Nothing But Pictures

Oh, and By the Way

They are ELEVEN months old today. Where did the time go.






Well, if the American Association of Pediatrics asks, they're 12 months old already.

I See An Upside

As has become very clear to anyone paying attention, I have opened up my game quite a bit.

A "bit," you say? Sure, why not.

And while I have expressed justified concern that opening too much might result in my becoming too spewy, the change has resulted in some neat results in a place I had not frequented in a long time.

Online poker. Specifically, online poker satellites. I've won a sat to the Sunday million and the Sunday WSOP qualifier in the last week. I even tried my hand at one of the $30 rebuys to the Series (and if it hadn't been for a horrbly timed resteal push with jacks, I'd still be in it with about two tables left). That plus a nice NLHE two-tabling session tonight has resulted in a well-timed virtual bankroll boost.

The two wins in sats means I have enough money to take some shots, and also money I can sell for 95% of its value if I become cash poor. The nice NLHE session means I won't be cash poor for a while.

Am I going to the World Series? Probably not. But it's nice to have some ammo to give it a shot without having to transfer live winnings over.

Am I going to become a hoodie wearing, Internet savvy LAGtard? Definitely not.

Hoodies make me look even fatter.

Looking forward to giving the Mountaineer Saturday tournament another go. Last time I played it in January, I final tabled it and finished 8th. Got a bit short, and had to push A10 into KJ, and couldn't hold up, but if I had won that hand I would have been above par with 8 left and in great shape. I think I can win this thing. Structure is meh -- a bit worse than Foxwoods, better than a fire hall, but in the land of no options what they spread for you is king.

If only there was a local version of the Crackhouse. Ah well.

West Virginia -- Wild and Wonderful

Had an interesting evening at Mountaineer Gaming last night.

I usually play locally, but Mountaineer was running a satellite for their big end-of-month tournament. I don't want to devote the resources to a big buy-in, so I decided to play in the sat and see what happens.

Usual crap. I lose a bit calling with a straight and flush draw, then bust when my AQ runs into a straight and flush draw of a guy with monster chips. He had to call my push, but he took FOREVER to do it and that sort of nonsense (in a quick tournament, no less) really annoyed me. Theatrics when a decision is trivial and the pot is head's up are a big waste of time and donkeyish.

I don't mind someone "mulling" over a decision with a big draw or acting pensive with a monster if it's multi-way -- sometimes those sort of theatrics will result in an overcall or overpush that can be very profitable. But this kind of "playing to the nonexistent cameras" nonsense is so common in poker these days -- TV has hurt the sportsmanship of the game as much as it has increased its popularity.

I move on to the cash games. I really want to play PLO, but nothing's running -- hold'em it is.

Mid-limit NLHE is an odd game sometimes. Not ten minutes in, I find myself pushing on the turn with top pair, top kicker (AK) and the nut flush draw (A-unconnected rags with three clubs) against a player I read as weak only to have him tank for five minutes and call all in with top pair no kicker. He hits his rag on the river after calling an entire buy-in's worth of betting with three outs.

I reload and have some work to do. Fortunately my new best friend does not vary his play despite his suckout. He bets out strong with middle pair. He raises on bluffs or with top pair with no draw. He just calls with draws -- never raises with them. He's fairly easy to read, but tough to play against unless you're willing to deal with the variance of going with your reads and him sucking out.

I get it all back later when he overplays top pair against my trips. I faced a tough call on the turn, but when he bet the same amount on the river the call felt fairly automatic (he also wasn't a "value bet" kind of guy).

Same thing later with another player -- I raise in late position with 79c. Flop is A 10 8, two spades. I bet about pot, OOP tanks and calls. A red 6 on the turn gives the nut straight, and OOP bets out. I raise him about pot. The OOP caller tanks and calls the raise. At this point, I think he has a big Ace. His play to that point didn't suggest any kind of a flush draw. The river completes the flush and pairs the board (10s). He checks. He has never checked when he hit his hand, ever, in four hours -- he's passive, but hasn't checkraised even once. I decide to make a thin value bet (yes, I thought it was a value bet and not a bluff)-- about half pot. He tanks, and tanks, and tanks, and finally calls. He mucks when he saw my straight -- I don't think he even saw it on the board.

It was that kind of table, but I am a bit too much of a "feel" player right now. My reads are pretty spot-on, but I don't want to become Pittsburgh's "Kenny Tran". Balance will suit me better in the long run, no matter how well I am reading betting patterns and tells.

Made my lost buyin back, the satellite entry back, and a little more. It will do.

Repetitive

These are repetitive from my wife's blog (which is way better than mine and you should read every day!), but they're so darn cute!