Travellin' on X-Mas Eve...

12/24/08

Travellin' on X-Mas Eve...

I got into McCarran Int'l Airport about an hour an half before
my flight back to San Jose is to depart at 815 AM. I already
got my boarding pass online and decided to check in a couple of
bags curbside. I had my customary last cigarette outside and
walked into the terminal. I looked up at the Departures screens
and did not see my flight listed. The curbside check in employee
did not say anything about any delays or cancellations. Hmmm?

I got to my gate and saw that an LA flight was to depart at 655
am. It's about that time and no plane. There must be a delay.
I didn't see any Southwest employees around, so I booted up the
laptop and check the status of my flight online. Dang, delayed
to an estimated time of 840 AM (which means that it could still
take longer). I guess, I've been too spoiled. I think of all the
times that I've flown, I've had only to experience one delay.
Pretty much all my flights have been on time. I guess that's
unusual. But hey, I can't complain, my flight cost would have
been the same cost of gas, if I drove back to the Bay.

Well, that's probably the reason I booked an early flight back
home. Maybe to compensate for any delays on one of the most
travelled days of the year. At least I have some toys to play
with at the airport, my laptop (free aiport wifi, need to find
a plug - power will go out in an hour), Amazon Kindle and the
Ipod. Technology is a savior.

Getting hungry - some lady beside me is munchin' on a croissant
breakfast sandwich with bacon, she also got some of those fried
french toast sticks - mmm, mmm...I had breakfast earlier - I think,
I'll just wait until I get back to San Jose, my SB mocha should be
good until then.

Anyway, I'm glad I finished a majority of my X-Mas shopping right
before Thanksgiving. Everybody tells me that the malls and shops
are just straight crazy. I just don't have the patience for that.
You can say I'm the typical guy shopper, I already know what I need
to buy - I go straight to the store, buy it and leave. I do browse,
but when I intend to buy something, I make it simple. The only thing
I have to do now it just wrap up the presents when I get back home.

Later today, after the GF picks me up from the airport, she planned
to pass out some food and blankets to homeless people in the area.
She's has a good and generous heart. It's a good thing. It also
makes me realize, how lucky life has been for me. Well, it could be
a little luckier on the poker felt (hehe...). I mean, life could be
worse, but having that feeling of creating my own destiny, having
the support of my GF, family and friends - makes feel a certain
positivity. I still wish I had work benefits though, lol...If
things don't work out for me in the poker world, there are alot of
other things in life that I can always look forward too.

Anyway, I'll sign out for now...Need to conserve some laptop battery
power.

Merry X-Mas Y'all!!

Sho' Nuff...

12/22/08

Sho'Nuff...

Check out the trailer for the movie "Black Dynamite"...



This movie looks pretty rad. Just came up on the trailer
on the net. I may make the trek to Sundance in Park City, UT
next month to check this out and the film festival...

The movie got Charmane Star in a cameo - Pinays Representin!
Lol...

On Any Given Sunday...

12/21/08

On Any Given Sunday...

After a handful of tries, one of my 4 teamer football parlay wins!
Too bad I only bet twenty bucks at 12 to one - but hey, I should be
happy with that. Football parlay bets are like lottery tickets
anyway. At least that put me about even or a small profiteer from
my sports bets this year. Like I said before, their purpose is
to make watching football a bit more exciting. It was down to the
wire with the Saints and Lions Game. That game just squeaked in
just a point and a half under the points given at 50.5 - that was
the one that had to go pretty much wire to wire. After posting
a good pick ratio of 75%, it was fun to actually get all of them
correct.

Also grinded out some cash at limit holdem in Aliante the day
before, during a couple of sessions in the day and night.
I guess people just wanted to give me money that day. My flopped
pairs held up, when people were chasing and my made hands held up
beating second place. That is kind of hard to do at this poker
room, when half of your opponents are people on fixed incomes, that
just don't want to give any money away. I had lost some of my
profit from the tournament cash I had earlier in the week at the
Bellagio last Thursday - so it was cool to make that up and more,
yesterday. The swings can get to you, but you have to look at it
in the long run of life I guess. At least they are not big swings,
that would scurr me some times, hehe.

I will probably play one or more two sessions before I get back to
the Bay for the holidays. I will need to take care of some business
with one of the rental properties first, then off to the felt for
a cash game or tourny (I guess I haven't quit them yet).

Anyway, I can't wait to get back home to see the GF, family and
friends - especially noshin' on some of my Auntie Ilya's lumpia
shanghai. No need for any turkey or ham for me during the family
Xmas parties - fried eggrolls will hit the spot just fine, yo...
As a matter of fact, I also miss my Auntie Mely's rice crispie
treats as well - haven't had those for years (I will need to trek
up to Sacto for those).

Overnight Celebrity...

12/17/08

Overnight Celebrity...

Yeah right, hopefully you got my email with the link:

http://www.cardplayer.com/tv/34988

You can see me in the background, during the interview,
at right about 3:59 into the video. I finally made it
Ma! (I'm the guy looking at his cellphone in a Green
Kangol, hehe).

