Nice River

***** Hand History for Game 3286064401 *****2/4 Texas Hold'em Game Table (Limit) -
Fri Dec 30 13:47:03 EST 2005Table Bad Beat Jackpot 1105521 (Real Money) -- Seat 7 is the buttonTotal number of players :
10Seat 1: Thin0ne ( $74)
Seat 2: Vadd1 ( $94)
Seat 3: huge_rack ( $44)
Seat 4: jb_flopit ( $107.25)
Seat 5: Stewman20 ( $98.50)
Seat 6: iedington ( $84.20)
Seat 7: drander ( $55)
Seat 8: Bigad66 ( $75)
Seat 9: coelacanth33 ( $100)
Seat 10: Sir1810 ( $6)Bigad66 posts small blind (1)Sir1810 posts big blind (2)
** Dealing down cards **Dealt to Stewman20 [ 9h, Th ]
Thin0ne calls (2)Vadd1 folds.huge_rack folds.jb_flopit folds.
Stewman20 calls (2)iedington folds.drander calls (2)Bigad66 calls (1)Sir1810 checks.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 7h, Ac, Jh ]
Bigad66 checks.
Sir1810 bets (2)
Thin0ne raises (4) to 4
Stewman20 calls (4)
drander folds.
Bigad66 folds.
Sir1810 calls (2)
Sir1810 is all-In.
Creating Main Pot with $20.50 with Sir1810
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Ts ]
Thin0ne bets (4)
Stewman20 calls (4)
** Dealing River ** : [ 8h ]
Thin0ne checks.

Stewman20 bets (4)Thin0ne folds.
** Summary **Main Pot: $20.50 Side Pot 1: $11.50 Rake: $1.50 Jackpot Contribution: $0.50Board: [ 7h Ac Jh Ts 8h ]
Stewman20 balance $116.50, bet $14, collected $32, net +$18 [ 9h Th ] [ a straight flush, jack high -- Jh,Th,9h,8h,7h ]
iedington balance $84.20, didn't bet (folded)drander balance $53, lost $2 (folded) Bigad66 balance $73, lost $2 (folded) coelacanth33 balance $100, sits outSir1810 balance $0, lost $6 [ 7c 4c ] [ a pair of sevens -- Ac,Jh,Ts,7c,7h ]

It's been a while

Hello all, I haven't posted since my 2nd a few weeks back. Things were going great for a while now, they have reverted back to crap. I look back on my play in the tourney where I finished 2nd and realized that I played well (not great) and got very lucky and some premium hands at the right time. A few examples.

blinds 25/50 1st position raises 5x's to 250. I'm in the cutoff with AKs. I smooth call. Flop comes KKK. I flop da NUTS!!! He checks, I check. Turn is a rag, he bets, I call. River he bets, I raise him and he moves all in (I have him barely covered) and his QQ lose to my QUADS. 2 levels later, I'm chip leader and open up in 1st position with KK. Guy right next moves all in and shorter stack moves all in from SB. I call and my kings hold up to beat QQ's and Ten's. About 5 hands later I win another all in with my AA's beating KK's. I just played uber tight till the final table where I entered I believe 2 or 3 in chips. When we were 4 handed, I was chip leader but soon that changed. I don't remember the hand but it dropped me to 3rd in chips. Final 3 I was shortstacked for most of it but let the 2 big stacks battle it out. Finally the 2nd chip guy busted out and I was heads up with a 4-1 chip disadvantage. First hand of heads up play was all it took. We were basically allin with my AJo vs. 83s. He flopped a 3, turned an 8 and I hit a jack on the river. Overall I was very happy taking home over a $1000 for a $10 investment.

Prior to that and after that I was primarily playing 10+1 SNG's and was playing really well. I had a return on investment of over 40% and was up over $200 playing them. Then the 24th and 25th rolled around and a combination of playing poorly, getting sucked out on, and not knowing when to quit while up in 2/4 (why I started and then kept playing ring games is a mystery to me) saw me lose all the money in my account. I then bought in for another $100 and started playing the speed torunaments. Boy do I love those. I played the $5 and $10 ones and they have huge fields but go super fast. I didn't cash in any of those though. I then played a 20+2 and cashed in that one. 27th place (out of I believe 451 people), good for $43. Anyways, lost that $100 too and last night bought in for another $100 and this is it for a while. No more buying in if I lose this quickly like the last $100. Must stop playing. So I played 3 SNGS, finshed 2, 4, and 10, good for a $3 dollar loss.
Then I played a $5 speed tournament last night. Over 1100 people with first place being about $1200. I was second in chips at my table with a little over 200 people left. They pay top 140. Now I want to get all of your opinions on this because I don't know if I did the right move. I believe I did and just took a bad beat but tell me please so I don't make it again.

I have about 10,500 in chips and the chip leader has about 11,000. The chip leader is in first position and moves all in. Blinds at 500-1000 (blinds raising every 3 minutes). I know he probably has a medium strengthed hand, just trying to steal blinds because he has been doing this and sucking out on people all tourney long. A guy in 3rd position after using all of his timebank moves all in for $3200. I know I have him beat because he is desperate. I have AKo on the button. Approximately 14-15,000 in the pot. Not the best pot-odds but I know I have the best hand. If I call and win, I will be tourney chip leader and cripple a larger stack. If I don't, I'm still top 10 in chips. I call and 1st position shows A10 and the shortstack shows AJ. I have them both dominated. Great position for me, so I thought. The flop comes King high which is great for me except for the next 2 cards. QJ. 1st position flops da nuts and I'm down to runner runner. I lose of course and finish 205 and out of the money. I keep thinking about it and my read was right but just got unlucky...but should I have called in the first place, that is the question?? Comments appreciated.

Death of a Heeb

My reign on PP as BigHeeb91 is officially over.

I took a week off of online poker while I was studying for finals... By the way I've played the last 3 days, I should have taken 2 weeks off. So, I will be taking another week off for the Holiday.

When I return, I will be changing my screen name. I guess it's find of like when an under performing baseball player gets traded and plays better because of the "change of scenary". I have cashed in exactly 1 SNG over the last 3 days. I'm down over $300. Being the Christmas season, all I can think of is "that woulda bought a helluva lot of presents".

Case in point: I busted out three times today when my pocket kings ran into aces twice and AQ once. I flopped top pair yesterday with AK and moved all-in only to be called by pocket 6s who of course went on to catch a 6 on the turn. Got my all-in with AK called preflop by pocket 4s and I never improved, but when I moved in with pocket jacks and pocket 10s, the guy holding AK or AQ always improved.

So I am killing off the BigHeeb when I get back in hopes that it changes my luck and I can get back into the black before the end of the month. I have a week to think about my new screen name, so hopefully I will be creatively inspired.

And here's a Christmas greeting from Nicholas:

` fgfe`r4ctvfrgdrnxb

I think that says, "Dad I need a diaper change".

Peace

How to turn $11 into $1017.90

So folks 10 days into my party poker experiment and so far not doing too bad. I'm up over 30% on the $10+1 SNG's and today I took 2nd in a $10+1 NL MT. 783 people and I finished 2 for $1017.90. Not bad. Details will follow when I have time.

Celebrity Mugshot Poker

I saw this on Saturday and was ROLLING on the floor laughing. Check it out:

Celebrity Mugshot Poker skit from SNL

Action Donkey now swimming with other donkeys on PP

Yes folks the subject of this post doesn't lie. I have now entered the online poker world. I opened up a PP aacount, deposited $100 and after the first night, ran it up to about $130 (woohoo big winner). After the second night, down to about $80. I like it a lot (like there was any chance I wouldn't) I've played 6 sng (5nl and one limit) and have placed 5th(3 times), 10th, 8th, and 1st. Yes, I actually won. Nice $39 profit. Been playing the $.50/$1.00 limit game to get my raked hands bonus out of the way. Have finished up about $30 bucks in about 45 minutes of play.
Well I'll keep you posted on my progress. I was thinking of copying this guy who's blog I follow
http://dnapoker.blogspot.com/

He is trying to turn $50 into $5000 in 1 year playing online poker. Doesn't look like he will do it but you never know. Haven't thought about what my goal would be but once I do I'll let you all know.

FFL Playoffs

So I was checking the playoff matchups just now and saw that I am going heads up against none other than my fellow blogger Sinatra. Should be a good matchup but I would have to put my money on Ol Blue Eyes. I also noticed that the other dynamic duo of this blog are playing each other in the consolation bracket (yes folks that means they didn't make the playoffs) so best of luck to them.

I had no clue he was part of the MIT Blackjack Team

So I was watching the Monte Carlo Millions from 2004 on FSN (why do they show poker a year after it has happened) and they did a profile on Andy Bloch. He was part of the MIT Blackjack team. Google search brought me this article.

http://www.onlinepokercenter.com/articles/player_interviews/andy_bloch_interview_2005_wsop.php

Still not a pro either but always a donkey

Hey guys,

Read April's blog as suggested by Big heeb. She did use the greatest 2 words in poker, "Jopke" and "Donkey" Anytime those words are typed in a article/blog, you know it must be good. Hope everyone had a great holidays and good news I'm getting a computer tomorrow and once I get my Internet hooked up, it's time to venture into the world of on-line poker.

Oh yeah, no DOTW for the week. Nobody stunk it up bad and congrats to Mr. Harrington for winning the poker royale battle of the ages.

Action Donkey out!

April's "How to Win at Limit Hold 'Em"

Last week when I played in that PokerStars Tournament with all those famous poker bloggers, I made a few new friends and have been lurking around even more poker blogs (my favorites list now includes 22 poker blogs).

April wrote a great post the other day on "How to Win at Limit Hold 'Em". I must admit... I agree with everything she says. Her strategy is perfect for both B & M casinos like Pechanga and online poker rooms like Party Poker.

It's a must read!

It's official... I'm still not a professional

So I told myself on November 1st that if I could make enough in the next 30 days to pay for my property taxes, I would seriously consider playing semi-professionally. By this, I mean playing 40-60 hours a week with a real bankroll. Here's my SNG stats from November (courtesy of PokerTracker):

In 138 tourneys, I finished in the money 35.51% of the time for a ROI of 48.6%. While the FIM number isn't great, it's decent enough to net me $1,486.20. Add to that the $1,396.00 for my runner-up finish in the MTT and that brings me to a grand total of $2,882.20.

