Back in DAL to ring in the New Year…on my couch

I made it back without any trouble. I spent a little while playing poker (more on that below) and then made the short drive to Dallas. On the way, I used my super freaky psychic powers to predict the exact location of what may be the only Cracker Barrel between here and Shreveport. Before I started driving, I decided I was in the mood for some of their Chicken Fried Chicken and I wasn’t going to be stopped.

After driving 50 miles or so without seeing a Cracker Barrel, I said to myself, “You are stupid and you’re almost out of gas. Just stop at the next exit with a reasonable food selection and a gas station and give up on Cracker Barrel before you get stranded…” But then I saw a sign that told me it was only 36 miles to Tyler, TX and I said to myself, “Tough it out! If there’s a Cracker Barrel in Texas, it’s in Tyler, Texas! You have enough gas to go a measly 36 miles, wimp. If Kramer had the guts to see how far he could go after he hit empty, you can push it a few more miles to score some Chicken Fried Chicken.”

Sure enough, Tyler had a Cracker Barrel and several gas stations. One a side note, I got 450 miles on my last tank of gas, which means I got 25 mpg. That’s pretty stinkin’ good in my car. Maybe the hail damage has improved the aerodynamics or something. Golf balls have lots of dimples, just lot my car. What am I talking about?

Today’s poker recap

I played $1-2 No Limit for about three hours today. The lady from yesterday (with the reliable tells) was back, but everyone else was new. Here are the hands I remember:

Not long after we started, I got QQ on the button. There were 2 limpers and I raised it to $12. Both blinds called, everyone else folded. The flop came KTx, the lady bet out $10, BB called, I thought for a while and folded. I knew there was no way I was ahead here and I was right. The lady had flopped a set of tens and I think the other guy had a K. The turn was another ten, and the lady took down a big pot with quad tens. I gave myself a little pat on the back for making good reads and not getting married to the queens.

A bit later, I got K6s in the BB. Two people limped and I checked the option. Flop came down K67 rainbow. I bet out something like $8, everyone folded to the button who called and the SB called also. Turn was the 5 of hearts, putting two hearts on the board. SB checked, I bet $15, button folded, SB check-raised me all-in (for about $65 more). I thought for a while and mucked my two pair face-up. SB told me he had 34h for a turned ignorant end of the gutshot straight to the 7. My turn bet was a little small (assuming the 5h didn’t make someone a hand), but it was more of a feeler bet with “value” overtones. I’m still thinking about whether I could’ve played this any differently, but so far it looks like the answer is “no”.

A few orbits later, I got K9s in the BB (I didn’t catch cards for a while… this seems to be a theme for me lately. I don’t know if I’m running bad, just imagining things or playing too tightly.) with, as usual, 3 limpers. The flop came down QcJsTs, giving me a straight to the King, a King-high flush draw and a gutshot straight-flush draw. I bet the pot, UTG and Hijack called. The turn was a red Queen. I didn’t like this card, but I also needed to protect my hand in case someone had a bare Queen or maybe an Ace. I also felt that I needed to find out where I was at in the hand. I bet about half the pot. This was also a value bet since, assuming no one had filled up or flopped a higher straight, I was a big favorite to win the hand with my straight or a flush. Again, both players called. Now, I’m concerned. The river was a blank, non-spade. I checked, UTG bet a little more than half the pot, Hijack called (!!), I thought for a while and, again, mucked my K-high straight face-up. Both opponents turned up AKo for a flopped broadway and it turns out I was behind from the beginning. I was pretty surprised that neither player raised on the flop considering there were many cards that could come to either counterfeit their hands or flat-out lose them the pot.

About this time, my $100 buy-in has dwindled to $33. I’m UTG+1 and I have AJs. I raise it to $12 and everyone folds around to the BB who calls (this is my buddy who turned a gutshot to the 7 with 34 earlier). Flop comes three low cards, BB bet out $12 and I fold. He hadn’t bet out like that since he sat down and since he was playing trash most hands, I gave him credit for at least a pair.

