Tuesday 26 June 2007

Friendly heads up with the Deerhunter

Monday night! Ha. Suzie's birthday and we went out to L'Amour de la Femme (highly recommended) with The Deerhunter and his luv-er-ly missus Carls. Great food and good company. Went home for a few (more) quieties, and the gals settled down in front of Desperate Housewives or something like that. Shockin' shit! So Deerhunter and I snuck out to 'The Rumpus' for a few hands and, truth be known, cones!

It was a friendly game, just for a laugh. He was telling me all about 'The Professor, The Banker and The Suicide King' book that I leant him over dinner. Raved about it. Can't wait to read it myself, but I'm still ploughing thru Harrington 1!

First hand I get dealt Big Slick offsuit. I raised it up $25, and he called. Flop comes A-A-rag! I bet out $25 again (just wanting to build the pot while keeping him in the hand). Turn card comes K! Nut book baby! Another $25, call. River rag. I bet $50. He calls. Fuck did we laugh.

Played for probably an hour. Ebbs and flows. Pushed me off a few pots with not much, so I changed up my style a smidge. (We always show hands, so we learn about each others thought processes.) Got dealt a heap of PP's but the flop never helped me. Didn't have trips once. One hand I limped with shite, and flopped a 3 on a J-10-3 flop. I bet 300, he raised to 600 and I reraised to 900. "What have you got?" he remarked, and he folded. He showed me A-8 off. Fuggen funny.

Last hand of the night (after the luv-er-ly Carls popped her head in to 'The Rumpus' and said she was going!) he pushed all in. I called (thinking he had ATC and was just doing it for a larf).

I tabled J-2 off.

He flipped over Bullets! Ha! What a wanker!

Monday night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BTW - We're off to Flinders Bay, Augusta this Friday for 3 nights of mayhem and poker!

Can't wait!

Thursday 21 June 2007

Been a while .....

..... so a bit of an update.

Firstly, the mooted game between C-nut, the Deerhunter and myself on Saturday night never materialized, at least not in its fullest form. C-nut couldn't quite get off the leash. Bugger. At least the Deerhunter came around and we had a private party. Great fun. Beers, a spliff or three, X-Box and some Heads Up! Not much to report really. We put a tenner in each, which I managed to win. It's all pretty hazy, but in the final hand he ran A7 soooooted into AQ off and I busted his cardigan wearing arse! (In all honesty, he was wearing a big black coat.... but he still owns a cardigan!) Then we just played some friendly hands, which was nowhere near as aggressive, but great for a larf. We pulled up stumps around 2am. Must be gettin' old!

I might have found another bloke who's happy to play mid-week. Definitely missing the 'real' action of a four way game with the boys, when there's some coin on the line. It's not about the $$$, rather the satisfaction of playing well in more of a pressure cooker situation. Here's hoping we can do it sooner rather than later.

I've been playing a fair bit of free shit on Full Tilt. (I've given up on, and uninstalled Betzip. Their new software sux balls.) Made top 40 (AGAIN) in a 630 ppl multi again the other night. Must've been a bit pissed. Donked out when I pushed top 2 pr into a flush without reaaaally having a good look at the river card. Hey. We've ALL done it!)

Had a bit more luck last night. Ended up heads up in a 630 ppl multi. Played smart agressive poker last night.

* I didn't back off when I had the cards. I was making people pay dearly to see another card.
* I called some stuff that I normally wouldn't in a live game.
* I didn't play suited crud as often as I sometimes want to.
* My set mining worked a treat. Three or four from medium pairs over the journey?
* I didn't pussy out when I was representing cards (even when I didn't have them.) Got me a bundle of chips in fact, when I was quietly shitting bricks and was SURE I was beaten.

Heads up lasted probably 10 minutes. He had almost $300k and I had around $200k and the blinds and antes were horrendous. Talk about card death! I hardly had a decent hand to work with the entire time. When I tried to play strategically, he pushed back twice as hard. The few times I tried to match his strength, I went down. The coupla times I had a very solid hand, it seemed he'd fold from the small blind. The only time I thought '... for God's sake dude. PUSH' was when I was holding Big Slick, and the prick folded. Fuggit! In the end I'm pretty sure I had KQc and he spiked an A with his kinda-average A8 off. I'd probably jam with that 99% of the time heads up.

On the whole tho I can't be disappointed. I thought I played pretty well, considering my dearth of decent cards. I feel since starting to read Harrington 1, my play with crap cards has improved out of sight, and let's face it... sooooo much of Hold'em is playing your shit as much as playing your cream, well. And there's sooooo many complete fuckheads playing in those freebie tournaments, it's ridic. The last 5 or 6 times I'm cracking top 50 at least and have final tabled two, finishing the bridesmaid once. So my honest assesment of my play is this. I'm not getting into too many dangerous spots. I'm laying down when I should be and not chasing crazy shit. If I have one criticizm of my game, is that sometimes I'm don't have nearly enough chips to have an impact at 'the pointy end'. But perhaps I'm learning to rectify that, as evidenced by my play last night. Time will tell.