I was just railbirding the Doyle Brunson North American
Poker Championship WPT event, yesterday. I actually
witnessed the aftermath of the hand Phil Helmuth is
talking about during his interview. I walked into the
Fontana Lounge, where the tournament was taking place,
and Mr. Helmuth flopped right on top of this empty
poker table in front of the entrance. I couldn't
watch too long, as watching people play poker live, is
like watching paint dry. You can't see what the players
have, unless there is an all in and a call from another
player or players. It was also bubble time, meaning that
the money spots were about 10 busted players away, from
the time I left. Usually players will play tight, as they
are near the money spots in the tournament.

I wanted to try to satellite into the tournament last week,
but I've been fightin' the cold bug since last Thursday.
I didn't feel like just putting up, you know, like $15,000.00
to play in it. I've just started to recover - and now it snows!
I will have to get over my frugalness and use house heater, hehe...

Earlier today, I finally made a cash in a tournament at the
Sahara. I was going to swear off tournament poker for a
while, but the buy in was about $45.00 with rebuys. You also
started with a fair amount of chips at $4,000.00 with 20 minute
blind periods. Plus there were no ante rounds. You could also
rebuy at $20.00 bucks for the first hour, giving you $2,000.00
in chips. If I busted out early, I was going to go to Bellagio,
to watch some more of the WPT and play some limit cash games
there.

Anyway, the tournament started out with 42 people. To make a
long story short, I busted in 4th place and more than quadrupled
my original buy in. Not much of a big win, but I was glad to make
a cash in a tournament. And no, my Aces (had em' once early in the
tournament) did not get cracked - but I only made about $500.00 on
them - inconsequential in the scheme of the tournament.

The Small Things In Life...

12/14/08

The Small Things In Life...

Oh yeah, I guess that's what make things in life worth livin'
for. Right now, I'm at McCarran Int'l Airport, hopin' my
girlfriend's flight (that is to land in Vegas and she is
connect to Albuquerque - it was already delayed in San Jose)
will be delayed, so that she will miss her flight to
Albuquerque. If not, hopefully we can see eachother for
a few minutes of quality time when she lands. Funny thing
is, that she just called me and she missed the next flight
to Albuquerque. So she will stay for the night in Vegas
and fly back out tomorrow morning. Good for her, she gets
Oyster Bar at Harrah's to help with the sorrow, hehe...

LDR's are crazy. Only for the strong, I could say. There are
things that are telling me to go back to San Jose - my girl,
missing friends and family - thoughts of going back to
school to study. I just don't know at times.

I always think of worst case scenarios before I commit myself
to new goals and objectives. I mean, with the poker playing,
I haven't hit bottom. Not even close. I have posted a
profit from my bankroll, albeit a small one. But the plus
column has not been there lately. I've had to delve into the
savings for the living expenses, which is no surprise to me
as I planned for that anyway.

It is really true, when a poker pro tells you that there can
be emotional swings when playing to what equates to is just a
game. But I guess, you can say that in all aspects of life.
I can consider myself lucky that, the impending recession has
not affected me to a degree of others I see.

Like I said before, I plan for worst case scenarios - and it
hasn't come to that situation yet. I also hear other poker pros
say that you have to go broke at least once in your "career".
To me, that is not good advice - bad money management ruins
anybody, be it a poker player, waitress, claims adjuster,
small business owner or a CEO. If you don't have that, you
might as well wipe your ass with dolla' bills or twennies for
that matter.

Maybe this time off is meant for me to reassess, think, write
about what one's (not necessarily my own) purpose is in life.

I think alot of us get caught up with trying to keep up with
the Jones's, without finding out what truly makes you happy.

But don't listen to me. Ask youself that question...

When Scotty Was In Egypt's Land, Let My Scotty Go...

12/13/08

When Scotty Was In Egypt's Land, Let My Scotty Go...

If you've seen Ferris Bueller's Day Off, you may know where that
line came from. For the past few days, I've been feeling like
Cameron, Ferris's best friend in the movie. I guess, it's the
ususal time of year, when I get all the cold/flu symptoms acting
up in me. I've been spewin' out mucus like a mofo' lately.
At least the symptoms seem to be wearing off.

I've been wanting to check out the poker room at Excalibur.
They had installed some electronic poker tables there for some
months now. They have a pot limit omaha game there for 0.50/1.00
stakes. Not too much to get you in trouble, but with PLO, the
pots can grow pretty well, as it is an action game. So, I haven't
played for the past 3 or 4 days, because of my condition. I don't
want to have to cough and blow my nose in between every bet.

I was surprised I didn't get sick last week. Well, it's not like
I went overboard with the drinking anyway. I paced myself, as we
are not getting any younger.

Hopefully tomorrow, I can get up early enough to put a football
parlay bet down. I also have to get in on that freeroll tourny
I've been meaning to play for the past couple of months. I won the
entry in late September or early October. It's just that the tourny
is played on Sundays every couple of weeks, and I've been caught up
usually watchin football and playin some limit holdem at Aliante or
Red Rock. I might as well take a shot this Sunday. But things may
change, we'll have to see.

Pinoy POWER!!!

12/08/08

Pinoy POWER!!!



As you may know, Manny Pacquiao just reaffirmed that he
may be the best pound for pound fighter for our generation.
He beat Mr. De La Hoya, no doubt about it. I should have
had better faith on our countryman's ability to give a good
fight last Saturday. The only bet I put down was for a
12 round draw (I was thinkin' that there may be a second
fight, due to the potential money another fight could make).
I think the 700 club lost out on this one too, lol...next
time...