Unfortunately, that is a bit short of the $2,993.30 needed for my Dec 10 property tax bill. So I needed to make an extra $111.10 to "take the plunge". I think that was a sign from above because of course, I decided to get greedy and try to make that money quick in a $100 + 10 SNG this morning (December 2). I ended up going out in 4th (1 from the money) when my pocket Aces in the SB were cracked by K-3 os in the BB.

So I fell short of my goal and I must keep playing as a "casual" player. Oh well, maybe next year...

If he can do it, why can't I

I'm at least the 4th best player on this blog. That means I should make the final table next year of the WSOP ME. I guess I should try to qualify.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/poker/columns/story?columnist=rosenbloom_steve&id=2239158

Stewman vs Drops... Who you got?!?

How bout some respect for MY game, Stewman?

Okay I know you've won 32 sticks of deoderant and Phil Hellmuth's pube shavings on the free ESPN site, but you aren't making any money!

I grinded today for 2 and 1/2 hours on a 3 table $30 buy-in. I was a 3-1 dawg in chips when we got heads up, but I told myself I wouldn't settle for runner-up this time. I fought back and took the lead after about 80 hands only to lose with my pocket 9s against KJ os when he caught a 4 diamond board to take it down with the flush. Again, I battled back and when I took the lead late, I kept it.

Aslo, since I had Saturday off, I decided to play in my first Poker Stars Tournament. I played in Dr. Pauly's Saturday tournament. I didn't do so well... finished ahead of a lot of my favorite poker bloggers, but far from the money. The hi-light of the tournament for me was getting knocked out by a guy I really respect

Lots of fun, but I've been putting off two term papers for the last 3 hours so I gotta get to work.

Death By 3 Outs

I have been getting KILLED on the river lately by guys hitting their 3 outers.

I am considering changing my PP name to DeathBy3Outs.

I'll keep you posted...

DOTW for Week of Nov 20th

Hello again my fellow fans. As promised in my last DOTW posting this weeks DOTW will not be a poker player (well he is but not a house hold name just yet but he will be) but my fellow blogger and FFL comrade, the Big Heeb himself. The Big Heeb was trying to avenge his bustout in a Festa Al Lago STT from this past October. It was me the Action Donkey who did the honors. with a Q8 off-suit. I flopped a pair, turned 2 pair and rivered a full-house. While this did not sit well with Big Heeb and yes it was an actual Donkey moment for me because I should have let my short-stack friend take the blinds, it happened and we all must move on (at least I have).

Fast forward 6 weeks later and it is time for the Big Heeb to exact his revenge as we played heads up last week in our FFL league. Big heeb was talking smack and said place any bets gents. Well me being a donkey I said I'll take you up. I suggested betting a STT buy-in for the WSOP circuit event at Rincon under $250. Of course Big Heeb agreed to this because he is a donkey too. It was a closely contested battle but in the end the better team won and that team was the Action Donkey's. Now Big Heeb probably won't admit my team is better but that's ok. He owes me a buy-in and I get bragging rights for a whole year...not to shabby.

Game ball's go to Coach Shannahan and the Bill's D. I couldn't have done it without you and of course to Reggie Wayne and Byron Leftwich. Thanks fella's the checks are in the mail!!

See ya all next week. ActionDonkey signing off!!

Depressing...

Played in a $20 + 2 MTT tonight... 1700 entrants for a total prize pool of $34,000. I normally don't like playing in these rediculously large fields, but I was bored and I didn't want to wait 'till the $30+3 at 8:00pm.

So I played for 3 hours. During that time, I made so great plays. Twice, after betting into players all the way down to the flop, I got moved all-in on and both times I correctly called (both missed their draws). At one point, I had more than 5 times the average stack. I should have went broke about 2 hours into the tourney when, with pocket 6s, I raised to T1500 (blinds were 300/600) so I could isolate the short stack (which called all-in) and then got min raised by a guy on the BB. I reluctantly called and the flop came J-2-2 rainbow. He bet the minimum T600 which got me thinking, but I was getting good odds at about 8 1/2 to 1. He was a big stack and the chances of him having A-K was pretty good. The turn came another J. Again, he bet out only 600. Getting even better odds now, I call. The river: a 6. I hit a baby boat but was very concerned about the monster this guy was playing. His bet: only 600. At this point, I was scared of what he could have (I'm thinking aces now). I just call and he flips over pocket jacks for QUADS! In my last MTT finish (2nd place) I got crippled by quad 7s, now by quad jacks. Half my stack is gone now. Then... my cards went cold.

The final hand for me was 3 handed with 1 limper and the BB. I had QJ of spades and the flop came out J high with 2 diamonds. I bet out T2000 into a T3000 pot (because Dan Harrington told me to!) and one folds and the big stack calls. Turn is a K and the third diamond. Uh oh. Well, at this point, the pot has T7000 and I only have 3000 left so I push and the dickhead lets his clock run down and then calls with the NUTS A-9 Diamonds. Slowrolled to go out of a tournament... ARGH!

1700 players and I finished in the top 100 comming in 93rd. Made a whopping $44 for my efforts. Can't say I learned much... just upset I didn't play better at the end.

And now, a little post about "revenge"

So Stewman took me to school this afternoon when his Action Donkey took down my Sea Monkeys. Great game, Stewman... you really earned that win, bud. I'm rooting for you in the postseason! I also decided that I get 25% stake in that tourney I'm buying you into...

I was reading Paul Phillips' journal today and came accross a great post. Paul Phillips is writing about the WSOPC at Paris, Las Vegas:

"There was a big hand at the next table that I watched after a clock was called on aaron kanter. He was facing an all-in from doug lee and had about 25K left. No disrespect to either of them but it was quite a funny confrontation because the nature of their recent television appearances meant I was watching "battle of the suckout artists." All that was missing was danny nguyen in the box. Finally as his hand was about to be called dead, aaron called and showed JJ. Doug had... 44! There was probably 70K in the pot. Aaron had just enough time to celebrate his dominating position before the flop came down with a 6 in the window and was spread to reveal two more fours. From 4.5-1 favorite to 989-1 dog in the blink of an eye. So that's how doug lee got his chips."

Ahhh... sweet donkey revenge...

This is NOT a Bad Beat Post...

I told you I am done with the bad beat posts, so that is exactly what this post ISN'T.

I have told you guys that after my second place finish in the MTT I have been running real bad. Well, not REAL bad, but bad. I'm catching cold cards and losing EVERY coinflip and I seem to lose EVERY time on the river when I'm all-in with the best hand. Case in point - Tonight's hi-lights:

***** Hand History for Game 3059340812 *****
$2/$4 Texas Hold'em - Saturday, November 19, 04:40:29 EDT 2005
Table Bad Beat Jackpot #1093251 (Real Money)
Seat 10 is the button
Total number of players : 9
Seat 1: Gabbiano ( $88.75 )
Seat 2: Karl_Hungus2 ( $55.25 )
Seat 4: GTBABE ( $25 )
Seat 5: edfilan ( $133 )
Seat 6: MR_C_CHATT ( $171.75 )
Seat 7: eddypark111 ( $23.77 )
Seat 8: chidiep1976 ( $80 )
Seat 9: pacific105 ( $76 )
Seat 10: BigHeeb91 ( $136 )
Gabbiano posts small blind [$1].
Karl_Hungus2 posts big blind [$2].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to BigHeeb91 [ Qd Jd ]
GTBABE calls [$2].
edfilan folds.MR_C_CHATT folds.
eddypark111 folds.
chidiep1976 folds.
pacific105 calls [$2].
BigHeeb91 calls [$2].
Gabbiano folds.
Karl_Hungus2 checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 5h, Js, Qs ] Love it! Top 2 pair with a rainbow flop!
Karl_Hungus2 checks.
GTBABE bets [$2].
pacific105 folds.
BigHeeb91 raises [$4]. There's no way I slowplay here...
Karl_Hungus2 folds.
GTBABE calls [$2].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3d ] Ha! He's not gonna run out a flush on me, that's for sure!
GTBABE checks.
BigHeeb91 bets [$4].
GTBABE calls [$4].
** Dealing River ** [ 9c ] What are the odds he called me down with a gutshot?
GTBABE bets [$4]. Uh oh...
BigHeeb91 calls [$4].
GTBABE shows [ Td, 8d ] a straight, eight to queen. Lovely...
BigHeeb91 doesn't show [ Qd, Jd ] two pairs, queens and jacks.
GTBABE wins $31 from the main pot with a straight, eight to queen.


***** Hand History for Game 3059349009 *****
$2/$4 Texas Hold'em - Saturday, November 19, 04:44:02 EDT 2005
Table Bad Beat Jackpot #1093251 (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the buttonTotal number of players : 10
Seat 1: Gabbiano ( $116.25 )
Seat 2: Karl_Hungus2 ( $47.25 )
Seat 4: GTBABE ( $52 )
Seat 6: MR_C_CHATT ( $157.75 )
Seat 7: eddypark111 ( $23.77 )
Seat 8: chidiep1976 ( $80 )
Seat 9: pacific105 ( $64 )
Seat 10: BigHeeb91 ( $122 )
Seat 3: Elbie ( $145 )
Seat 5: sodo_mojo ( $100 )
eddypark111 has left the table.
MR_C_CHATT posts small blind [$1].
chidiep1976 posts big blind [$2].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to BigHeeb91 [ 5d 5s ] Yah, I know... not a monster, but if I hit my flop...
pacific105 folds.
BigHeeb91 calls [$2].
Gabbiano calls [$2].
Karl_Hungus2 folds.
Elbie folds.GTBABE folds.
MR_C_CHATT calls [$1].
chidiep1976 checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 5h, 9h, Jh ] Bingo! Presto comes through AGAIN!
MR_C_CHATT checks.
CraigAB has joined the table.
chidiep1976 folds.
BigHeeb91 bets [$2]. I doubt anybody flopped it, but I know people will chase...
Gabbiano calls [$2].
MR_C_CHATT folds.
** Dealing Turn ** [ Tc ]
BigHeeb91 bets [$4]. One more street... NO HEART PLEASE!!
Gabbiano calls [$4].
** Dealing River ** [ 7h ] Doh!
BigHeeb91 bets [$4].
Gabbiano calls [$4].
BigHeeb91 shows [ 5d, 5s ] three of a kind, fives.
Gabbiano shows [ 7c, Kh ] a flush, king high.
Gabbiano wins $26.50 from the main pot with a flush, king high.


