The Case Money - Poker Blog

My birthday

2005-03-21T00:04:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I forgot to post this. If my wife ever reads this blog, first she will kill me for not giving her my winnings and then she will kill me again for not mentioning my birthday gift.

I didn't mention my birthday at all this year. I wanted to see if my wife would forget. She never said anything. .. .never asked what I wanted. . . .nothing. I thought for sure she would just get me the obligatory card and treat me nicely for a day.

On my way home from work yesterday she called and asked me to pick up some stuff from the store. I did. When I walked in the door she and my boys were waiting for me with all sorts of decorations and stuff. They sprayed me with that damned spray string.

SO. . . .I open my gift. It was a picture of the 140 hour TiVo that is in the mail for me!! I have been wanting one of these for a while. If I had purchased it myself I definitely would not have bought the 140 hour because I am so cheap. So a pretty cool birthday gift from my cool wife.

I can't wait to get it. I am going to watch all of the West Wings, Fear Factors, Poker shows, Howard Sterns, Tilt (I only saw one episode), and yes, I will TiVo American Idol.

I am 33 :(

TT

Coming Back!!

2005-03-20T23:32:00.000-05:00

Ok. . .remember that free money that I got from Pacific Poker? I got $10 free bucks. This normally would not be a big deal but since I have blown the case money (not really. . . .i can still buy food) it was cool to have some real dough. I wanted to see if I could turn that free $$ into something I could actually play with.

First of all, Pacific Poker really does suck. . .software, speed, etc. But the players are just as bad!! Anyways, I plunk down my $10 (the new case money) at a $10 PL table. My plan is to play very tight and try to make this $10 last and maybe parlay it into more. The first couple of sessions are up and down a couple of bucks. One night I go on a bit of a tear and turn the $10 into about $43. Not bad. Gives me a little room to play some now. . . .at least at the $10 PL table.

I already mentioned in the previous post that I decided to play in a $5 MTT. The structure on Pacific is really fast. Start with only 800 chips and blinds go up every 10 mins. I didn't like it at first but everyone plays like a wack-o early on. 3/4 of the field was eliminated at the end of the 1st hour. To make a long story short I hang around most of the tourney about average then catch a couple of hands and move into the top ten or so. I find myself at the final table. With about 5 players left I am the chip leader and really feel like I can win this. Two more drop out and I am really gaining momentum.

The pictured hand below was the one that crippled me. I raised the middle stack with AKo. He moves all in and I call. I make Kings full. . . .he flopped four of a kind!! I was left with some chips. But the blinds were high and I was knocked out 3rd a few hands later.

Well, after that payout of about $290 and some more ring games, I am up to about $450 in the Pacific account. All from that free $10. I am going to withdraw the money soon and head to a different site. The cash games are kind of juicy and it isn't that hard to beat the tourneys. I think I could play only top ten hands and make it to the money.

Also, I have been studying my online dealer course. It is pretty thorough. . . .I think. I have read the entire course and now I will start to practice some of the skills that it has laid out. I really want to try to be ready to apply for a job at the track before the season is over here because everyone leaves for the summer. Although, I do hear that the tournaments at the track are drawing about 200 players now. Not bad for a sick 20% juice!!!! I don't like to play in their tourneys because the juice is outrageous and the blind structure is almost as fast as a Pacific MTT. But when that is all the live tourney action you can get, what do you do??

Well, I am pretty happy with my Pacific Poker account so far. I think I can double this in the next couple of weeks.

Later,
TT

2005-03-13T23:22:00.000-05:00

The Crippler

Free Money

2005-03-11T23:18:00.000-05:00

Okay. It isn't much but I got a letter from Pacific Poker. A place where I set up an account but never played and recently uninstalled from my computer. The letter I got in the mail said they dropped 10 bucks in my account for being such a valuable customer. HAHA. Well, I am not complaining especially since I have about $1.33 spread at three or four sites.

I started playing at a $10 PL table. I figured that I would try to run up the 10 bucks. Well, so far I have turned it in to 40 bucks. I am now playing in a $5 NL tourney. In the 1st twenty minutes 200 of the 800 players have eliminated themselves. On the first play of the table a player pushed all in with 7's and was called by AQo. 7's held up. Almost down to 500 players after 25 mins.

Who knows what I can do with this $40 bucks. Who knows if I will be able to withdraw if I want?

This site is painfully slow and has disconnected me from cash games a whole lot. I am going to get my dough if I hit $200 and never play there again.

I am still taking my "home" dealer course. Waiting for some chips to get mailed so I can practice more stuff.

Later,
TT

First Step to Dealing

2005-03-06T14:40:00.000-05:00

Like I said, I have some interest in being a dealer. I went to www.dealer-training.com and reviewed the site. For a not so nominal fee they send you a pretty comprehensive e-book with a one year money back guarantee. I figured that it is cheaper than a land based course that I don't have the time to attend. I have skimmed over the 1st third of the course and I like it so far. I think that I will still need some live training to make sure that I am doing things correctly. I would like to deal at our local track a couple of days a week. I would really like to deal in some private games. There are some higher stakes games in the area that I found on www.homepokergames.com. The skill definitely takes practice and repetition.