The thing that really disappointed me about the fight, was
the fact that it looked like De La Hoya did not seem to be
the aggressor at any time during the bout. It seemed like
he was on the defensive at all times. Well, you may say that
he never had an opponent like Pacquiao for quite sometime.
The HBO specials that was aired weekly before last Saturday,
kinda' hyped each fighter's training and mental attitude
before the fight. I mean with De La Hoya, sparing no expense
in getting the best trainers his money and influence could
buy, I would think he would have put up a better outing
than what happened that night.

Like I said before, maybe Pacquiao was just too quick and
powerful for him at this stage of De La Hoya's life. But
hey, this fight made him some nice change - I would have
stopped the fight in the 8th round too, before suffering
any more permanent damage. He probably made like over
$35,000,000.00 gross - you can't enjoy that money, if you
have to sip your dinner through a straw for the rest of
your life.

Before the fight, a bunch of the homies from San Jose and
the Bay Area flew in on Thursday and Friday. It was great
to see Debbie, Dave S., Ron, Christine, Darlene, Leetz, Dave B.,
Chau, John John, Fiel, the Fernandez Bros (like they're a
company or boy band, yeah more closer to a bading boy band,
just kidding guys), and whoever else I forgot, oh yeah
Juan Juan (but I don't think I remember talking to you at
the club, because I was pretty gone - don't get me near
any free alcohol, because I will take advantage of that,
like no one will, ya' feel me?

I mean, I pretty much paced myself. No suca for me later
that night. It was kinda' nice not havin' to spend one red
cent to go out that night, hehe...This prefight party was at
ROK in NYNY Hotel/Casino. It was good to see everybody there
gettin' in gear befor the fight.

The next day, a bunch of us hit up M and M Soul Food Cafe.
It seemed to be a hit with the group. Fried chicken skin,
seems to make everybody's soul a bit happier. Smothered
BBQ shortribs also bring joy and Christmas spirit to one's
self as well. With a healthy dose of cornbread pancakes
and all you can drink Koolaid "red", one can actually find
the meaning of life. Anyway, hit this place up when you are
next in town, you won't regret it.

Later that night, was the fight. Our whole group, with the
exception of the Sonico's, went to Mandalay Bay to catch the
closed circuit broadcast of the fight in their arena. The
arena didn't sell out, but I thought that it was a good thing,
as I didn't want to feel too cloistered in that place. Don't
get me wrong, the atmosphere was pretty good - the section we
all sat at seemed to be all Pacquiao fans.

I think after the first 3 rounds, you pretty much knew who was
gonna' win this thing. Like I said prior, I made a bet on a
draw (no winner) - but I didn't really care if I lost that
bet. I was rollin' with the Pac Man on this one. I just regret
not putting up any money on him at the beginning of the week
when he had almost 2 to 1 odds to win (no matter what round or
how he would win). Pacquiao dominated each round, until after
the 8th, where the fight was stopped by the De La Hoya camp,
conceding defeat to the Pac Man. It felt like a workout watchin'
this thing. I think I must have yelled and jumped, like I was
at ringside (as well as all the peeps around me). It was
totally radical and awesome...

The Santos, Dar and I decided to chill and get some eats at
Carnegie's at the Mirage. Had Challah French Toast with a side
of bacon (it ain't really a side, they give about a dozen pieces
of the stuff, I should have just asked for a bowl of rice and
ketchup and eat it like Saturday breakfast with mom back in
the day). Dave got a bacon cheeseburger, Debs a cornbeef
sandwich and Dar a pastrami sandwich. The sandwiches probably
had a couple pounds of meat each - hefty, that's how that place
rolls. At least you get a full meal for later on, as you can't
finish these plates, unless you been stuck on the "Lost" island
and just got back to civilization or if money is involved.
Sick...

Anyway, most of everybody left to go back to the Bay Area on
Sunday afternoon. I made a pitstop with Fiel, Fred, Deb, Dar
and Dave at Hot/Spicy Crawfish in Chinatown. It's a cajun style
restaurant off of Spring Mountain Road. My buddy Andre
introduced me to it when I first moved here. It is another
hidden gem off the Strip. You can't beat a pound of boiled
craw fish or shrimp for seven bucks. I personally did not have
that at the time (I got the chicken wings - can't live with out
fried chicken, if it's available at the place). It seemed like
another hit with the peeps, so again, when y'all come down,
you gots to go. Buffets on the Strip will not appeal to you
anymore.

That night a couple of the Fernandez Bros. were still in town
for another night, staying at the Hard Rock. They were going
to party at Body English for their last night in town. I decided
to chill for the night, as I don't think my body could take it.
I wanted to be in coma mode for the rest of the night. Hopefully,
I'll hit them up next time I'm back in the Bay or in the PI.

As for poker, busted out of the Caesar's 12 noon tourney today
and made ten bucks playing some $1/3 NLHE for an hour there.

I think I will lay off the tournys for a while and concentrate
on cash games for the time being. I am getting a little fed up
with the variance on the tourny style games. Making near the
money, doesn't make money. I'd be happier winning even just a
little during a cash session (but of course happier by winning
a lot), than bust out late in a tourny not making any cash at
all.

Happy Holidays, see y'all soon...

Back To The Grind...

12/4/08

Back To The Grind...



The GF was in town for Turkey Day weekend. It was a pleasant
change of pace from fighting for chips on the green felt
battlegrounds of Vegas.

