can't wait....
Well the camera on my phone obviously sucks but J. Giels never gets old. They played for 2 hours....and everybody knows every song. My right contact lens fell out with about 4 songs left to go...I had to stick around the beer stand as I was immediately disoriented. I need eye surgery really bad....I want 20-20 vision without contact lenses. So being next to the beer stand I pretty much started drinking more and more. They were selling 24 oz. beers. We had monster beers and were partying all day on the waterfront. I didn't have to drive home because my friends wife got us a room right near the concert. The pavilion is such a great place to hang out all day and see a concert. If you are in Boston and have a chance to see a show there I highly recommend it.

2011-08-06T18:47:00.002-04:00

Aces High!
I always get a kick out of this boat....

2011-08-06T17:30:00.001-04:00

On the Boston waterfront...drinking and getting ready for J. GIELS band

Poker and Baseball collide!

2011-08-04T10:07:00.000-04:00

.......and this is the result.....some interesting things are happening out there. Most of them after 'Black Friday' and they are all bad. Jeez....I wonder where The U.S. Government could raise tons of revenue by regulating a burgeoning cash cow??

Mohegan Sun

2011-07-27T13:04:00.000-04:00

OK...I went to the poker room at the 'Mo for the first time last Saturday. I only played for a combined time of about 2 and half hours though. It can be kind of tough to get down there while trying to entertain a bachelor and a small group of people. My old high school buddy is the best man for his younger brother who is sports betting psycho (In a good degenerate way for those who like sports betting) and a professional keno player if I ever saw one. I'm not kidding I've seen this kid play up to a 100.00 for one number on Keno. He obviously had a great time. There was none of the regular stripper HiJinks going on and I have to say....I'm a little disappointed by that. It's the first bachelor party I've ever been to that I didn't see big fake knockers. Somebody from the party went to Mohegan recently and scoped out a strip joint nearby but was a little skeeved out. I'll have to go to one when I get to Las Vegas this December....hmmmmmmm??? As soon as we checked into the hotel off site we took the shuttle over to the casino. I like the 'Mo....they had a band 'Saving Abel' playing in the Wolf's Den. I wasn't in a great spot for the show but we were hanging around the area and I forgot that they actually have a couple of great songs. It was a good band to gamble with in the background. I mean the last time I was there five years ago they had KC and the Sunshine band or something similar.

.............................................

I sent a text to a couple of bloggers who were going to be around or are there all the time. Rakefeeder stopped by right after I got to the poker room. His quote was "make sure you warn me when you decide to stop by and talk OK"? I wholeheartedly agreed because every time I see him at Foxwoods he goes on tilt. I'm not sure why....but I may just be 'The Cooler'. So like I said...I only played a combined 2.5 hours....I got there around 6:30 the first time then at 12:00 the second time time around. I was amazed I actually got served alcohol at 1:30 AM. This would NEVER happen at Foxwoods. I also like the poker room atmosphere. There were typical 1-2 NLHE players at both tables...just like Foxwoods....and that is a good thing! I sort of floundered around for the time I was there but I got paid on a flopped full house no less. I was in the BB and had K-3o. Somebody in early pos. raised a measly 4.00...and when 4 people called I figured I'd call. Kh-Kx-3h on the Flop. I checked of course. There was a 7 dollar bet from the original raiser. Another call....a fold and another call. I Called of course. A nice Ace hearts fell on the turn. I checked again By this time the somebody has a flush or an A. The original raiser got spooked and checked. The other guy in late position checked...that took me by surprise. a harmless rag fell on the river...not sure it was a 5x or something. The guy in early position checked again....the guy in late position made a bet of 30....I raised to 90 and the guy who bet obv. had a K...not sure what his kicker was but he was worried I had a better one. He called after a few minutes and was surprised when I showed K-3o. BB special! people yelled! The kid just mumbled something about King Jackoff...

...............................................

We were at Michael Jordan's steak house and basically all got those massive burgers. Man those were good. We also got some cash together and got the groom to be a huge burger the size of a hubcap. That guy from Man vs. Food would have had a tough time finishing that thing. There was too much drinking to take pictures of course. After a ton of bets the groom to be made a run at the burger but could only finish half. I don't know....but I'm sure that half came up later on in the night.....After the dinner we went for more degen. casino games like Roulette. I actually bet on Black each time or one of the three rows and I was raking in the chips. Some dude from the bachelor party dumped 150.00 on #23 because we just at Jordan's steak house. #23 obv. did not come up and 150.00 goes down the drain. I made 125.00 just betting black and the rows each time. I'm not a roulette guy but it seemed pretty good odds to me. The problem was at the end of the night....after leaving the poker room at 1:30AM. I met another guy from the bachelor party at the BlackJack table. There were about 3 hours of table play and 'Helen' the evil blackjack dealer proceeded to clean us out. I usually get away from the table but I was tired and just kept betting anyway. This is why I don't play blackjack hardly ever anymore. Evil Helen was cold as ice. The guy next to me and my buddy lost a cool 3 grand. I lost about 300....but then again I started the day with 300.00. I had a cigar in my pocket and lit that up at 4:30AM...BAD IDEA!!!

I can't wait to go to Foxwoods soon......

Headed to a certain Sunny place this weekend....

2011-07-21T15:54:00.000-04:00

I'm headed to Mohegan Sun! For a bachelor party no less! I'm going to try to sneak in some poker but I'm thinking that the drunken degen games will have to suffice....

2011-07-20T20:00:00.001-04:00

Saw a couple of UFO's on my porch!

2011-07-04T18:05:00.002-04:00

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY TO ALL MY AMERICAN FRIENDS!!

hmmmmmmmmmmm

2011-06-30T23:30:00.000-04:00

I guess I'll believe this when I see it.....

That Finklestein....shit...kid....sonofabitch!!!!

2011-06-16T11:50:00.000-04:00

Why that reference when referring to the 2010-2011 Stanley Cup Champions? Why the fuck not? It's the only thing I could think of to say after they won. It's been a long time since they have won a cup and as long as I could sit up my father plunked me down in front of the TV to watch the Bruins. I grew up listening to him swear at the TV...much like I have for past two months. Even though online poker has gone down in flames I haven't really missed it. I've been so busy with life and watching the Bruins I haven't cared much about poker. What am I going to do now?

Scientific research at work

2011-06-09T16:06:00.002-04:00

I guess i'll help out at work in the name of research!

Spreading the wealth?

2011-06-08T14:51:00.000-04:00

Does this fall under the category of spreading the wealth? Distribution of Funds? Enjoy....

Hockey Heart Attack

2011-05-23T23:11:00.000-04:00

The SAVE!!

I'm Fully Tilted

2011-05-20T09:50:00.000-04:00

Yes...these rakeback messages are tilting and annoying...I am Fully Tilted about Full Tilt Poker

This is an automated message sent from Full Tilt Poker.

   Affiliate Username: Rakebackpros
   Player ID: DDionysus
   Date and Time:       2011-05-20 08:35:43
   Transfer Number:     XXXXXXXXXXXXX
   Amount:              $7.14 (USD)

   Status:              APPROVED

This affiliate transfer has been approved. The funds transferred are
now available in your account.

Thank you for partnering with Full Tilt Poker

This is a Jopke!!

2011-05-10T10:42:00.000-04:00

Is this some kind of fucking Joke?

This is an automated message sent from Full Tilt Poker.