Weeeeeooooooord!

Thursday 14 June 2007

There is no F#CKING GOD!

....or if there is, he frowns on Hold'em!

630 player freebie multi on Full Tilt. I've got a stack of around 13k and down to the last 50 players or so. Dealt black Bullets. Bet $300 pre. It was raised up to $1200 (With what I have NO idea!) and naturally I called. Flop comes 4-6-7 spades. Someone bets, I raise (pot sized) and two players call. I jam on the turn card (rag) and only one player calls. No other spade and the player makes a runner-runner straight.

Finished 43rd or thereabouts.

Did I totally F#CK this up?! If you were playing it, when would you have pushed?

Night!

Love some input from you Yanks!

In my first post a coupla days ago, I asked for some suggestions for good screenshot capture and hand history programs. If you know the way to go, please don't be bashful. Take some time and leave me a note! Cheers in advance!

An aside.... Played a 600 player multi on Full Tilt last night. God there's some dickheads on there. Seriously. I know a lot of people play loose online when there's no $$$ involved, but it's just crap when Big Slick goes down to some punk who jams with 6-4 off. I placed top 40, I think, but by this stage it was nearly 1am. Trebled up with Kings after getting ZERO in the first 40 minutes, and then was basically blinded to death until I pushed 9's into Q's and didn't improve. That's the thing online. You can't bluff much coz some moron will call! The only one that got away was I laid down 8-3 off pre-flop when it was raised to buggery, only to flop a book. Still, how the hell do you play 8-3 off when other donks are pushing so hard? Love to hear your thoughts!!!

I'd love to play some smaller cash games online down the track, but it's pretty hard when you're poor-ish! We'll get there .... someday!

Wednesday 13 June 2007

JESUS ZAC!!!!

Does everyone know the problems associated with playing someone without a complete grasp on the game of Hold'em? It can be BLOODY FRUSTRATING!!!!

Just playing a few hands of Heads Up after picking up Zac from skool and this happened. I'm in the BB and get dealt 5s5d. Zac raised double the BB to $100, and I re-raised to $200. He called. I put him on A-rag or similar. Maybe KQ - KJ? Flop - shit cards and two diamonds. I bet $100, he called. Next card, rag diamond. I'm on a flush draw, or at worst, I might catch another 5. I bet $200, he agonized, thinking out loud "I don't have a pair, Dad". And I said, "Up 2 u". He called, and along came the last diamond, making my flush. Now I've explained flushes OVER AND OVER AGAIN, but he just seems blinded by paint and straights. Anyhooooo.....

I bet $500 on the river card. (Knowing full well that he could have a much better diamond than me!) Anyway, he eventually calls... and says "Ace high". What suit you reckon it was?!!!!

FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRK!!!!!!!!!!!

To all wannabe parents out there. Think VERY, VERY CAREFULLY before you go down that path. A) Childbirth and b) teaching a 7 year old Hold'em.

I look forward to the day that he can read Harrington!

Well ..... maybe not! Heh!

____________________________________________________________

The other quick reason behind me getting 'on' again today was this. This is one of my goals. To compete in (and WIN) one of these fuckers. It's probably like climbing Mt Everest, but I like to aim high ... and allow for the trajectory!

http://bloggerpokerchallenge.blogspot.com/

Basically, you've gotta be a blogger to have a crack. Well guess what! I frickin' well am!

It seems like a really cool community, to the point where quite a few of them headed to Vegas for the WSOP Bracelets (and other R&R pursuits!). A couple of them cashed too. Once again, Hoyazo's site has a great account of how he cashed. Inspirational stuff.

Let the 'sponging' begin!!!!!

This'll be a relatively brief post today, as I'm at work and have only got an hour before I've got to do my shift. For those of you who give a toss, this is the mob I work for. 12 - 6pm weekdays. Tune in if you can. It's all QUALITY! Heh.

http://www.spiritradio.com.au/bun/index.html

Yes, my purchase. I'll start from the start. I've been reading a lot of posts on other Poker Blogs (check some of my regular reads below) and a lot of the guys refer to some of their favourite reading material from time to time. Well I figured that I could use some help in at least thinking differently about the game, and hopefully playing it differently too. So I made some notes about their recommended reading, and started doing my research. I settled on Harrington on Hold'em 1 and 2, Doyle Brunson's Super System 1 and 2, and just for some lighter reading, The Proffessor, The Banker and The Suicide King - Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time. I did some price checking at various online bookstores, both Aussie sites and Amazon.com in the US and crunched the conversion. Thank christ the $A is reasonably favourable to the $US at the moment. Hands down, Amazon won the price battle.

But being a loyal local to the Bunbury economy, I thought I'd at least go in to Angus and Robertson and check what they could do. Eeeeeep! ONE of Harrington's books was going to cost me at least HALF as much as ALL FIVE books coming from the States. It's a global economy now baby, and I don't earn enough $$$$ to just give the shit away! Besides, the difference might be enough for a couple/few buy-ins for our cash games! Lol!