I will keep you updated to my progress. I gotta go practice my riffle.

As I have promised for the last several weeks, er, months, here are some pics of my boys who just turned one year old last week. They were born two months early at 3 lb 2 oz each. They both spent about 6-8 weeks each in the hospital. Sammy came home on oxygen. Both were sent home with monitors.

We are very lucky that they are so healthy. They have hardly had a sniffle since they came home. Now they are holy terrors!! If they can reach it, it is coming down. If it fits in their mouth, they will eat it.

Talk to you soon,
TT

Moths Flying Out of My Pocket

2005-03-03T22:28:00.000-05:00

I am going to stop saying that I am going to post more often. Between my job and homelife, I find it hard to post much less squeeze in some poker.

The well has dried up. My poker accounts are dry. I will get back in the game soon though. I don't think that I will play at Party though. I am using my points at UB to play some and will try to build those up for some buy-ins to MTT's. I used to play at UB ALL THE TIME but cashed out there and went to Party. I liked it at Party but want a change and maybe some bonus whoring. I hear some good things about Bodog. Mostly that there are lots of "gamblers" there who win some money in the book and come to the tables to blow off steam.

I am really trying to work on my NL game. I have never been real confident in my online NL abilities. I bought "Pot Limit and No Limit Poker" by Reuben and Ciaffone. I also got a book about satellite strategy. Since I haven't been playing much besides UltimatePoints games, I will be doing some reading.

I also want to say hi to Mr.Decker . I think he is one of the few return readers I have according to my super secret, free stattracker. He has a cool blog and is a winning low limit online poker player.

I am thinking of getting some training to become a dealer at our local dog track. I was chatting while playing at Party a month or so ago and was playing with a dealer at this track (small world) and he said that some of the dealers "train" others in their off time. So, I think I am going to get in touch with him and see what I can find out. Hell, how hard could it be. . . ."no racks on the table, please", "Check or bet one", "Show me a winner", "FLOOR!!". I think I have what it takes.

One thing I haven't been able to do since my boys were born is play online tourneys. It is a decent trade off though. Sam and Aaron turned one year old on Sunday!!! They are awesome.

I am not going to say that I promise to post more. . . .

Later,
TT

I Own a Poker Player!!

2005-01-29T22:27:00.000-05:00

Gotta check this out if you haven't already seen this . AlCantHang is selling stake in his take at a WPBT Circuit Tourney at the Commerce on Ebay. Get it here if you want a piece of the pie make sure to check it out. Very funny. I should be a hundred-aire if it all works out.

Tables have been rough. Real rough. I have been playing mostly $25 & $50 PL HE with mixed results. I picked up two fat pots tonight and quadrupled the nearly depleted Case Money. Those two hands were the only highlights of the last two weeks. I am starting to think that I need one of those "breaks". I think I will catch up on some reading. I have been wanting to get some new poker books. Also will give me time to do some Ebaying. I have been accumulating bunches of junk that should net me a pretty penny. I spent $20 at GoodWill the other day. I netted a $300 profit from the sales!! Who needs poker when you have GoodWill.

Sometimes I wonder if I am actually getting worse at poker. I definitely think that I need to read more. I used to read a lot of poker books. When I say "a lot" that is a relative term. Not including gambling books or Vegas related books, I have probably read about 5 books cover to cover in my life. That includes Old Yeller and Savage Sam and Kavik the Wolf Dog.

Lastly, there was an article in our local paper talking about other states trying to change laws to outlaw poker games in bars, etc. This dumb ass from Minnesota's Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division had this to say:

It's the soup of the day. It's very popular. It's not gin
gummy. It's not 500. It's not hearts. Those are all games of
skill. This is a random game, and it's a gamble.

I can't believe this guy is the director of the gambling enforcement division!!

I have that taped to my monitor now.

Later. . . .Go buy a piece of Al. I hope I didn't get the toe nail or something.

TT

Christmas Blues

2005-01-09T10:01:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that I haven't posted since Thanksgiving.

In the life of my young poker blog I have found that it is not very fun to post when you are losing. I need to try to get past that.

I have been traveling a lot with the family, working, etc. I haven't played much poker lately. Mostly due to lack of time but also because my losing streak has been so extensive. My bankroll has shrunk to pre-deposit lows!! That is so depressing. My fun money in the sportsbook is almost gone too.

One of my problems that I have recognized is that when my bankroll gets lower than I like I start to play NL. I guess I think that I will be able to build my bankroll with big pots. I usually just end up losing more $$ because I am not a very good NL player. So, I have started to stay away from the NL.