   Player ID:         DDionysus
   Date and Time:       2011-05-10 10:16:25
   Transfer Number:     PAY144F03E3D8
   Amount:              $5.00 (USD)

   Status:              APPROVED

Full Tilt Poker has made you a payment. The funds are now available in your account.

Thank you for playing at Full Tilt Poker

Reminder of Black Friday on a Good Friday

2011-04-22T10:11:00.000-04:00

Dear DDionysus,

We regret to inform you that due to recent actions by the U.S. government, Full Tilt Poker is still unable to facilitate 'real money' play, deposits, or withdrawals by players based in the United States, including the processing of any pending rakeback payments.

Rest assured that our technical and legal teams are working towards a solution that would allow us to return these funds and account balances to you as soon as possible. As always, your player account remains safe and secure, and we apologize for any inconvenience caused by these actions.

We will keep you updated with any information as it becomes available. Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

The Full Tilt Poker Affiliate Team

I need a break anyway......I think I have about 550 on Full Tilt and about 150 on Absolute....It would be nice to get it without any problems but I think the break from online poker is needed nonetheless. It could be worse....I could have left the 1,500.00 online before April 15th. I cashed out 950.00 recently though. Glad I at least did that. It is quite funny to reading about the fallout. I don't have ill will against anybody but if you dropped out of college or haven't started a career outside of online poker I feel bad for you. You flat out...should have seen something like this coming eventually.

Last weekend I kinda got antsy at home and made a quick trek to the poker room at Rockingham Park. I got knocked out of the 100.00 NLHE tourney by a card rack....Rigged!! Then I decided to jump into the 80.00 dollar turbo and came in 4th place for a little profit for the night. It was fun...Rockingham Park and Seabrook are going to be the only options for a while I guess. I don't have the links but there are quite a few bloggers on the case and reporting some great stuff when it comes to online poker legislation etc. Read my sidebar for that....no time to link...I have to work. I am also occupied with the Celtics, The Bruins and the RedSox so it isn't a bad time of year for this to happen...

The Weak-End

2011-04-11T17:41:00.000-04:00

Well the title is about the weekend. There was a weak end to the weekend ya know? I played VeryJosie HU for 6 NLHE tourneys and 'lo and behold she comes out on top 4-2. Funny thing is I was in a 2-0 lead playing Josie while donkin' around in a 2 dollar rebuy-rush-Omaha 8 tard fest. I was talked into that by Wawfuls...the funny thing is that I was playing better HU while concentrating on the 2$RRO8 and the nightly 6 dollar Turbo KO. I got knocked out of the Turbo KO 20th....and the 2$RR08 tourney was fast furious. I did not make the money in that but my play HU was pretty damn good. It's hard to concentrate on anything while playing a Rush tourney. Moral of the story....when I was knocked out of the other MTT's and was only playing Josie HU I was probably thinking too much. I mean it's HU....Why over think things? I give Josie credit for latching on to my tendencies HU and figuring out my style (which I would classify as 1 third lag, 1 third tight, 1 third Donk). Either that or she disarmed my sorry ass with her trash talk...and my laughing at said trash talk. The easiest way to piss off Josie is a simple reply of "Whatever". She went ballistic! "Don't 'Whatever' me you bastid!"...LOL. I was laughing out loud when my wife told me quiet down....but I couldn't stop laughing. So next time I play a HU tourney I will be multi-tabling.....and not IM'ing or chatting. That will allow my gut instinct to take over which is probably key in the HU Tourneys.

The rest of the weekend actually had some more Poker involved with it! A lot more! I played a tourney or five on Friday night. I final tabled the Daily Double B....and got knocked out of the Daily Double A in 666th place! Proof I am cursed no? So Lightning36 (btw...it would be a miracle if you BlackHawks defeated the Canucks again this year) ended up railing after taking down the twitter poker tourney...while I made my donktacular way to the final table. Everything was going my way that is until the final table started. Believe me...I'm not playing badly....I'm just playing badly at the final table. I don't have the luck at the final table but I will work with it and make a big score soon! I went out first at the FT with Ad-9d. I pushed under the gun...everybody folded....except the BB who woke up with JJ. Night over.

Saturday I went to Foxwoods on a whim. I met Rakefeeder...AKA Rob....mlotti...AKA Mike (of the famed and now defunct? HPT)....and some of their friends. I got there about an hour and a half early. So I swiped my Dream Card and went to meet Rob. I have detailed my cooler tendencies for Rob in the past. I joined a 1-2 NL table a few tables away from Rob just to avoid my coolery ways. Every time I walk over to check on his progress he gets unbelievably cooler'd with bad beats. Everything from losing with Aces to doing crazy poker room belly flops!....Seriously. I actually bought into the 6 PM NLHE tourney. It has a buyin of 120.00 and you get 15,000 chips. I was surprised how fast the blinds went up and the antes kicked quickly as well. More on this later. I went downstairs to the poker room (the tourney was upstairs which is great...reminds me of playing in the poker upstairs...that was the best). I get in and go to a different table than Rob (no coolering from across the room). I sit down and fold for a few hands. Then I get 88 in the small blind. The guy under the gun bets 25! everybody folds...but he is betting just to push everybody out with an ace....probably AK. A flop of 8s-9s-Ac falls. I checked (I bought in for 120.00 the exact amount the tourney cost)...he bets 50.00 and I go all in...he calls and I expected As-Ks or something...he watched as the turn and river turned out blanks for him...he never turned over his hand. My guess was at least an ace so.....I doubled up with a 240.00 pot. So that nights tourney ended up being a free roll. The guy sitting to my right tripled up his stack with a set of Kings. The guy who was sitting in the seat that doubled my up also doubled up the set of Kings guy. That was a real bad seat. That all happened in a half hour and I made my way upstairs to the tourney room.

Now listen...if there is still a recession and out of control gas prices going on in New England...you wouldn't know it by walking through the doors at Foxwoods. It was insanely busy. I guess 199 or 200 people ended up registering for the tournament. They were still registering after the first break. There was pretty big overflow to the tourney tables here from Mohegan Sun. The NAPT was going on and there were a couple of people at my table that got knocked out of the main event. This is a 120.00$ buyin and they got knocked out of the NAPT ME for a 5,000.00$ buyin. OK....there were going to be some great players at the table...that was apparent. QQ in early position I raise to 3 BB's. I get re-raised...I call. I basically lost half my deep stack with QQ. Stupid...but the guy betting into me just seemed awkward. I should have known he had Aces. I battle back and recover to 12K in chips. 1st break happens and the antes kicked in soon after that. I'm not sure what level I guess it was at the 50-100 Blind level with 25 ante. I did not bother to check that but I should have....the blinds went up every 30 minutes so that was a nice tourney structure. The second break happened and the blinds were up again. I blinded down a little to 10 BB's. I pushed in late position with Kh-Qh and got called by a guy with pocket 7's. I river'd a K....to stay alive and double through. For a pretty slow structure and an aggressive table I couldn't play many hands. I didn't make to far after the 3rd break. I shoved K-Qo with less than 10 BB's and the same guy that doubled me earlier shoved after me with Ah-Jh. The board ran out and hit nobody so I was out. All in all a good weekend playing poker. I had fun but now I owe my wife big time. I wonder if she'll be OK with me going to Las Vegas for the WSOP and the Winter Classic......hmmmmmmmmmmm.

