What's been happening lately

I've managed to luckbox a relatively good run on Full Tilt just playing their hyper-turbo single table Sit-and-go. Basically you start with 300 chips, blinds at 15/30 and goes up every 3 minutes. Between those, a few of the 90-man turbo knock-outs and $70 hyper turbo satellite to a $535 buy-in Sunday major (which I obv. unregister and take the T$), I essentially averaged out to about a 3x buyin win per day over a 10 day period. The win-rate is definitely not very high, but given the amount of time I have put into playing, I am not complaining.



On another note, I recently took a stab at playing an Aussie Millions satellite, as well as a PokerStars Caribbean Adventures satellite. On the Aussie Million front, busted in 11/12 out of 51 when I had KK 6 handed (while I was third in chips) and ran it into AA (while someone else had JJ). The player with the AA also happens to be 2nd in chips, so at the conclusion of the JJ < KK < AA hand, player with the AA rocketed to the top with 2.5x the chips of the player in second place.

On to Sunday, where I got into the miniFTOPS main event, ran my stack up to about 3x starting stack (started with 7500), before losing JJ < AA again to drop back down to 10K or so, and finally went out when I shoved Ax OTB with about 10xBB into AQ, flopping a gutshot but not getting there.

Finally, PCA satellite. Doubled up early with my TT cracked JJ, blinded down for awhile, and misplayed KQ on a K73 8 board to a slowplayed AK. That hand dropped me down back down to roughly starting stack (3K) where I grinded my short stack for about an hour and a half. I did get lucky a couple of times while I was short to stay in the tourney (AQ = AK on J J 3 8 3 for example) but eventually busted in 240th place or so (40 gets seat, 750~ entrants) with first my JJ lost to AT all-in preflop. And last hand had me shoving 55 into a limpers 33 and he flops a 3.

I believe this weekend will probably be the last weekend in which I attempt to try to satellite into both PCA and Aussie Millions, meaning a trip to the Bahamas and Australia will have to wait at least another calendar year. For now..Monte Carlo April 2010 is the goal.

A decent come back

After my rant/tilt post last night, my Sunday started out pretty bad. Had a late start in both the Sunday 1/4 million, and the Turbo Takedown. Nothing interesting to speak of in those tourneys, just busted out by losing a flip surviving for less than an hour in both. So that means I've probably played 5-6 turbo takedowns by now and haven't cashed in a single one. Let see how long I can keep this streak going for.

Next up was the Sunday Million, and I pretty much bubbled every single multi-seat satellite I played in for that, and by the end of it, I probably spent enough on satellites to buy-in directly. As a result of my bad play, I obviously decided not to buy-in directly and play some micro/small MTTs to kill time. Basically I was 0-fer in cashes by the time the PokerStars Dream Job tourney came up.

I lasted about as long as it would take to eat dinner, basically flatting a mid-PP, and reading the EP's raiser c-bet as weak on a low flop (c'mon, he lead out with 2x pot) and I shoved, obv. running into a bigger pair (QQ). So after busting that, I was pretty much set on not playing for the rest of the night.

Lo-and-behold, SirWatts decide to make the final table of the PokerStars $200+15 rebuy tourney. And since we never know how long he'll last, I didn't wanna get caught playing a MTT nor start a cash game and have to leave. Which meant it was an excuse to start dipping into FTP's super turbo SnGs again. Contrary to the last couple of nights, I managed to have a good winning session, and of course laying a few bad beats along the way. So while I grinded to turn a couple of hundred in profits, SirWatts obviously decides to show me up by winning his tourney for $37K - congrats man!

So no, I didn't win the Dream Job promo (that would've been sick) but erasing the losses from the past couple of nights and being able to get back in the black is obviously a good sign.

Actually feeling tilted

This is the first time in a LOOONG time I've actually felt a little tilted. I guess the last time I remember it happening was while I was in Las Vegas last Nov with a bunch of guys from Canada's Poker Forum and losing a 500x big blind pot to a guy that hit runner runner full house to beat my flopped flush (all-in on the flop when I flopped it, he had overpair without the suit on board).

Back tonight, recently I received a bonus offer from Full Tilt Poker for $500, and obviously poker players can't turn down free money. So I asked Pinhead to ship me some moneys on Full Tilt so I can grind away at this bonus. While I enjoy Full Tilt's cash game, I really like their Super Turbo tourneys where you start with 300 chips, blinds 15/30 and each level is 3 minutes long. I know the structure is a crap-shoot, but after awhile, you are actually able to label some players and exploit their style. This structure also allowed tons of volumn, but obviously has HUGE variance. I've had mixed results but was still turning in a positive ROI in about 200 that I've played up until tonight.

Tonight came around, and I couldn't get anything going. I've always believed that running bad isn't just about losing the consecutive coin-flips, or losing while in a domination situation, but running bad also consists of no one having a hand when you have a big hand, or having a big hand but running into bigger hands, etc etc. And tonight was just one of those nights. Not only was I losing the 70/30, 60/40, 50/50, but I was simply getting slapped around by deck. Having AA in the BB while everyone folds, shoving AJ in the SB and running into AQ on the BB in a BvB battle. It was just frustrating - and by the time I got to type this blog entry, I honestly felt a slight bit of tilt setting in.

I really hate for my blog to become rants about bad beats and running bad - and I honestly thought I have been able to remove any emotional attachment to the results of this game, but I guess I still got some work to do.

On the bright side, Poker Stars is running a Dream Job promotions tomorrow (Sunday) at 7pm that I have been looking forward to for awhile. As of this writing, there is 226 players registered, meaning the overlay is at a whopping $100K right now. Obviously I expect a high number of last minute entrants, but this tourney will still have an overlay and hopefully I have saved my run-good for this tourney as it would be pretty awesome to win it.

Anyways, hopefully the next blog entry wouldn't be as negative as this one and the previous one!

Back at the Grind

So it seems lately I've found the desire to put some hours in at the virtual felt again. Nothing big, nor massive number of tables, just getting back into a bit of sit-and-go's and a bit of PLO. Ran pretty hot for the first couple of nights and positioned myself nicely in the "Battle of the Planets" in the high orbit section. However tonight just wasn't my night where overpairs were cracked by underpairs, players stacking off in dominated situation on the bubble and winning the 30/70. So now I need to essentially win 10 of my last 12 SnGs to be able to finish in the top 10 for the high orbit.

I went deep in a couple of tourneys (finished 28/1000+) but still short of the huge score. Coming up next is probably back at trying to grind out an Aussie Millions or PCA seat...

Just a few hands to illustrated my night.
QQ < 77 AIPF

Another 2 outer

Another one

Yeah..it's been pretty ugly.

