Last nights Blogger Skillz PLO game was just long and painful. Who knew that one can be card dead in Omaha for damn near two hours? There were very few hands that I could play, and about 90% of those wiffed on the flop, it was quite sad. Evy on the hand could not miss. If she had four cards she could see the flop, and damn if she did not hit it. every. single. time. It was quite the sight to behold. Would have been nice to take at least one person out for a bounty, but no, that was not to be. I think Waffles was just playing to get tilted last night, he was in excellent form for sure!

Note to self, Nyquil at break, not a good idea. After my glorious bust-out, I went to the couch to watch some recorded tv and promptly fell asleep. I think I woke up around 1:30 and dragged my ass to bed. I'll have to see if I have it in me to try the Mookie tonight, but I doubt it. Hell, I'm half asleep right now so I should be on the cusp of a coma by the time it starts at 9:00. I'm pretty sure I'm on the tail end of this cold, so hopefully by next week I'll be off the nyquil and able to stay awake for a full game.

Gigli 2008!!!

Now that is the way to start out the new Mookie season! I got there a bit late, about four or five minutes into the game, after dealing with the critters and found myself with QQ. TheCloserX5 (did I get that right?) raised it up to 105, I think I made it 280 or so, got reraised to 850ish and saw a pretty damn raggy flop. I check, TheCloser pushed, I called, found myself facing down AA and ighn 63 of 63 and taking the title of Gigli 2008 for the Mookie! Now that I have that title out of the way, that means I can look forward to 51 final tables and 48 bubbles for the 2008 series of the Mookie. Hummmm, 2008 series of the Mookie, so lame, how about M2K8, I think that sounds better.

As for my game, well, all I can say is I rushed to get there after dealing with the critters, sat down to a decent hand, did not get into a poker frame of mind and button mashed my way out in one hand. After that I chugged 1/2 a bottle of NyQuil and was passed out before the first break. Is it just me or does everyone feel like a NyQuil zombie the following morning, even if you get 8 hours of sleep? I still feel half asleep even now, after lunch I'm doomed. Only one thing for it, lot's of Bacardi 8 and diet tonight at the bar before, during, and after the game. If I'm blitzed enough I should be able to feel immune to my cold and take down the final table at the same time. That's my plan for tonight and I'm sticking with it!

Well, the regular Monday night tourneys have been put on hold until after the holidays, but I managed to close out the year in style. I won the tourney with the hammer. You just have to love the look on peoples faces not only when you heads up with it, but when you win with it, it's a priceless moment. Usually requiring a very large round of drinks to be bought. I was pretty sweet, once we got to six handed, for some reason the other five felt compelled to give me all of their chips. The only time I gave some away was when I was in a blind and it would only cost me one more blind to two to finish them off.

By the time we reached heads up, I had Mike out chipped by around 7-8:1. He was in pretty much push or fold mode, if I did not bet at least 2/3 of his stack, he would push, and he was not really defending his blinds that strongly. Eventually, with the blinds a 10/20K and on the button I look down to see a beautiful 72o looking up at me. I made it a respectable 80K to go, and what does he do, he pushed for an additional 50K. What can I do but call his all in? The flop comes A 7 2 and everyone just starts going with the oh-my-god laughs as they see the almighty hammer pummel his 69o (in the battle of the suck-outs as Matt the dealer called it). The K 3 on the turn and river gave Mike no help and I took down yet another Monday night tourney with the hammer. I had done it last month too, so that made this one all the better.

For the record, this hand is being played around 12:30 AM, I have a 20 min drive home and have to get up for work around 5:30 (actually got up at 6:15...oops). That's the one thing about the Monday and Thursday night games, they just run so damn late for me. Oh well, what can you do when you need your fix?

So-So (not SoCo) Mookie

Had a so, so Mookie last night. Pretty much card dead the entire night, only a couple of big pocket pairs and some lucky draws. Think I went out in 16th if I remember correctly, and we were just shy of having enough people to pay 18. Oh well, with Full Tilt's fubar payment schedule at the crossover points I would have been getting paid $10.50 on my $11.00 buy-in. Full Tilt, please feel free to either change the number of people getting paid and/or the amounts being paid so the bottom tier can at least get their full buy-in back (assuming it's not a rebuy of course).