Baseball

2011-04-02T12:13:00.000-04:00

HOPE

SPRINGS

ETERNAL

ChopChop Recap 2

2011-03-26T12:19:00.000-04:00

It was still only 10:30 after the 60/60 chop. I decided to jump in on a 40.00 SitNGo. Again..horrible structure but I'll go with it. You get 2000 chips for 40 bucks and the blinds start at 50-100 but go up every 15 minutes...it may even be every 10 minutes. There are 10 players and it is usually a push fest after 30 minutes. That is unless you almost triple up like I did in the first 10 minutes. First the table players. Me in the one seat next to the dealer. To my left is a guy who is in a bad mood..a curmudgeon if you will. Next to him is Some guy who may be the curmudgeons friend. They seem to be messing around with each other a lot early. Next to him is a guy who appears to be a Scandi. He may have had an accent but I knocked him out early with my Sandi-like hand. Next to him was a young baseball hat on backwards kid. I have played here 3 times in the last year or so and he has been at the table every time. Next to him is a Dominican guy from Lawrence. Next to him is another baseball hat on backwards kid who is so stoned he can hardly keep his eyes open. Next to him is a black Dominican dude from Lawrence, Next to him is an Asian guy and next to him is a young 20-something girl.
So a couple of hands in I am in the BB. I have Kh-2d. Everybody limps in. I check and the flop had K-2h-8h. Nice flop for me. I bet 200 since the Blinds were 50-100. There were probably 6 callers. The turn was another 2! This time I bet 750. There must have been a couple of flush draws out there even though I Kh myself. Either that or someone hit their set because two people called the 750! An incredible Ah fall on the river. I throw the rest of my chips in about 1,000 and the Scandi calls quickly...I guess I know who had the best flush draw. The other guy folds. A huge pot slides my way and the BB special puts me at well over 6,000 chips. That's the only way to win these things. The curmudgeon to my left continues to call and push and mutter under his breath. He survives a while until I take him out. I forgot the hand but I had a set to his A-x. There was an ace paired. He walks away but in the next hour he walks past the table muttering and flailing his arms. He was so pissed off at life. No idea what the problem was but I think that the play at the table was not really what was bothering him. One of the baseball hat on backwards kids was racking up some chips. He knocked out the Dominican guy from Lawrence and the Asian guy. I got into with the 20-something girl on a couple hands I knocked he out on the second one. The first one was an attempted steal by me. I had pocket 10's and an ace flopped. I bet out a half pot sized bet...She called. A rag card fell and she pushed on the turn and she pushed. I folded. The other hand I had against her I had Kx-Qx and she pushed preflop...the Blinds were huge already so I called...she had pocket 4's. I hit a K on the flop and she was all done. She swore under her breath and left the table in a huff. Pretty soon there were only 4 of us left and the last one to get knocked out was the black Dominican dude from Lawrence.
The last three at the table were me, the baseball hat on backwards kid and the stoned baseball hat on backwards kid. We pushed stacks around until the stoned kid got knocked out. It was almost 12:00 so the other kid wanted to chop and get into another SitNGo. I said no and pushed a bunch of times within 10 minutes. We evened stacks out and then decided to chop....he ran to the next SitNGo. I hate to give up on the 190.00 first prize chopping 110.00 apiece wasn't bad either. I tipped the dealer and made my way out for a nice profit on the night.

ChopChop Recap 1

2011-03-23T13:28:00.002-04:00

After the wake in Methuen for my uncle I decided to go to the 'Rock'. It's not a 'cold' thing to do...I just didn't know the guy very well. My relatives all stuck around the same area in Lawrence and Methuen. I haven't seen my uncle since maybe the mid-80's. I lived in my gramps' house for 5 years long after he passed away. While living in the house the Poker boom happened and I was always looking for charity tourneys etc. I used to play all of them around the area....before kids. My foray into online poker happened around mid-2004. The charity tourneys were horribly structured and they basically became good training for most of the turbo-structured tourneys that you find out there...and on the internet. I used to do pretty well in them and at the bar league I joined in Haverhill. I was reading all the poker books and that probably hurt my chances in some of them. Yes that's right....it hurt my chances to win more of them. The reason I am saying this is that I should have picked up a certain book that I finally read last year. It came out in 2006! Yes my friends...Arnold Snyder's 'The Poker Tournament Formula'. For the tournaments I play online and at bars...and at places like Rockingham Park, Seabrook, Charity MTTs etc. I have to say that his first book on NLHE tourneys is probably the best. I said it. Go get it if you don't have it. I also got the second book and have read it once already. Snyder's style is perfect for this stuff. OK....the tangents are over.

I got there just in time to buy in slightly late to the 60/60 Rebuy...or Add on. Half the people buy in once...and half the people who actually want to cash add on the 60 when they can. The structure is horrible. If you don't spend the 120.00 you might as well just walk away after the first hour. There was a total of 35 people in the tourney. So I walk in and register and quickly grab a beer....it's been a while since I played at Rockingham. The last couple of times I've been there I did well enough to leave up at least twice the buyins that I spent. I don't really want to play any cash since the biggest bet is limit/Omaha 2-4. It's better than nothing I guess. They've also added blackjack and roulette for the degens. (I play sometimes as well..so don't be offended) that can't get to Foxwoods or Mohegan. I didn't write this out right after the tourneys so my first table description and events are a little sketchy.

The first table I got to was fairly wild. 60 bucks gets you 5,000 chips so having a wild table and getting in late meant I was folding and watching for quite a while. The dealer was to my right and I was in the one seat. To my left was some dude...can't remember. Next to him was was some lady that got knocked out..FAST. Next to her was another guy...a black guy with a shaved head and mirrored shades. There was one overweight dude I can't remember. Next to him was a dude with tattoos all over his arm...and a backwards hat. He kind of reminded me of Kid Rock He came in with like 15 minutes before the break and had 3,400 in chips or so. He decided to make a big stink about it but after the floor guy came over and they argued he still had about 3,400. I guess he was bought in for 60 but they took out the blinds up to that point? That was weird since I bought in about 20 minutes late and had the full 5,000 in chips...but I wasn't going to bring that up. Kid Rock was just talking away about nothing...he didn't give a shit after all was said and done. There was a guy with a baseball hat that was a solid player. There was another guy with a cane next to him....I have seen him before at the 'rock'. He reminded me of a character actor that has been in tons of movies and TV shows...usually plays a chubby bald social outcast type...his eyes dart back and forth repeatedly as if possessed. Next to him was an Asian guy that was over the top aggressive. Finally the next player was a young kid with a baseball hat and had all the chip tricks going. The Asian guy ran over the table with big bets and and some well timed bluffs. He got the image going to the point that everybody either folded or pushed into his nut hand. He was so aggressive however he got knocked out when he pushed his A-6o into A-Jo. He was kind enough to double me up on this hand right before. Pocket kings for me Kh-Kd under the gun. Being a rebuy....I called. I knew at least two people were going to try to push me out. Keep in mind I haven't played for a pot yet. I folded most of the 40 minutes I was there and the first break was about to come. So I call and the solid guy raises to 700. The blinds were 100-200 already. The asian guy pushes all in over the top...solid guy doesn't want to fold but does so anyway. I call and a raggy flop-turn-river does not hit Asian-guy's A-Jo. A-Jo...the AssJack! So the guy is sitting on about 3000 in chips after I take a nice chunk+raise+Blinds. He promptly pushes all in next hand with A-6o and guy with A-Jo calls and knocks him out. Asian guy decided not to rebuy and left. I only played two pots at the first table...the second one I was in a blind with J-7o and I ended up hitting a 7 when no one else had anything...I made a value bet on the river and was called by a J-3o because the 3 had paired as well. The break came and I decided to add on. I planned on being in for a while and with only 35 people total it made sense. The blinds go up every 15 minutes but sometimes the dealer forgets and you can sneak in an extra round. Again horrible structure but that's what you get when you go to the racetrack poker rooms. Kid Rock decided not to rebuy....I just don't get it. He could have more than doubled his stack. Instead he was bitching about his girlfriend who didn't return with his beer.