Poker Stars Listed

Over the last couple of days, I`ve been listed by Poker Stars under their Poker Stars Twitter list on Twitter. I think that means I need to start updating this more often and maybe make this blog look better and more pleasing to the eyes. I`m sure I`m better off finding a webmaster over doing this myself though, as I am definitely not someone who is savvy with programing and web-design.

Bonus Clearing

Nothing new to report on, but I just realized recently that I have like $800 of bonus to clear on Doyle's Room. I guess I might have to move my business to Doyle's Room from Cake poker in my attempt to satellite into the Aussie Millions.

One tough game

Just had another tough session...played for about a stretch of 5 hours, and signed up for essentially all of the low-stakes tourney that started within 2.5 hours time span (buy-in from $2-$20 approx), and mixed in a couple of the $12 180-man turbos to fill up after I bust from a tourney.

I was able to accumulate a stack in almost all of the tourneys that I played tonight, but somehow just ended up losing the stack well short of the money. Not all of them were bad beats, but most of them were. Some were just me being overly aggressive and overplayed a few hands, but it's tough when you get players to put 160BB in the pot preflop with AA vs. their AK and they somehow make a flush from it. So other than a couple of min-cashes, there isn't really anything to show for tonight.

First real session in...quite awhile

It's been a good...3 months + now since I've put in any sort of an online session. Tonight's session wasn't even planned, but it sort of just happened when I ended up being wide awake at 2~ in the morning with nothing better to do.

For the last 2-3 months, I just never felt the motivation to play and put in hours. To me, poker will always be a hobby/game. I don't foresee myself ever taking it and turning it into a full-time gig. Therefore, as much as I have been able to take adv. of the poker boom the past few years (although not as much as others have obviously), I will only find myself playing it when I'm motivated to play, and having fun while doing it. As a result, the only hands I've played up until tonight, were essential micro-stakes games where I would fire up if a friend was playing, or just to see whether I was ready to take the plunge.

Back to tonight, I guess once again motivated by my desire to win a PCA/Aussie Millions package, I decided to load up a few MTTs and just get back into the game again. This is the first time in awhile (basically since I came back from the WSOP) where I played, with no other distractions. No MSN/Google-Talk/TV/Movie/Xbox 360/etc etc. It was simply 6 - 8 tables (which became 4 real fast) on my screen, and me trying to accomplish something.

Getting back into it, I once again received a full kick in a nuts, a reminder truly how cruel this game can be. I'm going to spare the details* (I will post about it...but it will be the last paragraph), but it was a frustrating session to say the least.

However, on the flip side, I found myself slowly being "back in the zone" where I made a couple of thin value-bets, a couple of relatively big river calls, and even a couple of bluffs. CLEARLY the few hands I played tonight is in no way an indication that I'm playing my best, I mean for all I know, all these things I was doing right was merely by luck/chance, but at the end of the day, at the end of the session, I feel the motivation coming back. A motivation to once again put myself in a spot to learn, to challenge myself, and more importantly, enjoy my time while doing it.

What's next for me? In life wise, I'm finally finishing up school, and joining the real-world (aka. starting a career) is on the horizon. Which means, having the opportunity to travel around to different parts of the world might come to end shortly. Which means...over the next little while, I feel as though my goals will be to satellite into various live events all over the world. If at the end of the day, I end up stuck in Canada the entire winter, while I will be disappointed, at least I HOPE I can say I tried my best.

So hopefully, I will be traveling down under for the Aussie Millions come Jan 2010.

*DO NOT read if you do not want the detail of my session. (aka the bad beats and the cold deck)
-out of the 6 MTT that I busted out in, 5 of the bust out (or majorly crippling) hands had most of the money go in the pot when I was at least a 2 to 1 favourte
-the other hand, well, KK > AA all-in preflop

WCOOP - Finally

So the first 2 weeks or so, I haven't played a single WCOOP tournament as much as I wanted to. Between various things coming up during the day, a cottage trip for the long weekend, and just not being able to satellite into some of the tournaments. With school starting again, that obviously gives me a change to play another tournament or so. So tomorrow, I will be playing the $215 NLHE "big ante" tournament. Looking at the structure, it looks like it will be a fun tournament for someone like me who plays a relatively LAGgy style. After that, probably won't play until the Sunday with the $215 tourney and hopefully the big main event. We'll see how it goes.

A Brief Session

I was able to put in a session today, basically registered for tournaments between 7-830pm EST or so. I think I played a total of about 8 tournaments, and right now I have 2 left. The $3.30 rebuy, and $27.50 Freeze-out.

I ran pretty deep in the $10 1 rebuy 1 addon tourney, but had essentially 1 bad orbit which caused me to go from top 30 in chips (with about 300 left - 128 paid), to busto.

Hand 1: A bit of background about the table, I have been essentially running over the table. Having taken about 2-3 uncontested pots preflop with a raise. Villain has been at the table for awhile, but I have yet to see any of his showdown hands and I haven't had to showdown too many hands myself. So here we go.

My stack: 60K, Villain's stack: 30K~
With blinds at 500/800 ante 75, villain raises to 2121 from the CO. I re-raise to 7200 from the SB. Villain shoves 50BB and I insta-call.

Board ran out: K 7 6 4 7. KJ > QQ

So instead of having about 90K in chips (would've put me in 5th or so), I get dropped to about average chip stack..and the next hand happens.

Hand 2: A couple of hands later, I'm OTB with 99. I think I might've misplayed this hand based on stack sizes.

MP (stack 17K) raises to 2200, CO (stack 24K) calls, I re-raise all in. MP folds and CO insta-calls and his KK holds.

Given the stack sizes, I think I might've been better off to flat preflop and not create a big pot preflop with just a mid-pair. In a sense I turned my 99 into a bluff in this spot, where as I should've played it with more caution in position. I originally chose to re-raise all-in, due to the fact that any 3-bet would already commit me to a 4-bet shove by either the MP or CO.

Hand 3: Very next hand, open shove with A5 with about 6K, gets called by the button, SB reshove, BB (which is less than SB) calls, button calls. It was A5 vs. A2 vs. 98 vs. 66. 66 rivered a set, 98 turned a pair and I was out.

Still in the $3R with 50BB or so, and the $27.50FO with average stack close to the bubble. Going to try my best to make something out of the last two tournaments.

Edit 1: Almost as soon as I clicked "publish post", AJ > AK on a AJx flop in the $27.50 and I'm down to 7BB

Edit 2: Doubled with AK < QJ to hopefully not bubble. Just folded AQ on a ATT89 board in the $3R

Edit 3: Shoved A3 into TT to bust the $27.50 FO.