Oh, and it seems the not too much booze at the table actually helps. I was at work late last night so I did not have the time to stop by the store and replenish my Bacardi 8 stock. As a result, I only had two all night, one that started just before the game and the last I had during first break. As a result, the head was fairly clear all night long and helped me choose my spots to push when the chips got low. Of course, due to the sleeping pills I took with my first drink when the Mookie started, by the time third break rolled around I could barely keep my eyes open. By the time I busted out, the average chip stack had an M of around 9, so there was a fair amount of pushing going on. I think I got all my chips in on the flop (I had 77 with one club) and the flop gave me the chance for a straight and a flush, and (I think) were all below my 7 (though there may have been one that was over, maybe a 9, can't remember as I was almost asleep). My straight draw was pretty weak, gutshot I think. Anyways the person who called me (sorry don't remember, don't think we've played before) had KK, also with a club, thereby decimating my outs from 14 to 5. Ah well, at least I picked up a few more points, though probably not enough to make a difference.

I may make a run at the Big Game this week, but I'll need to score my token Sunday before the game. Have live games tonight, Friday and Saturday and the cash games that develop after the tourney are just so juicy. Nothing better than playing from 9 or 10 PM on a Saturday until bar close at 2 AM in a .50/1.00 game and have all your expenses (gas, food, bar tabs) for the week covered. One of these days I might just have to start up an official bankroll for these games as opposed to the entertainment budget. Heck, I at least have to put some aside for the annual 1/2 NLHE game on New Years Eve!

Won a Mookie

Well, I finally won my first Mookie!! And for a set into the TOC on Full Tilt's Battle of the Bloggers II no less! I really only did a couple of things different that night, one, I was out of booze so I did no drinking at all, and (probably as a result) I played a much tighter game than usual for most of the night (except for one hand against Hoy, and I'm sure we will all read about it soon).


When we hit the final table, I was one of the shorter stacks, but lucky for me most of the other shorties to mids kept making their moves and before too long (and the blinds/antes ate me up we were down to four). Previous to this, I was just making enough to keep me in the game (at lest three had gone out before I really played more than my blinds if memory serves me correct). Then I got lucky. We were down to four, blinds were 1000/2000 250. With only 14,120 I figured I had to push with any picture card (I'm sure you would all agree that this is a no brainer). On the button, I look and see 72o. Well, with the blinds and antes there is 4k in the pot and LJ makes it 5k to go. I look at my cards, and what is there other than 72o!!! I figure I can go out with honor with the hammer and take a reasonable amount of cash in the process. Much to my surprise the table folds to me and I get just enough to let me stick around for a bit more, and possibly even put a small amount of pressure on my table-mates. And for the record, I did show my hammer and the guys at BDR were amazed that LJ did not call (she was getting about 3:1 on her money and had about 100k preflop).

After that, I managed to eek my way up until the other three (Hoy, Donkette and LJ) were 71k to 75k and I was just shy of 50k when this hand happened. Blinds were 1,000/2,000 250 I was BB and Hoy had the button. Donkette folded and Hoy made it 8k to go. Well, as an avid reader of Hoys blog and having played my share of blogger games, I decided to min-raise Hoy with my KK. Donkette folded Hoy pushed and LJ also folded (well technically she folded to Hoys 8k). I called Hoy, he showed AQ, and it played out J44 J J and I took it down and doubled up with my Jacks full of Kings. It was kind of fun to hear the guys on BDR (it was Buddy Douche, CrackinAces, Instant Tragedy, and Biggestron if memory serves) debating the hand, Hoy losing with AQ, but not really being a bad beat with my KK, but still with only four playing AQ, should, in theory, be good.

And now for my donkey hand that you will all be reading about soon on Hoys blog. After taking most of his chips on the hand above, Hoy was naturally playing quite aggressively and pushing quite a bit (he had be about the same before (In the mid to low 20k), with lower blinds and pushing quite a bit as well). The blinds were 1,200/2,400 300 and I was in the small blind. Hoy pushed (for 24,876 in total) and it folded to me. I had A8o, and I took some time to think about it. Everything said to fold, the odds, my cards, the fact it was Hoy, everything. But somehow, that little voice in the back of my head was screaming for me to call, and for the first time of the night, I listened to it (it had been accurate the other four times that I had ignored it, and in fact I would have tripped up earlier). The only way I can justify my call is that Hoy had been pushing a lot, if I lost then three of us would all be playing with about 50kish to Donketts 96k, and that gut feeling/voice in the back of the head was screaming for me to call. It turns out Hoy had and A7o and I had A8o. The flop gave me an 8 and the river gave Hoy a 7 and I took him out. Not my proudest moment, but at least I will get a spot in his blog, and for the record, it was not an instacall, and I agree with the guys who discussed it on BDR, it was not the best call in the world to make.

During the same blinds, all three of us went all-in. LJ had AK, I had QQ, and Donkette had 88. Fortunately, I had them both covered, and Donkette was second in chips, but LJ hit an Ace on the flop and no love for the rest of us and Donkette was out.