Well they're here. In all their chunky, informative glory! And I tell you, I haven't been as chuffed to receive a package in a hella long time. The first book I got 'into' was Harrington 1. I don't really know why. Just all the positive talk about it around the traps I spose. And while I'm about a third of the way through it, I can't get enough. Example, I jumped into bed last night around 11pm (after Full Tilting for a good few hours. Suzie was at a work do last night!) and didn't turn off the bed lamp til 1am! I haven't done that for God-knows-how-long! It's a riveting read for a poker-head. The hand examples are a real trip, but to be honest some of it wasn't too far off my thinking at the table.

If there was one of the earlier parts of the book that made me stop and think deeper about the game of Hold'em, it was the concept of the Super-Aggressive Player. I mean Jesus. How long into a hand can you really be aggressive with shit cards? 'The Hammer'? (For a more detailed explaination of the Hammer, I highly, HIGHLY recommend Hoyazo's blog. The link is provided below.) It makes perfect sense that all competitive poker players need the ability to 'change things up' and vary their style, but Super-Aggressive ALL THE TIME? Fuck me, that would be a draining way to play.

Anyhoooooo ..... the books! Harrington 1 I am loving, altho it'll definitely be a 'double or triple read' book for my stegosaurus sized and much abused brain. I did also flip through a few pages of Super System 1 by Texas Dolly, (C-nut said I was mad if I didn't pick it up) but it didn't read as well as Harrington, to me at least. But i'll reserve judgement because it was only a brief looksie. I'm sure given some dedicated time my perception will change.

So yep, let the 'sponging' begin!!!! I couldn't be happier with my decision to invest in some reading material. I've been working my arse off with the mobile DJ-ing in particular, and haven't got any hobbies that I pursue anymore, aside from the occasional hit of golf, so I don't feel I have to justify the expenditure. Zac's got decent shoes and we eat well, so why the eff not?!!!

If you're a nOOb, why not do the same?! Just tell Amazon.com I referred you!

(Ha! So much for a brief post today!)

Tuesday 12 June 2007

Day Dot

Well, BUGGER ME! I'm starting a poker blog. Funny how life works. I hate computers and tend to shun technology and here I am about to bare my poker soul for the 'world' to see.

But that's the thing. I phucken LOVE NL Hold'em. I'm an Aussie, and the craze has been slower catching on here than in the States, but since getting into it around two years ago... I'm practically hooked. It started with some great mates playing cash games and getting raucous in various garages around Bunbury. I must credit these boys, for not only are they top blokes, but they're pretty decent poker players too.

Drew, who shall be herefore known as "The Deerhunter" because of his ridiculously hideous old skool cardigan that he wears to games. He has a penchant for getting totally smashed up, running out of beers and playing as tight as a fishes arsehole. That said, he's happy to gamble occasionally, and will push pots hard when he thinks he's in front. Louder than a jumbo jet landing when he gets on a roll!

Nathan, who shall be herefore known as "C-nut". As time goes by, you will probably pick up on why I've tabbed him that. He's been into the game for ages, and basically got us guys to feed his addiction to free money. He loves his coin. He loves a smoke. He doesn't usually party too hard when playing, but he's loosened up lately. The bugger-bugger is that he's just landed a cushy job in Perth, so he's not around as much as he used to be. Now he's closer to Burswood, so the pricks probably refining his cash game. Not that he needs it. Probably the strongest player in our group. Sorta tight-aggressive, and reknowned for stealing pots. I reiterate. He's a bastard.

Mooshie. A buddy of C-nut's, and a hella nice guy. We can stick with Moosh. I don't even know his real name! Aren't I a rude sod?! He's the unfoldable calling station we all need and love in a regular cash game. Then again, when he gets a monster, NO-ONE sees it coming. Our games just wouldn't be the same tho without him. Great for a laugh and puts a different slant on hands, which makes things interesting.

Then there's yours truly. It's really not for me to describe me or my style. I will say this. I've got a looooooong way to go. A LOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNG, LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNG way to go. I have good nights where I play good cards well and bad cards better. I have nights where I'm a total donkey and make boneheaded plays all fucking night. But I am determined to improve. I'm dinkum about this. I've just invested in some SERIOUS reading material, and it arrived yesterday! Booyah! Amazon.com .... you rock!

I'll make another post about my 'investment' tomorrow. But I'm as excited as I've ever been about Hold'em, and you'll see why over the journey that is this blog. Weird but wonderful shizzle!

Just sent C-nut a txt, inviting him to a game Saturday night at my joint. The Deerhunter and I are planning some mayhem (which may as well include poker!) and it just hit me that he might be home from the big smoke. As long as his lovely lady (Shaq) is cool with it, there'll be a juicy post next week breaking down the night.

Before I sign off, if anyone has some suggestions regarding poker programs, screen saver - hand capture stuff, I'd love to hear from you. I don't play much online. Too many fuckheads playing shit cards that suck out, but I plan on doing it a bit more. Any help and comments from the broader blogging community would be very much appreciated.

Post 1. Day Dot. And I still can't believe it!

Weeeeooooord!

W00t!

Work?! Bah!!!!!

Waste time here!

Orsome!