***** Hand History for Game 3064623713 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $20 Buy-in + $2 Entry Fee Trny:17567241 Level:3
Blinds(25/50) - Sunday, November 20, 02:18:52 EDT 2005
Table Table 66788 (Real Money)
Seat 7 is the buttonTotal number of players : 7
Seat 1: BigHeeb91 ( $750 )
Seat 5: oneBIGwin ( $455 )
Seat 10: bwrblaw ( $1010 )
Seat 6: MotorheadFan ( $1135 )
Seat 9: Top_Gun_TG ( $545 )
Seat 7: StarbucksAA ( $1195 )
Seat 4: pokerrmonkey ( $2910 )
Trny:17567241 Level:3
Blinds(25/50)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to BigHeeb91 [ Jc Jd ] Oh how I love pocket Jacks UTG...
BigHeeb91 raises [175].
pokerrmonkey raises [1300].
oneBIGwin folds.
MotorheadFan folds.
StarbucksAA folds.
Top_Gun_TG folds.
bwrblaw folds.
BigHeeb91 is all-In [575] The cards flip over and I see he has exactly 3 outs...
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8s, 5c, Ad ] Now that's shocking!
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qc ]
** Dealing River ** [ 3h ]
pokerrmonkey shows [ Js, As ] a pair of aces.
BigHeeb91 shows [ Jc, Jd ] a pair of jacks.
pokerrmonkey wins 550 chips from side pot #1 with a pair of aces.
pokerrmonkey wins 1575 chips from the main pot with a pair of aces.
BigHeeb91 finished in seventh place.

***** Hand History for Game 3064670135 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $20 Buy-in + $2 Entry Fee Trny:17567245 Level:6
Blinds(100/200) - Sunday, November 20, 02:31:03 EDT 2005
Table Table 66843 (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the buttonTotal number of players : 3
Seat 1: BigHeeb91 ( $1365 )
Seat 6: JONNI_TRAN ( $1240 )
Seat 5: GDub71 ( $5395 )
Trny:17567245 Level:6
Blinds(100/200)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to BigHeeb91 [ 8h Ah ] We're 3 handed now
BigHeeb91 calls [200].
GDub71 folds.
JONNI_TRAN checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Tc, 8c, 3c ]
JONNI_TRAN checks.
BigHeeb91 bets [500]. I think I'm good here...
JONNI_TRAN is all-In [1040] Okay, now I KNOW I'm good here...
BigHeeb91 calls [540]. The cards flip over and I see no pair, 1 over and uh oh...
** Dealing Turn ** [ Jh ]
** Dealing River ** [ 6c ] A flush draw...
BigHeeb91 shows [ 8h, Ah ] a pair of eights.
JONNI_TRAN shows [ Qc, 6s ] a flush, queen high.
JONNI_TRAN wins 2580 chips from the main pot with a flush, queen high.


***** Hand History for Game 3064525098 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $20 Buy-in + $2 Entry Fee Trny:17566478 Level:7
Blinds(150/300) - Sunday, November 20, 01:55:00 EDT 2005
Table Table 66977 (Real Money)
Seat 8 is the buttonTotal number of players : 5
Seat 3: RenoMom5 ( $1252 )
Seat 6: master_ninja ( $795 )
Seat 2: BigHeeb91 ( $1263 )
Seat 7: jpeez ( $1070 )
Seat 8: Hells51Bells ( $3620 )
Trny:17566478 Level:7
Blinds(150/300)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to BigHeeb91 [ 5s 6s ] Allright... little suited connector 5 handed...
master_ninja folds.
jpeez folds.
Hells51Bells folds.
BigHeeb91 calls [150].
RenoMom5 checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3h, 2h, 6d ] Top pair heads up? Love it.
BigHeeb91 bets [300].
RenoMom5 is all-In [952] She's definately on a draw with that flop... here goes!
BigHeeb91 calls [652]. The cards flip over and I see both draws...
** Dealing Turn ** [ Jd ] Dodged a bullet there, but here comes the river...
** Dealing River ** [ Ah ] DOH!
BigHeeb91 shows [ 5s, 6s ] a pair of sixes.
RenoMom5 shows [ 8h, 4h ] a flush, ace high.
RenoMom5 wins 2504 chips from the main pot with a flush, ace high.


***** Hand History for Game 3064917872 *****
$2/$4 Texas Hold'em - Sunday, November 20, 03:45:03 EDT 2005
Table Bad Beat Jackpot #1095094 (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 3: earlinne ( $122 )
Seat 4: sticklegs1 ( $132.50 )
Seat 5: fishemann ( $258.50 )
Seat 8: BigHeeb91 ( $35.50 )
Seat 1: Don_Duck ( $138.50 )
Seat 7: WCLAX21 ( $58 )
Seat 6: goriaGambl ( $82 )
Seat 10: Breezy133 ( $26.67 )
Seat 2: Rich091286 ( $79.50 )
Seat 9: ccc666 ( $89 )
fishemann posts small blind [$1].
goriaGambl posts big blind [$2].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to BigHeeb91 [ Kh Kc ] Pocket Kings on a bad beat table...
WCLAX21 folds.
BigHeeb91 raises [$4].
ccc666 folds.
Breezy133 folds.
Don_Duck calls [$4].
Rich091286 folds.
earlinne calls [$4].
sticklegs1 calls [$4].
fishemann folds.
goriaGambl folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3d, Js, 6s ] Hate the spades, but love J high...
BigHeeb91 bets [$2].
Don_Duck calls [$2].
earlinne folds.
sticklegs1 calls [$2].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 7d ] This is a great card...
BigHeeb91 bets [$4].
Don_Duck calls [$4].
sticklegs1 calls [$4].
** Dealing River ** [ Td ] Harmless, right?
BigHeeb91 bets [$4].
Don_Duck calls [$4].
sticklegs1 calls [$4].
BigHeeb91 shows [ Kh, Kc ] a pair of kings.
Don_Duck shows [ 5d, Ad ] a flush, ace high. Wrong! Runner-Runner with 1 over.
sticklegs1 doesn't show [ Th, 9d ] a pair of tens.
Don_Duck wins $46.50 from the main pot with a flush, ace high.


***** Hand History for Game 3064962726 *****
$2/$4 Texas Hold'em - Sunday, November 20, 04:00:38 EDT 2005
Table Bad Beat Jackpot #1095094 (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 4: sticklegs1 ( $75.50 )
Seat 5: fishemann ( $265.50 )
Seat 8: BigHeeb91 ( $31.50 )
Seat 1: Don_Duck ( $175 )
Seat 6: goriaGambl ( $76 )
Seat 2: Rich091286 ( $48.50 )
Seat 9: ccc666 ( $111.50 )
Seat 7: MudChat ( $133 )
Seat 10: chgotlw ( $145.50 )
Seat 3: wylecoyte ( $55 )
sticklegs1 posts small blind [$1].
fishemann posts big blind [$2].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to BigHeeb91 [ Qh Qs ] I can almost feel it comming...
goriaGambl folds.
MudChat folds.
BigHeeb91 raises [$4].
ccc666 folds.
chgotlw folds.
Don_Duck calls [$4].
Rich091286 calls [$4].
wylecoyte calls [$4].
sticklegs1 calls [$3].
fishemann folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 6s, Ts, 3h ] Love the 10 high flop...
sticklegs1 checks.
BigHeeb91 bets [$2].
Don_Duck calls [$2].
Rich091286 folds.
wylecoyte calls [$2].
sticklegs1 calls [$2].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 2d ] Awe... a harmless little 2...
sticklegs1 checks.
BigHeeb91 bets [$4].
Don_Duck folds.
wylecoyte raises [$8]. Wait! Why are you raising with the 2 out? Oh, I know...
sticklegs1 folds.
BigHeeb91: overpair no good?
BigHeeb91 raises [$8].
wylecoyte calls [$4].
** Dealing River ** [ 8d ]
BigHeeb91 bets [$4].
wylecoyte calls [$4].
BigHeeb91 shows [ Qh, Qs ] a pair of queens.
wylecoyte shows [ 2h, 2c ] three of a kind, twos. Of course!!
wylecoyte wins $58.50 from the main pot with three of a kind, twos.

You know what they say... When it rains it pours!

Erin Ness: Donkey or Hottie

The answer to this life long question is she is both!!

I was watching GSN Poker Masters vs. Poker Young Bloods. Yes the Action Donkey was desperate for new tv poker action and has no life so he dvr'ed and watched it. The beautiful Miss Erin Ness was playing. Now she isn't the worst player ever but she isn't that great. If your claim to fame is being the 3rd highest female finisher in the 2004 WSOP ME, that isn't saying very much. She may be worthy for a DOTW award but she is a hottie so she will get a break this week.

On a side note, Action Donkey is rooting for the Bills D to stop LT and for Leftwich to have a big game, I can't give the Big Heeb any bragging rights. Last year I believe we split in FFL, however this is our only matchup this year so I need to win, if not for me for the sake of my ears so I don't have to hear it for the next year.

DOTW for Nov.14th

Once again we have a repeat winner of the DOTW award.

Aaron "I knocked out Ivey and crippled Raymer so I'll continue my Donkey Ways" Kantor is this weeks donkey again. Mainly because of his play on Raymer but his final table play wasn't that stellar either. He did have a nice semi-bluff on Haschem (which the rabbit cam showing he would have made his straight) but his last hand with Tex Barch was just donkeyish. He had to realize he was beat.

Anyways another DOTW award should go to ESPN crappy final table coverage. All they showed really was all-inhands and some big pots. WPT coverage is so much better. This final table was 14 hours and I know it is hard to condense but for 2 hours they could have done more. Get rid of there profiles, add an extra hour, just give more poker, not just the all-in hands.

To all my avid readers please tune in next week as I will deviate from bestowing the DOTW on a poker player but instead give the honor to a FFL player.

Time for a Action Donkey to get his due

With all the self-congratulatory postings lately I thought it was time to share with the world my accomplishments over the past half year or so.
First I would like to say that all of the contributors to the greatest poker and fantasy football blog are all accomplished poker players and I would never try to disparage them in any way but I must confess something. While Riverrat has won thousands of $ playing online tourneys and Big Heeb recently had a solid 2nd and other nice finishes and my boy Sinatra rolls large in LV, the Action Donkey has quietly build up a nice record of finishes in online tournament play over the past 6-8 months or so. Anybody can go on and win money but has anybody here won a stick of deordorant and decks of playing cards. I think not. I have repeatedly made final tables in the ESPN 150 player MTT's winning 5 of them and numerous STT's. On the big Sunday tournament I had a 12th out of 1500 which was good for the stick of Deordorant and playing cards and finished 90th out of 1500 in another which was good for ESPN poker club playing cards. While my total monetary winnings is $0 my prize winnings have had an est. value of $12. Not to shabby my friends, not to shabby at all!