Though I have been dabling at the PL tables. I think the thought of not having to risk my whole stack is more comforting to me. I have been doing decent at the PL tables but I am still a bit depressed since my bankroll has taken such a big hit. My PL strategy is pretty formulaic. I rarely limp in. I almost always come in with a pot sized raise if I am going to bet. On the flop, if I hit the flop, I will bet 1/2 to a full sized pot bet. . . .depending on if I want to drive out any flush draws ect. It seems that I rarely have to go to showdown. Once I showdown 2-3 big hands, I can start playing a little looser.

On the homefront. . .my wife recently started a part time job (since poker isn't paying the bills yet) as a driver for a transportation company. She drives a limo or van to transport people to/from airport. My wife has the gift of gab. She made an acquaintance on her last day of work who is looking for help in my field. He runs restaurants/golf clubs/catering businesses. The GM's he wants to hire will be paid a minimum of $90k per year. This would be a substantial increase from my paltry $54k. I do like my job. I have worked for my company for 10 years. But, ninety large sure sounds nice. I think I am going to give the fella my resume. The job is in the Detroit area. I don't know much about Detroit except that they make cars there, it is cold, Mo-Town, and it is 10 hours from Atlantic City.

Back to poker. I started using GameTime+ in conjunction with PokerTracker. The progam basically overlays all of your opponents stats on to your internet poker table window. So far I think it is pretty handy. I recommend.

I promise I will start to post more.

Oh, yeah. Rent: Anchorman--The Legend of Ron Burgandy. Will Ferrell. Very Funny!!

When in Rome. . . .

TT

The kid is hot tonight!!

2004-11-24T23:08:00.000-05:00

Well, I have been bouncing back a bit lately. Nothing to write home about though. Better than October though!!

Tonight has been one of the hottest rushes in a long time. In one hour of playing two $2/4 tables and one $3/6 table I am up over $300 bucks. I am hitting flops like no other!! My very first hand tonight was pocket aces that held up for a nice pot. After that I have hit tons of flops. Made more sets than not, flopped straights.

Of course as I type this my set of kings just got beat by a set of aces that we both flopped. Maybe the holiday night is bringing out some more players because not only am I getting great hands but people are paying me to see them.

It looks like I may have activated the dreaded jinx as I have actually lost a couple of hands!! How dare they??

I am getting so many playable hands it is almost funny. I just won $111 with big slick.

It will be interesting to see my PokerTracker stats for tonight.

This has definitely offset the shitty six weeks I have had.

Happy Turkey Day!!!

Tony

Where have all the good cards gone??

2004-11-09T20:31:00.000-05:00

It has been too long since my last post and even longer since I could string together a few winning sessions.

Here is how October panned out:

88 Sessions
76.12 Hours Played

Total Won ($318.50)
Net per hour ($4.18)

Yes. . . .those are parenthesis which indicates a loss. It has been a long time since I posted a loss for a month. There wasn't just one bad day. The whole month stunk. . . bad. I have had to step down limits. I don't know what to do to be able to build my stack back. I am in a crappy predicament. My bankroll is getting to small for the limits that I like to play. By the same token I hate to play anything smaller than $2/4. I have been playing a little bit of $25 buy-in No Limit. I pretty much break even playing NL. I will post a nice win or two but wash them with a couple of big losses.

I am hoping that this is just a run of bad cards. Let's just hope that this run doesn't outlast my bankroll. Because once that bankroll is gone. . . .my poker playing will be done. . .for a while.

I guess that is why this blog is called The Case Money. Hehehe.

On a bright note. My little sports wagering account has held its own. I actually went on a streak of 11-2-1. I had blown 2/3 of my initial sports wagering bankroll in the stupid online casino. I need to get to Vegas to blow off gambling steam, I guess. Well, the bankroll dwindled to about $54. I am happy to say that the bankroll has grown to $373. I have been listening to the sports gurus at work and then using my own limited knowledge to place my bets. Overall, I think I am winning about 60% of my wagers. That is not an official number. . . .just a guess.

In The Poker Bookie the author noted that at Bodog (an online sports book/casino) that there is a lot of bad play on there. Seems to be more "gamblers" than poker players. People that take there $500 in sports winnings and hit the tables to blow off some steam. I think I am going to take some of my gambling winnings and open an account there. I received an unsolicited email pointing me to freechipoffer.com. I am going to sign up for Bodog using this link. If the offer is legit, I will receive a 300 piece poker chip set. Not bad for a minimum deposit of $50 and no minimum play requirements.

One of the reasons I haven't posted in a while besides the fact I have been too busy losing money playing cards is that I had a flare up of pancreatits. I suffer from chronic pancreatitis. I wouldn't wish this ailment on my worst enemy. . . .well maybe that dude that cracked my aces the other day with some junk hand. Pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas) are unable to consume alcohol or indulge in too much fatty foods. The doctor told me that this ailment was brought on by years of drinking. He is probably right. . . .I spent the better part of my twenties partying like a rock star. Now I am paying the price. I haven't had a drink in two years. . . .at first it was a real lifestyle change. But, to be quite honest, it was probably the best thing that could have happened to me. The party lifestyle, while it did help me bag a few babes, mostly just got me into trouble. Now that I am a father of twins, I can say that I am setting an example that was not set for me by my alcoholic father that I haven't spoken to in several years. Unfortunately, he will probably die before he speaks to me or sees or speaks to his two grandsons that are the last to carry on his name. I digress.