Next orbit, I have QJo in MP1 and I limp (this was uncharacteristically loose for me, but I only had $21 left so I was looking to gamble it up, I guess). Several other players limp behind. There weren’t many pre-flop raises at this table, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have tried limping here. Flop came down JTx rainbow. It was checked to me and I got one caller who held J9s. My Queen kicker held up and won the pot of about $45.

Two hands later, I picked up AQs UTG. I raised it up to $12 and get 2 callers. Flop came AK9. It was checked to me, I moved in for my last $33 and it was folded around to the lady. She studied me for a while, so I did a little acting and mostly stared blankly at the table and occasionally looked up and away from her stare. By now, I knew she probably had Ax (she probably limped into 75% or more of the pots at this table) and I definitely wanted a call. She mumbled a call and said, “Do you have Ace-King?” This pretty much sums up the action at this table. It seemed like it never occurred to her that I might have AQ, AJ, AT or A9, which would all beat her A8o. She had called 6BB cold in middle position with A8x, and then called an all-in from an early position pre-flop raiser (I was also known to be tight as one of our dealers and another player had been joking about that earlier). Anyway, the turn was a K, leaving her drawing to an Ace or King for a split and my Queen kicker held up to win a $115 pot.

I left not too long after that because I’d been playing for three hours and it was time to get back to DAL. To sum up, I was down to $21 thanks to some bad beats and a tough beat, but then more-than-doubled-up twice in three hands to go up for the session.

I write too much about live poker sessions. I need to get a life or a muzzle… for typing.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Headed home a little early

I was getting bored in ATL, so I figured I’d just head back to DAL a little early. I left this morning at about 11:30 and rolled into Shreveport about 8:00 tonight. I went and played a little $1-2 No Limit Hold ‘em and made a little more than $40. There weren’t too many notable hands, so I won’t bother re-capping very extensively. My big hands were:

QQ (I was in the BB) and I took it down on the turn with very, very aggressive betting. No overcards hit the board and everyone folded to a $45 bet.

Later, I got TT, but folded on the river. I was in the CO and raised to $12 pre-flop. I got 2 callers and the flop came King high. It was checked to me, I bet $15 and got 2 callers (I had position on both of them). The turn put a 3-straight on the board (457) and we checked around. The river was an 8. First to act bet $20, next player folded, I thought for a while… counted out the $20 as I considered calling, then I saw the bettor show his cards to the player on his right. I figured there was no way he’d pick his cards up and show a bluff to his neighbor, so I mucked my tens face-up and knocked the table. I should note that I don’t think he knew I saw this tell. In fact, there were two later hands that I felt confirmed my read. One hand, he picked his cards up similarly to what he did before and eventually showed a strong winner. A few hands later, he didn’t pick his cards up after a river bet and he was called on a bluff. All in all, I’m very, very confident I made the correct laydown. He also had a tendency to slow-play top pair by checking the flop and betting the turn. I think his check on the turn was a trap and that’s why I didn’t bet to block

Later, I got AQs UTG and raised it to $12. Only the BB called. Flop came Q28 (8 of clubs), BB checked, I bet $10, BB called. Turn was the Jack of clubs, BB checked, I bet $15, BB called. River was the 9 of clubs, giving me the A-high flush, BB checked, I bet $20, BB thought and called. BB showed Q2o for a flopped 2-pair. Turns out I was lucky.

I also made a couple decent bluffs at small pots. One was against a lady who had a couple reliable tells. It was easy to tell when she was drawing and when she had a made hand that she was betting for value. Obviously, I bluffed when I knew she’d been drawing and the turn didn’t help her. Mostly, I was just using position and I turned K8o into a winner.

I think I’ll play a few more hours (either $1-2 NL or $4/8 Limit) in the morning. Then I’m off to DAL.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Hail is bad

I guess this is basically common knowledge, but after driving through a couple hail storms today, I’ve decided I don’t like hail. Upon further review, my car isn’t a fan either. First, I was driving a little south of Macon, GA when a little hail storm broke out. I figured the best thing was to get out of the way, so I took the next exit and sat under a gas station overhang for a bit. When the coast was clear, I hit the road again.