So after the first break everybody had to move to the next table over and there were three tables left...or 30 players. I was in the 8th seat (I had my lucky green 'Titleist' hat on) and to my left was the guy with the cane, to his left was baseball hat kid, the dealer, Can't-remember-guy, Guy with a big stack...who must have knocked two or three people out fast before the first break...he looked like...Opie, Black dude with mirrored sunglasses, Kid Rock, and finally the solid player with the baseball hat. Opie had the big stack and wielded it well. He took out or pushed out people with some great play. One hand he made a big play on was a flop of J-Q-2....after the guy with the cane raised with pocket 9's. I knew that because he showed me during the hand. I wasn't sure why he would do that since I could've tipped off Opie....that is if I didn't know he was looking over at me. So a 9 falls on the turn and then Opie bets out big enough to put cane-guy all in. He hems and haws and folds....I couldn't believe it. Opie doesn't show and Cane-guy "Knows he had a straight". I said "I couldn't fold that with only 4-5 BB's left". He was sure of his fold. So sure he noticed when Opie knocked Kid Rock out with a straight...he tapped me on the shoulder (even though I was watching the whole time) as if to clue me in on his great fold from his other hand. I still couldn't believe he folded...but that gave me some ideas about how to play him. I pushed a couple of times now that I was getting down to 12-15 BB's. The Blind steals were huge and those got me out of trouble for a while. A couple of other people got knocked out by Opie and Solid-guy with baseball hat. I made a mistake by limping in the SB and getting pushed out by an all in by the BB. Baseball hat kid pushed and he made the right play. That is an old leak I need to get rid of. After the the next few rounds my stack was starting to dwindle towards 10 BB's. I lost a couple of small pots and was pushed out of a couple others. It was time for me to make a move. I chose 10d-Kd in early position before the Blinds knocked me below 10BB's. I pushed and leaned forward...I also pulled my hat down and was looking at the table. everybody folded until the black guy with mirrored shades pushed his stack in...uhoh...I got caught. He called with Q's and everybody was saying good game. I bink'd a K on the turn. Hello....I had a sheepish grin on my face. Hey I took a shot and scored. The black guy was just staring at me through his mirrored sunglasses. He was shaking his head in controlled movements and pursing his lips...he was fighting a tirade of cuss words. He got up and walked away without losing it. After that I knew I was final table bound...I took out the Cane-guy who had short stack. I had about 20-25 BB's at the time. OK....I could probably be called a Snyderbot. I still mix it up and play tight...but at 10BB's I'm only going out by pushing...not calling. I could have almost tripled my stack with a call with A-Ko not too long before the second break. There were two pushes and a short stack call right before the break and right before the action got to me. I decided to not call because one of the guys that pushed had 20 BB's....an ace fell on the river. So if I was a true Snyderbot I probably would have called that one. That hand effectively set us up for the final table. Second break arrives....I get back and after 30 minutes the final table is set.

I think I had 20 BB's at most...not great but much better than most of the people at the final table.
The final table has me in the 5 seat...I love sitting across from the dealer...one of my favorite places to sit especially at a final table. To my left is baseball hat kid with a short stack. To his left is another solid player with a short stack. (He would be knocked out first). To his left was a slick dude type...could be mistaken for a slick douchebag at first look but he turned out to be pretty good player and not the douche-y dude. Next to him was this hulking guy with his iPod. He had a black POW MIA hat and was singing out loud. "Americaaaann Wooomannnnnnn...get away from meeeeeheeeeeee". I was chuckling at this since he looked like either the lead singer from Molly Hatchett (who passed away a couple years ago) or Jaws from the old 70's James Bond films. I guess I'll call him Jaws from now on. Next to him was grandma..the only lady at the table. She had some gamble in her though. Next to her the dealer and the next to him was Another short stack dude who was a good player...can't remember him too much...he got knocked out fairly early as well. Next to him was the older gentleman with a military baseball hat. He kind of reminded me of Capt. Suleman...or the guy who landed the plane on the Hudson river. Next to him was Opie on the big stack and next to him was Solid guy with the baseball hat. We had a quick short break and I ran to bathroom...I was drinking 16oz. Bud Light aluminum bottles. I guess a deal was made before I got back to pay everybody at the final table 50.00 no matter what. I got back and Opie let me know what was going on. I guess they do this at the 'Rock' quite a bit. "Thanks for waiting for me to make the decision everybody" I said sarcastically. So the top four get the payouts ranging from 1125 on down...equating to a total of 2000. Solid player guy and baseball hat kid got knocked out first followed by the guy I can't really remember sitting next to the dealer. Opie and solid-guy with baseball hat to my right were mixing it up and Opie's stack was starting to dwindle a bit. He could have run over the final table but held back quite a bit...he did take out 3 short stacks I think. His problem was not folding to the medium stacks that basically doubled through him multiple times. The solid guy with the baseball hat doubled through him soon after that though. He also doubled up Capt. old gent. on the other side of him.
There were two weird plays that ended up knocking out grandma and Jaws. Grandma was knocked out by Opie....he raised at least 5 BB's...grandma called off two thirds of her stack to see a flop..I was thinking she's gotta have a big pair A's or K's.....'maybe Q's or J's...I don't know'....I thought. A flop with an ace falls. Opie puts her all in and she thinks about for 5 hours..well 5 mnutes...then calls with A-5. 'Why the fuck didn't she push he stack to an obvious steal?' I thought..Opie turns up A-10....bye-bye grandma. The next play that was just crazy worked out really well for me. I basically doubled my stack to 40 BB's and took out Jaws. Here is the weird part...and also why I don't use an iPod while playing a tournament. I'm in early position and I slide my stack in slowly...I said "All in" but not loudly. I thought everybody heard me well enough...Jaws is looking across the table at the Blinds..."ALL IN" he says loudly in a booming voice...they fold. Guess what he turns up?? 5-2o...the table is stunned....he had a gut shot draw on the turn but my Q's hold up. Can you imagine if he actually filled a gut shot with 5-2o? I would have quit right there. Everybody is stunned as this is happening and he finally realizes that I pushed all in in front of him...and he had no idea. He would have stolen the blinds as Opie and solid-guy with baseball hat were folding.

Jaws : "Oh my god...I can't believe it...my mistake....stupid mistake"
Me : "Wow...I thought you had at least an A-K or something!"
Jaws : "I didn't even know you pushed in I was so fixated on stealing the Blinds...."
Me : ""Good game"...as I stand up and go to shake his hand....
Jaws : "Good game? you should kiss me right now!"
Me : "Nah...you're too ugly....but good game anyway" Laughter from the table ensues...I guess he was beating himself up after the last break.

