Phuck.

I've gotta work on these layout skills! :-)

Ignore the pics until I get 'em right. Also, any advice how I can just get the screens of the FT thingumy, as opposed to my entire desktop?!

To quote that fat fuck Meatloaf....

....two out of three ain't bad.

This was the first one. Strolled to victory in this one. One shitly played hand aside. Trying to stack the guy heads up. He just wouldn't call enough for me to stack the bastard!

Warning - train wreck below!

Full Tilt Poker Game #6951138768: $6 + $0.50 Sit & Go (Turbo) (52828708), Table 1 - 200/400 - No Limit Hold'em - 7:50:36 ET - 2008/06/24

Seat 4: sammyace (3,260)

Seat 6: Phucken (10,240)

Phucken posts the small blind of 200

sammyace posts the big blind of 400

The button is in seat #6

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to Phucken [Kh Kd]

Phucken calls 200

sammyace checks

*** FLOP *** [7s 2c Jh]

sammyace checks

Phucken checks

*** TURN *** [7s 2c Jh] [8h]

sammyace bets 400

Phucken raises to 800

sammyace raises to 2,860, and is all in

Phucken calls 2,060

sammyace shows [2d Js]

Phucken shows [Kh Kd]

*** RIVER *** [7s 2c Jh 8h] [4d]

sammyace shows two pair, Jacks and Twos

Phucken shows a pair of Kings

sammyace wins the pot (6,520) with two pair, Jacks and Twos

The blinds are now 250/500

*** SUMMARY ***Total pot 6,520 Rake 0

Board: [7s 2c Jh 8h 4d]Seat 4: sammyace (big blind) showed [2d Js] and won (6,520) with two pair, Jacks and TwosSeat 6: Phucken (small blind) showed [Kh Kd] and lost with a pair of Kings

Phucken Eeeeeeee Aaaaaaaawwwwwww! Makes my stomach turn reading it again! Took it down though.

Then this one, where I was chip leader and then proceeded to donk out in about three hands. A 300 chip super turbo might be some peoples idea of fun, but it's not mine! More like a lottery.

The problem is, as soon as you call some short stack with AQ and he flips over K rag and hits, you're rooted. Not good for those with pacemakers or a propensity for violence. Cunty in fact!

Then this one, where I went in ahead but he got red hot (as those who play on Full Tilt would understand). Still made some $$$ though. So that's cool.

Hardly big stakes or big coin, but I'm in front on the night and played well (except for murdering those kings) so I'm relatively happy.

Said to Suze though, considering I won about half as much as in the 28k last weekend, and in a quarter of the time, you can see where the majority of my time will be spent in the future!

(Altho the knowledge that I can go deep in those deep fields does tempt me a bit! As does the thought of a decent cash!)

W00t!

Finally a bit (little bit) of success in a large field event! Will add some details when I'm not cross-eyed! Not a great hourly rate (!) but great for the confidence.

Wow.....Been a while....

Yeah... I must admit, it's been too long. My last post was in November for Chrissakes! It's been mad... for reasons that would only bore you shitless, so I won't.

I will say that it's not like poker has taken a backseat....far from it.... but the blogging side of it definitely has. The funny thing is, that some of the recent developments in my poker life have almost got me to 'where I wanted to be' when starting the blog. The good thing about poker tho, is that it's never going to be a case of 'mission accomplished'! It's such a cool game.

So, here's the dish.

Finally playing cash on FT. It's been a learning experience for sure. One .... avoiding the donks. Two .... picking your spots against the Lagtards! I'm running okay. My cash game has been up and down. I'm about even at the moment. I've been playing more tourneys and Sit and Go's of late, in fact my tournament game has come on really strong. I expect to make the top 10% of the field in everything I play in. And for the most part I do. It usually comes down to a bit of luck at the pointy end. Races. Fucking races!!! Last night for instance... in the $100 Aussie Freeroll, I was sailing along nicely when I pick up pocket 10's UTG. So I pop it 5xBB, and UTG+1 (similar stack to me) puts in half his stack. Folds around to me, and I shove. AQ vs 10's and he hits a Q. It'd be nice to win a few more of those flips. I don't reraise with AQ there and I definitely don't call the shove, but hey, what the fuck would I know?!

(Side note. You know what's really pissing me off about FT at the moment? All the Flush flops! Is it just me or are they coming out with monotonous regularity?!!!)

Anyhoo.... final tabling lots of tourneys and taken a few down. Fucked a couple up too, but generally my form and play has been solid. Changing gears when required, playing aggro poker when I've got a hand and picking my spots well. Stealing heaps when I get a read. Jesus, I took a pot down with ducks on an overcards flop when checked around to me last night! My table image seems to be respected (at least by the savvy players) and I'm loving it.

Oh! Won a seat into one of the big FTOPS events a while back .... $300+ buy in, which was nice too. That's right.... Gus Hansen's $1.5 mil NL Hold'em tournament. I'd never be able to afford to buy in directly, so that was very cool. Horrible hand that took me out of that. I made a semi loose call to a minbet raise preflop with QJs OOP. So I flop the nut straight and three guys get it all in on the flop. FT pro Thomas Wahlroos turns over pocket rockets for the flopped set (dominated!!!) and some other donk (who should NEVER have been in the hand to begin with) who had a runner runner flush draw... which comes.... and IGH. FARK!!!!!