She flew in on Thursday afternoon. After I picked her up,
I headed back to my Auntie's house for more grub. Nothing
like lechon skin, stuffing, yams, lumpia on Plymouth Rock
Day. I could only take one piece of the skin that day, I
didn't know if my "online" health insurance plan would cover
any pork related issues at the local hospital.

It was great to see my girl after about almost a month of
not seeing her. I guess separation can make the heart grow
fonder. It was also a good excuse to get some off the strip
eats, that I know she would enjoy.

I also had a couple of Uncles, an Aunt and two cousins come
out from California for a couple of days as well.

On Friday, the GF and I hit up Cupcake Lane Bakery. Had
a peanut butter chocolate one and she had a red velvet
style one. Pretty good, I don't know if the $2.50 price
each was justified, but these guys must be rakin' in the
cash. I need to do some research on that business.

That night we met up at Wayne's Sushi on Sahara. It is
always a good choice and a local fave of mine. Besides
knowing the owner, like I said before, his sushi is pretty
much the bomb. His signature rolls are pretty much all
non raw - so it can appeal to the other segment of eaters.
Don't get me wrong the sashimi he gets is always pretty
fresh tasting and his poke' is really good. Everybody
seemed to enjoy the food. My relatives even got a couple
of karaoke songs in. Free entertainment, you can't beat it,
lol...

After that, we checked out Fremont Street and got heart
attack on a tray. Fried Twinkies and Oreos. So Goood,
and So Baaddd...



Saturday, my relatives left to go back to drop off my cousins
in Riverside, where they go to school. The GF and I, headed
out to Hoover Dam for their tour. We left the house around
11 am and ran into traffic just past Boulder City, which is
about 12 miles before the Dam. Dang, shoulda' known that it
would have been busy on the holiday weekend.

It took about a half hour or so, from that point, to get to
the visitor center, so it wasn't too bad. We arrived too
early for their comprehensive tour, so we decided to just
go on their Powerplant Tour only. First you sit in a
theater, which shows the history of Hoover Dam, which was
originally called Boulder Dam, before being named after
President Hoover, who signed off on creating the Dam.







Anyway, we got to see a couple of the main areas of the
Dam. We were led down into the depths of the Dam, to
a room where one of the runoff pipes was located. After
that we got to see that actual turbines that generate the
electricity from the Dam. Still looks new after about,
70 or so years. Lastly, we went thru an exhibit area and
finished a walking tour of the exterior of the Dam
ourselves. Pretty cool, stuff. I like that kinda' stuff
I guess. The GF seemed to enjoy it as well, except for
the height of the Dam, hehe...

On Sunday, we checked out Mesa Grill at Caesar's for brunch.
Pretty good food. Nothing like melted cheese and tortilla
chips for appetizer. Oh yeah the bread basket, was pretty
much a pastry basket. I don't think there was actually any
bread in it. I coulda' just had that and coffee. I had
a chicken dish with poached eggs, with hollandaise sauce.
I wish I could of finished that, it was mighty tasty.
She had a scrambled egg frittata type thing on crisp
tortillas, with Flay's signature cream fraiche sauce. That
was really good as well.

After that, it was time to check into TI for her last night
in Vegas. Nothing like being lazy for the next few hours
in a hotel room. We lagged too much to have dinner and
just got ready to go to the Christian Audigier Nightclub
downstairs. It used to be Tangerine, but I guess the Ed
Hardy dude got his own club there. It's still pretty much
the same, except with all the skull and Ed Hardy stuff
all over the place. At least there was no cover and the
DJ was playing the jams from back in the day.

After we checked out on Monday, it was time for some
soul food. We headed out to M and M Soul Food. It was
a good thing it wasn't too crowded, I was fiending for
the fried chicken. She ordered short ribs smothered in
gravy and of course I had to get the chicken. The sides
were fried okra, potato salad, collard greens, macaroni
cheese and cornbread pancakes. Goood Stuff...



We were planning to check out the Atomic Testing Museum,
after lunch - but we were both in a food coma. We just
went back to the pad for some rest, before driving her
to the airport.

She flew out later that night. She is missed, dang I'm
getting misty, lol...

Check out this photo of her friends' daughter. Chubby
cutie, hehe...



As I said, back to the grind. I went to Aliante last night,
which was just a few hours ago to check out the action. It
looks like it has been slowing down since their opening, but
I wanted to play some Limit Omaha - hopefully they got a table
going. When I got there, they had about 4 full tables goin',
it didn't look too bad. I signed up for some Limit Omaha and
Limit Holdem (both at $4/8). No action for Omaha tonight, so
I got sat down at the Limit Holdem table.

I think the strategy here is to play tight, as a lot of the
local degenerates, will call you down with second pair or
top pair when there are definite made hands on the board.
I made about $155.00 after 2.5 hours of play, I pretty much
doubled up for that short session. I was thinking of playing
longer, but the action and players were drying up. Better to
leave making a decent profit, than to play all night and be
down. I decided to hightail it out of there, right before the
big blind got back to me. Cashed out, popped a twamp on the
Pacquiao/De La Hoya fight on the 12 round draw at 15 to 1.
Hopefully it hits. I'm thinkin' there might be a part II
to their battle anyway...

I'll go back to the grind later this week anyway...