A little more play and another break comes. I need it...those 16 oz. Bud Lights are filling me up! I get back and there are 6 players left including me. We had some pushes and calls and basically after 30 minutes we get down to five. Capt. S. was short stacking but doubles up again through Opie. Opie had 13 or 14 BB's left and I was in the BB with A-K....I take out Opie...that's what happens when the big stack gets to the table and doubles up many players. I couldn't get action with my A's soon after so I was sporting the big stack and starting to push around some people. Capt. S. was the short stack now but I doubled him up soon after. We decided after the stacks evened out to chop 4 ways. It was getting pointless after I couldn't take out anybody else. So we had close stacks at the end and chopped 4 ways 500.00 each. Not bad for less than 4 hours anyway. It was 10:30 and I decided to jump into one of the horrible SitNGo's that cost 40.00. That's the cheapest one they have...There are ten players so there are 3 payouts. Top being 190.00. I think I'll post that one later....

There was an interesting conversation with the dealer. It basically confirms the body language tells as being much more reliable than the face. I'm kind of a big fan of Caro's and the more recent book by the FBI interrogator Joe Navarro with Phil Hellmuth. I just asked the dealer what he looks for when he's playing because he was laughing to himself and congratulating himself on his reads. "the arms and the body in general....forget the face...I'm getting realllllly good at this"! : Between the Snyder book and the Navarro book I think somebody with a little poker knowledge and experience can kick the crap out of these types of tourneys...just a thought....

Fawkles....I came in 6th place in the 15K Super Turbo Ko on FTP tonight...Thursday the 25th.....see...I kinda played like crap at the final table this time though....I did buy in 3 times so....I gave myself a chance at least....

ChopChop

2011-03-19T15:20:00.000-04:00

I went to a wake for a relative on Friday. While that was not fun it was good for my sister and I to meet there and express our condolences to a distant relative. Thank god for my sister....she's much more talkative and better in those situations.
So...anyway the wake was in Methuen...right near my old stomping grounds at Rockingham Park. I was out of the wake at about 6:30 and The 'Rock' was calling. I got there in a couple of minutes and bought right into a 60-60 rebuy/addon. No details yet but I agreed to a deal with the final four of us and viola!

There is 5 hundo there so that was nice. It was about 10:30 after that so I decided to jump into one of their 40.00 dollar SitNGo's....guess what....I chopped that with the other guy heads up as well for another 110.00...not bad. Although the structures of the tourneys are awful it's still fun to get up there once in a great while and get into a push-fest. I'll probably do a more detailed post later.

Absolute-ly horrible Turbo 45 mans

2011-03-11T00:20:00.000-05:00

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

I've been getting some horrible beats as usual but what do I expect with a turbo? Set over set on the river is the usual but this seems to be an automatic multi-table MTT to generate some rake...

the wonder of it all...in link form.....

2011-03-05T23:17:00.001-05:00

I wonder how many poker rooms do this? I was cruising through 2+2 and this post from Bernard Lee appeared. I do believe he is the new Foxwoods poker ambassador. This I believe is the right thing for Foxwoods. In Bernard they made a great choice. I have his radio show linked on the sidebar under the 'Poker Sites and Forums' category. Nice work on both counts.

Back to the future...or past....

2011-03-05T01:57:00.000-05:00

Absolute Poker....Bodog.....Ultimate (ripoff) Bet.....
I went back to all and had a good time. I did however get called by somebody with a superuser account on UB. They called my A-Ko with some redic. under pair like 4's with a scary board.....sigh...I did however get Absolute Poker going and my first tourney back in ages...viola!

It was a 45 man 11+1 entry but hey....not bad for a first MTT in ages on this place...

Sad....

2011-02-28T12:21:00.000-05:00

Yes it is very sad when the top online players ever is repeatedly accused of cheating. I mean it's well beyond the point of "where there is smoke there is fire" line. Well beyond. I wonder what or who they will blame? Read the article and find out.

Sometimes you just have to say......

2011-02-22T00:04:00.000-05:00

SHUT THE FUCK UP AND PLAY YOUR STUPID GUITAR!!! I think I need another biggest assholes of the last six months post....until then....Tom Moronello...I should upload a guitar solo from Tom. I would...but I would also get inquiry from PETA about why I put the sound of a person wearing barbed wire gloves is strangling a cat and kicking a tin can against a wall.

I had the toughest commute to work this week....

2011-02-04T12:30:00.001-05:00

Well...I guess it isn't a total loss.....as bad as it was it wasn't as bad as this fucking asshole's week. Ah well...it is Friday...time to get retardodonked by Eurotards on Stars....

O8 WBCOOP

2011-01-26T22:10:00.004-05:00

This can't be good.....good grief...I'm listening to BuddyDankRadio and the 'CandyMan' makes a cameo

Gave it a shot came up short trying to draw.....

WBCOOP day after blog post

2011-01-26T21:50:00.000-05:00

I came in 46th place. I need to find a way to get to the final table. Maybe if I call 2 all in pushes with 4-6o I can get there! Maybe not. Shenanigans. 46th place 4-6o? Hmmmm.

NO Limit Omatahd

2011-01-23T01:54:00.000-05:00

It is fun and most delicious....

WBCOOP tidbits

2011-01-20T22:25:00.001-05:00

I remember last years WBCOOP. I couldn't get home in time for any of the tourneys. They finally changed it up a bit and they have some make-able tourney start times. Bammer and Lightning did some damage last year. Look at the following pic......'sup wit dat Bammer? Mr. Highly Commended!!

WBCOOP

2011-01-13T22:06:00.000-05:00

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! The WBCOOP is a free online Poker tournament open to all Bloggers, so register on WBCOOP to play.
Registration code: XXXXXX 135325

1-11-11

2011-01-11T21:20:00.000-05:00

The brutal eloquence of Nigel Tufnel.....

But.....theeeeeeese go to eleven!

Happy New Year! Let's do this!

2011-01-07T11:04:00.000-05:00

This is the first edgy thing CNN has done in 10 years....they invited 'Terrible' Teddy Nugent on their program and he goes and schools Roseanne Barr (she is but a parody of herself these days...or is she a parody of a parody of herself.....who knows) on just about everything. Enjoy and Happy New Year to all. While I didn't go ahead and make a 'Poker Goals' post or anything I hope to build on some 2010 Full Tilt success....Prosperity to all and to all a good year.....

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!!

2010-12-25T23:01:00.000-05:00

Rounders 2?

2010-12-20T13:47:00.000-05:00

This will have to better than all those dismal poker movies that have come out in recent years. Let's hope it will live up to the inevitable hype....

No WPBT/Winter Classic for me again....

2010-12-02T22:16:00.000-05:00

I went in the winter of 2007.....high expectations abound. I had a great time and met great people. Let me correct my self I had an incredible time. I'm not over stating that or anything....everybody I met was top notch. I'm sure if I went this year it would be even better. If I DON'T get my early Christmas present this year there could be some Train Wreck Bloggage in December. I may just feed the insatiable appetite for schadenfreude.

Happy Thanksgiving/Turkey Day

2010-11-25T09:43:00.001-05:00

Good Grief!

2010-11-18T10:59:00.000-05:00

Try to follow this!

You are in the U.S......be happy about it!

2010-11-17T22:04:00.000-05:00

You could be in Egypt!

To all those...

