whoever said poker is a game of skill never played .25/.50 fixed limit - LOL

rb

Been a nice couple weeks - last three sessions have almost all ended give or take with double my $100 buy-in.

Noticing a fundamental shift in my choices again - whereas two years ago I had written off ring games for tourneys - (i.e. the big money) - I'm now only interested in ring games again - specifically LL ring games at Canterbury - not even online -

It's a return to the tangible - to the human experience that made the game so enjoyable and the chowderheads so readable. It is that original freedom to play as long as you want, with as many buy-in's as you can afford, and the possibility to take your money and walk away without committing to a 10-12 hr marathon of escalating blinds.

It is about the potential of 80% of the table being winners instead of 10% (yah, I know you need a dunderhead with deep stacks, but the POTENTIAL is there) - It is about little wins and not needing to hit an ATM instead of building a bankroll - it is about not being afraid to reraise knowing even if you are sucked out upon, the cash loss is low enough you don't have to be afraid of the loss as long as you played it right -

and it is about stacking chips higher and higher instead of reading a number on a screen - my lord, I am so sick of looking at computer screens and clicking mouses - give me the waitresses with the unlimited mountain dews and the tablemates with some interesting converstion

but give me the freedom of the ring games - not the long term high risk contract of the tournaments - phooey

rb

I am so ready for an uberpost - too many of us are gone - not the pros, but the amateurs watching from the sidelines reading books, taking swings, and apologizing to our significant others why we waste so much time on our terrible hobbies.

I re-read the first 6 months of this blog tonight - forgot how friggen good I was when I was self-destructive and hell bent - if I were still that way today, I wouldn't be writing, but I'm not writing anyways - (actually, I've been doing the rock and roller thing, but more like a folkie thing - you guys know all about that) -

I'm glad the exile (if that's what I call it) was documented - it's still an exile, but not self-imposed - now it just is what it is - I still hit canterbury and online- and in fact have played a lot more live then online - I'm sorta reverting to my old habits where I went to socialize and get a few bucks then for the purposes of building a bankroll - nice feeling -

true story - I dropped about $100 in a 4/8 hand this week - first time this has EVER happened to me - I flopped bottom set, someone else flopped middle set, and someone else flopped top set - turn paired the middle set - and I started to suspect I was doomed, but at 20-1 odds for a bad beat jackpot you gotta see the river - and I couldn't lay the river down - got 3 bets in there - rough hand, and rough beat, but dang, so close ;)

got a young lady who may come to visit for a few days - not sure where it will go and not sure it should go anywhere, but I won't be alone for a few days - and got my gig on Thursday - that's a nice comfort -

starting to rejoin certain discussion groups (2+2) and revisit old friends (Pauly/Iggy) - I have to say now, how the HELL do those WSPO guys last till Nov - I'd have half my expected winnings spent and probably would be living in a padded room waiting for my expected payout - not to mention worrying being out of practice - but as many have said, I'm so glad Ivey made it to the final table - no one deserves to be there more, IMHO

Maybe I'll try for the WSOP next year - maybe I'll try for better tourney strategy - I'll probably just play chess and do nothing meaningful with myself or my life, however - 'tis my nature

hope all your sets are top set -

pax
RB

There's a lot I could say about the status of poker online in MN right now - someone has their underwear in a bundle - I should point out in disclosure, the ad I have for Full Tilt Poker is to your right, (assuming you don't use adblock or something) - and for some reason, that is one of the sites the Minnesota Department of Public Safety has on their list for blockage but as of Sunday morning, I have access and I have reason to believe their persecution will not be legally justified

so I'll let it go for a moment and get to my point.

Two weeks ago, I took my live bankroll and cashed it in - my attempts to build a bankroll playing 2/4 limit with a $5 rake and $1 jackpot drop are pretty much in the hole - Furthermore, I have neither the inclination nor the desire to continue that project - I was glad to win my bad beat jackpot share, and I'm glad to take what's left of it and run - I already ran with $250 or so, so I kept about $850 of my $1500 bankroll - not unlike my 401K performance - LOL

A lot could be said on whether the game is beatable, esp. at 2am with loose guns and no one can deny on a good night, with the right cards, it can be taken for $200, but I found myself tightening up and getting less and less interested in making the trip out there short of any reason but human communication. With some competition in the area now in Runnin' Aces, I would almost rather buy a convertible and make an hr drive up to play in the pocket A's promotion they have most weekdays and cash my comps when I go - just sayin....