Edit 4: What a spectacular way to bust out of $3.30R - KK < 66 < JJ

Quick Update

Just something quick. Barely played the last 2 weeks...probably squeezed in a couple of short session each lasting approximately 30 minutes. Nothing really to write home about, just 1 hand where I think I could've played it a few ways. Will probably make a post about it later. For now, another couple of weeks of hiatus from poker, and might get back into it when September rolls around.

Last Few Frustrating Days

The past few days haven't exactly gone well. Mixing in a bit of $0.50/$1, $1/$2 6max PLO, a game which I don't proclaim to be a good player in, but also a game that I know I'm +ev in. Also continued grinding the $12 180 man turbos and that hasn't gone well either. So right now, I'll probably be taking the next week or off more due to other things being busy. Between softball, Rogers Cup Tennis, and other things mixed in there, my next week to 10 days will be pretty packed. I might be able to sneak in a couple of short sessions here or there, but it won't be anything major.

Other than that, if you hate whiners/bad beat stories, you can stop reading. I'm just going to rant a tad in the next couple of paragraphs...(also allows me to actually have my thoughts recorded in case I decide to come back and read this or something in the future)

With PLO, I'm definitely not a great player at that game, but with that said, I believe at the level I play, I'm definitely a favourite at any random 6 handed table. It's been quite frustrated the last few days, as I've had numerous occasions where I've had the opponent move most (if not all) of his chips in drawing thin (a rarity in Omaha) and they somehow outdraws me. A couple of examples would be my top set + nut flush draw vs. his naked OESD + overpair. I got the villain to move his stack in when he was drawing to 5 outs and of course hits his straight on the river. Another one was when I had double suited AA78 against a complete LAGtard on the button, who held KK78 1 suit. I flopped a flush draw and no other draws available, and he hits his 1 K that would make him a set (but not my flush) and takes down a 250BB~ pot.

I've been learning more about PLO in general just by reading forums, and it's pretty frustrated knowing that my game is improving but the results isn't there.

It's been the case with the $12 180 man turbos. I've consistently been able to get to the final 36/27 with an average chip stack (which at this point M is at like 6 for average stack). Those times are essential push/fold situation, and I've had countless times where I lose the crucial 60/40, 50/50, or even 70/30. Of course, I understand the whole variance, but it's just pretty frustrating when it keeps occurring over a span of 8-12 tables.

Here's me hoping to get the "run bad" out of the way before WCOOP rolls around in less than a month.

First "real" Session of the Month

With exams over, I was finally able to get back to the virtual felt again. I've played a couple of really short sessions earlier this month, each maybe an hour or so in length - enough to bust a few of the $12 180 man turbos.

Back to tonight, I am just wrapping up my session now, which pretty much went as well as it could. Played for approximately 3 hours and between that time, I managed to only register for 4 tournaments, cashing in 2, and making about 3 buy-ins playing $0.50/$1.00 6 max PLO.

With tournaments, I signed up for 3 consecutive $12 180 man turbos, and signed up for the 11:40pm $27.50 turbo tournament as a late-registration. In the $27.50, I've ran pretty well lately, finishing in the top 100 at least 2-3 times in the last 5 that I've played. Unfortunately being the turbo tourney that it is, I simply couldn't win a crucial race at the end and busted out of today's at 38th place or something for essentially a 3x buy-in cash. Still waiting for the elusive big score since the WSOP, hopefully I will be able to put a few more decent sessions in the next little while.

...alright...this just in - what a roller coaster ride this tourney is. I busted out in 2 of the 3 $12 turbos middle of the pack, and had 1 left where I was sitting about 4th in chips when we got in the money. With about 28K in chips, blinds at 1K/2K with 200 ante, pretty much a shove/fold game - and this hand basically involved me open-shoving with 99 in MP, with both the button and SB (I barely covered the SB at this point) waking up with JJ and KK. Now...after a couple of double-ups, I'm essentially back to my original stack before losing the 99 hand. Will post a final update after I win this thing.

Final update: Busted 8th when QJ couldn't beat J10 for most of my stack, and had 70% of my stack in the BB with 83 and couldn't beat 66. Pretty much a nothing session, up a tad but nothing to talk about. It was good to get back to playing a bit again though. Still hoping to get a seat into APPT Macau, but the window of opportunity is getting smaller...

Hand Review Session

So I ended up playing a bunch of $12 180 man turbos again tonight, while playing those team Canada things on PokerStars...and at the end, when I look back at some of the hands, I have come to a conclusion.

I am officially a spewtard.

Upswing is Over

Finally hit the inevitable downswing from the high variance $12 180man turbo. It is definitely not unexpected, as I was probably running way above expectation given how high the variance for this tournament is.

Gone about 1/16 or so now with the 1 being a min-cash, and just losing all the hands I was winning during the hot streak. KK < Ax, winning crucial flips, etc. No complaints though as I still feel like I'm playing well and just losing due to cards.

Other than that, nothing is really new...just a quick update for now. Might not get to play much with final exams around the corner with 2 of them coming up in about 10 days. After that, will probably buckle down and grind a few APPT/EPT satellites and see what happens.

Solid Session + APPT

Since I've been back from the WSOP, first time I've managed to put in a solid session and at the end of the day, I feel like I did pretty well.

Basically grinded through about 12-14 $12 180 man turbos, and managed to min-cash about 3 times, and finished 1st and 5th respectively in 2 others. Also took down a $90 satellite into the $800 APPT Macau satellite, but sadly I have to unregister and keep the W$ for the time being as I am unable to play in the upcoming satellite.

The goal is still to try to win a seat to APPT Macau, and while I'm there visit friends and family in Hong Kong. Although the trip will overlap with CCSA playoffs, I feel the priority is a little bit higher with this. We will see if I end up winning a seat though, as due to my schedule, I might only have one shot at qualifying.

WSOP 2009

A bit of a recap about my adventures in Las Vegas this year at the World Series of Poker. In short, this year felt very much like last year when I headed down to Las Vegas for the WSOP Main Event. Albeit last year was my first time ever in Vegas, the only other major difference between 2009 and 2008, is that in 2009 I played in the Main Event, while 2008 involved me playing in several other side events.

Back-track a little bit to May of 2009. Obviously as any competent poker player, the World Series of Poker Main Event is probably the one event everyone looks forward to every year. Not only does it have the biggest prize pool compared to every other poker tournament in the world, the fame and prestige that comes with winning the tournament is like no other. Therefore, I decided in May, that I would attempt to either satellite into the Main Event, or sell enough action to be able to pay the rest and enter. I started approaching a few individuals, and was able to sell about 30% of my action between 2 players - but at that time, it was not enough for me to be able to cover the rest in order to buy-in directly. Therefore, it's time to take matters into my own hands.