2010-11-11T13:41:00.000-05:00

Who are currently serving and have served in the past....
Thanks

Losing Her Privileges | CNSnews.com

2010-11-10T17:47:00.001-05:00

Losing Her Privileges | CNSnews.com

This makes me laugh....

40 years old...well....yesterday anyway....

2010-10-31T12:11:00.001-04:00

Yes...it made for some awesome birthday parties while growing up. I turned 40 on the 30th....1/2 hour before midnight. I was born in the Pumpkin Patch. Happy birthday to me! I'm a little hung over this morning/afternoon....oh and Happy Halloween!

Hammer Drawp

2010-10-28T22:40:00.000-04:00

The Hammer Full :

DDonkeynysus Potlimitus Strikus

2010-10-26T02:40:00.000-04:00

DDonkeynysus is tiredus......weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyaaaaaawwwnnnnnnnnnnn

It's late....I'm a Donkey....

2010-10-20T01:31:00.002-04:00

Play the WBCOOP as well....

10-10-10

2010-10-12T13:00:00.002-04:00

I know...it's not 10-10-10 when I posted this but hey....it. looks. cool. period. (redundancy is awesome). I haven't been bank rolled for much else but 3-10 dollar tourneys etc. lately...my run in late spring-late summer ended abruptly. Most likely due to crappy play but also the new schedules for everybody in my family. My wife started working again as a teacher in Boston. That means our earning are back to where we were in '07 when I moved down to my new house. That is all well and good...but....that also means our 2+ year old has to go back into daycare. It also means I have to drop off both kids to daycare and Kindergarten in the AM. We are scheduled to the minute every morning to say the least. To get our new schedule started my daughter got sick as soon as she went into daycare. That f'd everything up and I got the brunt of the sickness last week as well. I'll tell you what. It doesn't matter if you have one stay home or both work...you are going to be broke no matter what. Mortgage, daycare, kindergarten, bills, bills, and more bills. ugh. That is why I grind the small buy in tourneys for 5-6 years straight. So...now that I have the obligatory FML section of the post over with.....A little update on the current Poker life is needed NO?
I haven't been able to play any 'live' poker so most of the playing has been online. I am mostly used to that for the last 5 years but....I needs me some live poker once in a while. The last time I played a live tourney was at the Seabrook poker room on a dreary rain soaked nor'easter night during my summer vacation. Needless to say that the play reflected that of a charity tournament. In a word...BAD! The last time I was there a guy called my all in bet with a Q and a 9. The board had an Ace, a Queen, and a 5 or something. I had A-J or Diamonds and raised to start the hand. So he drew out to two pair.....I think the last words I heard him say were "It's about time that happened to me". My last words before I walked out were "Jesus Christ". Most people had a dumbfounded look on their faces. That was my intro. to Seabrook.
So this weekend I was sick of playing online and was just hoping my wife would do something like say get a reservation to Foxwoods or something? I took Monday off as a vacation day as we don't have Columbus day off in the private sector. My parents graciously asked if we wanted them to babysit for our kids overnight on Sunday. "um....yeah....yes....yesssss we do" I had a glint in my eye and my wife heard the conversation. So as the kids were playing in the other room she gets laptop PC out and starts surfing the internets. I had a peripheral view of the screen and I saw Foxwoods. Was she doing this for my upcoming 40th birthday? Was she just checking her dream card points balance?? Yes and Yes were the answers. We got a cheap room at the 'Two Trees Inn' that is on the grounds of Foxwoods but a little detached and you need to take a shuttle to get there. The shuttle runs every 5 minutes. Notice how I skipped the travel down there and everything else? It only took a few minutes to get ready and GONE! It's been about a year since we've been there and this was mostly for a relaxing time away for 24 hours. So the 'Two Trees Inn' is closest to the casino located over the Poker room at Foxwoods. Get where I'm going here? So I dabbled around the slots with wifey for a while...she looks at me and says...."OK....I can see that you're dying to get down to the Poker room so why don't you go and we'll meet back at the Inn later"? "Um.....yeah....OK".....beeline to poker room. It's a good thing the wifey doesn't play poker.....she reads me like a book.
I think this was the shortest poker session I've played down there ever. I was there for about 2.5 hours. Only because I was tired...not because of a bad session. We got there around 8 PM and I didn't get down to the poker room until about 11:30 PM. I bought in short since...well I didn't have a huge amount of money. I bought in for 180.00. It's a 1-2 NL table and there was plenty of action right away. I figure If I bust out I'll get some sleep/rest/relaxation so it's all good. The table wasn't full the whole time I was there but I'll do my best to get the lay of the land on the table.
To my left was quirky Internet kid. He had a baseball hat and goofy air force sunglasses. I had a side view of his eyes so I actually picked up some tells from him. His M.O. was incessant talking about pot odds, fold equity, his favorite hand, why someone played a hand this way..that way...blah blah f'n blah. Most people wanted to stab their eyeballs with a pencil but it didn't bother me. I thought it was kind of funny. Next to him was a large dude with a Celtics hat on. He played a lot of pots and was perpetually short stacked. He yo-yo'd for a few hours being the loose Aggressive type....or at least until I knocked him out. The guy next to him had a huge stack of chips...he had a Celtics (Celts hat #2) hat on and seemed to be a real solid player. Guy next to him was a loose-Agg. dude who yo-yo'd quite a bit. One of the few without a baseball hat. Guy next to him was a sort of angry dude who wanted to stab quirky internet kid in the eye with an icepick. He was kind of tight but couldn't let go of A-Ko for the life of him. He had a Red Sox hat. The guy sitting to his left was an older dude with a southern drawl. He was solid. He reminded me of a character movie guy. Not sure who he is but he looked a lot like him and of course sounded like him. Kid next to him was another Red Sox (Red Sox hat #2) hat and made Quad Jacks and promptly got a stack after quirky Internet kid and Indonesian guy sitting directly on my right bet into them on the flop. He promptly lost his stack two hands later to friendly (he liked to talk about his hands etc. giving a lot of info. away therefore friendly) Indonesian guy on my right. Kid next to him was another dude with a Red Sox hat (Red Sox hat #3). This kid was hilarious. He was drunk and wouldn't stop talking about hands after they were played. Funny stuff. He shoved his open ended straight into the Celtics hat #2 guy and the guy thought it over for like 5 minutes then folded. The drunk kid showed his open ended straight and the the Celtics hat #2 guy said he folded the same hand. Lastly next to the drunk kid (Red Sox hat #3) was the Indonesian guy to my right. I threw away A-Ko and A-Qs a few times after raising Pre-flop and then making continuation bets to a few players. Most had some believable bluffs....but I wasn't going to lose my stack with nothing on the board. That makes me tight at Foxwoods. It's been a while since I've been there of course...but yes that is tight. I wasn't really trying to build a tight image but after an hour or so that was what was thought by most of the other players. They told me. I used that later.
I had a hand where I raised pre-flop with A-Qh and a 3 heart flop fell. This was of course before the 'Tight' image was somehow stuck on my forehead. 4 callers. I raised to 8 pre-flop most of the time. Sometimes to 12. I got callers until I started showing great hands at showdowns later in the evening. So anyway five callers on my flopped nut flush. I checked. There was a raise and re-raise and my all in. Nobody called the all in...but that was a typical hand for the next two hours. Quirky Internet kid was providing plenty of entertainment and unnecessary poker strategy for hours. He and Drunk kid were hilarious and kept the table somewhat loose....both in mood and play. I had quite a few playable hands....more so than usual. Most of the time that I've spent there in the past has been folding crap for what seems like hours on end. There were some heated words between Red Sox hat dude #2 and quirky Internet kid but somehow he diffused the situation with some well timed humour. He also got stacked by the Quads of Red Sox hat dude #3 earlier so he got lots of action. I did actually see his pupils get bigger when he saw a flop on one of his pre-flop raised hands. I didn't think I would ever get to use that tell but I had a side-view sitting directly to his right. The other guy obviously had no clue because of the goofy Air force type sun glasses he had on. He did make an interesting move on a hand between the two of us.....a straddle-bet hand. Being the quirky Internet dude that frequents Foxwoods he put the straddle bet out and everyone folded. I called. I had Ac-2s. The flop was Qc-8c-2c. I bet 20 having the nut flush draw and he raised to 40. I called of course and a non club 5 fell. OK...I got spooked and checked the non club 5....he went all in. FAWK! what the hell did he have on a stupid straddle bet? I went into the tank and started a conversation with him. He was confident and didn't look like he was bluffing. Everything in my gut told me to fold. "I'll show you my hand if you can guess what it is" he said. I thought it over folded and guessed pocket 8's. Sure enough he flopped silly...but he also knew I was on a flush draw. After reading all those poker books I think I'm finally picking up the right physical tells etc. Another 2 or a club and would have been one of those hands that everybody screams about and everybody else in the room turns their head to see what's up. At that point I was up to about 250 even after that hand so the night was still young. There was also a couple of people that busted after an hour. I think it was the older dude with the southern drawl and the kid who flopped quad J's earlier. He reloaded short after losing most of his stack to the Indonesian dude to my right....I think he had J's again and the Indo. dude had Q's. After another half hour I started getting some interesting hands and coordinated flops to go along with them. I had a pair of J's in under the gun and raised to 12. There were two callers one across the table and the Indonesian guy in the BB. A flop of 2h-4s-7x fell. Indonesian guy bet 30....I raised to 60...he went into the tank. He tried to get info. out of me and was talking to me...I knew he was going to fold at this point. I'm guessing he was betting his draw. Although I may have gotten him to fold Q's. I'm not sure but he muttered "Nice bet" and folded after thinking about it for a long time. My small raise looked real Strong to him and that was my intention. He also said..."if you shoved there I would have snap-called". After he said that I knew I made him fold Q's or even K's.
I had another interesting hand against the drunk kid in the baseball hat. I raised to 12 again in early position with pocket black 9's. This time everybody folded except drunk kid. He held out his hand above the table with a call and said..."I'm calling...I could have anything". At this point that was very true...he shoved his stack with an open-ended straight earlier. The flop 2s-3c-9s...bingo. He bets 15...I called. 5c on the turn. I checked and he bet I think 30. I shoved at this point and he went on a drunken whine-fest. He was quite unlucky but he liked to steal pots and I knew this was another one. He eventually folded and left after some drunken banter. "FML" he said a few hand later holding Pocket K's out in front of him. That made me laugh because he raised and got two callers and then an ace flopped. That was it for him and he said "I'm going to take the rest of this to the craps tables...I can't believe this." I think there were 7 of us left at this point. There were more hands played and the table turned out to be one of the more entertaining I've ever sat at in Foxwoods. Of course winning some cash makes one a little more jovial. The last two times I've played cash a Foxwoods I've come out of it with a lot more than I went with. I wonder if the Mohegan Sun is sucking up a lot of the regulars. I come to Foxwoods about 2 times a year on average and I swear I play against the same people every time. I know that I've sat and played against quirky Internet kid and Red Sox hat #2 guy before. So the last hand that I played of the night was against Celtics hat dude #1. Everybody folded to me on the button and I looked down at two red Kings. I raised to 12 thinking that the blinds would think that I was stealing with anything. They told me I was tight so they probably thought I was trying to exploit my image. Both blinds called though! I raggy flop fell and the BB bet 30....I looked over at his stack and he had about 60 more. I raised his bet to 90 putting him all in. The quirky Internet kid folded in the SB. The BB called and my K's dominated his J's. The table broke up after that. It was 2:00 AM and I needed sleep. I just got through two weeks of kids being sick and me being sick so. Instead of playing all night and losing back half my stack I called it a night. I think I left with 450.00 altogether after buying in with 180.00. Fun Times at Foxwoods. It has been a long time......