BTW, love the post Riverrat about your large pechanga session. Congrats on a nice days work. Nice description of the poker players. I wish I was down there to hang out and play.

DOTW for Nov. 7th

This will be short:


Aaron "Yeah I'll call an all in with QJh and on a flush draw with one to come with 3 tables left in the biggest event of the world" Kantor

What a freakin moron. Raymer deserved better than that Donkey. Thanks to Heeb for doing my work for me. BTW, love the donkey picture Heeb.

Hillarious post from Jason Kirk

I just read a post over on Jason Kirk's Catching The Antichrist blog. Some of you may remember him as the guy who was responsible for introducing us to Charlie Tuttle and raising awareness about his untimely death during this year's WSOP.

We've all felt this way, haven't we?:


Poker players were once notorious for not giving up the secrets of how they were able to make so much money. Then Doyle Brunson published Super System and everything changed. Professionals trip over each other trying to be first to the press with new books these days - and why not? Thanks to the poker boom and the resulting influx of new players here’s a huge market for poker books that just wasn’t there in the past.

Well, readers, I’ve decided I want to get in on this action too. Unfortunately I don’t have the cachet those pros have, so I can’t make any money from delving into it. But for you, dear readers, I’ve decided that letting you in on my secrets is more important than money. I’m dedicated to making the world a better place. So, without further ado, here are:

JASON’S SECRETS OF NO-LIMIT HOLD’EM: HOW TO LOSE

1. Build an early chip lead.

“What?” you say. “How could I not win this way?” Slow down, little soldier. Many things in poker are counterintuitive - and this is one of them. I’m constructing a formula here and you’re getting ahead of it. Have patience, young one. Building an early lead is crucial for scaring opponents away from confrontations with you - if you don’t go to the trouble of building a chip stack you won’t be prepared for Step #2.

2. Go card dead.

Whatever you do, don’t catch any cards once you’ve built your stack. You’ll be forced to put bets into pots that you might actually win. How are you going to lose if you win? Keep your eyes on the prize. Nobody ever lost by trying to win. Make sure you fold at least five orbits’ worth of horrible cards in a row. Time your steal attempts for junctures where the players on your left have good hands, so you can bleed your chips more efficiently.

3. Catch good cards - but make sure you don’t get called.

This is probably the most important part of the formula. By raising with your good hands after being card dead and thus getting no callers, you can be assured that you’ll never get maximum value for your monsters. Getting this value will kill your chances of losing. Don’t even think about limping in with the hope of re-raising - if you’ve decided to wimp out by Step #3, you’re never going to learn to be a proper loser.

4. Make a badly-timed steal for all your chips.

It may be necessary to collude on this step to insure your opponent has a real hand. Don’t listen to those people who call collusion unethical or cheating or illegal - a loser does what he has to if he plans on losing with maximum efficiency. Many people lose their will to lose at this point. We call those people quitters.

Step #4 is gut-check time. You have to ask yourself: Do I really have what it takes to lose? Am I truly committed to the long-term path of losing? If the answer is no, by all means join the quitters. Losing isn’t for everyone. I would tell you there is no shame in quitting, but there is. Most people learn to deal with it in time, however, and chances are that if you quit the albatross will only hang around your neck for a short time.

If you ask yourself these questions and you find yourself answering “yes,” it’s time to steal. Try to find a hand like Q-3 or J-5 - something with little chance to win a pot - and make a normal-looking raise with it. Be certain that one of the blinds is holding a real hand (this is where collusion may become necessary). When he re-raises you, simply push all your chips to the middle and watch him call you immediately. You’ll feel a rush of joy when you realize you’re less than 15% to win the hand, a rush that only intensifies as your chances of winning drop closer to (and eventually reach) 0. That’s the Joy of Losing(TM).

5. The Joy of Losing(TM)

Learn to take pride in the Joy of Losing(TM)- it is one of the few rewards a loser will find on his thankless path which others will never experience. With plenty of dedication, you’ll be able to find ways to experience the Joy of Losing(TM) with greater frequency. Your neighbors will envy you. Other players will be amazed at the attitude you maintain in the face of what they consider disgrace. Plenty of people will laugh at you. Pay these non-believers no mind. They will never understand what losing is really all about - and really, they probably couldn’t if they tried. Always remember, the best things in life are often the most difficult to obtain. Stick to your guns and you, too, can learn how to lose.

The next big poker trip

http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/circuit.asp

Feb 26 - Mar 7 at Harrah's Rincon. We're all there this year. NO EXCUSES.


I'll be getting back from Vegas Feb 26, so I should have a nice bankroll thanks to the ATMs playing in the MGM card room.

Stewman - get your flight booked. You're staying with me the whole week. This way, at least when you knock me out of a satellite, I can kill you in your sleep.

I thought you were supposed to make more money with this hand...

***** Hand History for Game 3023461489 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $20 Buy-in + $2 Entry Fee Trny:17345212 Level:3 Blinds(25/50) - Saturday, November 12, 03:56:57 EDT 2005
Table Table 66979 (Real Money)
Seat 7 is the button
Total number of players : 8
Seat 1: BigHeeb91 ( $1025 )
Seat 8: AllenSun ( $1055 )
Seat 5: Epimenides ( $680 )
Seat 9: WrigleysXtra ( $670 )
Seat 7: pukabhang ( $1350 )
Seat 4: ccc666 ( $655 )
Seat 3: jmicael ( $1850 )
Seat 2: Rutan77 ( $715 )
Trny:17345212 Level:3
Blinds(25/50)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to BigHeeb91 [ Jc Qs ]
BigHeeb91 calls [50].
Rutan77 folds.
jmicael folds.
ccc666 folds.
Epimenides folds.
pukabhang calls [50].
AllenSun calls [25].
WrigleysXtra checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Js, As, 8c ]
AllenSun checks.
WrigleysXtra has been reconnected and has 3 seconds to act.
WrigleysXtra has been reconnected and has 3 seconds to act.
WrigleysXtra checks.
BigHeeb91 checks.
pukabhang checks.
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ts ]
AllenSun bets [50].
WrigleysXtra folds.
BigHeeb91 calls [50].
pukabhang folds.
** Dealing River ** [ Ks ]
AllenSun checks.
BigHeeb91 bets [50].
AllenSun calls [50].
BigHeeb91 shows [ Jc, Qs ] Royal Flush.
AllenSun doesn't show [ 9s, 7s ] a flush, ace high.
BigHeeb91 wins 400 chips from the main pot with Royal Flush.

I don't really understand his play here... There is only one card in the deck that beats him... The Qs. The chances of me having that card is extremely low, and he check calls me on the river. I thought for sure he would check-raise, hence the min bet. Hmph! Oh well!

Just another Wednesday

Before I get started I want to clarify a small point from an earlier Heeb post. I have won 2 multis (and finished an additional fourth) in tourneys with at least 800 runners. I hate to blow my own horn, but someone has to point out the most accomplished poker player in this group...

Ok, now on to an interesting adventure last night (and into this morning). I made the trek up to Pechanga alone again. I invited Sinatra and the Heeb (of course), but only heard excuses of no money and fatherhood.. I am on that road myself so I will cut them a break. I arrived to the poker room around 11:15 and took an open 4/8 while I waited for a 8/16 seat to open. Not much happened here except for the usual 2 outer on the river and the mumblings of donkeys on how nothing ever goes there way. JJ held (unbelieveable) in the one pot I did play for a 20 dollar profit before I left this sad group to their chasing and complaining.

On to 8/16 after a 30-40 minute wait. I bought in for an additional 140 putting me to 250 in front of me. I would feel more comfortable w/ 400 but for some reason eveyone here always buys in for 1 rack of 2.00 chips. Why break tradition? I have seat 4, which coincidently was the same seat that turned in that stack of chips that I have a picture of on my cell phone. I'm not much of a storyteller but I will try to give you a description of the players before I get into a few hands and results.

Seat 1: GG, Grouchy Guy. This was actually 2 different guys during my 5 hour session, but they were very similar. Both started at 200 and lost it before they left. Both played weak tight, and expected to lose every time.
Seat 2: WLA, Wierd Asian Lady. I have seen her but never played with her before . Imagine a pastel blue sweatsuit, too much makeup and intelligible speech. Started w/ 200 and was about even after 5 hours. She plays pretty well; I noticed if she calls the turn, she will call the river, even with a busted hand.
Seat 3: OT, "One Time", I hear people call him Bob, but that can't be his name. He is an older Asian guy who wears a floppy hat. I have played with him at least 3 or 4 times. He played about 50% of the hands and called every draw he had a chance at. Most times he will announce "one time" before calling. One thing is for sure, if he thinks he has an out, he is calling to the end. Needless to say he won a few big pots but eventually lost over 400.
Seat 4: Our hero
Seat 5: UCS, Ultimate Calling Station. She had at least 1200-1500 in front of her. Do not try to bully her, she is calling w/ 3rd pair and no kicker. I was lucky to see this happen 3 times before i even played a hand. She was a 50ish European sitting next to her maniac husband/boyfriend. I was pleased to see her under 800 before I left.
Seat 6: M, Maniac. He quickly became my nemesis. He was the most volatile of the group, at times up big, but frequently re-buying. He played at least 75% of the hands. He was down at least 600 when I left.
Seat 7: No consistent player here. When there was a board we got a new player, but the maniac always seemed to scare them away.
Seat 8: Shades. He was a good player, tight agressive. He spent his time reading and listening to music. When he took a break, he actually removed his hat and glasses and I realized he was at least 40, when I originally guessed 20-24. He was a bit cocky, but someone to look out for. He would limp w/ AK and JJ, which was confusing. Good thing it worked against him as much as it helped him. He was up 600+ when I left.
Seat 9: There were a mix of players here also. My favorite was a young girl and her friend who sat down, played every hand and lost 200 in 15 minutes. LOL, go play 2/4 moron.