Damn that shit. I wanted a tee shirt for busting Wahlroos' arse! That was MY shirt FUCKIT!!!!

That's poker I spose. Cunty .... but poker!

Played at the casino again .... and had a book bettered by a better book, and I kiss $300 goodbye in an hour. Fuggit. I'll recap that hand sometime down the track. Sick sick shit, and I can't see how anyone, and I don't care how good a player you think you are, doesn't go broke there. Set over set and we both fill up. My brain hurts just thinking about it again. Doh!!!

Took down the last big cash game (Dalyellup Hold'em Classic!) we played with the lads. $200 profit! Love that shit. TAG poker the whole way, and played heads up more aggressively than I normally would. Caught AQ when I needed to and took the biarch down! Yeah boooooeeeeey! Good stuff! Had a straight flush for the first time in aaaaages too! W00t! 8c is my new fave 'weird' card! And stacked the Deerhunter with bullets too. Sat-is-fy-ing!!! Lol!

And McLovin' the WSOP at the mo. Following all the action here every day. Glad Matusow won a bracelet yesterday, and rapt that Lindgren got his first. Seems like such a nice bloke. Good on him.

And here's a plug for a noob. Make him feel welcome like you did when I first started my blog up!

So there's a brief update... I'll post more again from now on.

Either way I still reckon Hold'em is the best fucking game in the world!

"You're running so hot, I hope you burn thru the floor and get swallowed up by the magma"

What can I say? I was hot.

WHITE HOT.....

I'll finish this post when I get a chance. Suffice to say that I did run goooot, and The Deerhunter didn't.

He must learn to stay out of my way.....

Late post on Deerhunter midweek heads up.

Typical messy midweek heads up game with the Deerhunter. Tuesday I think it was! Hard to remember now. It's been a craaaaaazy large week.

I started out first hand with AKo in the BB. Deerhunter folds ..... BOO YOU BASTARD!

Then a looong period of card death, and he chipped up. To the point where he could put a bit of pressure on me.

Then (and I wanted to get my photo up to back this up) a monumental hand.

I get dealt JQd and am in the SB. I raise $125 to $150. Deerhunter calls.

Flop - 9d - 10d - Kd.

I flopped a fucking straight flush baby!

"My diamonds are looking alright about now"

"So are mine"

Deerhunter checks. I check.

Turn - raggy rag.

Deerhunter checks. I bet half the pot. Trying a 'delayed c-bet' sorta look.

Deerhunter folds. WTF?

"I thought you said you had diamonds?"

"I did. Ace, but still needed one diamond to come."

"You wouldn't call $150 drawing to the nut flush?!" (What a weak-tight bastard!)

"No. Why? What did you have?"

"THE NUTZ BABY!!! Flopped straight flush. Royal draw!"

Faaaaark.

I gotta upload that photo!

(It must be mentioned that I ended up working my way back to chip leader with some slyly played Red Bullets that almost stacked him. And eventually busted his sorry arse.)

Off to the Deerhunters tonight for some WPT action on Fox and then a shuffle later.

You little ripper!

The Deerhunter is a PRICK.

Quads twice.

Queens. Flopped trips. Turned Quads.

K8 off. Flop. K - K - K.

Next hand. AKd. Flop. K - K - rag.

Just know, The Deerhunter is a PRICK!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tagged?! WTF!

How very random! (Thanks Astin!) This is really just like a chain letter, only we get to learn shit about other bloggers that you'll never need to recall ever again! Productive!

Here's how it works .... cut .... paste ....

A). Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog...
B). Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself...
C). Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs...
D). Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Alrighty ....

1) I could complete Sonic 2 on Megadrive II (the Genesis to you yanks) without losing a life and getting every power-up available in a matter of an hour and a bit.

2) Once my ex and I were approved for adoption (that's a whole other story right there!) we got a phone call a week later, telling us that a 'baby' was available. A fortnight after that, Zac was home at our place. Quickest adoption in world history?!!!!!! No kid, to having an 11 month old in three weeks = learning curve.

3) I'm doing Movember which is all about raising $$$ and awareness of depression amongst men, as well as Prostate Cancer. If you are feeling generous, sponsor me! My grower number is 126615. GO THE MO!!!!

4) I was a Rotary Exchange student in South Africa in 1988. Apartheid was still at work and Nelson Mandella was still in jail. Best - year - of - my - life.

5) My first car was a 1968 Morris Mini-matic. (Bear in mind I'm 6' 5") Bought it for $50, painted it Fire Engine red myself and put red 'shag pile' carpet on the floor and roof. Sort of like pimp-my-ride 25 years before it was on the telly, minus the plasma.

6) The last three years I've played Fantasy NBA Hoops (Yahoo! league) I've finished on top of the ladder after the 'regular season', and yet I've never won it all. God, it's fickle.

7) I fucking hate AQ....... but that probably doesn't count as weird .....

8) My favourite saying, that I've coined myself .... is "Fuck fashion"!

(couple more coz I'm on a roll ....)

9) My favourite tomato is the Russian Black. Heirloom variety and mega-tasty.