2010-10-05T12:24:00.001-04:00

Ah....does the left one look infected today or something. At least the wife put it on ice again.....

2010-10-04T12:04:00.001-04:00

The wife will have no idea why I am laughing about the lunch she packed...on ice no less!

At least I got my buy in back....

2010-09-20T22:54:00.001-04:00

Monday and Tuesdays.....run into aces every tournament and get knocked out....lose races and get knocked out....always Mondays and Tuesdays. At least I knocked out one of the 10 million Full Tilt Red Pros to get my buy in back....

Then this happens....you have to get stacked to go far in this donk-fest....so instead of taking the easy cash I push with QQ (the worst hand ever) into A-Ko and lose the race....I end up bubbling but at least I'm not playing like somebody who wants to cash....
I am going to post some nice race-losing HH's now.....nah......

I got this email....I guess this is the first time i've busted a pro....thought I did that before but I guess not....

Hi DDionysus,

Congratulations on busting S Gromenkova in the following tournament:

$12K Rush Super Turbo KO (185997398)

Your Full Tilt Poker account has been credited with a bounty prize of $16.00.

In addition to your bounty prize money, you've also earned a T-shirt to commemorate your accomplishment. You'll receive a second email that will allow you to claim this shirt and confirm your shipping details.

Remember, Full Tilt Poker offers a bounty for busting any red pro playing in any scheduled real-money tournament with 30 players or more. You can collect a bounty matching the tournament buy-in (not including tournament fee) up to $200.

We're happy to have you playing at Full Tilt Poker - best of luck at the tables!

Sincerely,

Full Tilt Poker

2010-09-18T20:45:00.000-04:00

This may be the best seasonal brew i've ever tasted...Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale....Tasty!!!

Pay it forward good blogger!!!

2010-09-15T12:18:00.002-04:00

I imported a new list to the blog list. I wanted the feature that shows who updates their blog and when. If your blog is missing then let me know....Yes this means YOU! I also had a nice lady contact me through email and made an offer I couldn't refuse. I told her to make the same offer to everybody on my blog list because I wanted credit for being a nice guy and also giving something back to the blogger community...or what's left of it! So.....it DOES PAY to be on my blog list NO? Now check the blog list on the right side and let me know...GO NOW...DO IT....STOP WASTING TIME AND MONEY!!!!

Edit : Speaking of paying it forward. The good people at UpForPoker have decided to get PokerStars to open up the generosity door for THIS. Ummmmmm. I am wanting to be there....I just don't know if I can be there. I'm sure if I will be there it will be a last minute thing.....and I will need a team for the Last Longer Challenge. I suggested team MassHole for people from Massachusetts...but maybe that could be expanded to New England....since everybody hates our sports teams. Last time I was there was '07 and this guy was nice enough to show me around. Just where is BDidde/Biggestron anyway? I'll have to put out an A.P.B. on him.....