So after I buy in , I have 3 hands to the BB. While I'm waiting, I start to make observations, order a soda and formulate strategy. I am laughing at myself thinking it would be great to sit between this ugly European couple. You know, calling station on my right and maniac to my left.
Hand 1: A3 spades in the bb. M raises; Shades, GG and One Time all call. How can I resist? Flop comes 933, two diamonds. Nice start. I bet and... It is capped before it gets to me. What the hell am I doing here? Is this 2/4? I choose to call since I must be ahead. Unless.. there is a 99 out there. If I had 99, I would never raise the flop. I felt pretty good so far since everyone in the pot raised the flop except OT, and he must have diamonds anyway. Turn is a Qc. Good card. I bet since there is no reason to expect I wont be raised. M raises, all fold and OT calls. I call too. I repeat..What the hell? What did you call on the flop that is now no good? Ks on the river. Looks good for me so I check raise M, after OT folds. He reraises, I call to find......... K3 off! YAY, 3 outer. Second position raise w/ k3? This hand set the tone for the rest of the night, so I guess it was a blessing.
Round 2: Maniac has a kill pot (16/32). He is in the bb. All fold to me. I look down at QJc and raise. UTC and M both call. Great, 2 against 1. Flop comes K47, 2 spades. UTC checks, M Bets, I raise. She thinks for a minute and folds, then he folds immediately. Nice. This was the only time I tried to buy a pot from these two and it worked.

The rest of the night went pretty well. I won a big pot w/ KK, just jamming the pot. I played my cards when I got them and avoided getting tricky. All in all, it went well. cashed out for 1000 and some change at about 4:30. The game was down to 6 handed and Pai Gow was calling.

I left at 6:30 or so w/ 1500 in my pocket feeling pretty good. To bad I hit the fucking morning traffic in the rain and didnt get home until 7:45. Had to call in sick (and i definitely was by the time I got into bed).

Maybe the Donkey can move down so I will have someone to go play with next time.. I'll need help to carry my chips.......

I got yer fucking DOTW, Stewman!

Aaron Fucking Kanter is a donkey's donkey.

Sweet baby Jesus... Raymer should have jumped over the table and beat that little prick's face in...

I know I would have.

Live poker is rigged!

A good weekend, all around

My pathetic fantasy football team finally won their second game this week... sheesh. Instead of being in sole posession of last place, I am now in a three-way tie.

I got lucky that LT came through this week... but honestly, he was due. No rushing or receiving TDs the last 2 weeks killed me.

Played some poker this weekend after getting my ass handed to me all week. Did fairly well. I won't bore anybody with the poker tracker stats, but here's the highlights:

Played in a $30 multi-table tourney and finished second out of 330 players. My best finish in a multi yet. When we went heads up, the guy had me outchipped T309,000 to 21,000. Hahaha... I moved all in on the first hand with 5-6d and got called by jack high, I never improved but was happy with my 2nd place finish and collected $1400 for my effort. I took a screen shot, and once I figure out how to, I'll put it up to brag some more.

In the tournament, I was dealt 313 hands and won 60 pots. I saw the flop 75 times and won 54% of the time I saw the flop. The key stat in any NLHE multi-table tourney: I won 92% of the showdowns. Including the last hand I lost (obviously), I only lost 2 other showdowns over the entire 4 hours. One of them was with AK when I flopped a K and pocket jacks (the short stack on the table) moved all in on me and caught a J on the river.

Early on, one guy "donked off" half his stack to me when I called his bluff with top two pair. I held A-Q and the flop came with a Q and 2 diamonds. He checked to me and I bet out half the pot. He cold-called me and the turn brought me a black Ace. Again he checked and I bet out half the pot. The river was a black blank and when I bet half the pot, he min check-rasied me. I thought for a moment that he might be slowplaying a set, but with the two diamonds on the flop, I doubted he would continue to give me free cards. I called and he flipped over two baby diamonds for a busted flush draw and I dragged a big pot.

I did get lucky, of course... I hit TWO 3-outers (AJ v AK and KJ v KQ) after moving all-in within 30 minutes of making the money. I also won a couple of coinflips where I held the best hand going into it.

All together, a great feeling to come in second. This is my second top 5 finish in the last 3 weeks, but I'm still searching for that first place finish. River Rat is the only contributor on this site that has the dubious distinction of finishing 1st in a large multi.

... But my time is comming!

River Rat Drawing Dead to Edgerrin on Monday Night

It's not looking good this week for the playoff-hopeful River Rats... LT had a huge game and Date Rape and Collins finally put together a game where both scored in double didgets.

You need a lot of help, Rat boy...

DOTW for Oct 31st

Hello all, it is time for the DOTW. Let's get right down to business.

1. Tiffany Williamson - I don't know how this woman made it to almost the final table and the biggest payout to a woman in WSOP history. She must have gotten really lucky. What was she waiting for in deciding whether or not to laydown her KJs. I mean you don't call an all in bet with that hand at that point of the biggest tournament in the world. I don't blame Sheikan for not showing her his hand either. I know she is inexperienced considering the stage some things can be looked over but that was ridiculous.

Now, since I recently started the DOTW, there was a lot of TV poker in the past that I didn't get a chance to review. So from time to time when I come across older poker events and there are some suspect players, I will discuss what I like to call "Classic Donkeys".

This week the "Classic Donkey" award goes to Danny Nguyen from the Bay 101 shooting stars WPT event this past March. The Action Donkey recently played in a tournament with the Donkey at his former place of employment Garden City. I don't know how he finished since I busted out in the 3rd level. Anyways back to why he is a donkey.

He got very lucky in that tournament. There are too many Donkeyish plays to recap them all. I'll highlight just a couple. Danny is in the small blind ($5,000-$10,000 blinds with $1,000 ante) and The great Dane Gus Hansen raises up to $28,000. Danny calls with 34 spades. Flop comes As-Kc-2d. The big blind who had K-10 I think bet's out for $100,000. Gus calls and so does Danny with a gutshot. He needs a 5. The turn is a Js and Danny then bets out $100,000. Big blind folds and Gus calls. River is the miracle 5 and Danny makes his gutshot and checks it to Gus hoping he would bet but Gus of course checked. I don't know maybe it was a great play, but I really don't think it was.

Ok, just one more because this post would be longer than War and Peace if I describe all of his donkey behavior. Quick thanks to my friends at Cardplayer for their meticulous event logs.

Hand #74 - Danny Nguyen goes all in again, and this time he is called by Shandor Szentkuti. Shandor has A-K, and Danny has A-7. The flop comes K-5-5, and Shandor is drawing dead to two running sevens. The turn card is the 7, causing the crowd to "ooh" and "aah," and giving Danny hope, but he's still a long shot. The river card is ... a 7!

Enough said.....Eeyaww-eeyaww

Definition of a Donkey

Great article in the college edition of Cardplayer. For all ya out there who wonder what a donkey is in poker, read this article.

Donkey Definition

Week 9, a Turning Point

This is the most important fantasy week for me this year. I am at 4-4 (tied for 4th w/ the donkey) and facing The Heeb and his 1-7 record. This is a great chance for him to play spoiler. I cannot afford to drop below 500 w/ 3 teams at 7-1 (good year for Sinatra so far). I have some tough choices to make this week but we will see if they work out. My prediction is that if I can take care of this week then I will make the first round of playoffs and then lose to the OJ's in the first round. We'll see...

Unlike the Donkey, I have been playing cards quite a bit. $20 SNG's, 5/10 and 10/20 online and 4/8 and 8/16 up at Pechanga. I have had mild success at these levels over the past few months. I dont have any fancy stat tracker to share, so I apologize. I dont have many pearls of wisdom today, I just need to get back to posting. One tip for Josh and Stew.. I have recently found some pretty tight/weak play on the 2/4 tables at pp.

Fishing season is here!

See you at the river (and always beware of KQ suited)

DOTW for week of Oct 24th

Hello to all of my loyal readers. It is time for my second installment of DOTW. This week was a tough one in deciding who took the cake in total Donkey action. ESPN ME coverage filled me with a lot of potential candidates and even the Ladies Night on WPT even gave me a few to choose from so I've decided to go against the rules and dole out numerous winners.

1. Steve Dannenmann - How this guy made it to the final table I don't know, we shall see but his play was suspect. It wasn't that his play was that bad but what makes him eligible for DOTW is his bluffing "The Professor" (BTW, if you don't know who the Professor is, please stop reading this blog) and then calling his buddy to brag right after the hand. That was ridiculous to call his buddy and sad for him ESPN caught him doing it.
Note to Donkeys: If you do something really Donkeyish during the WSOP,
ESPN will catch it and air it.
Don't call your friend after a bluff, call him at the end of the day if you survive then tell him about your play

2. "The Professors" TV table - That whole table just gave there chips away especially that donkey who went all in and Lederer had practically the nuts.

3. The Stinky Guy - Man was that guy a donkey just for being annoying and smelly. Maybe across the pond it is ok not to wash your clothes but c'mon man. Also please Shut the F%$# UP!!! Last year Mattias Anderson and now this year that fool.

4. Jennifer Tilly - Now now you ladies out there don't flame me on this choice. I know she is the reigning ladies champ at the WSOP and won the WPT ladies night event but I think her play is extremely aggressive, loose and donkeyish. Of course they edit the show so we don't see every hand but I felt it was obvious that she didn't have anything on some of those hands. Granted I'm not under the lights and pressure so I may have done some of those laydowns but be aggressive ladies, you know she doesn't always have a big hand.

5. The guy playing against Layne Flack - Layne Flack opens the pot with AJ off suit. Get's reraised by a guy with pocket 6's. I don't mind the reraise but Layne may be the wrong person to do this against. Flop comes jack high and and turn an ace. Layne throws out a 20k bet on the river and the donkey calls him. You gotta know you are beat at that point. Give Layne some credit.

6. The other guy playing against Layne Flack - Layne raises with junk, get's re-raised with a guy with 54 and flop comes with an ace. Layne bet's, get reraised, then re-raises and the guy calls. They check it down and then the guy doesn't want to show his cards because he knows he is a donkey.
Another Note: When it goes down to the river, show your dam cards. I hate these guys who won't show there cards. Example: Kondraki flopping a set of 6's vs. pocket Q's.

7. Mike Matusow - JUST BECAUSE
Last Note: Raymer was the man in this tourney and if it wasn't for a donkey play that crippled him with about 3-4 tables left, he may have made the final table and made history. Matusow just needs to shut his yap. Got him nowhere except a bench to cry on last year. I applaud his performance this year but show some respect to Raymer...and I don't want to hear the BS that his is trying to get under his skin. Raymer proved last year that doesn't work.