Almost Hittin' For a 1.000 Percent...

11/23/08

Almost Hittin' For a 1.000 Percent...

You can almost call me Scotty the Greek. I bet 3 football
parlays today, one 6 teamer, and two 4 teamers. I got 5 out of
6 on one and 3 out of 4 on the two others. At least I'm beating
the experts, hehe...

It would have been nice to parlay $40.00 bucks into just about
a $900.00 profit, if they all hit. But alas, the Dallas/San
Francisco game and New York (Giants)/Arizona game, made the
over points. At least it makes watching the games more exciting,
hehe. Money would be icing on the cake.

There's always next week. Anything can happen on any given
Sunday.

I made the picks at the Aliante Casino sportsbook. It looks like
the hype at the casino may be dying down. The poker room only
had 2 tables going at the time, $2/4 and $4/8 limit holdem.

I decided to play some $2/4 limit holdem to kill some time.
I almost doubled up my original buyin of $100.00, after
about 2 hours of play. Not bad, especially with the river rats.
Got lucky on one hand, when my pocket Aces caught up with another
player's two pair on the river, where I hit a better two pair.
That's justice for you. The best hand preflop actually won in
this game. It was good that this was an action flop with 5
players almost going down to the river.

I will have to check out their small buy in tournaments that they
will start this week. It will kind of be like a home game, with
all the regular locals playing there.

Hope I can break my streak of making final table and actually
making the money, lol...

Oh yeah, did that again Saturday morning at Red Rock Casino's
NLHE tourny. Busted 9th out of 46, with pocket Queens against
pocket Kings, preflop. The other player and I actually made
flushes, but of course my 2nd place hand don't win. It paid the
top 5 players, and I was 4 spots away...

HORSE Wrangling At Green Valley Ranch...

11/19/08

HORSE Wrangling At Green Valley Ranch...

I've had a hankering to play a HORSE tournament and found a low
buyin at Green Valley Ranch on Wednesday. It's for $40.00 plus
a $5.00 add on, which give you a total of $2,000.00. Not much
to work with, but not a big dent to the bankroll. I can call it
a tuition charge to learn the nuances of the game. Plus, I miss
playing the other poker games, as NLHE can sometimes be a bore.

HORSE is an acronym for the 5 card games you will play throughout
the tournament. H is for Holdem, O for Omaha/8 or better, R for
Razz, S for Seven Card Stud and E for Seven Card Stud/8 or better.

The blind rounds were 15 minutes each. It was also a limit syle
tournament, as opposed to a no limit style.

Anyway, 35 started and they would payout the top 5. To make a
long story short - made it to the top 9 and busted out 9th. I
couldn't get a rhythm goin and was basically at my starting stack
of $2,000.00 throughout the whole tournament. I eventually got
it all in during a round of Seven Card Stud/Eight or better.
I just missed getting half the pot when my low hand of Eight,
Seven, Six, Two and Ace was outkicked by the another player's
hand of Eight, Seven, Five, Four and Two. We both got helper
cards on the river, but unfortunately the other player hit a
great card. I was out, again...lol.

If I had a buck every time I made the final 9, I would be chillin'
in Tahiti, playin' online everyday, hehe...

M & M SFC...So Goood...

11/18/08

M & M SFC...So Goood...

Located off the strip at the intersection of Charleston and
Valley View is another tidbit sent from heaven, M & M Soul
Food Cafe.



I've been meaning to check it out since I've moved here, but
every time I've passed it by - I am missing my appetite. Hey,
fried chicken is good anytime, but yo' I wanna make sure my
palate and colon are free for the day.

I decided to stop by there after my trip to the Las Vegas
Municipal Court to pay for the speeding ticket I got at the
end of September. First ticket in years, and it had to happen
during the North Las Vegas Popo's Quest for stops at the end
of their fiscal quarter. Dang, I haven't had a ticket in
years. The last one I had was probably about a good 8 years
ago (the last one before that one was about 8 years before
that). I guess moving violations in about 20 years of driving
(God 20 years already...why God?) is not too bad. Anyway,
I was going to go to court to dispute the speed the cop
clocked me at, but I would still be guilty of speeding. I
believe if the judge reduced my speeding to 45 mph in a
35 mph zone, the difference in the ticket amount was only
about $30.00. My court date was for Thanksgiving Eve, after
130 pm. I didn't want to sit in court for the rest of my
afternoon, getting the same result in my plea of nolo
contendre (pleading no contest to the speeding ticket and
paying the fine). I wanted to check out the courts anyway,
thinking that it would be a quick trip, but of course I was
wrong. I found parking in the city parking structure outside,
got into the Traffic Ticket Payment area and was given a slip
with #B090. I looked up at the screen and it said now serving
#B028.

Shieet!!! 62 more people before me. Shieet again!!! They also
have numbers starting with letters of R, C, and A. Actually
the wait wasn't too bad, I had to wait about 45 minutes and I
was finally called. I was done in about 4 minutes. Plead nolo
contendre to the court clerk and paid my ticket via debit card.

Now, I can get some food. I waited pretty much all day to eat.
I mean, I had some cereal at about 9 am, but it has been about
4 or so hours since that last meal. I usually eat something
every 3 hours, more or less.