I drove about 20 miles before I got to the end of the Macon bypass. Then, the sky opened up and spat freakin’ ice rocks all over my car. I thought maybe I should stop under the overpass, but there was no room in the inn. I pulled past the overpass and off onto the shoulder, but it seemed kinda’ silly to just sit there and take that kind of abuse, so I slowly continued moving north. A couple minutes later and the sky cleared and it was smooth sailing to Atlanta.

Turns out I was supposed to just stop on the side of the road and ride out the hail storm. I kinda’ figured there wasn’t much difference between sitting there and moving two or three miles per hour up the highway. Maybe that was stupid, but I’m pretty sure I got outta’ that hail storm a lot faster than those dudes parked on the shoulder. I am dumb.

Anyway, I didn’t inspect my car until I got to Atlanta, and I wasn’t as disappointed as I thought I’d be. Looks like there are only about 10 dings on and most of them are on the hood. My guess is that the hood is made of a different metal than the rest of the car; I can’t think of any reason that there are hardly any dings on the drunk or sides. In fact, the hail seemed to be coming from behind me, so I would expect most of the damage to be to the rear of the car. I guess this is further evidence that I am dumb.

So, I get to look forward to filing an insurance claim and giving my car up to the dealer indefinitely while they fix it. Super.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Florida Basketball up to 11-0 for the best start in school history

That’s a pretty big deal. First, Corey Brewer gets the first triple-double in school history. Now, the team has set the record for best start. That’s pretty great, especially considering that two of those 11 wins were against Wake and ‘cuse on back-to-back nights. It’s awesome that the Gators are a real contender this year instead of a team that’s “rebuilding”.

Having fun in Florida

I’m in Jacksonville and things are going well so far. I spent the day doing my Christmas shopping and meeting various people for meals and such. I’m here in Jacksonville for several days this Christmas, so I think I’ll be seeing a lot of my friends and family.

My space on MySpace isn’t my space

I’ve set up a phantom account on MySpace so I can spy on people. Another friend put me up to it and I’m weak, so I went along with her plan. I’ve mostly been checking in on people who went to my high school. I have also been checking out profiles for friends of friends of friends because I need to know “what’s wrong with him?” or “is that so and so?” (it’s usually not).

So far, I’m pretty underwhelmed by MySpace, but that’s probably because I’m stupid and I just don’t get it. Maybe I’ll come around eventually.

This is probably the lamest blog ever

If there’s a lame blog award, I want it. I’ve earned it and it’s rightfully mine. Don’t try to keep it from me or give it to some other not-quite-as-lame blog.

Speaking of lame, Blogger seriously needs to work on their spellchecker

I just spellchecked that last blog entry and Blogger’s spellchecker flagged the word “blog”. I like Blogger and I think they provide a good service, but I think maybe it’s time to upgrade the spellchecker. Also, it flagged the word “underwhelmed” and suggested “underwhelming”; I guess Blogger has preferred tenses for certain verbs or something. It also doesn’t like the word “spellchecker”. I’ll concede that I may have made that one up, although Dictionary.com says it’s legit.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Florida Basketball up to 10-0

There’s not much to say other than that. Our team has just come out of nowhere and is proving to be a dominant force this year. We’ve gone from unranked (really, we were ranked somewhere around 40 before the season) to No. 5 in a few short weeks. This team is setting records like crazy and we’re improving every game.

Corey Brewer had the first triple-double in school history against JU. With all the superstars–Williams, Miller, Harvey, Nelson, Haslem, Lee, Walsh, Roberson–we’ve had in recent years, it’s surprising that Brewer’s was the first; I hope it’s not his last. The kid’s a sophomore! The irony, of course, is that he got a triple-double on a team that’s playing better team basketball than any Gator team I can remember. He had 13 assists, which is impressive considering he usually plays shooting guard or small forward.

Over the next few games, we’ll see what these guys are really made of. Miami will be a tough game, but if they can get through that game, it’s possible they’ll be 13-0 before starting the conference schedule. Not only would that be the best start in school history, but we should be sneaking up on the longest win-streak in school history. This could be a really exciting year.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Day 2 in Shreveport

Well, tonight did not go nearly as well as last night. First, I played some more $4/8 Limit Hold ‘em and I lost about $75 over about three hours.

