My oh My

My oh my, it has been a crazy couple of weeks hasn’t it? The BBT3 fields have been unbelievable so far, and we have not even had a $10 NLHE game yet! I think I’m almost afraid to play the Mookie tonight with the size it will probably end up being, that and the miserable cold that has me in bed by 10 PM. Speaking of Mookie, congrats to you and Ms. Mookie on the birth of your 108^th daughter. Think about it sir, in just a few years time you and your girls will be ½ the field in every blogger event!

On the flip side, sympathies go out to PokerEnthusiast on the loss of his father. It’s never a good thing to lose someone you are close to.

Also sadly, yesterday gamers the world over are shedding a tear for the loss of Gary Gygax, co-developer of D&D. Like so many others, I spent a good portion of my teenage years in the basement with some friends on a dungeon crawl. Thank you sir for the gift you gave to many a gamer geek.

Politics, well I for one am less than pleased with the results of the Democratic elections, especially Ohio. Personally, I think that if Ohio had been much closer, Clinton would have to had given serious consideration into dropping when you take her narrow win in Texas (assuming she takes the caucus there as well). With some luck, Obama will take some big wins in the near future and make it pretty much a done deal.

And now for my own little political commentary, Clinton has been going on and on about how she is ready for the big military decisions that will need to be made and how over 30 former and current Generals and Admirals back her for Commander-in-Chief. Now here is a question for you all, if you were one of those Generals/Admirals, who would you pick, someone who may well question your recommendations and methods and actually think before giving the orders, or someone who you feel you can most easily influence to do what you want and is afraid to “look weak” if a decision is not made at a moments notice. If I were the Brass, I would only recommend someone who I felt could get the job done, i.e. do what I say, when I say then get out of my way so I can go blow things up. (much like the current situation). If you ask me, the last thing we need now is another puppet for the military/DHS to take advantage of.

New PC=Back at Last!

The old puter was just getting on my nerves. It was down to a crawl, frequent crashes and freezes, spontaneous reboots for no readily apparent reason; such things test a persons limits. My last time on the virtual felt was back in early/mid January at a Mookie. It had been happening like clockwork for months, about 15-20 minutes into the game and it would start lagging. The cards would be dealt, and I would only see one of mine with the other frozen mid-air. I could hear the chips being slung for hands folded, but my screen would be frozen. Then about five seconds after my warning buzz, my card would finally “fall” and I would have about 5 seconds to look at my card, analyze the action thus far and then decided what to do. Once this starts, every few minutes it happens more often. It takes about 15 minutes before it’s happening 3-5 times per orbit, puts me on pc tilt, makes me spew chips for a bit then I do a reboot. From the time I tell it to reboot till I would have the game back up and running….five minutes, if it was a good day.

That machine has been pass on to a friend now (and yes, I wiped the drive five times and reformatted it before reinstalling the OS) and the new machine has thus far been a dream. I ordered all of the parts over a period of about 3-4 weeks, moved all of my files to my external eSATA drive on Thursday, built the new machine on Friday and installed the new OS Friday evening and spent most of that night applying updates and installing drivers. Saturday was for software installs and file transfers, oh and the live poker game. Sunday was actually using the new rig and getting used to it, I went with the 64 bit OS as I will be bringing it up to 8GB of RAM in the next few weeks.

The big test will be tomorrow and Wednesday, as I return to the virtual felt for the BoDonkey, and the Mookie. With the new 22” wide LCD I can fit four tables up without having to resize the tables and only minimal overlap on them. Hell, now that I’m thinking about it, I just may have to play the Skillz game just to see how everything goes.

Case: Antec P182

PSU: Antec TPQ-850

DVD: Asus 20X DVD w/ LightScribe

Speakers: Logitec X-540 5.1

Monitor: Samsung 226BW 22"

HD Tuner: KWorld TV Box 1680ex

MoBo: GA-X38T-DQ6

HS: Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme

Fan: Scythe SSF21F

CPU: Intel E8400 (Core 2 Duo, 3.0 GHz, Wolfdale core)

Thermal: ArticSilver 5

RAM: OCZ Platinum 2 x 2 GB DDR3 PC1066 7-7-7-20

Graphics: PowerColor HD3870

OS: Vista Ultimate 64 bit

WebCam: Logitech 9000

HHD: WD2500KS x 4 (250 GB ea., 16MB cache, SATA II) in a RAID 10

Keyboard: MS 4000

ExtHDD: 250 GB eSATA/USB 2.0

Reader: Rosewill Multi w/ FDD

Next weekend will begin the adventures in overclocking the system. I figure I should be able to get it up to 4.0 GHz without too much effort, but I will probably set it to 3.8 GHz for everyday settings.

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).