Back to the grill again. Okay, I get to the soul food joint and
about half of the patrons look me up. "Haven't y'all seen a
Filipino before - we love fried chicken, sometimes more than
life itself - we are the soul food pioneers of the Far East!".
I thought this in my head - if I actually said it out loud, I
dunno' what would happen. Anyway, I got seated and perused
the menu. "Fried Items may take 20 minutes to complete", dang
it must be good. I'll just save it for next week. I decided to
get a half plate order of the meatloaf with gravy, side of
cornbread stuffing and potato salad. It also came with cornbread
cakes (like pancakes). Waited for about 6 or 8 minutes and the
cornucopia of comfort food got to my table.



I'll tell you - the food is really good. It takes a certain type
of palate to appreciate "comfort food". A good sign of that was
that I pretty much finished the whole order, left about half of
my potato salad on the plate, but that stuff is filler anyway.
The meatloaf had about the right amount of herbs and spices. The
gravy was not too salty, just about right. Cornbread any which
way is good, it wasn't dry - almost like cake, hehe...

The place itself was pretty clean and tidy - kind of surprising,
being in a "Friday After Next" type strip shopping mall.

It is a definite must go. Don't be afraid to take a trip off the
beaten path. I'm tired of buffets anyway...

Xmas Shoppin' and Ace Queen...

11/13/08

Xmas Shoppin' and Ace Queen...

Played a tourny at Red Rock Casino last Tuesday, Veteran's
Day. I was expecting a bigger turnout, as it was a holiday
for city, county, state and federal employees. The tournament
is actually capped at 40, but only 24 lowly degenerates showed
up to play that morning. I've been meaning to check out this
NLHE tournament for sometime. It's a pretty good format,
you buy in for $100.00, which gives you $5,000.00 in chips.
An additional $5.00 gives you a bonus of $1,000.00 in chips.
So you basically start out with $6,000.00 total. The blinds
change every 30 minutes, which is a pace I like. Plus with
capping the players at 40, you don't have to play like all
day, then bust out with no money. It makes it a little
quicker, plus you get a decent payout. As it was only
24 players to start, top 3 would get paid. Almost like a
408 Poker Tour game, with a couple less payouts. There is
always the chop factor, we could split later on with a couple
more players - well, if I make it that far.

I played my game, and found Aces when I had exactly 10 bets,
I think blinds were $200/400 at the time. What did I do to
double up? I went all in of course. Luckily the small blind
player, picked up Ace/King of Diamonds and called me. The
big blind player folded. We were now heads up. Everybody,
was like why did I go all in with the Aces? Well, I figured
I thought I might get one caller from my position, who would
think that I may be stealing. I was hoping for one of the
players in the blinds, who were the chip leaders at the time.
I got my wish, simple. Hehe...Let me get back to the hand.
The dealer dealt out a King of Hearts, 4 of Clubs and 7 of
Spades. Please no cooler King on the turn or river. The
dealer turned an Ace of Hearts - now I got it locked down.
The river was dealt a King of Spades. Wow, I have top full
house and the other guy has bottom full house. Pretty sick,
but good for me.

Anyway, I won't bore you with further details, I made it down
to the last 7 players. I had about 12 bets and was UTG with
Ace/Queen OS. I decided to make a standard raise to 3 times
the big blind, bets were $500/$1000, with a $100 ante. There
was about $2,200.00 in the pot preflop. Everybody folded
behind, but the small blind and big blind players just called.
Now there was $9,700.00 in the pot preflop. I had about nine
grand in chips left. I felt that if I didn't flop anything
good, I could still have some ammo for the next round of
cards. We still had about 20 minutes left in this round.
The dealer dealt Ace of Clubs, King of Hearts and Ten of
Clubs. Not a bad flop for me. I think if the other two
players had a hand like Ace/King, pocket Kings, or pocket
Aces, they would have reraised preflop. Both of the players
in front of me checked, they looked pretty weak to me. I
thought about the hand, I had top pair, back door flush draw
with my Queen of Clubs and a gutshot straight draw (needed any
Jack for that) - I went ahead and went all in for the last of
my chips. I thought it would win it right there. Boy, was
I wrong...The small blind player immediately called, I was
dead. The big blind player folded. I flipped my hand up and
expected the other player to flip up Ace/King. Nah, he had
King/Ten of Spades - dang two pair. Okay, I need a Queen,
Ace or Jack (9 outs twice). The turn card was dealt a
Seven of Clubs - cool, now I have Clubs, Sevens, Jacks,
Queens and Aces to win on the river (a total of 20 outs,
that's about half the deck to win). Alas, the river was
dealt out a Four of Spades. Gross, I think it was still a
coinflip on the river - could not outluck this guy.

7 out of 24, not bad - not good, no money...lol...

Again, Ace/Queen sucks...

Finished my Xmas shoppin - in two days. God, that's record
for me. I usually finish my Xmas shoppin a couple days after
Xmas.

Well, I'm gonna check out some of the Black Friday sales too,
but that's for personal stuff.

Aliante Station just opened up - another upscale local casino.
Will do my football picks there this weekend. I'm getting
closer - got 4 out of 6 on both parlays last weekend.

Pocket Sixes, Suck...

11/5/008

Pocket Sixes, Suck...