My best hand of the evening was when I flopped two pair with K7o in the BB, but the board had three diamonds. It was a four-way pot, so I checked, hoping to check-raise an aggressive player on my right. Unfortunately, the second player to act bet, the aggressive player just called and I called intending to bet out on the turn if no diamond came. Of course, a diamond came off, we all checked around, a blank came off on the river, second to act bet and everyone folded.

I only won two hands all night. First one I took down was when I had KTs on the button. Two players limped, I raised, the BB and limpers called. The flop came down pretty ugly. Everyone checked to me, I bet and took it down. Second one I took down was with TT in the SB. Everyone folded to the button who raised. I just called and the BB folded. This was a mistake as I should’ve re-raised and it was dumb to let the BB in getting 5:1 on a call. The BB could’ve come in with any two cards getting those odds. Also, a re-raise would’ve told me more about the button’s hand. The flop came down 8-high. I checked, the button bet, I check-raised and he folded.

That’s it. Those are the two hands I won. My best hand pre-flop in over three hours was TT. I also got AQ, which was beat by AK; KJ, which missed an open-ended straight draw and a K-high flush draw on the river; and… that’s all.

I’ve been working very hard on my table image and general attitude. In a “No Fold ‘em Hold ‘em” game, there’s no point in being intimidating or being perceived as “good”. People don’t mind you beating them out of a pot if they feel like your buddy. So, I’ve been trying to act as relaxed and nonchalant as possible while I’m playing. Not only does it make people more relaxed and less hostile when I play aggressively, but it also seems to actually keep me in a good mood.

Even though I consistently (albeit gradually) lost for over three hours, I wasn’t even phased when I left. In fact, when I cashed out, one of the girls in the cage said, “Did ya’ win?” I said, “Nah. Not tonight.” She said, “You sure don’t look like you lost!” I said, “Well, that’s poker. I can’t win every time I play.” The best part was, I understood exactly what I was saying. While we were talking, I was thinking about which of my poker accounts will reimburse this little trip. I understand that I had an edge over probably everyone that I played with tonight. The cards didn’t cooperate, but I can’t control that.

I even noticed that my attitude helped keep me from tilting during the tournament today. When dude rivered a set to beat my top two pair, I just threw my cards in the muck and said, “Nice hand, man. Well played.” I didn’t even have a hint of sarcasm in my voice (that’s pretty unusual for me). I was disappointed that I lost the hand, but I wasn’t angry or in danger of losing my cool. When my stack was destroyed by the guy that woke up with AA in the BB when I had KK, I just passed the chips over and said, “Good hand.” No big deal. I went on to gradually rebuild my stack to a decent size before going card dead. I feel like I’m making a lot of progress with the psychological aspects of my game.

Anyway, after I lost for a while at $4/8, I burned through 40 bucks at the blackjack table. There’s nothing much to report here. The dealer just took my lunch money and reinforced his statement that “Nineteen never wins.” He later added the caveat, “Well, it wins for me.” He was right.

Shreveport wrap-up

So, I ended up losing $7 at blackjack. I also lost $34 playing $4/8 over about 6 and a half hours. That works out to about -.67 BB/hour. Over such a small sample size, that number means virtually nothing. I also bled off $115 at the NL tournament at Horseshoe this morning. So, I’ll be reimbursing about $150 from my online poker accounts. I feel pretty good about that considering how bad I was running.

I’ve had a good time in Shreveport and I look forward to making another trip out here some time next year. Hopefully, I’ll make it out for a tournament or just to play some $4/8. After just playing two short sessions at $4/8, I’m confident I could sit in a bigger came with no trouble. I wasn’t the least bit impressed or intimidated by anyone I played with. For now, I’ll continue grinding it out at $1/2 online. Maybe I’ll move up to $2/4 soon.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

$115 tournament at the Horseshoe in Shreveport

Well, I decided to play the $115 tournament and it was definitely the correct decision. It started a little earlier than I would’ve liked (10 am), but the structure was excellent. We started with T$1500 in chips, played 30-minute levels, and the blinds started at $5/10. There was a lot of room for play. The levels were as follows: $5/10, $10/20, $15/30, $25/50, $50/100, $100/200, $100/200 $25 ante… and that’s all I got to see.