Well I'm sure I've missed a few but hey it's a tough job keeping track of all the donkey's out there. See ya yall next week.

Action Donkey signing off...HEE HAW

Flame For Me

Hey guys -

Do me a huge favor. Log onto the fantasy football league and post a message about Rupp. His flaming has become very personal lately and I'm not happy about it. Rather than fighting back and lowering myself to his level, it would be a whole helluva lot more effective if you guys posted a message telling him how stupid he's being and that he needs to chill out. I deleted his last message but he put it back up there with more harsh words. I really don't want to have to kick him out of the league, but I will if this continues. Oh, and please don't be nice about whatever you have to say.

Thanks guys,

Josh has got a possee.

2006 WSOP schedule released

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/poker/news/story?id=2203310

It is starting later next year. Starts 2 days before my birthday, looks like I will have to make a trip out there for the $1500 buy-in event.

The ME will take 13 days to play next year. CRAZY!!

Call me the "New Grinder"

So I decided to let off a little steam tonight after work and jumped on PP for 2 quick SNGs. I decided to multi-table and within the first 10 mins I was down to T485 and T530 respectfully.

Not the way I imagined this going.

Of course, my T530 table was a result of me not budging off my AQos with a 5x the BB raise, flopping and Ace and completely getting committed by the river. The other guy? Pocket Aces, OF COURSE!

So I grinded for the next 45 minutes. I played tight, laying down KQs in the BB to a raise and re-raise, layed down pocket 8s with a J high flop and folded AJ when my 3x BB raise was min re-raised. (Always suspicious...)

I made the right moves at the right time... moving all in with AK in early position and getting called by AQ. Doubled up twice off the blinds in the later rounds by moving in with small pocket pairs, and all together played great poker.

Here's my stats from that two-table session:

Hands Dealt: 268
Hands Won: 20% (54)
Showdowns Won: 92% (that's right... 92%!!)

---Flop Hands---

Flops Seen: 20% (54)
Win % if Flops Seen: 64% (34)

So let's do the math... I told you I took a hit when I committed myself against pocket aces. I also lost the last showdown when I got knocked out in 5th in that tournament. I lost 2 showdowns in that tournament and those were the only 2 I lost all night. I won every showdown in the other tournament.

I saw 54 flops, and won 54 hands. I lost exactly 2 showdowns over 268 hands. I spent $22 x 2 SNGs for a $44 investment. I won $100 for my one first place finish. That's a net gain of a whopping $56!! Woohoo!

You might say to yourself, "Geez... 268 hands is a lot for 2 tournaments" (especially when I got knocked out in 5th in one!). Why were there so many hands played? Well, typical PP fish... we get down to 5 handed and the small stacks proceed to double-up hand after hand when they move all-in with any ace against the big stacks holding inferior cards every time.

Gotta love it...

Big Heeb... defender of blinds big and small!

Poker Tracker rocks.

I just downloaded the software last night... I imported my most recent 1000 hand histories and this is what it tells me:

In my last 18 tournaments, I finished in the money 50% of the time.
My buy-ins total $396.00, and I have won $640.00, giving me a ROI of 61.62% (not bad!)
My average finish in a 10 person tournament is 4.11. I have 3 first place finishes, 5 second place finishes and 1 third place finish.

Now here's an interesting statistic that I think I can really learn from:

On the button, I only cold called 1.26% of the time. I raised pre-flop 13.21% of the time when I was not the first one in, and I raised 10.69% of the time when I was the first in. I won 12.58% of the time I played a hand on the button.

When I looked at my stats in the SB, at first glance it appeared that I was playing way too many SB hands. But when I looked into it, when I was in the SB, I won more money than when I was on the button, went to less showdowns, and won a higher % of showdowns. Hmmm...

There is an option on Poker Tracker to play back hands. It's pretty cool. Wanna see that sweet trap you set when you flopped a made straight against top set? How 'bout the time you overplayed Q-9 in the cutoff and dumped over 1200 to the BB because you wouldn't let go of middle pair. I think of it like an old high school quarterback who sits on his couch on Saturday afternoons, replaying grainy videotape of all his old games. I really like this function.

Here's a funny statistic: In 18 SNGs, I never played with the same player twice. That struck me as very odd.

So, my suggestion to all of you is to go download Poker Tracker NOW and check it out. If you like it, it only costs $55 to register it and download all your histories. Do it!!

We need a new name for the blog...

I think we should consider re-naming the blog. We need a catchy name... something creative and meaningful.

Comment on this post with your thoughts, and any suggestions you may have.

And dammit... post something!

How NOT To Play Pocket Aces (A Fish's tail)

Put witty827 on all your buddy lists, fellas... check this out:

***** Hand History for Game 2904837456 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $20 Buy-in + $2 Entry Fee Trny:16734670 Level:2 Blinds(15/30) - Thursday, October 20, 14:15:30 EDT 2005
Table Table 67496 (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: Lamit591 ( $725 )
Seat 2: fasted4868 ( $630 )
Seat 3: witty827 ( $775 )
Seat 5: bigredshoes ( $680 )
Seat 6: SFDP5 ( $445 )
Seat 7: TAR4225 ( $1320 )
Seat 8: MULuke04 ( $745 )
Seat 9: Kali_King ( $710 )
Seat 10: BigHeeb91 ( $1240 )
Seat 4: GutBustinG ( $730 )
Trny:16734670 Level:2
Blinds(15/30)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to BigHeeb91 [ Qc 2d ]
GutBustinG folds.
bigredshoes folds.
SFDP5 folds.
TAR4225 raises [60].
MULuke04 folds.
Kali_King folds.
BigHeeb91 folds.
Lamit591 calls [60].
fasted4868 folds.
witty827 calls [30].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4c, Ks, 6c ]
witty827 checks.
TAR4225 checks.
Lamit591 checks.
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qd ]
witty827 bets [125].
TAR4225 calls [125].
Lamit591 folds.
** Dealing River ** [ 2s ]
witty827 bets [150].
TAR4225 calls [150].
witty827 shows [ As, Ad ] a pair of aces.
TAR4225 shows [ Kh, Qh ] two pairs, kings and queens.
TAR4225 wins 745 chips from the main pot with two pairs, kings and queens.

He Calls, checks, calls, calls. Damn near the worst play with pocket aces I have ever seen.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


On a funnier note, here's an entry from Dr Pauly's Tao of a Poker Blog:

"Last night after I completed my work for the day, I played at the Bellagio. I sat down for two hours at a $8/$16 table... I sat next to the "cool guy toughster" who sported a barb wire tattoo and wore shades at the table. He looked like a total idiot but was actually a nice guy. Always get to know the person sitting to your left. Ask plenty of questions if you can. The better profile you can come up with, the better your chances of knowing if you have a fish, a maniac, or a rock sitting next to you."

Haha.. if I didn't know better, I'd say the guy was sitting next to White. But, it's not like White has played the 8-16 game at the Bellagio recently... oh wait.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So I got my MGM offer in the mail yesterday... Weeknights for $60 weekends for $100. 2 complimentary buffets and $50 in gaming chips (I called the hotel and they are not good for the poker room)

The offer is good thru December 29... So fellas, anytime you guys wanna go away for another weekend, I'm game.

Donkey of the Week

Hello all you readers out there. Since I am the original "Action Donkey", I have decided to create a weekly column (at least monthly...don't flame me if I'm not doing this weekly) in dediciation to the biggest donkey of the week in the poker tv world.

The inaugural Donkey of the week or as will further be labeled (DOTW) is a gentleman by the name of Pittman. I don't recall his first name so I'll just stick to his last name. Now let me preface this by saying I'm not a Phil Hellmuth fan but that move by Pittman going all in with a KJ at the WSOP ME when it is obvious Phil has him beat pre-flop is a joke. I can understand Phil's reaction and I applaud him for dropping the D-bomb using the word Donkey in describing this guys actions but that is poker and it is his money and he can play it as badly as he wants.

Anyways, congrats to Mr. Pittman, you are the DOTW.

Top 10 observations in this recent trip to Vegas

Now some of these I've known about but some I didn't...

10. Expect to see a lot of young HPOA's (Hot piece of ass's) with old men....it's all about the money baby!!

9. If you stare at a hooker long enough across the casino floor, she will eventually wave at you and tell you to come over.

8. If you are playing a ring game and a guy and woman sit down at the same time along with a new dealer and then get up and leave when the dealer changes about 30 minutes later with about a profit of $300, you know something is not kosher (Right Sinatra76).

7. The Bellagio poker room is an awesome experience but too crowded.

6. I am utterly consumed and addicted with Poker which just proves that I really need to get laid and soon.

5. I am not yet in the league of tournament pro's but I don't feel like dead money either.

4. Liz Lieu and Evelyn Ng are just as hot in person as they are on TV. GOOD FREAKING LORD!!!!

3. I am horrible at playing STT's with a friend because I don't catch on to certain moves like I should (sorry Big Heeb).

2. I am a lot better at single table tournaments than I used to be, but I guess just going 1 for 1 isn't really proving too much.

1. I am the biggest DONKEY of them all for continually playing cash games with complete donkey's who call a twice raised pot with J10 out of position and chase it down to the river to make a runner runner flush while I had KK and flopped a set.

My Last Bad Beat Post EVER

I had been waiting all morning for the baby to go down for his nap, and finally at 9:35 he was asleep. I logged on, got the last seat at the $50 mini-step, and started at 9:36. At 9:37, I was out of the tournament.


***** Hand History for Game 2895229924 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $50 Buy-in + $5 Entry Fee Trny:16683256 Level:1 Blinds(10/15) - Tuesday, October 18, 12:36:47 EDT 2005
Table Mini Step 3 #1068359 (Real Money)
Seat 8 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: IRound ( $1000 )
Seat 10: BigHeeb91 ( $1000 )
Seat 5: agoldman2004 ( $1000 )
Seat 6: fortyfor60 ( $1000 )
Seat 4: kiskis1 ( $1000 )
Seat 3: alanmountain ( $1000 )
Seat 8: maynard21 ( $1000 )
Seat 2: MarMoss ( $1000 )
Seat 9: noobie79 ( $1000 )
Seat 7: TUSCADERO ( $1000 )
Trny:16683256 Level:1
Blinds(10/15)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to BigHeeb91 [ Ad Ac ]
IRound folds.
MarMoss folds.
alanmountain folds.
kiskis1 folds.
agoldman2004 folds.
fortyfor60 calls [15].
TUSCADERO folds.
maynard21 folds.
noobie79 calls [5].
BigHeeb91 raises [60].
fortyfor60 is all-In [985]
noobie79 folds.
BigHeeb91 is all-In [925]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8d, Kh, Kd ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Jd ]
** Dealing River ** [ 5d ]
BigHeeb91 shows [ Ad, Ac ] a flush, ace high.
fortyfor60 shows [ 5h, 5s ] a full house, Fives full of kings.
fortyfor60 wins 2015 chips from the main pot with a full house, Fives full of kings.
BigHeeb91 finished in tenth place.
BigHeeb91 has left the table.