Yeah right, that's the hand I won with at my first NLHE
tournament at Lucky Chances, years ago. Well, it's a monster
heads up. A gamble when you have a raise in front of you,
when you are in mid position. But when you haven't seen the
semblance of at least an Ace high hand in a couple of hours,
those pocket Sixes look like Aces. Anyway, I was short stacked
with about only 5 bets, with blinds at $600/1,200, with a $100
ante. There was about $2,500.00 in the pot preflop. The UTG
player raised the bet to $3,200. 3 players folded in front of
me, I then looked down at the Sixes. I decided to go all in,
knowing I would at least get a call from the initial raiser,
as he had pot odds to call my all in bet.

Sorry for the Tarantino non-linear style of blogging today.
The tournament took place at Caesars, last Monday 11/3/08.
It was one of their Mega Stack NLHE tournys, where the buyin
was $235.00, which gave you starting chips of $10,000.00.
The blind structure was pretty good, as they changed every
50 minutes. A good slow structure, with a lot of poker
playing. 87 players signed up for the event. Top 9 got
paid, where first was $5,400.00, which wouldn't be bad
for a Monday...

I made a key laydown, during the $50/100 blinds level.
I was in the small blind and did not look at my cards yet.
There were about 3 limpers in the pot, when the bet got to
me. I peeled up my cards and saw 2 black Aces. I decided
to raise the bet to $500.00 total. The big blind player
called, got folds from the next 2 players and the dealer
button player called. There was about $1,700.00 in the pot
preflop. The flop came Ten of Spades, Two of Clubs and Five
of Hearts. A pretty raggedy board. I decided to make a bet
of $1,100.00 into the pot. The big blind player raised the
bet to $3,000.00. WTF? The dealer button player went
immediately all in. WTF, again? I tanked for about a
couple of minutes. I kinda' felt that I was beating
the big blind player already, but I could not beat the
dealer button player's hand. What did the dealer button
player have? A set of Fives, A set of Two's? I wouldn't
think a Set of Tens, I think he would have slowplayed
that hand, considering the flop. After some, soul searching,
I decided to fold, I knew I was beat. Anyway, the
big blind player (who I knew I had), decided to call the
dealer button player's all in bet. Oh, another reason I laid
down the pocket Aces, was that the all in bet from the other
player, would have put me all in too. I can't go out of the
tournament with just a pair. The big blind player flipped
up Nine/Ten OS (for just a pair of Tens) and the dealer
button player flipped up Two/Five of Spades (for bottom two
pair). See, I made the right laydown. That's why I hate
getting pocket Aces sometimes, you sometimes feel committed
to playing them to the end, but again it is just one pair.
The dealer turned a King of Clubs and the river was dealt
a Jack of Hearts. I wouldn't have gotten lucky on the two
remaining cards. The big blind player lost and was pretty
much stacked off, he had only about $600.00 in chips left.
Man, that should have been my pot.

I made a decent bluff against the dealer button player, in
the next couple of hands. I had Ace/Nine of Spades on
the button. There were only a couple limpers ahead of
me, so I decided to call the bet of $100.00. The small
blind and big blind players checked. There was about
$600.00 in the pot. The flop was dealt Queen of Spades,
Eight of Spades and 7 of Diamonds. It was checked down
to the the midposition player (the Two/Five of Spades guy),
and he bet out $300.00. I didn't think he had a Queen,
he probably would have bet $400.00 to $500.00, to protect
it from a flush draw. He probably only had a pair of Eights.
I decided to call his bet, everybody else folded.
We were now heads up. The turn came a Five of Clubs.
He now checked and I in turn checked. The river card came
a Five of Hearts. I'm probably going to bluff this
board, if he doesn't bet. He checks pretty weakly.
I peel off $750.00 in chips and bet it into the pot.
He knocks the felt and folds, "Good hand" he says to me.
I rake in the pot, yay!!! Lol...

Another hand where I debated on making a laydown, was
where I played Queen/Ten of Hearts UTG and just called
the big blind bet of $800.00. Everybody folded around and
the small blind player made it $2,400.00 total to go. The
big blind player called and decided to call as well. I had
position and decent pot odds to call with a hand that could
flop well. The flop was dealt King of Hearts, Four of Hearts
and 6 of Clubs. I have a flush draw, hmmm? The small blind
player bet out a third of the pot. I had about a 3 to 1 call,
to try to hit my flush on the turn card. I decided to just
call, as the pot was laying me a good price to hit the
potential nuts. The turn card was dealt an Ace of Diamonds
and now I have a gutshot straight draw as well as the flush
draw, with one card to go. The small blind player immediately
put out a pot sized bet, which essentially puts me all in,
if I call. After thinking about the hand for a minute, I
decided to fold. I still had enough chips to make a few
moves later. I didn't want to gamble, with one card to go
(albeit with twelve outs, if I put the other player on
just a pair of Kings - nine Hearts and three non Heart
Jacks - for flush and straight). I think my mistake in the
hand, was that I should have went all in over the top of his
flop bet and try to make him make a decision for a large
amount of his chips (he had twice as many chips as me at the
time). If he did only have a pair of Kings, I could have
made him fold them on the flop. Maybe he would think, I could
have a set of Sixes or Fours, maybe two pair even. If I did
get called with an all in on the flop, I still would have
outs for the flush draw on the flop and straight draw on
the turn.