10) My suckerfish in Zac and my cichlid tank have just bred! 8-9 lil ones! W00t!

Now, to continue the fun and games! I choose to tag ......

Yabi , Coxxy, The Good Dr , Subliminal , Suckout , Zen , Donks draw

Sorry fellas, but it's got to be done!

(PS. Make sure you take the time to read Coxxy's incredible post about his exploits in Oz!)

Now I'm going to go and waste another hour or four of my life reading random shit about the other bloggers! Ahhhhh, good times!

PPS. Buddydank is a killjoy!

AQ. The bee-yatch!!!!!!

Long time .... no write! (Thanks for the prompt Yabi!)

It's been busy, as bloody usual. Zac's been a proper little bastard of late. Playing up at school in class and in the playground, so I've been trying to deal with that first and foremost. It's nothing a murder wouldn't fix.

It's also springtime and the weddings are picking up too, so I've got to stay motivated and diligent there. Did one on Saturday .... unmitigated disaster. 50 peeps in a room built for 100+ so zero atmosphere. Two warring families. Only 20 of the 50 peeps wanted to dance at all .... equals hard work for the fucking DJ! By 11pm the bride was crying (literally) to me about how her guests were all fucked. I couldn't necessarily agree with her .... but she was 100% correct! Boring arseholes.

Wedding tip - The guests make your wedding. Invite peeps with a pulse.

Back to reality..... the reality of an impromptu 6 handed shuffle yesterday!!! It started with a txt from C-nut around midday. Fancy a shuffle? Sure! Deerhunter and I had already talked about catching up for a brew or 10, so I knew he'd be good to go. And Mooshie was off shift and available! Excellent! And Leebie, who we 'met' in a poker sense a month or so back. And one more, a noob, Johnno .... who was only with us for a couple of hours. Not an overly experienced player, but not usless either.

So we were staring at a very decent starting kitty. 6 x $25. Not to be sneezed at! Even moreso when there were a couple of rebuys. $10 will get half your stack again, and double rebuys are allowed.

Long story cut short. I ran okay early. Small pocket pairs which never amounted to anything. 3's, then 5's and 10's. Only won anything with the tens. Then pure card death set in, and I basically got blinded away with nothing to work with whatsoever. When shortstacked I ended up shoving pocket 9's into the Deerhunter's Queens. Shit happens. That's poker.

Rebuy for my original stack. Fuggit. There's $45 of mine in the kitty. Then C-nut busts out and does the same. Rebuys his original stack.

At this stage Mooshie was chipping up to a crazy level. Chips ooooooozing everywhere, as we like to say! Rivering everybody. Even me. Bastard! The Deerhunter was travelling pretty gooot and Leebie was playing as tight as a fishes arsehole, and getting zero cards to speak of.

Then I started running okay. In fact, pretty well for a while. I hit bottom set when Leebie had top pair decent kicker and called my shove. He had me covered but only barely. He rebought for half his original stack. Another $10 into the kitty. I had a couple of other decent hands. One in particular, I was in the BB with 9-10 off, and C-nut, to my right popped my $300 post flop bet to $600 on a 9 high board. I really didn't think he had me beat so I popped him again. He folded, and all but admitted he was stealing there. At least my cajones are still attatched! It wasn't an automatic reraise there with a 10 kicker!

Then (and this is the main reason behind todays post) I ran some BIG HANDS into MONSTERS. I'd chipped up to take over the lead and was feeling really solid with my game. Not spewing chips and picking my spots well. But it didn't last. I then had my mentally scarring experience(s) with AQ.

Now to the gory details.

C-nut was managing to whittle away his rebuy very, very quickly. Overly aggressive in the wrong spots more than anything. That's his game. Anyway, when quite short stacked, he shoves. I look down and find AQ sooooted. Chance to eliminate one of my toughest competitiors at the table, and I've got him easily covered. My chance of being ahead here have got to be pretty good with him pushing the action. I call.

Nice one Dillo. Run AQ into AK. C-nut doubles up. Faaaark!

Not even 5 minutes later, after I picked up a couple of small pots and C-nut had donated more chips to me, I managed to do EXACTLY THE SAME THING AGAIN. AQ soooted into AK!

E-X-A-C-T-L-Y!

Now I'm a savvy enough player to know that AQ is nothing more than an A high hand. I really have been working on my game sooooo hard for sooooo long now, and I cannot believe I didn't have the sense to pick a better spot here, at least ONCE. I mean, I'd love some feedback from any of you .... ALL OF YOU!

Was this just a case of bad timing / bad luck / bad poker? Even C-nut said I had to call them both because of stack sizes and the chance to eliminate a player. But I cannot believe that I sucked that bad, and it cost me any chance of the win. I know shit happens, but these two hand really, really ate at me afterwards .... and it still is today. Sickening shit.

The crowning glory was when I was getting short again, and I get the bee-yatch again ... AQ. I raise to 600 pre. The blinds are getting higher and higher and there's heaps of action. C-nut (bastard) calls.

Flop. A - J- rag.

C-nut bets, I raise, he jams.

I tank ....

What has me beat here? Quite a bit I suppose.