Never forget

2010-09-12T00:02:00.000-04:00

9 years ago. Never again. I am so sick of hearing about this Koran burning stuff. It's basically taking over as the story of the month. I don't care what happens to the book of hate. I care about what this day means to America. Never forget...and never again.

Stupid way to die......

2010-09-07T16:37:00.000-04:00

This is today's stupid way to die.....the former ELO musician is rumored to have said "Hey...." before getting crushed by....well.....Hay......

Second Fawkin' FiDDle!

2010-09-05T23:37:00.002-04:00

Ouch...last hand as follows : (I knew the guy was tiring and I knew he was going to push anything if I called so.....the summer ends with a semi-bang)

Full Tilt Poker Game #23656967983: $6 + $0.40 Super Turbo KO (182712258), Table 2 - 4000/8000 Ante 1000 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:24:14 ET - 2010/09/05
Seat 1: Illie565 (165,178)
Seat 2: DDionysus (70,322)
Illie565 antes 1,000
DDionysus antes 1,000
DDionysus posts the small blind of 4,000
Illie565 posts the big blind of 8,000
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DDionysus [Jh Jd]
DDionysus calls 4,000
Illie565 raises to 40,000
DDionysus raises to 69,322, and is all in
Illie565 calls 29,322
DDionysus shows [Jh Jd]
Illie565 shows [Qs Kc]
*** FLOP *** [5h 2s 7s]
*** TURN *** [5h 2s 7s] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [5h 2s 7s 6s] [Qd]
DDionysus shows a pair of Jacks
Illie565 shows a pair of Queens
Illie565 wins the pot (140,644) with a pair of Queens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 140,644 | Rake 0
Board: [5h 2s 7s 6s Qd]
Seat 1: Illie565 (big blind) showed [Qs Kc] and won (140,644) with a pair of Queens
Seat 2: DDionysus (small blind) showed [Jh Jd] and lost with a pair of Jacks

I took out one of the best players on the internet!!!!

2010-08-30T23:39:00.001-04:00

Read it and weep....it reminded me of the time I eliminated Rizen from the Bodog tourney. Oh yeah....he wasn't there! I sucked out on Amir though....thanks to BamBam and Amir for the opp.

I suck.....I do know this....

2010-08-29T00:35:00.001-04:00

It's the end of summer...but I still have Monday off!!

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required.

2010-08-27T19:52:00.000-04:00

Brats 'n Magic Hat #9....

2010-08-27T14:49:00.001-04:00

Summer recipe....one part Bud Light...2 parts Miller Genuine draft 64 (for light beach consumption) 1 part Mike's hard lemonade, 1 part Coors light, 1 part Sam Adams Summer Ale, another part Bud light, sprinkle liberally with ice....@ viola! Later...adding liquor for extra spice!

2010-08-26T19:08:00.001-04:00

A pot full o' Lobby's!!!

Turbo Bink....

2010-08-16T22:46:00.000-04:00

Zing!
I'm likin' these super turbo's.........

Turbo DDonk!!!

2010-08-12T00:30:00.000-04:00

I'm such a Turbo Donk....can't stop DDonkin around!!!

I also got pwned in the Very Josie and bubbled the Mookie....4th place phucknuts.....

Dusk Dawg says....

2010-08-10T19:46:00.002-04:00

Dusk Dawg says....
"life is Ruff...and tuesday is Spewday"!!!!

Dusk Dawg also says......we have decided to rename it the TuesDDay SpewDDay!

Deep thoughts.......by PokahDave

2010-08-06T11:08:00.001-04:00

Ummmmm....FriedDay night...

I.......Wookie *

2010-08-05T14:19:00.000-04:00

I won a Mookie=I Wookie=the end of civilization as we know it.

Usually when I win a tournament in a series like the Mookie it ends because that is what I do. I killed off the 'Wheatie' back in the day on PokerStars. I won and a month later it basically ended. I won the M.A.T.H. a couple of years back and it abruptly ended a month later. Will this be the end of our beloved 'Mookie'? I guess we'll find out in a month. It is the first time I won a Mookie...after coming 2nd ten million times. What did it take 4 years and a crazy situation on top of that....AAAARRRGH!!!! This "win" is not without an asterisk though. Julius_Goat....who was owning me heads up suddenly got disconnected. We traded leads for what seems like forever. It was past 1:00 AM and being on the East coast...I needed to get to sleep. I'll asterisk this inherited Mookie win.............but I'll take it! Jeezuz...there wasn't even 20 players...I can't believe that someone could win one of those 80+ Player Mookie's. Maybe I should call it the 'Mistookie'. I sucked out a bunch of times at the final table. I had pocket 3's and flopped a set...so I figure I am good. Not so...other dude flops a set of 8's and I was dead.....that is until the turn bring another 3...D.Q.B! The heads up battle with Julius_Goat was excruciatingly long....maybe even 40 minutes. I found out today his router needed to be rebooted. I being the nice guy I am....and feeling guilty transferred his Mookie buy-in. It's the least I could do. Lightning36 also Roach'd his way to another money finish in 3rd. That in itself was an accomplishment. I equate playing the Mookie with taking a cheese grater to your junk. Then pouring alcohol over your grated junk and screaming in pain for weeks...AM I WRONG?

Gratuitous screen shot for the 'Mistookie'

Tuesday is Spewday...and solar tsunami day as well.....

2010-08-03T13:16:00.002-04:00

As the sun spews on the earth tonight....you too should spew chips on Spewday Tuesday...

From LJ's blog :

"play two tourneys tonight for fun and glory! tuesday spewday is on full tilt poker, password = spewday

Tourney ID 174878610: 9pm $11 double stack, early antes
Tourney ID 174876304: 9:15pm $6 super turbo KO

all times ET

i'm gonna try to do screen shots, but it's so hard. seriously, no idea how mookie did this for so long. may implement a weekly winner profile a la mookie. see you tonight!"

....and tomorrow night is the one...the only :

Of course hosted by Josie.......
And....after that if you want to play in a cheesegrater-on-balls-then-alcoholpouredonyouropenwounds-tournament play the Mookie.....

Last and certainly not least : if you like Dr. Pauly and the Tao of Poker..... you must get and read this book now. Details on purchasing are here . I just finished the book and it is a great read. My take is that the book has elements of all things that poker bloggers love and crave. One of course being the best poker blog ever...throw in a dash of Hunter S. Thompson, a dash of Anthony Bourdain, a dash of Jack Kerouac and you have a rich stew of poker, gambling, degeneracy and travel experiences. Very. Interesting. Indeed.

That is all.....
Thanks,
PokahDave

Tuesday Spewday

2010-07-27T09:51:00.001-04:00

That's right folks....a couple of new tourneys to pimp. Tonight is 'tuesday spewday' and was setup but none other than LJ here are the details :

"here's the info, it's two tournaments, one regular MTT at 9pm EST and a super turbo KO at 9:15pm ET. password for both is spewday. (no period)"

Tournament #174055893 07.27.10 21:00 ET - 3000 chips
Tournament #174065188 07.27.10 21:15 ET - Super Turbo KO

Did I mention that this was on Full Tilt Poker?
Anyway....I came...I spewed.....on Tuesday Spewday......OK that didn't sound right but it was fun anyway.....

2010-07-24T21:20:00.003-04:00

Tonight....Blues Cruise!

2010-07-23T22:19:00.001-04:00

Santana!!!!

2010-07-23T21:21:00.002-04:00

Yes...the man can play guitar...