Here are the highlights for me:

Fourth hand, I limp on the button with QJo. I think four of us saw the flop, which was Q9x with 2 clubs. Everyone checked to me and I bet the pot. The BB called, everyone else folded. Turn is a non-club Jack. BB check to me, I bet the pot, he calls. River is an offsuit 7. BB checks to me, I make a small value-bet, he check-raises me to 3 times my bet, I think for a while, figure him for two smaller pair (I thought he had J7o) and call getting pretty good odds. He turns over 77 for a rivered set that beat my top two pair.

Then I won a few small pots with top pair, good kicker. Lost one small pot on a pseudo-bluff with KTs.

A bit later, I get KK in the hijack. Blinds were $10/20, I raised to $80, the BB re-raises to $160, I pop it up to $660, he calls. Flop came down something like 998 with two clubs. He checks to me, I bet $1000 to put him all in (he had about $960 left), he looks disgusted and calls with AA. His AA held up, I was down to just over $300 in chips. I had put him on QQ or maybe JJ–he didn’t even have enough left in front of him to make a pot-size bet on the flop and I figured he would want to get all the chips in with AA before the flop since he would have to play the hand out of position. Obviously, it was unlikely he had KK since I had the other two. If he had re-raised me all-in before the flop, I think I might’ve actually folded the hand…

I whittled down to $200-something and then got 54o on the button. It was folded to me, so I raised to 3x the BB (both blinds were playing relatively tight/conservative and I hadn’t opened a pot in a while). Both blinds called. The flop was something like KTxr. We checked around. Turn was a Q. We checked around. River was an A. They checked to me, I moved in, they both folded. SB told me he had 88, BB didn’t show.

Next time I got A7o. Three or four people limped, flop came down 694r with two diamonds. Everyone checked around. Turn was 8d, putting a three flush and possible straight on the board. Small blind checked, I moved in, everyone folded to the SB who called. He turned over T7h for a turned straight. I hit the nut flush on the river and doubled up.

Next time I had the BB, I got 23c. The button limped, SB called, I checked my option. Flopped came down 235 with two spades,. I checked, the button bet the pot, I check-raised all-in, he called with ATo. Bottom two pair held up and I doubled up to a little over $800 in chips.

A bit later, I took down a small pot with KQs. I raised before the flop, got called by the BB, checked the flop behind the BB, bet the turn and took it down.
…

The ellipses denotes much time passing with nothing special happening. I got moved to different, much tougher table at the $50/100 level. One of my first hands at the new level, I picked up A8c in late position. I made a standard raise and everyone folded to the BB, who called. This hand was interesting because I felt like the BB was a pretty good player. After he called, I protected my cards and just looked over at the guy to see his reaction to the flop. Then, he looked over at me to see my reaction to the flop. At first, he seemed like he wasn’t going to look away until I did, but since he had to act first, he eventually looked at the board, checked, and looked back at me. I was going to bet regardless of what happened, but when I looked at the board, I saw that it had come down 998, giving me 8’s and 9’s with an A kicker. I bet about half my stack, he thought for quite a while and folded what I think must’ve been AQ or AJ. I feel like I could’ve moved him off the hand even if I didn’t hit the flop and I’m glad he folded since he had at least 5 outs. In a cash game, I want a call; in a tournament, I just want the pot.

After that hand, I was up to around $2400 in chips.

Then, I started melting away. I didn’t play another pot until the blinds got to $100/200 with a $25 ante (I’d say it was over an hour, maybe an hour and a half) the blinds went up to $100/200 and I just couldn’t pick up a good hand or find a good spot to make a move.