Pocket bullets, pocket hooks and bottom set. AJ. Paired A and the rag. AK.

But I'm getting to the point where it's death or glory. Knowing I could be behind, I call.

C-nut flips over ...... Ace fucking Jack. I should've known and IGH.

FARK!!!!!!!! SO FUCKING FRUSTRATING......

So all in all, a very fun but ultimately infuriating. I'm really puzzled. I generally back my ability to lay down good, even premium hands. But I didn't at the pointy end last night. Even my harsh self criticism tells me that all three calls were justified based on stack sizes, but I still come out of it thinking what if ...? To a degree, it's a case of that's poker, but it could be a leak as well.

FUCKED IF I KNOW!!!!!

Result. Deerhunter, the winner of something in the order of $200!
2nd and money back. Leebie.

Will post soon on my fantasy NBA Hoops draft and squad too. Roll on season 07-08!

P.S. Have I mentioned how I really fucking HATE AQ at the mo?!

True story!

I saw HEAPS AND HEAPS of Olympic hoops in Sydney in 2000. Absolutely awesome. That dunk by Vinsanity was one of the most incredible things I've ever seen with my own two eyes in my entire life.

The reason behind this post? Well mainly because the NBA season is just around the corner, and I'm psyched! I'm commish in our Yahoo! Fantasy NBA league again this year.

Live draft happening this Sunday evening Western Australian time.

Can't wait!

I blog my ineptitude.

Monday night fun 'n' games with the Deerhunter.

Basically I smashed him all night. TAG mania central. Only to have this hand come up at the end.

(N.B. Bear in mind I was playing great, and The Deerhunter had changed his game up considerably to try and put me off my game. Hence this ugly, UGLY hand...... the final one for the night.)

Deerhunter - Ac5d
Me - Ad6c

I raise $150 to $200 pre.
Call.

(Fair enough from both sides.)

Flop - 6h - 5h - 5s

Deerhunter bets $500 into $400 pot.
Call.

(My read was that this was a c-bet. Maybe AK or AQ unimproved. Weaker 6? I had a piece and I thought it made sense to call here. DONK ALERT!!!! Even IF I DID NOT put him on a 5 why would I not pop him in this spot? I have no fucking idea!)

Turn - 7d

Deerhunter bets $2500 into $1400.
Call.

(I still believed my read was right. I hadn't 'missed' a read all night. Why would I change now? I chose to call. Not a standard play from me. I normally raise somewhere in a hand like this, but to control an already SUPERMASSIVE pot, I just called.)

River - 6d

Deerhunter insta-jams. Insta-mistake.
I call. "Book"

Silence ......

"Worse book. Fark! You had two outs. TWO POSSIBLE OUTS and YOU HIT!"

Silence. Deafening silence. The sound of a shattered man.

"My bad dude. I didn't put you on that. Horrible suckout. Soz bud."

"Two outs and you hit. Why did you call my turn bet?!"

"My bad buddy. You had me all the way."

"Two outs. TWO ...."

"Soz man. Really. But that's poker. You've done it to me!"

"Shiiiiiiiit. I'm going home."

Horrible, horrible play be me. Despicable. A soul crushing suckout AND FOR THAT I HUMBLY APOLOGISE TO THE DEERHUNTER AND THE POKER GODS.

But like the Terminator, he will be back. Oh yes. He WILL be back.

The only thing I hated about this hand from The Deerhunter's point of view was his insta-jam when the board paired at the end. (And I did say so.) Unless he thought I was drawing to the straight ....which I would never have called that turn bet to keep going on this board... I had to have at least a solid piece, and that 6 on the river could've - should've set the alarm bells off. Oh well. Now I'm just being a c#nt.

Then again, I should've raised post flop and found out I was behind earlier in the hand. My bad buddy! Really!!!!

Bracelet number .... dunno!

Managed to organize a Mates cash shuffle with little to no effort on Friday night. Zac (my boy) was (finally) spending some time in Perth with his (friggin') mum so I was off the leash.

I was keen to at least blow off some steam with the Deerhunter, so rocked around there with a carton of Hollandia and got into it earlyish. 3.30pm. Picture perfect South Western Australian afternoon. Puuuuuuurfect for a brew or ten on the front deck!

After a couple, we decided to go down to one of the local shopping centres and pick up some new cards. Sweet! Bicycle cards DO rock very hard. A$20 for two packs. How's that for poker nerdness?!

So after we get home and start flicking some, I say to the Deerhunter, "Shit, It'd be great if we could organize an impromptu shuffle. Send C-nut a txt. He might be heading down from Perth". Less than 5 mins after hitting send, he was on the blower (phone) and said he was in, as was a noob (to our games) who shall be herefore be known as Leebie. He's played before, but is maybe - not quite as advanced as us three. But it was great to get some fresh blood into the mix.

The good, no GREAT news is, well .... I pulled it off! The bad news is that I have practically NOTHING to tell you about how or what I played. It was quite strange.

My BEST POCKET PAIR WAS FISH HOOKS.
After that I reckon I had NINES ONCE.
I had AK ONCE.
I had KQ ONCE.
I hit ONE SET ALL NIGHT.

Seriously. I had sweet fuck all to get excited about all night. I had average cards, at best. But ....