While I did not have my hopes up in winning a seat to the Main Event via online satellites (I have been 0 for 5 thus far in major live tournament satellites), there was no doubt in my mind that this was the best way for me to get into this tournament. My lucky day came on May 29th when I managed to conquer a field of 223 players, defeating "Timex" Mike McDonald heads up for my first WSOP Main Event seat. With the newly found confidence (and money), I began grinding out more satellites, leading to a second win about 3 weeks later in the PokerStars 200 Seat Guaranteed Tournament.

With 2 seats won, it no longer require me to sell more of my action as I was essentially "free-rolling". Trip was booked, and I was off to Las Vegas.

I departed Toronto on July 2nd, coming with me was a close friend of mine, John, with his flights covered as I promised to do so prior to winning my second seat. Unfortunately another friend was unable to make the trip due to his training schedule. The first 3 days in Las Vegas included attending various parties put on by various poker sites, watching KA, and just wandering around the Las Vegas strip with the John. With John's departure on July 5th, it was time to get down to business, playing on Monday July 6th - Day 1D of the Main Event.

July 6th, 2009.
This day began on a good note, as I woke up at about 9am, feeling rested and refreshed for the series. An in-room breakfast later, I decided to make my way over to the Rio a bit earlier than expected to register, giving me time to relax at one of the poker lounges after registration so get ready for the beginning of the tournament. It turns out arriving to the Rio early was the best decision I made all trip, as after I registered at 1045~, day 1D was full and the Rio was no longer accepting registration after approximately 11am.

Play began shortly after noon, and I find myself at a table with 7 unknowns with 1 empty stack at the beginning of play.

My table consisted of mostly loose-passive players with a couple of loose aggressive player in which I have position on, an excellent table draw for the first day. I find myself involved in quite a number of pots was many of the players were content with limping in preflop, allowing me to play many speculative hands in an attempt to chip-up early. Unfortunately the day simply wasn't my day from the get-go, as I simply had too many 2nd best hands. If it wasn't for the passiveness of some of the players, the deep starting stacks, and slow blind structure, I would've been eliminated alot quicker than the 7~ hours I lasted in the tournament.

The day itself was a frustrating day, too many second best hands, and not being able to make draws are just a couple of reasons that led to my elimination. A couple of hands which can pretty much sum up my day.

Hand 1
Blinds 100/200, My Stack: 24000~, MP's Stack: 35000~
MP raises to 700, a player call, I call on the CO with AQss - 3 players to the flop

Flop A Q 3 rainbow
MP bets 1600, player fold, I call (although raising probably would've been a better play, I think I would've been able to get more value out of Ax hands play smooth-calling this flop)

Turn 8
MP checks, I bet 2700, MP calls

River K
MP checks, I bet 4200, MP calls and shows AK.

Hand 2
A little history before this hand. The table has been generally loose-passive, with 3-4, sometimes more limpers in each hand. Often a preflop raise would also be called in 2 or 3 spots going to the flop.
Blinds 150/300 - 3 limpers in EP and MP limps for 300, and I raises to 1400 on the button with AA, everyone folds.

The one time I have a hand preflop, I get no action. I guess it is better than I didn't go broke with AA against a stupid hand, but this hand is used as an illustration as to how I was getting no action when I have a big hand.

Final hand, was down to 8750, blinds at 150/300 with an ante of 25, and I am in the SB with AK. UTG+1 (or could've been UTG+2) raised to 900, getting 3 callers before it got back around to me in the SB. After looking at my hand, it was a decision on whether to move all-in, or make a raise to 3600~ and moving-in with any flop. I decided to move-in, as with this table, I could get anywhere from 0 callers, to getting all 4 other players to call and see a flop. After moving in, the original raiser took little time in putting in another re-raise over my all-in, meaning I'm going to need some serious help. Limpers fold and my AK is up against KK.

The flop brings K 5 3, turn x (I think a 7 or 8) and this 2009 Main Event is over for me.

Playing in the Main Event was a huge thrill for me, and it was also a great learning experience for me. Hopefully I will be back in 2010, and put in a better performance.

As for now, I am really unsure of the direction I'm going to take with poker and my life. While I definitely hope to continue to play, and achieve my goals of playing in other APPT/EPT events, poker will always remain a hobby, giving priority to other real life decisions. I will probably play for fun from now until the end of August, and plans for the future remains up in the air.

Final WSOP ME Satellite

Probably played my last WSOP Main Event satellite today. Busted out in epic proportions by losing before registration was closed. Basically lost 1/3 my stack when I 3-bet a LAG (from limited hands) with JJ, flop came Qxx, turn K and had to fold to a shove. The last 1800~ went in when I raised MP with Ad7h and getting 5 callers, flopping 973ddd, and check-raising all-in and ran into a set of 3s. Obviously I blanked my 9 outer (was hoping that I would have 14 when I check-shoved) and was out in 30 minutes.

I'm pretty much done playing between now and my trip. With a couple more assignments and a midterm in the next week, I won't be spending much time play (if any) due to school work. On the other hand, a friend of mine (essentially non-poker playing) will be coming down to Vegas with me from July 2 to 5, so that's going to be alot of fun with the various parties (Bluff, Everest, 2+2) that we'll be heading out to, and definitely checking out a show and of course showing him around. Will try to squeeze a few STT and/or mega-satellites in before I play 1D, so we'll see how that goes. Not going to leave much time to sleep, but who sleeps in Vegas anyways.

That's it for now, hopefully I haven't used up all my run-good yet and still have some left in the tank for the Main Event.

Ship the WSOP ME Seat x2

Stanley Cup Finals Game 7 - Joe Louis Arena

The game was a blast - the atmosphere was definitely disappointing considering the game itself is a "one-game-take-all" for the championship. Will post a more detailed blog later about the experience, but here are some pictures.

Outside Joe Louis Arena


Pre-Game Warmup


National Anthem


Opening Face-Off


Post Game Hand-Shake

Poker can be Frustrating

I think tonight is the first night where I've genuinely been annoyed and peeved in general about poker. I mean bad beats happen, I let them slide pretty easily - don't ever get upset over it, probably don't even show any emotion when a 2 outer come for an underpair or some guys hit his runner runner for a straight against my top set.

Tonight was different, it was just frustrating in a sense that big hands ran into bigger hands, just always having the second best hand in a big pot, or losing the critical flips yet winning the one that has a pot that is really irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

This is the first time for a long time where I actually feels a bit tilted, and just have a sense of not caring anymore. I know that feeling definitely crowded my judgment in a couple of the tournaments I played, but part of me just didn't want to continue anymore and don't really care if I busted out. As I write this, I'm still grinding out one last tourney that I started - I'm definitely taking a break for the next couple of days just to get poker out of my head before playing the 200 seat guaranteed on Stars on Sunday.

At the end of the day, I don't think I really have the right to complain after winning a WSOP ME seat just recently, but when I graph my all-in EV and see how I'm running so much lower than expectation, I wonder whether I might've won a second seat by now.

Close by No Cigar

Had another deep run in the $33R tonight, but it was not meant to be. Went into the final table 2nd in chips, and was able to chip up some more until we were down to 7 players. First I lost a flip with 66 < AK < A3 when A3 moved in UTG as a short stacked, I raised on top with 66 on the button and AK called all in from the SB. Obv. an A had to come on the turn to keep AK around, otherwise I would have had about 1/2 the chips in play with 5 players left. Very next hand, CO raised 3xbb (I cover), I shove and he snap-calls about 25 BB with KJss. Of course he flops KKx and my AQ goes up in flames.

Was down to about 24K~ with blinds at 4k/8k. Managed to double through a couple of times, AQ > 99, Q9 > 10-7 to get back to average stack. Last hand shoved K7 in the SB with about 15bb and ran into BB's A9.

Very disappointed to not have done anymore in this tournament, all of these players were really bad IMO. A couple here way too tight, and a couple calls way too wide. I guess that's how it goes sometimes.

WSOP Check List

[]Get money
[X]Book flight (1 way flight leaving July 2, will book return flight pending on my performance in the ME)
[X]Book hotel (booked Bellagio from July 2-7, will stay elsewhere if I'm still around after that date)

WSOP Plans

Still a bit pumped up over winning the WSOP Main Event seat - one of my goals for the year has been accomplished! Also, it allows me to be proactive in trying to % of myself, instead of keep telling people that is interested in buying that I might/might not play.

So the plan is to fly down either on Canada Day, or July 2nd, and register for the Main Event. The chances are that I will probably play Day 1D, as there is quite a few different parties going on around that time. Right now I only have a 1 way flight booked and will probably book my return flight after I see how I do in the Main Event - obviously the plan is to make the final table but obviously only 0.0015%~ of the people started the tournament will make it that far. Depends how I do, I might play a couple of the side events either at Venetian, Caesar's Palace, or a smaller buy-in tournament at the Bellagio. I also plan to stay around and catch UFC100 if I can (obv. if I bust first day I might just fly home instead of hanging around for another week). As you can tell, my plan is still very much in the air, and will likely just take it as I go.

If anyone is interested in buying a % of me in the Main Event, I'm currently selling 1% at $110, or if you buy more than 5% I'll do a even 1% for $100. If interested, please contact me at westside8 [at] gmail [com]

Now that I've won my seat, the next couple of weeks will probably see a decline in my volume. Will still probably play and try to get into a couple of the $650 WSOP Satellite on Stars on Sunday, but other than that I will need to focus on my school work for a bit with mid-terms around the corner.

WSOP ME - Here I come!

That is all

Well..that was fun

0-4 in sports betting, with the 3 baseball teams that I took scored a combined 4 runs. Hopefully tomorrow gets better.

Sports Betting - May 19

Time to really get back into posting these things - took a few bets again today, took all underdogs and I guess we'll see what happens.

Giants +135 over Padres
Blue Jays +130 over Red Sox
Twins +109 over White Sox
Lakers -7.5 +120 over Nuggets


Disclaimer: these picks are for entertainment purposes only. Westside8 is not a registered investment adviser or broker/dealer. Readers are advised that the material contained herein should be used solely for informational purposes. Westside8 does not purport to tell or suggest which games that readers should wager for themselves. True gamblers should always conduct their own research and due diligence and obtain professional advice before making any investment decision. Westside8 will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a reader's reliance on information obtained on this website. Readers are solely responsible for their own investment decisions.

A Guide on How to go from Big Stack to Short Stack in 3 hands

Setting - 45 players left in a Full Tilt 90 player Turbo Knockout.
Average stack 6000, Hero largest stack in the entire tournament with slightly over 15K

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4251878

Getting close to 2 to 1, plus a shot of getting 2 bounties and the call costing 20% of my stack approx. makes this a pretty standard call IMO.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4251887

3 Hands later - another standard spot.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4251900

I have some history with this player where I wrote down he has a tendancy to stop and go with a wide range, and also noted down donk bets = weak.

Obv with his hand, he was a fav. against my hand but I THINK it might've been the right play given my history with him - will have to pokerstove my equity in this spot when I get a chance to see what it looks like against his range.

So there you have it, a guide on how to go from big stack to short stack within an orbit.

FTOPS Main Event

So ended up playing by satelliting in, and also played the miniTOPS Main Event. Getting some chips in both, but didn't cash in either. In the ME, I got to a high of 50K when avg. was only about 20K, and proceeded to drop to 10K within a span of 3 hands. First losing KK to AA, AK to KK, and finally QQ to AJ. Survived a few more orbits and squeezed an aggro player with AQ into his AK. to bust.

Tough few orbits, but that's just the nature of tournament poker.

Vegas Trip Report

No poker content, so I posted it on my "regular" blog instead. For anyone interested, go over to www.sportswizard.blogspot.com

Just came back from a quick 2 day stop in Chicago where I caught the Canucks/Blackhawks game from rinkside seats. Met up with Terrence Chan, along with his buddy Matt from Chicago, and Andy and Scott from Vancouver. The Canucks were outplayed for the game and the better team won, although I do wish the Canucks would've put in a better effort in the third rather than playing a stupid trap against a fast and skilled team like Chicago.

Now that school is underway again, pretty much going to stick to grinding it out online until the World Series. The goal is still to try to qualify for a seat with either Stars or Full Tilt and play in the Main Event. Pretty sure I'll still end up going down regardless if I qualify, and will try to play if I can enough people to buy pieces of me.

Right now, just going to be playing some FTOPS and mini-TOPS for the next week or so. Hopefully can do something decent this time around.

Off to Vegas

Flying out in less than 12 hours time. Hopefully catch the final table where Elky, Charder and Shorr is still in. Please do not let Scotty Nguyen do anything but finish 6th!

Other than that, this won't be much of a poker trip, mainly doing the touristy stuff (aka watching some shows, hotel hop, going to grand canyon). Hopefully will get to put a couple of hours in at the tables either late and night or early morning. Other than that...back in 5 days!

Grinding out on Tilt

This past week has been the most volume I've put in for quite awhile, between playing a couple of SCOOP events, as well as grinding out on Full Tilt. Main reason I dumped money back on FTP was because they offered me a $300 bonus, and as any poker player can tell you, you can't turn down free money.

