cuteness trumps....
 

ok poker fans we're back with more "Thursday game" excitement and yet again we're in 3/6 limit company at the fabulous horseshoe Baltimore casino.

we last left off with a solid outing to close to within only $855 of even for the year but tonight it's back to getting pounded as I lose about 20 times with KQ to start the game and fall behind $181.

the game has hope though.

one hand i'm not involved in is capped four ways pre flop but when running diamonds fall after a 345 flop a new player is complaining how he probably got run down (he did) after flopping the nuts.

"you played 76s out of position for a cap? dilane would have a coronary!" i'm thinking to myself but then the kid tables 62, so....

indeed I do start to launch a comeback and there's actually hope that i'm gonna come all the way back.... until my neighbor "howlin' wolf" runs me down on the river with a 63 off.

down a "respectable" $49 I head for the exits.

it's a "Thursday game" tradition that I stop at a certain diner on the way home but there's intense construction going on so I try a new spot.

i'm enjoying my dinner about as much as a guy who just lost in 3/6 company at horseshoe can when my waitress sits a guy and three younger girls at a table right beside me.

this group just came from a bar where one of the girls, emily (about a 5 1/2) got FOUR numbers.

in the ensuing minutes we learn that one of the bartenders, john, is a strong favorite due to his "cuteness."

however, a quick check of facebook puts the issue in doubt when it's revealed that john's a big fan of...... Donald trump.

in the end though cuteness trumps politics as john's features win out. he will soon be one happy bartender!!

thank you for reading.

game -49 (3/6)
year -904 (34-31)
bonus 0 (470)

thanks prox. glad at least you care.

i wouldn't call what my fat butt does running. it's jogging. 10m miles. all the real runners go whizzing past each morning when i reach the public parks which are my fav spots of the 6 mi journeys, except for the fitness shaming. haha. now that the lv shots are finished i've cut down to 3 1/2 mornings a week. every other day.

you're taking some shots in lv soon? do tell.

i'll say this. think hard about your schedule. i almost entered a bracelet event, simply for the wow factor of the series. really glad i didn't. one visit to the rio is fine. played 4 hours of cash and left up 2 hundo. didn't compete there and unless my roll doubles, there's a ton of good value for half the price all over town i'd rather take shots in. rio felt like a poker walmart. and as an aside, one of my biggest pet peeves was going down at the cash game there. players were continually arguing with the dealer and dealers kept calling floor over. every single time the dealer was correct. couldn't get a table change and this table was a dream for me game wise, but the players were argumentative jerks.

Against observant opponents, carefully think out your bet sizing strategy. And that can include a consistent size or some sort of reverse tell.

Against mouth breathers, bet as much as you think they will call when you have it.

Also, remember lots of bad players don't care about pot size. They think of a bet as big in relation to their stack.

Good job.

Bear in mind, all tournaments, even deep stack non-turbo structures, have tons of variance in them. (Ask Vanessa Selbst about what happened yesterday!) You probably have a huge edge in the sort of tournament you played in even though you got coolered.

I've been on good run the past month. Have cut my yearly losses to about $250 (or about -$3 per hour). Not earth shattering as the number of total hours is very low (due to a 3-month break), so results may be very much due to normal variance vs. "good" play.

About 2 weeks ago I had a hand where after about 20 minutes I lost my entire $300 by-in with top or at worse chopping full house vs. villain's Quads. Obviously not happy, I reached in my pocket for my 2nd buy-in. Then I nibbled here and there, fighting the demons of distraught from losing such a big hand, while also mostly avoiding the temptations to over-press and play hands I should not be playing. After about 5.5 hours later near the time I had originally thought about quitting I decided to book this $10 winning session. Certainly no where close to my highest winning sessions, but probably one of the most satisfying.

No poker this week, as I am off to my most-favorite track for the annual 4-day meet in Prineville, Oregon. :jump:

While in-flight and during some of the other down times it will be back to "The Grinder's Manual" by Peter Clarke, an excellent book even though it is geared for 6-max on-line players. I am not quite 50% thru and really enjoy this book. A big thank you to Thaskalos for his recommendation some time back!

TC, good job rallying back from the nearly inconceivable beat you took. I 100% get booking a win there. Small in $, gigantic in satisfaction. It's what I call a foundation win.

RR & dilan, I can see your points about taking spots here and there to use deceptive sizing, particularly with value hands. I think I actually do that already. For example, a page or two ago I was bitching about only getting two streets. Check the 9's full river bet. 85% pot of a 3 bet-c bet hand. Lot of dudes think that makes sense only for fold equity. Regarding sizing up fish, I won't often continue whatsoever if I have nothing and they have a lot of top pairs in their shit. Friendly advice. Don't bluff fish. They don't know why they're doing it, but they always call. But yes, when you're made, there's no need to be deceptive. Miss no streets. Keep making bets that get called til they're committed and stack them whenever possible.

no sno-cone machine for paulie......
 

ok poker fans we're back with more mid-atlantic action, this time "stepping onto the red carpet" for another exciting high hand day at hollywood penn national!!

anticipating a capacity crowd i arrive early for this tilt and secure a seat in 3/6 limit company. i fall behind early before flopping quads (of course before the high hands start:rolleyes:) to creep back towards even.

the room's filling up fast as the high hand kickoff approaches. poker boss dan and sprightly pen dealer veronica are celebrating birthdays and as this room of hardened gamblers belts out a stirring rendition of happy birthday i catch a glimpse of our pony playing friend the lion, who is not amused after losing with a set of nickels to a villain who should've folded but instead stuck around to river a remote longshot.

indeed the lion is angrier and more focused than apollo creed in rocky 2. he is all business!! (he comes back to win and go 53-14 on the year!!)


i'm still behind but in better spirits than the lion. indeed when i come back and win i'm going to buy a statue for the church, a sno-cone machine for paulie, maybe some hats....

instead the game goes the other way. :mad:

i lose about 20 times with AJ.

i flop two sets and turn two flushes in this long afternoon and evening but i lose all four of these hands.

i lose about seven times with JJ.

finally i start to rally but then lose yet again with AJ.

in the end i drop $189.

it felt like a thousand.

thank you for reading.

game -189 (3/6)
year -1093 (34-32)
bonus 0 (470)

frightening borgata situation.....
 