I managed pot sizes really well.
I played shit hands from the blinds that I hit, well.
I stole heaps and heaps.
I laid down problem hands early.
I played the big stack really well late.
I never once spewed chips.
I made some big, big laydowns when I might have been behind.
I got my money in at the right times when shoved on, at the pointy end.

C-nut was first out and rebought. Leebie was next out and rebought. C-nut busted again next and sat out from there. Deerhunter was next out. Then I busted Leebie with AJ on a J - 9 - x board. I bet out on my TPTK, he jammed as the shorty with A9. I called. He didn't improve. Game over. W00t!!!!!

Apart from that, there's really nothing much else to say! Except I'm stoked! $70 in front after you took out my buy in! I think C-nut is getting a bit pissed off tho. (In a good way!) He hasn't 'won a bracelet' in ages. Deerhunter and I reckon it's probably been 12 months or more! Considering how strong he was when we first started shuffling up, that's a serious drought. It's also validation as to how much Deerhunter and I have stepped up our games over the journey.

Roll on the next time!

Sorry this is really quite a boring recap. There just wasn't any monsters to go over!

Geekdom is for .... GEEKS!

Found this weird and wonderful Nerd Quiz on Astin's (awesome) blog. It's one of the best going around, but most of you will know that already.

It really confirms what I already knew.

A) I'm not a nerd, and probably never will be!
B) I'm a blokey bloke but one who's not afraid of my emotions or expressing them.
C) Computers suck balls unless you're playing poker or blogging.

Surf on over if you're bored as bat shit!



And for the record Astin ..... You're a NERD!!!!! W00t!

Casino recap.

Well, time to bring you up to date with my casino adventures on Friday night up in the big smoke. It was certainly interesting, let's put it that way. We (meaning Big Johnny, Suze's Bro-in-law) sat down at a table around 10.30pm after a HUGE meal at Alure.

Talk about strange though. I'm sure you Yanks would be interested (if not perplexed) about how Burswood run things. For a start, there's only a dozen tables active and one of those is an Omaha table. Because there's so few tables operating, you've got to register and get a ticket to play, then they page you over the in house intercom. Pathetic really.

Even more pathetic is the structure of the games. (I can't wait to hear some American/Canadian reaction to this!) They way they describe it, is ... $10, $10, $20, $20. So basically it's $5 SB, $10 BB, then a max of three $10 raises pre flop, and after that a maximum of three $20 raises on any street. That means one thing the way I play. You can't jam and stop the action when you're in front! I hated it! L-O-T-S! I mean, I love my poker, but this was just too constricting for my tastes. You'll see why as I go thru a few hands of note.

Overall I was really happy with my play. Remember I never normally play a full ring game so it's a good learning experience for me. I just applied as much of my knowledge that I gained from the Harrington books as I could and played position TAG poker. Even tighter than usual, mainly because I was short stacked pretty much from the get go. My $200 buy in (which was the minimum buy) was all I could muster cash-wise, so I had to fold a lot of hands I'd normally be happy to speculate on. Sooooted connectors and stuff like that. I just couldn't afford to go into a hand that I wasn't a great chance of hitting. If I didn't feel I could call a pre flop raise after limping, then I didn't bother. Hence, I folded heaps and heaps of hands. Heaps .....

I only really misplayed one hand in particular. Pocket 7s when I was first to act in a three way pot. Another guy had hit his Queen and I should've got away from that earlier than I did. Representing cards in this style of game was absolutely pointless. A complete and utter waste of time! It probably cost me $40. I knew my mistake immediately and learned from it.

My first big hand of the night was an absolute ball-tearer. Seriously, it's one that'll stay with me for a looooong, looooooooong time. Pocket Queens, with a lot of limpers ahead of me. I raise $10 to $20 to see a flop. Nearly everyone who was already in calls. (Grrrrrrrrr! I mean fuck! How the hell do you protect Ladies while still keeping a reasonable pot going?! Fucking frustrating as.) So I was absolutely ready to get away from this if an Ace or King came along.

Flop. Q - rag - rag rainbow. W00t! Trip Q's!

Checked to the player on my right (the only guy shorter than me at the fucking table!) who bets $20. I raise to $40, after all, it's all you're allowed to do! He calls. Everyone else folds.

Turn. Q! Double W00t!

Player on my right pushes the rest (i.e. piddling stack) into the middle. I instacall.

I flip over pocket Queens and say (for the first time in my life) "Quads" !!!!!!!!

So I turned quads and win something like $130 for my trouble. What a pain in the arse! Of course the bigger stacks weren't in this hand. Of course the only guy with less chips than me was in the hand. So gross.

But incredibly gratifying!

I then had pocket 9's which didn't amout to anything and a A - 10 - rag board. I had to fold that. The pain in the butt thing was I was definitely in front preflop. But unless you can throw out a sizeable raise it's over as soon as that flop came. CRAP!!!!

So I changed my game accordingly. Limped with pocket pairs. Boats once, Snowmen once and Ducks once but never spiked anything. Folded A - rag a lot when out of position. Played hands like K9 sooooted but never got close to my flush. Out quickly when I didn't hit.