Here are the bankroll balances as of this writing:

Party Poker: $646
Sportsbook: $374

That Party balance worries me. Any time the Party balance falls below $800 I feel like I am playing with scared money. I am just going to try to play smart and wait for my luck to change.

Say, Hi if you stop by.

Thanks for reading.

Tony

Follow up

2004-10-21T21:50:00.000-05:00

My first week of dabbling in sports betting has gone all right. Since I started betting I have won three bets and lost three bets for a net of +$75.00. If St. Louis wins tonight (they are up 4-2 as of this writing), I will be +$147.00. This is just fun money. I may toss some of my winnings into another poker site to play around. Maybe Pacific Poker.

Poker has been not so great. It seems that my style of play allows me to break even until I catch great cards at which point I make my profits. Since I last posted my stats this is what I have done:

Net profits: +$239
Hours Played: 74.49
Per Hour Earnings: $3.21 per hour (bleck, I guess it is better than slinging hash at McDonalds. . . .but making less)

I laid off of the 3/6 games for a while and started playing the 2/4 tables which were giving me a better BB/hr.

I think I am pouring a good chunk of my ring game winnings into SnG and MTT's. I don't have a lot of time to dedicate to my tourney play so I am having a hard time improving.

I started reading Stripper by Night. That is a cool blog. Fun, real, with a tad of risque thrown in the mix. Definitely worth a read.

Here's big news. . . .the Godfather of Poker Blogs sent me a message after he read my blog!! Yes, Iggy, author of Guinness and Poker, and newest member of the "I play poker for a living" club dropped by my humble journal. Thanks for the kind words.

WOOHOO. . . .I won my 3rd bet in a row. St. Louis and Boston made me about $130 over the last two nights. Small potatoes by most measures but I have always sucked at sports betting. I guess I still do since I am taking a lot of tips from the sports gambling guru at work. This dude will wager six to ten dimes a weekend (that's $6-10k to you and me)!!!

I will post some pics of my baby twin boys, as promised. When they were born my wife and I had an agreement. She would name Baby B and I would name Baby A. She picked Aaron Rene and I picked Samuel Anthony. When the lady at the hospital came by to help me fill out birth certificate stuff, I came soooooooooo close to naming "my" baby Samuel Raise. How cool would that have been, huh? But, I chickened out. I guess I will just have to name my next child Dan Harrington or something.

I am going to play for about 30 mins before I goto bed. . . .

Later,
TT

Degenerate Gambler!!!

2004-10-16T00:03:00.000-05:00

Remember in my last post that I was talking about doing some sports betting (despite the fact that I suck at it). Well, I wanted to participate with some fellas from work and get in on the sports betting fad at work. . . .the boys are on a hot streak and I want to get in while they are still hitting. So, I open an account at an online sports book with some extra poker money I had lying around in Neteller. Well to make a long depressing story short. I blew 2/3 of my sports betting money in the f'ng online casino!!!! I had to cut myself off so I could have some sports betting money left.

Thanks to my online casino misfortunes I sent myself into a mini-tilt at the poker tables. Between my tilt and the godforsaken online casino, I dropped my overall gaming bankroll about 35%. I had to scale back my poker limits to $2/4 until I build my roll up to comfortable limits for $3/6.

To pile on to my other bad luck this week (I hope I am not bringing you down). . . . .that MTT I played in the other night. . . .I got off to a good start and more than doubled up after the 1st break. Well, of course, I was playing another table at the same time and at the precise moment I was going to click 'fold' at the limit table the table windows switched and I clicked bet pot on my MTT table with some junk hand. I ended up trying to buy the pot with 2nd button and got my arse eliminated.

In other news. . . . I am having a good session right now and I think I am going to call it a night and end on a winning note. I love going to bed after a winning session. I HATE going to bed after losing. . . . .all I think about are stupid calls and untimely bluffs. Okay, I actually closed the tables and ended an hour long, 2-table session playing $2/4. I am up $200 tonight for a total of 1 1/2 hours playing time. I was hitting my sets and made some cool reads when I knew I was good with ace high or got my opponent to lay down on the river.

Anyways, I will let you know how my first (and hopefully not last) weekend of sports betting goes. I hope I don't get into a rut of making money at poker to lose it at gambling!!! NAH!

STAY TUNED FOR TONY'S 5-STAR LOCK OF THE WEEK!!!!!!!!

Later,
TT

Good luck, me

2004-10-10T14:51:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since I have been able to post. I have been working a lot lately and have barely had time to play cards.