When we were heads-up, we spent most of our time roughly even, I did get one earlier that helped me get within site of her. Then, our big hand. Blinds were 1,500/3,000 400 and I had the BB. LJ made it 7,500 and I raised to 12,000 and she called. The flop was 622 and I bet 24,800 and LJ pushed (133,488) and I called. LJ had A6o and I had KK, and they held.

After that, LJ doubled up on me once more, but then I took her (I assume) out when I had 8T against her 98 on the flop of 587. Lucky out-kick for me and there I am in the ToC.

For the BDR crew of the night, yes, I should have been out if LJ called me when I had the hammer, I got lucky, and yes, I should never have called Hoy's all-in with my A8o, but thus far my gut feeling had not let me down all night (even though I did not play the others, and yes, I do agree that, in general, that is the type of player you want at your table, but as all of you eventually pointed out, Hoy had been pushing quite a bit and I had been playing tight most of the night).

So now, just to clear up a thing or two, yes, I do have a blog (for the two or three of you who stop by every now and then). I also play the blogger games mostly for the social interaction (it is fun to watch most of you rag on each other, but there are maybe about three that I chat with in the girly chat). I play mostly blogger games on-line (largely -EV) and play a lot of "home games" that are actually "bar games" that play at .50/1.00 or 1.00/200 that I do fairly well at (i.e. win a fair chunk more than I lose).

In all, I got mega-lucky. I got some very good information. And yes, I will link all the sites later on. See ya'll at the ToC (wish me luck, I'll need it).

A recent study, probably the most important one in the history of space and time, has finally revealed what we online poker donkeys have always known, bacon improves heart health, cures cancer, prevents ED, makes you sexy and irresistible to the opposite (or same, if that’s what works for you) sex, doubles the mileage of your vehicle while reducing emissions, makes your portfolio double in value every eighteen months, and can also reverse the effects of global warming on the environment. Maybe I exaggerated just a bit there…..

From the article in Science Daily:

In contrast to nitrite, nitrate in the diet comes mainly from cured meats such as bacon, sausage and luncheon meats. Consuming nitrate augments our nitrite supply: Once absorbed in the bloodstream, nitrate circulates to the salivary glands where bacteria convert it to nitrite, which is then swallowed in our saliva. About 10 percent of dietary nitrate is converted to nitrite in this way.

As with the mice and nitrite, the Einstein researchers spiked drinking water with nitrate and then induced heart attacks. A protective effect was found yet again: Compared with the control animals, the nitrate-supplemented mice had greater stores of nitrite in their heart muscle along with significantly less heart-muscle damage, although the reduction was not as impressive as in the nitrite-fed mice.

"This new appreciation of the health benefits of nitrite and nitrate is ironic," says Dr. Lefer, "They've traditionally been regarded as toxic because they tend to form chemicals called nitrosamines, some of which are carcinogenic. But recent research has found no convincing evidence that nitrite and nitrate pose a cancer risk."

So there you have it folks, scientific proof that bacon is indeed the food of the gods.

Nothing exciting on the poker front, live game has been pretty much break-even for the past couple months (if you don’t include the bar tab that is) and online has been pretty much up and down (finally won a Monkey Tourney Main Event) but I have not really been playing that much online (and mostly the blogger games at that) so it’s to be expected. I broke down and opened an account on Bodonkey, but alas I had it set up too late to make it to last nights Bodonkey Blogger Tourney. Oh well, that’s why they invented next week!

Well, week one of the new assignment has gone well so all is good. This job should go at least six months, with a possibility of contract-to-hire, so let’s just hope for the best. One of the best things about this gig, it’s the commute. It’s about ten miles closer, but the drive time has been cut in half. It’s pretty much full highway speeds the whole trip, and as a result I’m getting about 2 MPG more!

Speaking of MPG, Wisconsin’s minimum mark-up law has been ruled unconstitutional. The law was put on the books to help those small mom and pop gas and grab type businesses stay afloat as the big companies moved in (not that I’ve ever seen of them mind you). As it turns out, one of these small stations took one of the big guys to court for selling their gas too cheap (the law states that gas must be marked-up at least 6% of the states cost or 9% of local wholesale, whichever is greater). By the time all was said and done, the judge found that the law violated part of the state constitution and therefore could not be enforced. You know that place can’t be pleased, they finally get to take someone to court over it only to have the judge smack down the law, the irony of it all.

As for poker, well, after months of playing on-line once a week at best I finally sat down to two blogger games this week, The Monkey (where I bubbled in third) and The Mookie (19^th of 62 if memory serves). All in all, I consider the results not bad, if only due to the lack of playing that I’ve had over the past three or four months. I doubt that I’ve played more than 25 games on-line since mid-July, so now I’ve got to get my game back (not that I had one before). Of course with BBTwo on the horizon, it seems my timing is looking pretty good.