Anyway, I folded and folded and folded with nary a sniff of another made hand for ages. Then as i was almost blinded away, I pick up AJd which I popped to $20 pre flop. Couple of callers.

Flop. 8 - 9 - 10 rainbow. So I pick up an OESD. Bet of $20 before it got to me, and my rationale was, no point popping or trying to protect my draw here, so i just call. Couple of other callers.

Turn - 7 and I make my straight and pick up an okay pot. $150? Hardly huge tho, but it did keep me in the game a bit longer.

Then came some of the most frustrating hands. I get dealt AK offsuit twice in 15 minutes. And both times I flop TPTK. Now I know this isn't quite a dominating hand, but I couldn't protect the hands I had! Calling stations galore and they sucked out on me twice! One guy rivered trips despite me putting heaps of pressure on during the hand. I didn't call his river bet coz I figured I was dead when the board paired. He showed and my read was right.

The other Big Slick hand when I made TPTK there was a runner flush out and it came. But at least I had the balls to get out of there when I was beat. Once again it was unprotectable. FARK!

I saw some amazingly shite poker by other players too. One hand I just shook my head. Thankfully one or two other savvy players at the table also gasped in horror.

Donk with big stack and pocket 6's (as it turns out). Flop comes all spades. Donk first to act, bets out. Couple of callers. Turn card comes 6s. He bets again. Callers. River card 6h. He makes quads!!!!!!

Now think about this. He had no piece of the flush board on the flop. None. He had BUGGER ALL OUTS, EVEN AFTER HE MADE HIS TRIPS ON THE TURN, because he was behind someone ....

...... and he hits.

Appalling, bastard poker. What a goon!

Just as amazing was the reaction of this other donk to my immediate left who says, with a straight face ... after he's just pulled this corker of a move .... "He's a pretty good player. He left with a stack of cash last week when I was here."

I explained that he was behind the whole way, hit his card and that based on his play I just watched he was a shite player, and the guy just looked at me like I was mad.

Staggering. Downright staggering.

So in the end I up and leave the table about 1.30am with $70 in chips left. I was happy to have had a crack, but the structured game sucked balls and I couldn't play the way I'm accustomed to in our home cash games. It was a great experience, and I was RAPT to have finally made quads, especially at the Casino, but all in all it was more frustrating than satisfying. No limit Hold'em? I WISH I could play that instead!!!!!

Dunno that I'd bother next time.

Footnote - The Deerhunter went to one of the cash games (Saturday night when I was doing a wedding) that I mentioned were a possibility last week and left the winner and with $70! None too popular with the host either apparently! But he wasn't the guy who invited him. To soothe the host a bit, The Deerhunter said he'd host next time! A very mushy soft game he said too!

I want me some of that action! Ha!

Casino tonight baby!

Off to Burswood up in Perth tonight for a bit of a family thing. Suze's lovely parents have offered to take all 'the kids' to the place to celebrate Suze's mums 60th birthday! I'm pretty strapped cashwise, which will make it hard top get a big enough starting stack to trouble the biggies, but I'll probably have a crack. It'd be a sin not to! I've heard the Omaha game isn't very hard either.

Here's hoping I find a $100 note in the carpark on the way in!

Wish me luck!

Fantasy NFL - I'm a bunny!!!!!! H-E-L-P!!!!

Okay you crazy Americans. I need some help. I've looooong been a demon (even if I say so myself) at Fantasy NBA Hoops, particularly among clueless Aussies who know sweet f*ck all about the great game in the States, but this year is my first NFL Fantasy comp and I'm 'blowing bubbles'! I mean my team's going alright.... I'm 3-1-0.... but I'm perplexed by some of my players and how they're doing relative to their pre-draft rankings. Keep in mind, I didn't 'tweak' my rankings at all pre-draft, coz I know NOTHING about the game or the players! It's taxing I tells ya!

Here's my squad at the mo. I've made about three or four changes at the fringes. Nothing major, but it might be time to do some radical surgery in certain spots (if I'm reading things right.)

Tom Brady (Picked him up in the 4th round. Very lucky score the way he's been playing.)
(NE - QB)

Calvin Johnson
(Det - WR)

Laveranues Coles (Been solid as.)
(NYJ - WR)

Ahman Green
(Hou - RB)

DeAngelo Williams
(Car - RB)

Kellen Winslow (Another nice player apparently at this position.)
(Cle - TE)

Marques Colston
(NO - WR)

Willis McGahee (Been bigtime)
(Bal - RB)

Ronald Curry
(Oak - WR)

Steven Jackson (My first pick. He's either been fucking woeful or injured. Thorts?)
(StL - RB)

Reggie Bush (2nd pick and nigh on useless too. Worth persevering with?)
(NO - RB)

Josh Brown (Ok and a keeper by all accounts.)
(Sea - K)

Baltimore (Rated #1 defense pre season but has been consistently spewing points. Why?!)
(Bal - DEF)

Ed Reed (I've replaced my entire defensive unit. Best I could get.)
(Bal - DB)

Sean Jones
(Cle - DB)

Derrick Johnson
(KC - DL)

Love to get some peeps opinions 'with a clue'. Mainly on Jackson and Bush.