I have been using Poker Tracker a lot and have logged about 6,000 hands, I think. 85% of those hands are for $3/6 HE. I have noticed a couple of holes or, rather, consistencies of note :)

I have been trying to play more multi-table tourneys. It is hard to commit myself to do something for 3+ hours with twins at home. I like the Party Poker MTT's because there is always a lot of entrants which equals large prize pools!! I haven't played in many. But the few that I have played in I have missed the $$. The last MMT I entered was a $30+3 with 1600 entrants. I tried to excercise more patience than I usually do in MTT's. Throughout the duration of the tourney I was shortstacked or just below average in chip count. It seemed like I was just trying to hang on for the money--which I made. I placed 82nd and brought home about $95. The hand that I busted out on, I was definitely outplayed rather than beat bad. I was getting short stacked again and was dealt pocket 6's. I made a medium raise which was just called by one player who had position on me. The flop was junk and I decided to move in all of my chips to try to take the pot down there. The guy called and flipped over aces. I was pretty happy with my play but was unable to take down any large pots. . . . .by design mostly. . . .I was playing very tight, but made some good laydowns. My goal was to make the money. I was showing a lot of big cards when I could. I was trying to take down more small pots than big ones.

Some of the fellas at work have been betting a lot of sports (mostly football) online. Sports gambling intrigues me but I am horrible at it. I may chunk a couple of hundred and give it a whack. The guys are pretty good at it here. One fella took down $6500 in one weekend!! Kind of makes my 100-200 bucks a week seem tiny.

My fantasy football team sucks. Enough about that.

I am going to post a link to this new blog that I am reading. You may have read it. It is about this chick who is an Exotic Dancer and just decided to go pro playing poker. Gentleman, there are no pics on the site :(

Well, I am blogging from work and will continue later. Just wanted to make an overdue post.

Gonna play a MTT tonight. Good luck, me.

TT

The streak is over!! The streak is over!!

2004-09-21T20:44:00.000-05:00

I did not knock on wood enough. . . .

My streak of winning with pocket aces has ended at 23 times in a row.

TT

Aces Holed Up!!

2004-09-19T09:34:00.000-05:00

Yes, that is a play on words :)

Since I started playing on Party and using Poker Tracker (same time) I have been dealt pocket aces 21 times in 3,554 hands. They have held up EVERY time!! I have won $500+ with that hand. It amazes me that I haven't lost once with that hand, especially on Party which tends to be pretty loose at the $2/4 and $3/6. One particular pair of aces (the most recent one I think) I thought was going to end the streak. I think I was on the button and had 6 limpers before I entered the pot. I rammed and jammed and miraculously came out on top.

I have started to play more at the $3/6 tables over this last week. I tend to do better at these even though there is not a whole lot of difference. There is just the right mix of players who think they know what they are doing, newbies, and good players.

Here are my stats for the week:

Win/Loss: +$545.42
Hours Played: 49.32
Per Hour Earnings: $11.06/hr

I am happy with these numbers. . . .especially since I dropped $170 at the $2/4 tables this week.

I adjusted my monitor to where I can fit three tables on it pretty comfortably without too much overlap AND arrange the Poker Tracker game time windows as well.

The dude that writes the program for Poker Tracker is constantly upgrading the product. This was the best $55 I ever spent on anything poker related. There is a beta version out that has some snazzy new features. The coolest feature allows you to input some parameters and Poker Tracker assigns playing styles to all players (loose/passive, loose/aggressive, etc). I input parameters to account for about 13 different playing styles. It helps at the tables especially when you go head's up against a particular player. In case you were wondering, I fell in to the category of Tight Pre-Flop, Aggressive Pre-Flop when entering pot, and Aggressive Post-Flop.

This is week 2 of my fantasy football season. I made some moves this week. . . .we will see how I did. I came in DEAD last last weekend. I lost my game and scored the fewest points out of the 12 teams.

I think that I am going to whip up some Texas style BBQ today. That is one thing that stinks about Naples, FL. . .you can't find good BBQ or Mexican food if your life depended on it. I have found some average Mexican food place but no BBQ. I guess I will have to make it myself.

My wife and I have an arrangement now. On my days off, we each get to sleep in one day. While the one is sleeping in, the other cares for the babies. I got to sleep until noon yesterday. That is the latest I have slept in 6 months. It was beautiful.

Later,
TT

I got Poker Tracker!!

2004-09-14T12:25:00.000-05:00

Well. . .

Hurricane Ivan is going to stay away from us. For a while it looked like he was lining us up in his cross hairs.

I got Poker Tracker (registered version) finally!! I am pretty excited. I downloaded a beta version and it has a new feature. You input certain parameters and Poker Tracker spits out what kind of players (rock, maniac, calling station) the people you play with are. It would be really cool if Party Poker had a better way of tracking your fish. . .er. . . .buddies.

Now I don't have to use some silly excel spreadsheet to figure out my net winnings/losses over a particular period of time. Here are my stats since 9/8/04:

Win/Loss: +$160
Hours Played: 27.95 hours
Per Hour Earnings: +$5.72/hour
Better than last week. . . . that is for sure!!!