I was down to about $850 chips when I moved in with A9o in the SB (best hand I’d gotten since moving to this table). There were 3 limpers and no one had shown real strength. I was actually pretty sure there was a reasonable chance my A9 was good here (there were several players limping often with medium-strength and worse hands). Of course, the BB woke up with AKo and moved in immediately. UTG folded reluctantly (he said he folded TT or JJ, I think) and I couldn’t get lucky. I’ve thought a lot about the play and I’m pretty satisfied with it. I was getting just about 2:1 on my all-in and BB’s call meant I was getting about 3:1 as a 2:1 dog.

All in all, I think I played very well, but just couldn’t pick up a big hand… ‘cept for KK, which ran into AA. I lasted 3.5 hours and finished 20/55.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Day 1 in Shreveport

So far, so good. I played $4/8 Limit Hold ‘em for two and a half to three hours and won $43. I figure that’s somewhere between 1.5 and 2 BB per hour, so I’ll take it. I didn’t experience much variance because I was card dead for most of the night. I didn’t play many hands and I won most of the ones I played. I felt I played pretty well, but it was a pretty soft game, so that’s not saying much.

There’s a $60 tournament with re-buys tomorrow morning at the Eldorado and a $115 single buy-in freeze-out tomorrow morning at the Horseshoe. If anything I’ll play the Horseshoe tournament, but I’m still debating. I kind of think I should play it just to see what I can do.

I also won $33 at blackjack. My buddy was playing a $10 table, and I was watching and got bored, so I jumped in. I bought in for $20, put $5 down and then was told, “This is a ten dollar table, sir.” So, I sheepishly put in another $10, lost it and then went on to turn my last $10 into 50-something bucks. Not too bad for a pure luck game.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Flu shot

It’s 10:15 and I just got a flu shot about 2 minutes ago. Last time I got a flu shot, back in 2002, I got sick a couple days later. I figure this time I’ll write everything down so that if I get sick from this one too, then maybe I’ll just pass on the shots in the future. I rarely get sick, so if I feel like I’m assuming a reasonable risk of getting sick by taking the flu shot, I might just leave it alone in the future.

Unfortunately, I’m traveling in 2 days, so if I do get a little sick, I’ll have to endure it on the road.

No, I’m not paranoid. No, I don’t think flu shots are a bad idea. Yes, I know it’s very rare that a flu shot can cause the flu and that it usually only happens in people who are already sick.

Update 1

It’s been about 24 hours since the flu shot and I feel fine. Hopefully I’m in the clear and I don’t have to worry about catching the flu this year.

Update 2

I think I’m in the clear. It’s been over two days and no signs of any sickness. I’m pretty worn out today, so I’d be feeling it if I was getting sick. No more updates unless I start feeling poorly in the next few days.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

More traveling for the holidays

Well, I’ve been back in Dallas for almost nine days now and it’s almost time to hit the road again. On Wednesday, a good friend will be flying in from Atlanta to accompany me on my drive back east. The plan is that we’ll leave on Thursday afternoon and head to Atlanta via Shreveport, Louisiana. What’s there? Casinos! That’s what’s there! We’re gonna’ crash in Shreveport for a couple days and do some gambling. I’ll spend most of my time playing poker (which, in my opinion, isn’t gambling in the traditional sense) and maybe some blackjack (which most certainly is gambling in the traditional sense). I plan to play some $4/8 or $5/10 Limit Hold ‘em. Hopefully, I’ll make a big pile of cash that I can use to finance my Christmas traveling.

After Shreveport, we’re heading to Atlanta where my buddy has a show at 6 o’clock on Saturday evening. Then I’ll hang in ATL until around December 22, at which time I’ll head to Florida. I might try to catch a basketball game before Christmas (the Gators are currently 9-0 and I’d love to go seem them extend their win streak and maybe set the record for best start in our basketball program’s history). Then, of course, I’ll spend Christmas with my family in Jacksonville.

A day or so after Christmas, I’ll leave Florida and head back to ATL to finish out my Christmas vacation. After bumming around ATL for a few days, I’ll start heading back west to Dallas via Shreveport (if all goes well during our first visit).

So, those are my plans for the break. I’m pretty sure my Christmas vacation is just as long as the kids at UF this semester, so I feel almost like a college kid planning a road trip between semesters.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites