Boo Hoo

It's hard to talk about poker when you seem to consistently get in the fray with the best hand and then get beat! But that's poker and it really toughens the skin. Last night it was ATs against A9o and a 9 hit on the flop. Go figure! The ONLY consolation was that I really DID have the best hand and if I keep doing what I'm doing then I will win (the hand, the tournament, whatever). There's only two more weeks in the quarter in Nik's Tournament Championship and to win the 3rd quarter seat for the finals I would have to win one outright and then place fairly high in the other. We'll see what the poker gods have in store for me.

More for the List

TT is just about as bad as 99 -- maybe worse.

Today's Tip

Second pair isn't good enough.

Knowing

Isn't there a movie by that name?

My currently favorite online tournament is one called the Daily Dollar. About 10,000 people enter it every day. Top prize is around $1500 and whoever is the winner usually claims the prize well after midnight eastern time. It pays to 1080 places and there is a guaranteed prize pool of $10,000.

I think it's fun. In fact it's rather relaxing at the beginning because you get a double stack of $3000 chips and you can take a few shots at the small pots when you are in position and you won't get killed if it doesn't work out. Occasionally you can actually hit a real sleeper and cash big. I like to be patient and wait for a real hand. This tournament allows you to do that.

What I have discovered is that when I listen to my instinct and it tells me "you're beat", it's usually right. So WHY DO I GO AHEAD AND CALL ANYWAY!!!! I KNOW I'm beat.

You've been there. You know you're beat and you make the call. Maybe you have the odds. Maybe you are pot committed. Maybe you're tired. Whatever the reason. You KNOW but you do it anyway.

I am certain this is what separates the donkeys from the dragons. I guess I'm still a donkey, or maybe just a small horse. But no dragon --- not yet. I vow to listen to my instinct tonight. I won't push unless I know I'm NOT BEAT! I might push because I'm the SS or I'm pot committed, but I vow NOT TO PUSH if my instinct says YOU'RE BEAT!

Fond Memories in Vegas

Even with my latest escapades with donkey calls (yes, I've been known to make one or two of them) and early exits (which usually leads to this), my spirits were lifted with this picture from William Mumpower (w.mumpower@yahoo.com) who snapped it at the Golden Nugget last June. This was early in the tournament but later I had a huge stack. My game was on point and ended up 30th out of 250. While I didn't cash in this particular tournament, I later went to the Orleans and ended up 5th for a nice return. Mr. Mumpower can be seen at many of the tournaments around LV snapping shots of the players. Feel free to send him a note in case he may have taken your picture when you were last in Vegas!

Vacation and Other Stuff

Nik's going to kill me for neglecting my blog. Sorry --- I was on vacation. Last week I missed the Tuesday tourn because I had promised that I would enter a charity celebrity tournament. Lot's of fun. Got to play with Denny McLain (famed and notorious Tiger pitcher). No cash this time. No guts with Q9 UTG with 10BB. Should have pushed. Didn't. Was out within one more round. Oh well. Just when am I going to make the courageous move? I guess I'm a scaredy cat. Watch out! I might get courage the next time I play.

I was so bummed out up north when I discovered that the local casino has removed most of the table games. All they have left is blackjack and some goofy Let It Ride game. No roulette. No craps. No poker! No fun!!! Except that I hit a mini jackpot on a penny machine and went home with more money than I started with.

What A Week!!

Good grief time flies. My computer business really takes me a ton of time. Too bad I have to work! What was really exciting was the Poker Stars Freeroll for the Poker Alliance on Saturday. Out of a huge field (I think it was 18000 or so) I came in 27th!!! Holy smokes, double digits. Unfortunately free rolls don't pay much so I only won 7.00. I earned about a buck an hour. Oh well. I'm still waiting for a really good picture of me playing poker but I'm posting this one from Annie Duke's 2008 WSOP seminar at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.