Here are some interesting things:
I have lost the most with these hands (most to least): AKo, QJo, 66
I have won the most with these hands (most to least): AA, 99, 77

Interesting stat (especially for low limit. . .I am playing 2/4 and 3/6): I have been dealt AA 9 times and have won EVERY time!!! I didn't realize that until I looked just now. AKs and KK won money for me half the time.

I have enjoyed Party Poker for the most part. I like the layout and look. The buttons are nice and big and play is relatively fast. The 2/4 tables are so loose and passive. You get drawn out a lot but can win money over the long haul. I have not played enough 3/6 yet to determine how these tables are. The one I am at right now is much tighter than the 2/4. . . .usually only 3 or 4 players seeing flop. I have even seen some fold all the way to the big blind. I like these types of tables.

My fantasy football season started out with a THUD. My team really sucks. I hardly have time to follow football anymore with all that is going on (work, family, twins, twins, 5th grade projects. . . .uh. . .poker).

Next post I think I will post some pics of my boys. They are so darned cute!!!

TT

Switched Sites (and another freakin' hurricane)

2004-09-09T21:45:00.000-05:00

Wow. A lot to catch up on. . . .

I withdrew most of my money from PokerJoe. I had a rough two weeks there and was really tired of playing PLHE. In the span of about 5 months I did manage to quadruple my original deposit. I checked out a lot of sites and got a lot of suggestions on where I should deposit. I wanted a decent bonus but more importantly I wanted a site that I didn't have to wait for a limit table (2/4 or 3/6) and something that was compatible with PokerTracker. I ended up choosing Party Poker. I didn't get a big bonus like I was hoping for but I definitely never have to wait for a game. I also hear that there is a lot of soft play on that site. We will see. I am really excited about using PokerTracker. I am a big time stat junkie so I will probably spend as much time playing as I do looking at all the stats that PokerTracker spits out.

I still have some dough at PokerJoe and will probably keep playing there a bit. I really just wanted a change of pace.

My last week ended up like this:

Net Winnings: -$211
Avg Win/Loss per hour: -$8.61/hour

Like I said. . . .rough week. Probably my worst in 5 months.

Well, I have played some at Party and like it so far. . . .I really miss playing limit poker. I am not a big fan of NL. . .I do like PL, though. About a year and a half ago I had just started playing some NL on Ultimatebet. I was actually doing all right (in hindsight, I didn't know what I was doing. . . .NL is such a different game than limit) winning a little here, a big pot there. Until one day, I over played pocket aces and didn't realize I was beat until the river. . . . I lost about $350 on that hand alone. That began a month long tilt that put me out of poker for about 8 months.

I do like to play NL tourneys and SnG's but I really need to study the game more before I get back to the NL ring games.

Well, another hurricane is coming. This one is called Ivan. Yes, like Ivan the terrible. It is almost making a beeline for where I live. . . .Naples, FL. Why don't they name more hurricanes names like Joy or Delilah? My family have already made our evacuation plans. I am sending my wife, daughter, and twin boys up to Orlando to stay at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress while I stay here and help them batten down the hatches at work. As it turns out I don't think I will be able to go up and hang with them unless the storm looks like a direct hit or really heavy duty.

Keep your fingers crossed for us. . . . .three storms in one month. . . .sigh. . .

I downloaded a really cool program the other day (stop reading here if you object to getting music off the internet for free). It is called Station Ripper. I got it at www.download.com What the program does is tap in to internet radio stations and record music off of them. . . .It doesn't sound illegal since it would be like recording off of a radio station. You don't get to actually pick a song or artist (you can search for them but the program works differently than similar programs) but rather a genre of music. You then select stations (they display what song is currently playing) from which you would like to start ripping music from. You can select one station or a hundred. The more stations you choose the more music you get. The great thing about this program is that it gets music FAST!!! In about 40 minutes I downloaded close to 200 songs.

This program is cool if you like to try out new tunes and listen to music that you haven't heard of or just want to download a bunch of top 40 songs. . . .check it out.

Time to smoke then take more money off of these guys at Party (I am up but have taken some of the infamous "Party Poker Bad Beats".

Later and thanks for reading. . . .if you have time say hi in the comment section.

Tony

Hurricane Frances

2004-09-02T07:20:00.000-05:00

Hurricane Frances is on its way.

I live in Naples, FL and we missed the brunt of the much smaller Hurricane Charley. I believe that it was reported that Charley is half the size of Frances. Scary to think that Charley's eye was only about 50 miles away from my home. We did experience some high winds and much rain but nothing like Punta Gorda.

Frances is expected to pound some part of the Eastern Coast of Florida. What I learned from Charley was that you don't know what these things are going to do. My wife has a very lackadaisical attitude toward this hurricane. "We don't need to worry. . . .it is too far. . . blah, blah, blah." I believe that this thing could do anything and we need to be mentally prepared for it. Hurricane force winds are extending 85 miles beyond the eye; tropical storm force winds are extending 180+ miles from the eye. The way I see it--any unusual shift to the west or south puts us right in the path. The thing is half the size of Florida for God's sake!!