And the Ravens, are they incredibly over rated? Detroit and Seattle are available. Should I stand pat or cut bait?! Also, do you recommend having another QB on the bench? Don't QBs strain an eyelash every other week?

I DO like my flexibility my stable of RBs and WRs gives me in terms of matchups and dealing with injuries, but I'm thinking I should give myself some flex in other areas? That's where you come in!

See? I don't know the nuances in Fantasy NFL.

All I DO know is that we don't need padding and helmets in Aussie Rules! W00t!!!!!

Cheers heaps!

Advice.....

.....from you poor suckers who mite have stumbled onto my blog! (Thanx btw!)

I'm thinking of starting a 'broader' poker career.... i.e. starting to learn the variants involved in HORSE! The reason being that Omaha has really helped me look at hands in a different way. I mean it can't hurt my Hold'em game now can it? Or can it?!

Anyway, is there a site or similar which can not only clue me into the rules of the HORSE variants I don't know, and where I can donk around learning?! HORSE is barely known or understood here in Oz, as far as I know.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

It's a long weekend here in Western Australia this weekend. (Queen's Bday I believe, which I'll take, but I'm for an Aussie republic, so I don't really care for it or her!) It's also the start of the school holidays for the kids, and it's AFL Grand Final tomorrow at the MCG. Geelong Cats versus Port Adelaide Power.

Go Geelong! They haven't won a flag since the mid 60's and they finished on top of the ladder after the 'home and away' season, so they would be deserving!

Prediction. Cats by 47 pts.

Add to FUCKING FRIEND!

Jesus! Impromptu Wednesday night shuffle and party with the Deerhunter .... again .... surprize!

He's on a Facebook bender at the moment. I have no idea why. I mean, I'm a 'poker blogger' and that's all I really give a shit about these days! Poker and blogging about it. Nothing else, well ....matters, apart from my gal Suzie, my boy Zac and my work. Anyway, he was on and on and on at me about getting a (fucking) Facebook page, so he could add me to his (fucking) friends list.

Whatever.

My point is that aside from playing poker, he DID NOT SHUT UP ABOUT FUCKING FACEBOOK!

Once again it was a mix of Omaha and Hold'em. Dealers choice. We started off mainly with Hold'em, and I was racking up serious hands on good cards early.

Add to fucking friend .....

About third hand in I was dealt some shite hand in the BB. 8d4s or similar. The Deerhunter just limped and I was just happy to see a flop.

Flop. 7d 9d 10d. Woot! OESFD! Funny. The Deerhunter said out loud "Geez, my 8 of diamonds is looking better now!" Little internal girlie giggle!

Bet, call. Turn - 6d! Double w00t! Bet, call. Meaningless river. Check, check. Show! Ha! My first ever straight flush in a live game! Stoked! He asked why I didn't bet the river, and I said I'm a nice guy! After all, this is the guy who has accused me of being too good and ruthless a couple of weeks ago!

Add to fucking friend .......

Very next hand. I get dealt AKs. Flop. Qs 7s 3s. W00t and w00t again! He had some part of it again and I get paid off again!

Then I go seriously card dead for fucking ages. Got hurt (when I knew I could) with KJ and he had AK. I ended up hitting my J on the turn which gave him the str8, and I knew it immediately. I slowed it down right there but lost some chips prior to that card coming out tho. Shit happens.

Add to fucking friend .....

Dealt KK in the SB and put in a standard PrF raise to which he folded. Fuggit!

No other serious cards to speak of, but still managed to stack him three times before the night was over. The Deerhunter just picks terrible spots to shove, when I'm only going to call him when I'm ahead or drawing two cards to a monster. I turned the nut flush once when he had bottom pair. He was pissed, but I said to him .... "what if I had middle or top pair? You're still dead!!" Mind you, I made some truly sick laydowns when I was probably ahead. Folded trips on a flush board. Dunno if he had it. Folded top 2 on a str8 board. Dunno if he had it! But he didn't stack me once. W00t!

Great night as usual. And in bed by 1am ... ish!

Add to fucking friend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stooopid c*nt!

More heads-up fun.

Flicked cards with the Deerhunter a couple more times since my last post (All this since he said he was 'over it'!)

Funnily enough we've thrown a bit of Omaha in the mix, particularly last week. It's always a variant I've enjoyed (as does C-nut) but never really tickled the Deerhunters' fancy. But he really enjoyed the change up. We made it 'dealers choice' as to which game it was. Interesting mix! Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha, Hold'em, Hold'em, Omaha .... Great fun. I play my pocket cards pre a hell of a lot tighter than Deerhunter, but that's probably because he hasn't played a lot of it.

Both times I managed to play some really solid poker. I never really got any cards to work with last week but still seemed to have the Deerhunter's measure. He's always competitive, and knows how to play, but I just seemed to pop him at the right time, and put the pressure on at the right time.

Oh, and here's something I forgot to mention.

We've stopped 'showing'! He said (and rightly so) that he doesn't want his decisions validated. It's very very weird tho, especially when you've been showing for so long. In fact there were still times when I'd accidently flip over my cards!

Wednesday just gone, we did pretty much the same again, minus as many hands of Omaha. The Deerhunter was a veritable card rack! Jesus. The amount of massive cards he had was incredible. Pocket pairs galore. Paint sooooted connectors. The whole 'kit and kaboodle'. Quite scarey.