Been grinding it out on 6max tables, mainly 0.50/1 and 1/2 no limit. I've tried experimenting a few things, including balance my ranges, making certain plays I wouldn't make normally make. It probably helps that I've been on quite a heater since I reloaded, but I feel like I've learned quite a bit about myself and the game grinding out the way I did. Still can't say I'm remotely a good player, but I think I've been able to find and try to plug a couple of leaks that I have when playing moderately deep.

Didn't really experience too bad of a downswing this whole week cash game wise until today, which was inevitable because the style I was playing is a very volatile and high variance style of play. I find that despite my image becomes much of a LAGtard, I find that new players with little/no history against me starts to fold too much, and those with history starts to become station that calls to wide. In any case, will need to get alot more hands in before I can evaluate further, but thus far I'm generally happy with the results.

Other than that, rest of the month will consist of grinding out the iron man on FTP, probably play more on Stars as well and try to hit gold star this month, and then I'll be off to Vegas in a week and a half.

Sick Day

Just wanted to give Terence "Not Johnny" Chan a quick shoutout, for taking down both the M and H event for SCOOP Event #20. I'm pretty sure this is one of the sicker accomplishments in online poker series history.

SCOOPaloopaloop

Haven't played too much of it this week, with the exception of the event 8 L on Sunday where I got deep and decided to donk out. Wanted to play the mixed hold'em on Tuesday, but was stuck at work and couldn't make the 2:30pm start time. Hoping to play the $22 1 rebuy/addon tonight, and then the main event on Sunday. Other than that, SCOOP haven't been the kindest to me...other than the relatively deep run in the 2 day $33 hold'em tournament, I pretty much bombed out of every other tournament. At least I'm running good on Full Tilt's cash game.

A short report on event 8, where I finished 500~ out of some 20000~ players. To be completely honest, there wasn't too many interesting spots through the 8ish hours that I played. Had an early double up, and was sitting at 25K (started with 10K) by the first break. Had a few standard hands where I won some races, or people just decided to give me chips.

Really can't think of any hands of interest, even deep in the tournament. Managed to win more races, cooler a few people, and decide to pull a Matusow blowup and shoved into a boat on the river to bust.

I think I got like $170~...decent for 8 hours of play, but obviously I was after the $50K~ first place and was pretty disappointed with my bust out hand.

Anyways, now I'll be turning my focus to trying to win a seat for the WSOP ME.

More SCOOP and Vegas

Played event 4, and busted the initial buyin and rebuy before the first break. First one busted KK < AA...and second one is simply losing a flip.

Playing in event 7 and 8 today. Playing low for both but might try to satellite into M for event 8.

Going to the Blue Jays home opener tomorrow with a bunch of guys from the poker forum, so that should be lots of fun.

On another note, I'm officially booked for Vegas at the end of April. This is going to be mainly a tourist trip as I'm going with a bunch of my high school/university friends. Hopefully I can squeeze a couple of hours of poker in each night/morning, but its looking like it will my first trip where my expenses isn't paid for.

SCOOP Event #1

SCOOP started today, and played Event #1 - $5r 6 max NLHE.

Started at a table with 5 players, and 2 of them were sitting out. Immediately took a rebuy and things started to go wrong. Had KK on the button and obviously both blinds were sitting out. Get QQ all-in preflop and was outflipped by KQ. Was moved to a different table at the end of the second level where a player was moving all-in preflop with essentially any two cards. Managed to [strike]chip-up[/strike] have hands hold up and got up to 15K, which means 18.5K at the first break with blinds at 30/60.

A few hands after the first break, decided to bluff at ta bad spot representing a big hand to have the other player wake up with the K high flush. Last hand...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4060044

Off until event 4 tomorrow with the NL 2x chance turbo.

Future Bets

Took a few more bets with them recently - futures winning Champions League at 9/2, and also Liverpool not winning the EPL at -145.

At the same time, the odds for MLB came out recently, so I also made a few bets just to hopefully have a sweat again this year. It was a close call with the Rays at 200 to 1 last year almost coming through, although there isn't really a team or any odds remotely close to that last year, there were a couple of teams with decent value that I decided to take.

Seattle at 55 to 1
Oakland at 65 to 1

Also took the respective teams to win the AL Pennant at 20 and 25 to 1.


Disclaimer: these picks are for entertainment purposes only. Westside8 is not a registered investment adviser or broker/dealer. Readers are advised that the material contained herein should be used solely for informational purposes. Westside8 does not purport to tell or suggest which games that readers should wager for themselves. True gamblers should always conduct their own research and due diligence and obtain professional advice before making any investment decision. Westside8 will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a reader's reliance on information obtained on this website. Readers are solely responsible for their own investment decisions.

*disclaimer credits to Tao of Poker

Vegas in April?

Was originally planning a trip with non-poker playing friends towards the end of April, but a plan that originally would've worked out well with a cruise in the Caribbeans quickly went down the drain. Started with the person who first threw around the idea of the trip having an unexpected late exam, turning the cruise into a possible trip to Vegas - and now she is most likely going to miss the entire trip altogether.

As with typical group of friends, usually when one person drops out, especially the one who was behind most of the "group gathering", it is very likely that more will drop out. Sitting where we are right now, I'm not even sure what is going to happen.

With that said, I've considered taking this into my own hands by ensuring I get to go somewhere before the start of the next school term in May. After reading through the poker forums, I THINK I'm going to be checking the prices of flights to Vegas from April 12 to April 15. Playing a few tournaments along the way. I mean ideally I would go to Monte Carlo for the EPT Grand Finale, but I think my focus will be more on trying to get a seat to the ME of the WSOP instead. So with that said, we'll see where it goes - don't intend to pay $370 for a return flight, so if it drops below $300 I think I will definitely make it a go. Here is the tentative schedule for April 12 - 14 if I go.

Sunday April 12 - 4pm $530 HORSE at Venetian
Monday April 13 - 12noon $340 NLHE at Caesar's
Tuesday April 14 - 12noon $550 6max NLHE at Caesar's

Obviously if I make a decent score early in the SCOOP, I'll definitely book this trip, but I guess we'll wait and see whether this happens or not!

Keeps on rolling

Still running as cold as the Arctic Ocean. Volleyball game + referee-ing was canceled today as someone decided to break the lights, so decided to fire up a few tables of SnGs/satellites to kill the evening. I cashed in exactly 0 tournaments...a few highlights includes

-busting 99 to AKs with the flop of 9 J 3 with 1 spade
-losing TT to AQ on a 10 9 2 flop
-in Stud8, failing to hit anything when the first 4 cards were A234

So down another $150~, bringing me to negative figures since the Stars 25% reload bonus.