The jackass limps, re-raises all-in. I knew he had a baby pair and I actually contemplated folding because I had such a bad feeling. I was an 80% favorite pre-flop, 92% after the flop, and 95.5% after the turn. He was dead to one of two 5s left in the deck.

It wouldn't be a bad beat...

...If I didn't have the best hand going into the flop and got outdrawn...

These two hands occured within 2 seconds of each other. I tried multi-tabling a $50 and a $5 in the steps on PP... here's how it they ended:

The first one is the $50 tournament... only the top 2 move on to the next level, but places 3 & 4 get rebuys back into the $50 level. 5 & 6 go down a level to the $20 tournament.

***** Hand History for Game 2893361742 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $50 Buy-in + $5 Entry Fee Trny:16673442 Level:6 Blinds(100/200) - Monday, October 17, 23:34:37 EDT 2005
Table Mini Step 3 #1068126 (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 1: BigHeeb91 ( $385 )
Seat 4: cwj111 ( $1965 )
Seat 3: Shuber ( $1965 )
Seat 10: wakzak99 ( $2040 )
Seat 8: mimekai ( $3645 )
Trny:16673442 Level:6
Blinds(100/200)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to BigHeeb91 [ Kc As ]
mimekai folds.
wakzak99 folds.
BigHeeb91 is all-In [385]
Shuber folds.
cwj111 calls [185].
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ts, Td, 4h ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ac ]
** Dealing River ** [ 4c ]
cwj111 shows [ 9c, Th ] a full house, Tens full of fours.
BigHeeb91 shows [ Kc, As ] two pairs, aces and tens.
cwj111 wins 870 chips from the main pot with a full house, Tens full of fours.
BigHeeb91 finished in fifth and wins Entry to Mini Step 2
BigHeeb91 has left the table.


2 seconds earlier, I was heads up with this shmuck. In the $5 tournament, only the winner goes on to the next level. 2nd place gets a re-buy back into the $5 level.

He had been making moves on me ever since we got heads up and I was just waiting for any face card. I got it, he moved all-in and I had him before the flop.

***** Hand History for Game 2893361550 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $5 Buy-in + $1 Entry Fee Trny:16673149 Level:8 Blinds(200/400) -
Monday, October 17, 23:34:35 EDT 2005
Table Mini Step 1 #1068563 (Real Money)
Seat 9 is the button
Total number of players : 2
Seat 9: Clutch_One ( $6755 )
Seat 1: BigHeeb91 ( $1245 )
Trny:16673149 Level:8
Blinds(200/400)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to BigHeeb91 [ 9c Jh ]
Clutch_One is all-In [6555]
BigHeeb91 is all-In [845]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3s, 7c, 4c ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 5s ]
** Dealing River ** [ 3c ]
Clutch_One shows [ Th, 7h ] two pairs, sevens and threes.
BigHeeb91 shows [ 9c, Jh ] a pair of threes.
Clutch_One wins 5510 chips from side pot #1 with two pairs, sevens and threes.
Clutch_One wins 2490 chips from the main pot with two pairs, sevens and threes.
BigHeeb91 finished in second and wins Entry to Mini Step 1
BigHeeb91 has left the table.
Congratulations,Clutch_One! You won Entry to Mini Step 2.
Clutch_One has left the table.
This tournament has finished, congratulations to the winners.


Let this be a lesson to all thinking about playing these god-damned steps. Here's my stats from just these two tournaments:

Hands Dealt: 129
Hands Won: 24% (31)
Showdowns Won: 70%

--- Flop Hands ---
Flops Seen: 29% (37)
Win % if Flops Seen: 47% (17)

So the moral of the story is... You can play nearly 130 hands of perfect poker, win almost a quarter of the hands you're dealt, win almost half the hands you see the flop on, and still make absolutely no progress.

I hate this game...

Downhill and FAST

Yah, it was that kind of night...

Here's how it started:

***** Hand History for Game 2821849790 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $20 Buy-in + $2 Entry Fee Trny:16311598 Level:3 Blinds(25/50) - Tuesday, October 04, 00:44:23 EDT 2005
Table Table 14918 (Real Money)
Seat 10 is the buttonTotal number of players : 8 Seat 3: mhouseslp ( $1410 )
Seat 4: Fulldragh22 ( $735 )
Seat 1: BigHeeb91 ( $635 )
Seat 10: cbender3 ( $535 )
Seat 9: Ten9Spades ( $650 )
Seat 5: WIDOCMIKE ( $770 )
Seat 7: Four2OneDog ( $1580 )
Seat 2: bigjimm11 ( $1685 )
Trny:16311598 Level:3Blinds(25/50)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to BigHeeb91 [ Jc Js ]
mhouseslp calls [50].
Fulldragh22 folds.
WIDOCMIKE calls [50].
Four2OneDog folds.
Ten9Spades folds.
cbender3 folds.
BigHeeb91 raises [225].
bigjimm11 folds.
mhouseslp folds.
WIDOCMIKE calls [200].
** Dealing Flop **
[ 9s, 4s, As ]
BigHeeb91 is all-In [385]
WIDOCMIKE calls [385].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 7h ]
** Dealing River ** [ Td ]
BigHeeb91 shows [ Jc, Js ] a pair of jacks.
WIDOCMIKE shows [ Ts, Ac ] two pairs, aces and tens.
WIDOCMIKE wins 1370 chips from the main pot with two pairs, aces and tens.
BigHeeb91 finished in eighth place.
BigHeeb91 has left the table.


Okay, sure.. it was getting to be panic time ( it was level 3) and a measily 4 x the bb raise wasn't enough to push the bb off his A-10 os. Yay.

Then, in the very next tournament:


***** Hand History for Game 2821918723 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $20 Buy-in + $2 Entry Fee Trny:16312183 Level:2 Blinds(15/30) - Tuesday, October 04, 00:56:57 EDT 2005
Table Table 14519 (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 5: Rzeznik1085 ( $368 )
Seat 1: BigHeeb91 ( $770 )
Seat 7: jfg999 ( $725 )
Seat 4: jptufguy ( $1210 )
Seat 10: ActionMan70 ( $730 )
Seat 6: Mk2323 ( $167 )
Seat 8: Thucydides ( $1145 )
Seat 2: silvrbritchs ( $1230 )
Seat 3: denalipark ( $880 )
Seat 9: AlienAnt ( $775 )
Trny:16312183 Level:2
Blinds(15/30)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to BigHeeb91 [ Qh Qc ]
AlienAnt folds.
ActionMan70 folds.
BigHeeb91 raises [90].
silvrbritchs folds.
denalipark folds.
jptufguy calls [90].
Rzeznik1085 folds.
Mk2323 folds.
jfg999 folds.
Thucydides folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Jd, 5c, Td ]
BigHeeb91 bets [200].
jptufguy raises [400].
BigHeeb91 is all-In [480]
jptufguy calls [280].
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ad ]
** Dealing River ** [ Js ]
jptufguy shows [ 5s, 5h ] a full house, Fives full of jacks.
BigHeeb91 shows [ Qh, Qc ] two pairs, queens and jacks.
jptufguy wins 1585 chips from the main pot with a full house, Fives full of jacks.
BigHeeb91 finished in tenth place.
BigHeeb91 has left the table.

Okay, sure... I should have smelled something fishy when the guy min-raises me on the flop. Now, I have had fish do this to me with top pair after a big raise preflop, so I was hoping he was holding a jack. Whoops. Beware of the fish who don't believe in setting traps with a guy betting into him. The other day I held A-K, flopped top two when the flop came down A-K-6, and lost to a flopped set of 6s. Today, it's just an over pair losing to a flopped set.

I guess this means I'm done with PP until after Vegas. Just can't afford to take the morale hit when I lose like this. I held the nut straight today and bet every street, only to be rivered by a 10 high flush. Dan Harrington tells me that I made the right play (betting on every street 3/4 of the pot and giving the guy horrible odds to draw to the flush with two clubs on the board), but it just seems like it hurts me more than pays off. I hate leaving you with a bad beat story, so I'll end on this note. I cut out as much of the inimportant stuff as possible, but you'll get the picture. We begin right after I bluffed off my entire stack into a guy who checked the turn and the river with a J high flush. This was the largest comeback of my PP history:

***** Hand History for Game 2821631038 *****NL Texas Hold'em $20 Buy-in + $2 Entry Fee Trny:16310764 Level:1 Blinds(10/15) - Tuesday, October 04, 00:07:38 EDT 2005Table Table 14981 (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the buttonTotal number of players : 10
Seat 1: BigHeeb91 ( $5 )
Trny:16310764 Level:1Blinds(10/15)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to BigHeeb91 [ Ad Jd ]
BigHeeb91 is all-In [5]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3s, Qs, 7s ]
Dealing Turn ** [ 3d ]
Dealing River ** [ Ac ]
BigHeeb91 shows [ Ad, Jd ] two pairs, aces and threes.
LrcyByTrick wins 20 chips from side pot #2 with two pairs, queens and threes.
jab2112 wins 745 chips from side pot #1 with two pairs, queens and threes.
LrcyByTrick wins 745 chips from side pot #1 with two pairs, queens and threes.
BigHeeb91 wins 25 chips from the main pot with two pairs, aces and threes.

A few hands later:

***** Hand History for Game 2821664639 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $20 Buy-in + $2 Entry Fee Trny:16310764 Level:2 Blinds(15/30) - Tuesday, October 04, 00:12:55 EDT 2005
Table Table 14981 (Real Money)
Seat 1: BigHeeb91 ( $25 )
Trny:16310764 Level:2Blinds(15/30)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to BigHeeb91 [ Kd Kh ]
BigHeeb91: i DARE you to raise everybody
cards4days: o wait let me finish this real quick you can watch from the sideline
BigHeeb91: common jackass
** Dealing Flop **
[Qd, 5d, 7d ]
** Dealing River **
xtremholdem shows [ Qc, Kc ] a pair of queens.
BigHeeb91 shows [ Kd, Kh ] a flush, king high.
xtremholdem wins 1225 chips from side pot #1 with a pair of queens.
BigHeeb91 wins 90 chips from the main pot with a flush, king high.