Incredibly we finished the night absolutely dead even. We play with three yellow chips each which count as rebuys. The Deerhunter started out like a maniac, busting me out twice in the first few hours. It was a combination of him racking up the cards like nobody's business and me being card dead and trying to make shit happen with 'not much'. Mind you, he sucked out on me bigtime on one hand. I think I got in waaaaay in front with trips. Jam. Call. He flips over TPTK. I said, you've got a runner runner flush out. And FUCK ME, it comes. Unrooool.

RUNNER RUNNER NUTZZZZZZZ! We did laugh tho. Despite the fact I felt sick to my guts!

The Deerhunter even commented how well I played with sweet fuck all in the way of cards. In fact I'm still amazed that I was able to draw even by nights end, let alone not get annihilated!

Great fun, and already looking forward to the next time!

P.S. Funny how things work out. Discovered that two loose mates (meaning we know them but not very well) play mates games reasonably regularly, with invites to join in anytime we can. Great to feel like we're building a broader circle. Can't wait to get in on them!

P.P.S. Came fifth (630 ppl) in another Aussie Millions qualifier on FT the other night. Frustrating! All in A 10h versus pocket 7s and didn't improve when the shorty. Bugger bugger bugger!

MTT Satellites

Jumped on Full Tilt last night and for something different, tried to freebie satellite into a few tournaments. As I've noted before, my bankroll is non existant, so I figured I'd try my luck at getting one rolling for nothing. Of course, first I'd have to win a satellite, then cash in the tourney itself!

Oh well. Gotta aim high and allow for some trajectory!

Played 4 tourneys. 3 x 630 player turbo SnG and one other one. 300 odd players? Can't remember exactly!

Out of the four, I played very well in three. As most of you would know, the standard of play is abhorently low. In fact it's downright appalling! That's 90% of the problem for a player with half a clue. It's just too easy to be sucked out on by someone who shouldn't even be in a hand.

Part of 'my theory' of MTT poker (and there's really nothing new in this!) is to just play solid poker. Of course, the earlier you build a stack in a turbo event, the better, but to my way of thinking there's no need to go crazy. And that's what most of the donks on FT seem to think you have to do. Wrong! Three words ... PICK YOUR SPOTS. TAG poker all the way.

One tournament, very early ... my pocket Queens went down after a pre flop all-in. Shit happens. It's alright. Unless you spike another Lady, they're just soooo vulnerable.

The other tourneys I did really well and was (generally) happy with my play. I do like the structure of the turbo events. It puts the acid on players to make the most of their cards, and frankly, most of them can't and don't. It doesn't hurt that I got Big Slick (soooooted) in the first hand of one of the tourneys, so I quadrupled up instantly, but I still felt that I picked my spots really succesfully, using many of the tips I've read (thankyou Hoy) on blogs and other sites. Particularly in terms of stealing, weilding a big stack with feeling and playing small pocket pairs smart.

I did run pretty goooot too, which is handy, but it's never going to last the whole way thru. My use of mediocre cards to win the blinds tho still amazes me. I mean, once you're down to the last 200 of 600+ players (read - a lot of the donks are gone) it's such an effective play. That's where A9 - A5, K10 - K7 sooooted, suited connectors and decent offsuit connectors really come into play. You can still get away from them if need be, but they help maintain the action and create the table image that you're not to be fucked with. Thin the field pre .... see a flop ... and re-evaluate. And the bonus... they can hit you HARD, and when they do, you get paid off.

Anyway. To the point. I spent quite a bit of time as chip leader in two of the games. Up to 100k in chips in one and 80k in another. In the 'other' one, I was short stacked for ages, stayed patient, and then went mad about halfway thru, changing it up according to my stack size, got lucky a few times and built up to 70k.

I made the final table of the table where I had the 100+k Stack and finally went out in 8th. I was severely 'hurt' just prior to the final table when I had top two pair against a mediocre stack post flop, and while not exactly slowplaying it, maybe didn't kill the hand early enough. Another case of runner runner took me down to about 50k in chips. In fact I didn't 'fill up' after flopping two pair all night in any of the tournaments! Bloody frustrating! I then got killed With pocket Jacks which made trips on a paired board, and the other guy had a book. He was playing a hand which I never would've have been in there with, after I put in a hefty pre flop raise, but you get that. Still, it sux BALLZ!

The other two tourneys I made it into the top twenty. Once again a paired board was my undoing in one. I just don't (sometimes) give players credit for holding that 2, 3 or 4 when there's a couple on the board. Pocket threes did me in that instance. I'd definitely consider this a leak, and plan to plug it in the immediate future. Or maybe I just need to slow down at the pointy end. I'm sure I'll work it out.

The other tourney end game, I had to shove my pocket fives when short stacked. Called by one player with KJs and he spiked his card. Easy shove by me, easy call by the biggie. Too bad.

Fucking annoying to get so deep in three MTTs and not get the choccies. Still I proved to myself that I do have the potential to run deep in these things, and maybe, earn some $$$ down the track. Until I do though, according to Blinders, I'll be happily wasting my time!

Peace!