Taking tomorrow and Tuesday off with more intramural basketball and volleyball...so I might try to play a few on Wednesday evening I guess. Might have to spend that session reviewing hand histories though, just as a precaution to ensure I'm not making any huge mistakes...

Odds and Ends

Haven't really played at all this week, even though I've gained a few hours a day due to my screwed up sleeping schedule. I'll probably play a crap load of the SCOOP Events coming up in L and some in M...don't foresee myself buying into too many M directly but will definitely put some hours into some satellites. Things will be really picking up the next 2 weeks, so I'll probably these 2 weeks off and just get back to it when most of the busy things calm down after the 22nd of this month.

In a previous post when I mentioned coaching, I think I'm going to be putting that on hold for now until at least mid to end of April. I'll hopefully get a bunch of hand histories from playing the SCOOP and work off those. After the SCOOP series I'll probably place my focus in trying to win a seat to the WSOP ME in one way or another.

I've watched a few videos off StoxPoker since I recently picked up a membership, and I think I've found a few leaks in my game already that will probably allow me to lower variance and increase my win-rate in those turbo SnGs. Also considering picking up SnG Wizard and run that along with HEM, but I'm not entirely sure if that will be an overkill considering my volume isn't even that high.

Last but not least, but I think I'll be going to Vegas from April 28 to May 2 with some of my non-poker friends. That is still tentative, but I'm definitely going somewhere that one week where it bridges from the winter term to the fall term. My friends are leaning towards Vegas, so I'll probably spend those days doing non-poker related things with them that I haven't had a chance to do myself (Grand Canyon, more shows, etc). If things don't work out with them, I have found some flights back to Hong Kong for $800~, so that is also an option where I'll leave a bit earlier (like April 25 or something) and stay there for 2 weeks. Possibly make a short trip to Thailand or somewhere for a few days in between. After my last trip back to Hong Kong, I think that place is definitely more of a place I will visit for a week or so, but probably not be able to spend an extended period of time in.

Sunday Donkaments

I ended up playing a bunch of Sunday tournaments yesterday, and obviously being the great player that I am, I only managed to min-cash one of them while bombing out on the other 4 that I played. There weren't really any interesting hands, but it's just nice to get back into the grind - also it was nice to be reminded how soft these tournaments are.

Most of the tournaments just involved me losing small pots after small pots, and occasionally losing a slightly bigger one leading to a dwindling stack. Between hands like flopping top 2 vs. a OESD and him getting there, or just coming out on the wrong end of a flip, it felt like it just wasn't meant to be.

I don't really know when I will get another Sunday where I can put in a semi-full schedule of tournaments in again, with intramural basketball taking up the next 2 Sundays, follow by a grad dinner the Sunday after. It probably won't be until SCOOP comes around before I am able to grind Sundays again.

Stats

I was bored after ref-ing basketball, so I decided to check out my stats on my most recent down-swing.

Through 60 games, I have...

3 1st place
4 2nd place
2 3rd place

That means...I finish out-of-the-money in the other 51 games.

I'm sitting with an average ROI of -21.25%

This is pretty disgusting.

Going low low low low

Ended up grinding a few more SnGs last night when the WOW power leveling came to an abrupt end when a few of the players went to raid. Still running bad, and it's just hands like shoving QQ on the HJ with 7xBB (or M of like 3.5) and running into KK behind. Or just losing flips with a short-stack shove and bleeding chips that way.

I'm back to almost even from my most recent reload...which sucks but just needs to ride out the variance.

I'm REALLY not playing tonight with basketball intramural referee assignment, and also a fashion show on Friday night.

Bad Run Continues

I ended up just playing a couple last night and this morning, and the bad run continues. Hands that I've been regularly winning during the up-side of the variance has completely flipped and I'm losing almost every 50/50, 60/40, 70/30 that comes up. Going to turn down the volume a bit and hopefully ride out this wave, and hoping the up-swing is in the near future.

In the mean time, I'll probably watch some StoxPoker videos and put in a few hours with WOW. I am hoping to go back to a full schedule by Sunday.

Bad Start to the Week

So I ended up grinding a bit Sunday evening after Volleyball, and everything was all good until today. Ran super hot last week and was up about 25 BIs or so, until today when it all came crashing to a halt.

Can't seem to win flips, losing 60/40, losing to more than my fair share of 3/2 outers, and of course a 1 outer. I ended up down about 10 BIs today, so calling it a night as I have an intramural basketball game in an hour or so.

Not going to play tomorrow as I will be going to the Raptors game (unless the weather decide to suck and snow like nuts) and won't get around to it much on Wednesday due to a couple of meetings. Will try to squeeze a few in, but other than that it will be grinding day again on Thursday.

I recently picked up a StoxPoker membership pretty cheap, so I figured I'll give it a shot and see what it offers for the time being...will post some review when I get my account activated and watch a few videos.

A Mediocre Night

I ended up putting in about 3 hours of SnGs tonight as a result of my inability to fall asleep despite a long day ahead tomorrow. Didn't want to start up any MTTs in case I ran deep in any of them and I wouldn't want to run on no sleep when I will be playing volleyball from 830am til 10pm approximately (obviously with breaks in between) and also having a multi-sport fantasy draft after.

I'm posting this as I'm finishing up my session with the last few SnGs all getting close to the end stage. While a short session, I did experience some lows followed with a couple of highs. Started the session really bad, lost 5 or 6 flips in a row, and probably lost 3 to 4 60/40 in a row as well (on both sides). Things took a turn for the better when I was able to put together a few ITM finishes along with 2 wins. The last 4 tourneys I have up now is essentially a free-roll for the night as I'm up a couple of buy-ins. It's not much but considering the way it started, I can't complain. (whoops, as I said that I busted AK < A3)

Anyways, definitely nothing for Saturday and Sunday, and will continue my quest to go back on as a Gold Star in PokerStars on Monday.

In other news, I'm terribly excited for the SCOOP Poker Stars has announced recently. This goes to show PokerStars is still the leader when it comes to MTTs (and its not even close), as well as bringing things that users are looking for. I probably won't play too many of the H events (unless I run real well from now until April, along with satelliting in), but I'm definitely looking forward to putting in good volume with L and M events - even hoping to get my first "big score". Going to be tough fitting in some of the 2:30 start times, but I'll definitely try my best to squeeze in as many of them as possible.

Finally, I've been in contact with one of the more successful online (and to a certain degree...live) MTT players about the possibility of coaching. It's been something I've been hoping to do for awhile, so now I'm just trying to work out the finer details. It is more of my own personal scheduling as I do not want to waste mine (and his) valuable time (and for me, money) if I am unable to devote a significant volume in play in learning. (side note, just busted another one AJ < A10 < K10). I definitely hope to be able to put something together soon so I can get this going to improve my play, and devote more time to this game for the rest of '09 and beyond. This opportunity is something I'm really excited about and will post more about it later.

This post has been pretty long, so I'm going to wrap it up now. More to come soon.

Back to the Grind

Ever since PokerStars had their 25% reload bonus, I maxed out the bonus and finally got some money back on to Stars. Been grinding out some SNGs the last couple of days, occasionally mixing in some MTTs.

Played a $16.50 and $11R at 10 on Stars tonight, and I felt I played well as a whole. Was down to 2.5BB in the $16.50 at one point and managed to come back and made it to the final 18 before busting in a questionable hand.

Same thing with the $11R. Was cruising along with a pretty comfortable stack until I stacked off relatively light. I still find myself making some bone-head moves once in awhile and pulling a "Matusow blow up"...either not clearing thinking a hand through, or simply thinking a play will work when it won't majority of the time.

Although the sample size is really small, I've found myself being able to chip up more often in MTTs than before, so its an area of my game that I feel like I've been improving. Will have to continue to monitor my progress.

SNGs been going well...put in about 50 thus far and I'm up about 15BIs, hopefully sustain it throughout and maybe even try to get in to the Battle of the Planets - its been a long time since I've gotten in (first and only time was the very first week they ran that promo).

Other than that, going to take it easy this weekend with a birthday party tomorrow, volleyball all day Saturday, and more sports on Sunday. Back at the grind on Monday.

Poker Tonight

So I lied, I ended up loading 4 180 man SnGs tonight as my friends left earlier than expected after snowboarding, and sitting with 1 tourney still alive, it hasn't been going well.

Busted first one early with AK when I got it in on the flop with TPTK against villain's bottom 2.

Second one involved losing a race with 66 vs. AK when I shoved 15BB after 5 limpers and was called by one of the limpers.

Third one was similar to the second one, except I was called by Q4 and I had 99, obv turned a Q.

Will update the fourth one when it happens, but I'm sitting with 2500 with blinds at 75/150.

Edit...blinds 125/250 with an ante with my stack at 3200~. EP raises to 750, I shove with QQ, player in LP calls for less, EP calls.

KK > QQ > JJ

0 for 3.

Another Frustrating Night

Hung around the school and played some volleyball, which led to a late dinner and missed the batch of low limit MTT that starts around 21:00-22:00. Ended up just playing a few of the 180 players SnG.

Played 5 in total, went to the final 5 table in 4 of the 5 (the other one I busted like 3rd hand with AA < 64o) but managed to only min-cash in one of them. Never really had a stack to work with in any of them and was short-stack ninja-ing through most of the tourney. If a couple of hands went my way towards the latter stages of a couple of them, results might've been different.

Taking the weekend off from poker, will get back at it next week.

Sports Betting...wow, I managed to go 0-3 last night, made one mistake not realizing Rangers were coming off a back-to-back and Lundqvist wasn't going to be in net, was wondering why the line was this good for them.

Going to take the weekend off as well and will be back at it next Monday.

First Grinding Day of 2009

Finally got back in the swing of things today putting in my first decent session of MTT in. I didn't play too many as I didn't want to have too late of a late, so I just ended up playing 4 MTTs (1 Limit Hold'em and 3 NL HE)and had a few cash games going on at the side. MTT yielded a whopping 0 for 4, with 2 of the 4 busted relatively close to the bubble. It was quite a disappointing night as I had 2x average stack in all 4 tournaments after the first break in the middle stages, yet busting in all of them short of the money.

Obviously was bitten by the variance bug losing a couple of 2 and 3 outers, but I had my fair share as well. Here is one hand that I KNOW right now I played it wrong on the river, other than that I felt I played pretty well but just have nothing to show for it.

Blinds 250/500 a60 Hero 15K~, villain 18K~. Table has been relatively tight with most hands ending preflop with a raise. I just moved table so don't have any history except for the 3 orbits, villain didn't play a hand,
I raised to 1250 in MP with 89o. Villain defends the BB.
Flop Ac 8h 9c
Villain checks, I bet 2250 and villain insta-calls
Turn Ah
Villain insta-checks, I bet 4200, villain insta-calls
River 10x
Villain leads for 3600...I call

(I chose the worse option between raise/call/fold)

I'll probably put in a few hours tomorrow evening and play a few more MTTs, and will be taking both Saturday and Sunday off due to snowboarding on Saturday and varsity hockey as well as intramural games.


As far as sports betting goes...
76ers decides to win by 5 and not 6 to cost me the game, while Edmonton won as I predicted with Anaheim losing to Nashville.

Took a look at the basketball but at first glance nothing really caught my eye, if anything changes I'll post again in the morning. My picks for NHL is below.

Montreal Canadiens @ Buffalo Sabres o5.5 -120
New Jersey Devils @ Atlanta Thrashers u5.5 -104
New York Rangers +125 @ Dallas Stars

Sports Betting - Feb 5

Back at this again...

NHL
Anaheim Ducks +120 vs. Nashville Predators L
Edmonto Oilers +120 vs. St. Louis Blues W

NBA:
Indiana Pacers vs. Philadelphia 76ers -5.5 -106 L

Been looking at the MLB Futures that is now up, and Boston to win the World Series at 9 to 1 looks intriguing.

Also seriously looking at taking the Seattle Mariners at 125 to 1 and maybe Oakland Athletics at 55 to 1 (although I think there is more value in the Mariners than the Athletics).

Taking the White Sox at 25 to 1 is also worth a bet IMO.

Jan 2009

I have played maybe...2 hours of poker so far this month, and they've all been over this past weekend. Has been busy settling in with this "co-op" job, and getting all the intramural leagues running smoothly. The 2 hours I spent playing has involved around the PokerStars double-or-nothing SnGs, and I would say I'm unlucky to not have won more.

I think I went something like 8-4 this weekend, but there were maybe a couple that I bubbled/second-bubbled (7th) where I lost when I was AIPF as a huge favourite - nothing can be done when donkeys make -ev calls...life moves on.

Starting to look into sports betting again in Feb after the Super Bowl and all. Will probably post a bunch of prop bets here that I'm going to make just for fun. I took the Steelers at -6.5 when the line opened and secretly crossing my fingers that it will go to 7.5 so I can take the middle, but I highly doubt that will happen now. Tempted to make a small bet on a Cards outright win too but I think 2 weeks for the Steelers defence to prepare against the Cards is too much...

Other than that, nothing really new this month, will probably start grinding away again when everything finally starts to calm down and I can start putting in some decent hours again...