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/27...ility-1677063/

I know dilane saw this one but I thought i'd post it for anyone who hasn't.

if this is true it's scary.

How does the player with the baby flush allow his pot to be pushed to a player who mucked his hand...and had to go back into the muck to retrieve his cards? Who CARES if the dealer was too quick in dealing the next hand...if the victim actually saw the cheating take place, he should have told the dealer right away that the man went into the muck to retrieve his hand. And if he DIDN'T see what happened...then, what the heck was he looking at?

I think people should be very careful to judge players in situations like this. Stuff happens very fast. I have called the floor on obvious mistakes and by the time the dealer realizes and the action stops, 3 people have called or folded. It's VERY hard to protect your hand when there is confusion and diversions. Cheaters and angle-shooters feast on this environment.

And I am not surprised one bit by the Borg's allowing the pot to be pushed and the guy to leave before the tape is reviewed. I haven't been in that many situations where surveillance had to be called, but I have seen several floormen refuse to impound pots that needed to be impounded. Believe me, there is nothing you can do if the floorman is insistent, other than stuff that will get you thrown out of the casino like physically interfering with the pushing of the pot.

Hopefully the New Jersey gaming people will force Borgata to make this right.

track collector saves the day??
 

ok poker fans we last left off with another thrashing..... that contest a rare limit loss at penn national.

losing energy and desire, I skip a couple Thursday games before the poker bug bites me again and i'm up early on a Friday morning heading for Charles town.

it takes me hours to win a hand at Charles town and I spend the entire day and night chasing. in the end I wave the white flag with a $67 3/6 limit loss.

of course the next week I again plan to hit horseshoe Baltimore for "the Thursday game" but if recent history is any indication i'll probably end up sleeping all day again before trudging out to penn national for some live racing.

a message though from our friend track collector saying that he's going to hit the horseshoe gives me the motivation I need to get my lazy ass moving.

it's high hand night at the shoe but there's still not a big crowd and I continue to worry about the future of this room. the comps are still pretty good here though and it remains my personal favorite.

the first high hand is an hour long one and is to be followed by a series of half hour high hand periods. despite its length though (and liberal qualification rules) no one is hitting big hands. aces full of tens stands for awhile before aces full of queens takes over with about ten minutes to go.

with AA though I flop a set and a board pairing king on the river puts me, PROXIMITY, in the driver's seat with only five minutes to go!!

with only a handful of tables in the room it holds up and we add (a much needed) $225 in the bonus category!!

meanwhile, over in the no limit section track collector doesn't need any gimmicks; he wins his hundreds at the table like a real man before stopping to visit on his way out the door.

at the 3/6 table he gets a bird's eye view of what kind of psychos play this game when he witnesses a dispute over $1. (yes, ONE DOLLAR):faint:

i believe the dispute involved a straddle and when shoe poker manager victor is called to the table i (only half jokingly) tell him they should just eliminate straddles!! victor's not going for it though and Mississippi straddles will remain. :D

i hold on for a $29 win.

thank you for reading. :)

game -67 (ct 3/6)
+29 (hsb 3/6)
year -1131 (35-33)
promo 225 (695)

You met the Dukes?

well done on the bonus. Just remember when you have bad luck next time that the guy with aces over queens was none too happy. Luck finds us eventually, even when we try to hide from it, lol.

I've returned on a Monday to brag a little and to respond to the dealer mistakes issue.

The brag. Fam's out of town so I competed in ten 12.5k + guaranteed games Sat & Sun. Finished 10th in one and 3rd in two. Lost flips with 88 & JJ to narrowly miss finishing 1st in the final table tries.

But, both were great final tables imho. My personal gauge of a good final table is: If you're 1/9 you finish first. In any other spot if you improve your position it's a good session. If you improve two or more positions it's a great session. In both final tables I entered 7/9 and improved to 3rd. Very, very pleased.

The one where I was eliminated in 10th I was dumb. 5 handed, good player limps under the gun. I'm BB with 15bb and 6/10 holding K5o. SB completes. I check. Board comes K72. Check/check/ limper bets 40% pot. SB folds, I shove. He snaps w AA. What's the saying? "Never go broke in a limped pot." Got what I deserved for being a fish.

Yes dealers make mistakes, but players make too many complaints. Stop fishing for reasons to instigate and own your shit. Police the game and take action before it has to go to floor. I can't count how many times floor gets called over after the fact for not anything real. And when floor's about to go back to their kiosk I mention I'd like a table change cuz they're constantly arguing with the dealers.

Line Check Please.

$33 BI, $12,500 Guarantee. Paid at 99. 4000/8000/500a. We're 4/18 in the lojack starting w 325k. Villain is in BB w 260k.

Holding ATo I open to 16k. BB defends. 49k to the flop.

Flop is AQT, A & T are hearts. BB checks. I bet 23k. He check raises to 58k. I call.

Let me explain. I crushed this board. He almost always 3 bets AAQQJJTT&AKAQAJAT. KJo he might defend with, but he more likely 3 bets. KQ hearts and historically this player defends. He sometimes will defend with hands like J9,98,97,76 hearts. I want to keep his semibluffs in and depending on the turn I'll go with the hand. 165k to the turn.

Turn is the 6 of hearts. He shoves 186k. You what???