Anyways. . .

Poker. Cards have been running kind of cold. Yesterday was my first winning day in at least 3 days. I played a lot of shorthanded .50/1.00 PL last night against my nemesis, Craziness. I am slowly starting to figure him out. He told me last night after I took down a big pot after I made a pot-sized raise on the river, that I was soooo easy to read. I got him to fold on the river when I put him to a decision for a lot of chips (like he frequently does). The fact of that hand was he was trying to play me and I played him. I told him that all I had was a pair of 7's with a busted flush draw and he said "yeah, sure". I told him that his plays were becoming too easy to read and I learned some moves from him. So, thanks!!

After close to three hours I was up $33. A win is a win. I have played in two more Shootouts 3rd and 5th place finishes. I just need to tighten up a bit and show a little more discipline and I believe I will come out winning. If I win 2 out of every 5, I will will have a 66% ROI (I think).

Thanks to FeliciaLee for including me on her list of blogs on her site. If you don't know who she is, I suggest you read her blog. I think that she is going to be a big, BIG winner one day. She is talented at a number of games and has an amazing knack for tourney play.

This sums up my last week of play, from Zen and the Art of Poker by Larry Phillips:

Poker Rule #100: Make sure you know when you are on a cold streak.

When the reality of power has been surrendered, it's playing a dangerous
game to seek to retain the appearance of it.
--Alexis de Tocqueville

The Let Down

2004-08-30T22:18:00.000-05:00

Well, after that great weekend I tanked the next 3 days or so. I managed to give all but the $366 I made on Sunday back by Friday.

Normally on PokerJoe I am able to steal a lot of pots on the flop. Nobody ever plays back at me. Well they did this week. Whenever I come in raising I invariably bet 1/2 to full pot sized bet on the flop regardless of whether I hit anything on the flop. . . maybe I need to make some adjustments to my play here. I really want to work on my play after the flop.

I ran into Craziness again this week. He set me off after I was already giving some of my winnings back. He is not afraid to play back at me with nothing. . . .I am really a pretty predictable player if you pay attention. . . .which most online players don't. I really have to play solidly against this guy.

I have started my Sit and Go Challenge. I am SnG's into the challenge (I am going to play 20 5-man shootouts with buy-ins from $5-20 bucks) and have done some experimenting. I have managed the following:

2 First Place Finishes
1 Third Place Finish
1 Fifth Place Finish

So, far for the challenge I am +$21 . . . .too bad that the shootouts that I won were only $5 buy-ins. The shootouts at PokerJoe are pretty cool 100% to the winner (I guess that is why they call it a shootout).

Stats for this week:
17 Hours Played
$31 Winnings
$1.82/hour

Boy, that stinks.

I thought about taking a big chunk of the bankroll and trying to cash in on some bonuses at other sites. I am going to have to research and find out which are the best bonuses. I am considering Empire, Pacific, or maybe Caribbean Sun (downloaded the other day. . . .looks okay. . .decent traffic and tourneys).

I want to make enough money playing poker in the next 4 months to buy myself a cool toy. . . .like a new PC or a big ole TV.

Like I don't have enough to do in my personal life (work, father of twin boys, poker-a-holic, etc), I am preparing for my fantasy football draft coming up. Draft is on Sunday. I have played with these guys for about 4 years and have one the big one once. I do it mostly for fun. . . .winner gets $350.

I played some golf today at the course I work at. Didn't do too bad. Damn it's hot in Florida in August.

I am still waiting for my wife to read my blog and start asking me how much $$ I have in my poker account. Bevin, if you are reading this. . . . .just trust me and let me make millions. Okay?? Don't ask how much I have. It makes me feel guilty :(

Lastly, one of my favorite poker books. . .Zen and the Art of Poker by Larry W. Phillips is a great read. I recommend it to anyone who plays for $$. I need to read it again after this week. A little excerpt:

Poker Rule #48
Become aggressive in the Openings That Appear

In this section Phillips quotes Mao Tse-tung

The enemy advances, we retreat; the enemy camps, we harass; the enemy tires, we
attack; the enemy retreats, we pursue.

This was the only page that I dog-eared. . . .

Later Poker Freaks!!!

TT

Big Weekend

2004-08-25T20:09:00.000-05:00

Thanks to those who have come by and read. I hope you keep coming back.