Anyways, I was able to pick up the blinds the next time around when I raised all-in bringing my stack up to T135. When the short stack made a move on my BB and everybody folded, I called and flopped my jack, crippling him and shipping another T150 to my stack. I went heads up outchipped 7 to 1 (approx 7,000 to 1,000). Blinds were at 150/300 so a lucky coinflip got me up to 2,000 and I started stealing blinds with all-in moves holding any ace or king. When he limped from the SB with Qs and I checked with 9-6 and the flop came 10-9-9, he lost another T2,000 putting us almost dead even. The final hand was nothing dramatic, just pocket 6s holding up against j-8 when he flopped an 8 and I turned the 3rd 6.

All in all, a horrible night. 1 win, 5 5th place or WORSE finishes.

Vegas in 2 more days... 2 more days...

Sea Monkey Domination

125 points, ladies. Won by 32 and I had two players get 0 points.

68 points on my bench.

The domination has begun.

I just don't see how I will lose another game all year. I have the 3 best RBs in football hands down. When LT is on bye, I got Cadillac. When Julius Jones is on bye, I got Cadillac. Hines Ward is good for 2 TDs every week and Kerry Collins is the #1 QB in fantasy football... oh yah, he still doesn't have any INTs.

1-2 in week 3, and I'll finish 11-2 in week 13.

The Rat's got me at the River

So this week, I went heads up against my fellow blogger RiverRat. I had a bad feeling about this week and my suspicions were realized. It was closer than it should have been thanks to some last minute "where the hell were you all game" work by Terry Glenn and Jimmy Smith. Alas, it came down to the SD kicker Kaeding who made a field goal towards the end of the game that gave the Rats the victory. I'm confident about next week in returning to my winning ways though, we shall see.

Congrats to the Sea Monkey's for waking up and making there owner's words of being the best team in the league sound somewhat plausible now but still not the case.

Vegas in T-10 days...I can't wait.

I May Never Work Again

I am absolutely killing the SNGs. I cannot believe how easy these games are.

White is right... stick to the $20 SNGs... Hang out for a big hand, get your money in, double up and sit back while the maniacs work.

It's almost a guaranteed cash, fellas.

I've been in a habbit lately of posting my stats from my daily sessions. Well, I understand it may not be the most exciting thing to read, but it is a very telling testimate to the fish that swim in those waters. This will be the last time, I promise. Oh! And I have another bad beat story....

Today's session (it was long, but it was profitable):

Hands Dealt: 462
Hands Won: 21% (97)
Showdowns Won: 74%

---Flop Hands---
Flops Seen: 25% (115)
Win % if Flops Seen: 46% (50)


The most telling stat of all is that I was able to pick up the pot 47 times without ever seeing the flop. When I did see the flop (115 times), I won 50 pots.

Pick your spots and make money. Easy as that.

Here's this weekend's SNG stats:

Thursday: 1 SNG, 1 cash: 1st
Friday: 2 SNGs, 2 cashes: 1st, 2nd
Saturday: 2 SNGs, 2 cashes: 1st, 2nd
Sunday: 9 SNGs, 4 cashes: 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd (mental note: Never again try to play SNGs while watching football)
Monday: 8 SNGs, 5 cashes: 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 3rd

22 SNGs, 13 cashes (65%). $484 spent, $1040 made for a $556 profit.

The last SNG I played, I made a few moves early that cost me a lot of chips. I found myself severely short-stacked (T100) on hand 6 of level 3 (blinds 25/50) and 6 players left.

I had just bluffed off 90% of my chips into a guy that was holding the nuts. Never fun...

I waited a couple of hands until I was UTG and picked up A-5 os. I moved all-in for 4x the BB and got 2 callers. When the ace flopped and they checked it down, I knew I was on my way to tripling up. I did, and I never looked back.

After I won, I realized that I had just come back from a rediculous deficit to do so. When I was down to T100, the average chip stack was almost T1600. When I went heads up, I was down T1170 to T6830. After about 20 mins of grinding heads-up, I finally took the lead on hand 20. 3 hands later, he made a move with A-5 os into my pocket 8s and it was over.

So, I promised you all a bad beat story, and here it is. I STUPIDLY thought I could head over to a ring game to pick up an additional $8 to make my winnings an even $500. Then this happened:

***** Hand History for Game 2779316866 *****
$25 NL Texas Hold'em - Monday, September 26, 15:50:30 EDT 2005
Table Table 54979 (6 max) (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 2: YosemiteSam9 ( $34.98 )
Seat 4: BigHeeb91 ( $14.07 )
Seat 3: justinbrown ( $23.86 )
Seat 6: BWG01 ( $27.41 )
Seat 5: haliejack ( $13.70 )
Seat 1: Jayster372 ( $24.25 )
haliejack posts small blind [$0.10].
BWG01 posts big blind [$0.25].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to BigHeeb91 [ 8s Jd ]
Jayster372 folds.
YosemiteSam9 calls [$0.25].
justinbrown calls [$0.25].
BigHeeb91 calls [$0.25].
haliejack folds.
BWG01 checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9d, 7d, Th ]
BWG01 bets [$0.25].
YosemiteSam9 calls [$0.25].
justinbrown raises [$1.50].
BigHeeb91 raises [$6].
BWG01 folds.
YosemiteSam9 folds.
justinbrown is all-In [$22.11]
BigHeeb91 is all-In [$7.82]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 5s ]
** Dealing River ** [ 7h ]
BigHeeb91 shows [ 8s, Jd ] a straight, seven to jack.
justinbrown shows [ 9h, 7c ] a full house, Sevens full of nines.
justinbrown wins $9.79 from side pot #1 with a full house, Sevens full of nines.
justinbrown wins $27.79 from the main pot with a full house, Sevens full of nines.


I can't emphasize it enough... Stay away from these ring games and play the $20 SNGs.

I am so ready for Vegas.

Arizona is stinkin Hot

Just got back from visiting my dad-in-law in Fort Mojave, Arizona. He lives 6 miles from Laughlin. This was the first time in my life I was that close to a casino and did not go off in search of my beloved game of poker. Could not get the image of some 100 year old w/ an oxygen tank rivering a flush against my top set. I can wait the two weeks until we tear up the Bellagio.
Good to see Josh is getting back on his "satellite" game on party poker. I have had moderate success doing the same thing...stick w/ the 20's. Double up once w/ aa or kk and then watch the fish eat eachother.
Where was the face beaver tonight?

Stewman in Da House

I'm here amigo's...the Action Donkey is ready to spill his guts about all the donkey's he encounters. The classic is the 9-3 off suit guy who calls 2 raises in front of him only to hit a flop of 9-5-3 while I was the second raiser with pocket K's. Anyways, here at work getting ready to go 3-0 in my fantasy league. Playing the formidable river rats, we shall see. Can't wait for Vegas amigos. See ya soon.

All good things must come to an end...

I knew it was just a matter of time until the bad luck caught up with me. Played (4) $20 SNGs tonight... it wasn't my night.

The first SNG I play starts out really well. I make a couple of big bets early and I'm up to T1400 in about 10 hands. I sit back and let the fish kill each other off.

We get down to 4 players and I'm in decent position. I have about T1800 and only one guy has more than me. He's been talking trash all night about how bad people are for moving all-in on flush draws, calling with mid-pair, etc...

We played 45 hands at 4 handed. During this time, these idiots proceeded to double up short stack after short stack... Everytime somebody would have less than T1,000, they would move all-in and get called by a big stack with a much worse hand. EVERY TIME the small stack's hand would hold up. ARG!

Anyways, you know how the story goes... finally, my stack widdled down and I had to make a move. I had K-10 and decided to make a move on the big stack. I went all-in for my last T535 and the big stack called... with Jacks.

Out in 4th and the streak ends at 5 cashes.

I need to redeem myself so I get into another $20 SNG immediately. I'm playing for about 5 minutes and then:

I'm UTG and get dealt A-5s (spades). I like to limp in early position with suited aces although I know the dangers. I limp and get 3 callers. The BB checks and we go to the flop:

9s-Js-9c.

BB bets out T65. I call as does everyone else. The turn:

2c.

BB bets out T50 and I call as does everyone else. River:

4s.

The magical card! I have the nut flush and I'm ready to fire. BB bets T125 and I raise to T500. Folds around to the button and he moves all in for T890. The BB folds and I call off the rest of my chips. The guys flips over pocket 4s.

Lovely river.

I'm out in 9th.

I decided to pony up my last $22 and bought into another SNG. Fortunately, I caught some cards and was able to finish in 2nd. Both my runner-up finishes this weekend came when I flopped top pair with a flop of all one suit. Both times, the other guy had the flush on the flop. Both times, they played it wonderfully and I paid them off. Oh well.


Here's the stats from tonight's play:

Hands Dealt: 148
Hands Won: 13% (19)
Showdowns Won: 53%

---Flop Hands---
Flops Seen: 26% (38)
Win % if Flops Seen: 43% (16)


You can see that I just didn't get the cards tonight. I only won 19 hands out of 148 dealt. Pathetic until you see that I still won 53% of my showdowns and won 43% of all hands I saw the flop on.

Still on a roll...

I'm up to 5 straight cashes now... man. It's not a not a lotta money, but it feels good to dominate.

Played (3) $20 SNGs today. I won 2 and placed second in the other one.


Here's tonight's stats:

Hands Dealt: 139
Hands Won: 25% (35)
Showdowns Won: 85%

---Flop Hands---
Flops Seen: 24% (34)
Win % if Flops Seen: 55% (19)

Comming outta retirement...

I thought I would share my statistics from Party Poker tonight:

(2) $20 single-table SNGs = 1 1st place finish, 1 3rd place finish

(1) $20 multi-table tournament = Out of 600 players, I finished 123rd after moving all-in preflop with pocket 8s... When the hand played out, my sucker-end of the straight was beaten by the nut straight. 53 out of the money.

Hands Dealt: 178
Hands Won: 15% (27)
Showdowns Won: 81%

--- Flop Hands ---
Flops Seen: 20% (35)
Win % if Flops Seen 43%


Can't wait till Festa Al Lago. I feel rediculously confident in my play right now...

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