In any case, I promised a return to periodic updates, and a resurgence of writing but all I did was slowly bleed until the process, while not fatal, ceased to have any real entertainment value to it, and let's face it, if we aren't playing because we enjoy it, why play?

having said that, you can fit any poker client on a 1024x600 netbook screen and I've been kinda enjoying that lately ;) - so no, I'm still here, and I'm still ready to tell the dept. of public safety to go screw themselves, but the live bankroll challenge is fini - personally, I'd rather play cheapo 1 hr 1 table SNG's for a while.

RB

I just realized we're close to the 5 year mark in a couple months - holy mother....

just tried to bluff pocket J's with a pair of 6's and a busted straight draw online - why did I raise preflop again - oh yah, suited connectors - nerfhead

well, maybe I should post my bankroll - here it is



kinda sweet, eh? - that's about $1442, and I'll move up to 3/6 when it gets to $1800 - it was up but a couple losing sessions almost took me back to even money - meanwhile I'm dropping dimes online, but enough about that.

Tonight I want to talk about this exceptionally tall and beautiful African-American woman who came walking in at 3am - She looked really young, and she probably was, but I don't think she was wearing much makeup - I don't think she needed it. She sat down and folded a lot of hands - and she had the attitude of a woman who was there to play and not talk - so I pretended I was there for the same reason ;)

She came with a guy you'd expect - gotee, baggy clothes, and likes to comment on how others play - for a while though she was alone at our table - we got involved in a hand where she had called my KK raise and repopped me on a K98 flop.

Turn came a 7, and river a duck so I make my bet and she ends up folding but I get a caller and turn it over.

As I'm raking chips, I use this as an excuse to look over - (I used almost any hand she was in as an excuse to "study" her - she was pretty tight the first 45 min. and then started calling a lot of raises) but I sorta throw out there "two pair?" -

and she had been kinda stoic and quiet, but she gave me this smile that almost made me regret dragging the pot.

When her man came over, he griped about how he couldn't win - (both eventually busted out) - but she's giving him a back massage as he's dropping chips. I make a quip about how he's the only one getting the backrub but he mentioned that he pays for that too in his own way - I didn't mention to her I'd be willing to double his offer.

I walked away $85 ahead, but tonight, the definitions of winner and loser just didn't seem to apply. As long as she was going home with him, I wasn't the winner. I was just ahead for the night -

A classic beauty though - made those three hrs go a lot faster for once - wish I had the camera phone, not so that I could post it but just so I could look every now and again.

And then I remember I'm getting old and could be perceived as a dirty old man - yep - definitely not the winner tonight.

wt

one more point about that post I made on the 23rd -

I believe it was Mike Caro who said "Money flows clockwise" - I can think of no saying that says so little yet says so much about the mechanics of how money works at a table.

Lesson - sit on the LEFT of the loose idiots, not the right. I'll remember that next time - I sorta knew that but there are some who want the loose cannons on their left - don't know why I didn't move right away - (wait, I know - no open seats - LOL)

RB

it's 445AM and zero degrees outside - it was colder inside at the card table. Dropped my 30BB and about 5 more waiting for chicken strips that never got put in as an order.

Saw my KK get capped preflop and lose to guys who called and flopped an open-ender. AK and AQ never hit - just cold. It was one of those games with dumbasses who straddle your blind every time and raise with 10/3 offsuit.

Normally I can still sit tight and get cards on a game like that but another seat was hotter then heck and collared up twice off their poor play. My only comfort is seeing them buy in for a 2nd rack, go busto, and know at least I lost less then they did off their horrendous play. But I think they're rich kids with no jobs going to Miami in a few days, so maybe I got the bad beat after all.

Bankroll has dropped to 1405 - we'll give it a couple days and maybe go back Wed. night

RB