This weekend was a pretty good for me at the tables. I was playing mostly .50/1.00 Pot Limit Hold em at PokerJoe . I had been having a so-so weekend but on Sunday the cards were hitting me square in the forehead. Most of my pairs were hitting trips on the flop and would fill up if I need them. . . .even logged a couple of quads. My bluffs were timely and reads were good as well. One pot in particular was the largest that I believe that I have taken down since I started playing online. I was dealt pocket jacks in middle position. I made a pot sized raise that scared off only two players. Flop was 8-4-2 rainbow. I raised a $5 bet to $13. One calls and the original bettor re-raises to about $20. At this point I believe that I am beat. I put the guy on a set of 4's or 8's or maybe a 9's or 10's. I call the raise knowing that I am not getting the odds but wanted to see the if the turn improved my hand. Then the money card hits. . . . Jack of hearts. No flush possibility. 1st position bets out $30. I smooth call and last player folds. Right now I have the best possible hand and if I read the player right he is not any kind of draw and has only one out. Last card is a nine. Player bets $61. I go all in for $79 and he calls. I take down $307 pot!!

I took down a couple of other nice pots that day.

On the site I play at they have 5 man shoot outs. I played in one for the 1st time Monday but only managed 2nd. I think that these can be pretty profitable if played properly. $11 investment can net a $39 profit.

I think I will start a challenge for myself. I am going to play in 20 shootouts from $5 to $20 buy-ins and see at the end how profitable they are. The only problem is that it is hard to get a shoot out going. Most people play the $2.5 SNG's and shootouts.

I am going to sit in a $1/2 PL game now. This is a level higher than I usually play. Premium hands only early. Let's see how it goes.

I will keep you updated. Thanks for reading.

p.s. I started listening to a band called Los Lonely Boys. . . .Check them out they have a good sound. . . .a Texas sound, Stevie Ray Vaughn with Latino overtones.

My First Real Post

2004-08-23T09:57:00.000-05:00

Well, I got my blog set up. I started doing this blog because I have been reading a few different blogs pretty regularly and thought it was time to start my own journal of poker playing. At the very least, I will have a record of my rise to fame!!

I am a 32 year old father of three. My wife and I (mostly my wife ) had twin boys 6 months ago. They are a handful to say the least. Aaron is helping me write this blog entry right now while Mama sleeps with Sammy. We live in Southwest Florida after spending all of our adult lives in San Antonio, TX.

I have been playing poker for about 4 years now. I play almost exclusively online but get out to the local dog track now and then to play some no fold 'em. I started playing on UB and built a $35 prize from a freeroll into enough money to play for a year and a half at $4/8. I used the money I made to buy some new furniture for the family. The remaining bankroll dwindled away as I tried to start making more money at the NL tables there. I wasn't ready for that yet. Since I had nothing to play with I took a long (much needed) break from poker.

My break from poker ended about four months ago when I got an email from an individual explaining that some investors were looking for internet players to back. I figured it was worth a try and called the man up. I was VERY skeptical. He explained a deal to me that sounded legit (but what scam doesn't). Investors start you off with a $1000. They absorb the losses and split the profits with you 50/50. To start you had to "try out". I deposited $400 into a website called PokerJoe . More on that later. I was to play 2000 hands at whatever limit I felt comfortable at and would the be evaluated. I played my 2000 hands and had lost about $200 in the process. I thought that I had played okay but I hadn't really played in about 7 months and I was very rusty. Well, the guy that was coordinating the tryouts obviously did not take me on but he said if I wanted to he would reevaluate my play down the road. The guy is very pleasant, likes to talk, and seems to know quite a bit about the game. I am still trying to "make the cut" and have done quite well for myself along the way. I am sure that some of you are going to read this and say, "what a sap this guy is for trying out for backing from a guy he has never seen." I say what the heck do I have to lose.

Now, I was required to play my hands at a site called PokerJoe . At first, I didn't like the site. There wasn't much traffic, the limit ring games were limited and usually very small stakes ($1/2 and smaller). But let me tell you. . . .this site has grown on me. I have been playing pot limit almost exclusively with blinds at .25/.50 or .50/1.00. The play is sooooo soft there it is like taking free money sometimes. Of course there are some players there who know how to play the game that you have to look out for. One player by the name of Craziness is a very aggressive and very wiley player. He likes to get you to the river and then put you to a decision for A LOT of chips. The first time I played him he took me for about $150. He was getting me to lay down the winners and call the losers. I would lay down a big pair and he would turn over garbage. I would call with a very strong hand he would turn over the nuts. It was like he could see my cards. Well, since then I believe that I have got the best of him. I don't tangle with him unless I have a great hand or a good read on him. All of the same people play at the same tables. You get a really good feel for all of the players because if you play a lot you are playing against the same players a lot.

I recommend that you try the site out. There is almost always a $50 or $100 buyin Pot Limit game with pretty soft play. Also, you can immediately start using your bonus as soon as you deposit.

Anyhoo, enough for now. . . . .next post will be about my big weekend at the tables.

Later and thanks for reading. Please leave a comment and say hi!!

TT

The Case Money

2004-08-20T23:27:00.000-05:00

This is my first post. . . .Hopefully of many. To follow are my chronicles of my progression in my poker hobby. One day I hope it could be a career but that is many, many moons away, if ever.

Please say hello if you read. If you don't I will think my blog is like a tree falling with nobody around.

I am too tired from playing poker to write a blog now. I am already sick of blogging :)

I shall return.