Back to the pocket sixes, after my all in, everybody folds
and the UTG player asks how much to call. He's gonna call
anyway, I think, as the pot is laying him about 3 to 1. He
thinks for a good minute - he must have been trying to steal.
Anyway, he makes the crying call and flips up Jack/Eight of
Spades. Well, at least it's a race. The flop is dealt King
of Clubs, Ten of Spades and Two of Hearts. A complete miss
for him. I requested the dealer to just put a Six out
there. The turn came a Jack of Clubs. Jeez...The river
was a 9 of Clubs. Upside down Six, hehe...

Busted out Jordan style, 23rd out of 87. But no, fade away
3 pointer for me this time...

The End...

Jackpot at the Red Rock...

11/2/08

Jackpot at the Red Rock...

Today I met up with a buddy of mine at Red Rock Casino in
Summerlin. It was a first time for me at this "locals"
casino. For a casino off the strip, it was pretty nice.
That might be an understatement, as it is probably on
par with some of the best on the Strip.

I decided to to check it out on a Sunday morning, as I
wanted to put a couple of football parlay bets. A couple
of ten dolla' bets for a chance to win over eight hunny.
I actually hit have the teams I bet. Don't call me
Scott the Greek yet, hehe...

To kill time there, while watching some football, I also played
some $2/4 limit Texas Holdem. I felt like playing some "no
foldem' holdem", hoping to river some local player in each hand
I was in. I bought in for $120.00, it was for fun anyway, I could
make this last forever at this level. Plus they have a Bad
Beat Jackpot, that all players at the casino (plus their related
casinos) would share in if a bad beat was hit at one of the
poker tables.

Well, whattaya' know, 2 hours into playing, two players at
another poker table at Red Rock, hit Four Kings against a
Royal Flush - Bingo!!! Those players got the big money,
$45,000.00 to the loser and $30,000.00 to the winner of the
hand. There was a total of 306 players at each of the casinos'
poker rooms, so we all got $286.00 for sitting there. Not
bad. I eventually grinded off $25.00 at my stay at seat
10 on table 16, for the 6 hours of play. I was not successful
in putting in bad beats on anybody. I was up and down
for the whole day, with no threat to my original buy in.
Like I said, playing some low limit poker was to kill time,
while watching my picks.

As I mentioned before, I hit 50% of my picks, so no win
there. It's more of a bonus if I hit the parlay and it also
makes me watch the games more intently.

Anyway, I'll be trying to rest up the rest of the night, I want
to enter the Caesar's Megastack tourny tomorrow for their
$200.00 NLHE at 12 pm, I believe.

Nines, Suck: Part III...

10/30/08

Nines, Suck: Part III...

Today, I went to the Green Valley Casino Poker room to play
in their $45.00 NLHE tournament. You got $2,000.00 total in
chips to play, with 30 minute blind levels. I usually don't
like playing in short chip tournys, but I had some time in the
morning to play. I also wanted to check out the casino, as I've
never been down there before. About 27 people signed up for the
event. You could also rebuy back in if you busted out in the first
level. I guess it can be a good thing, it puts more money in the
pot. It kinda' felt like a house game, hehe...

I managed to make a good bluff (well, I thought it was one, the
other player never showed down). I was sitting in midposition
with Jack/Ten of Spades. I just made a call of the bet, which
was $100.00. There was a total of about 5 callers, which put
the total pot amount at $500.00. The flop was dealt King of
Hearts, Queen of Diamonds and Three of Diamonds. The small
blind player checked, the big blind player bet out $200.00,
the player to my right folded, I called the $200.00 and the
dealer button folded. We were now heads up in the pot. I
thought she might be betting a pair Queens in this spot, just
to see where she was at in the hand. If she had a pair of Kings,
I think she would have at least bet $400.00 (a pot sized bet
at the time), to protect top pair, from a flush draw. I also
had an open ended draw on the flop, where if I hit my straight,
I would pretty much have the nuts. Anyway, the dealer dealt
out a Five of Spades. That was not much help for me. The
big blind player bet out $300.00 into a pot of $900.00. I still
put her on a pair of Queens, she didn't want to get too invested
in the hand, I guess. I decided to call the $300.00, and now
the pot held $1,500.00. The dealer dealt out the river card,
which was a Ten of Diamonds. All the while, I was looking at
the other player to see her reaction to the board. She really
looked upset that the river card hit a diamond, putting flush
and straight draw cards on the board. I had a lowly pair of
Tens, with a busted straight draw now, I may have to bluff
at this pot. The other player checked and I looked at my chips
to see what I had left. I had about $1,200.00 at the time.
I decided to push all in, as I felt that I could take her off
her pair of Queens (well, I don't know if she had them, that's
what I put her on). Anyway, she let out a sigh and slowly
folded and said that she did not want to see a diamond hit
the river. With her saying that, I felt she indeed had
a pair of Queens and I was behind in the hand. Whew...look
at me, sweatin' a $45.00 buyin poker tourny, hehe...

Basically, I survived into the fourth level, where blinds were
at $200/400. I got down to the final 9 players and had only
$1,800.00 in chips.

Those momentary lapses of inattention can get you in trouble,
which alludes to how my bustout occurred.

I was sitting in midposition and saw that I had Nine/Ten OS in
the hole. I decided to push all in, knowing that the small
blind and big blind players (who were at my last table) were
pretty tight and would lay down hands like Ace/Jack, small pairs,
marginal hands that could beat my hand preflop. I failed to
realize that the player 2 spots ahead of me had already raised
the bet to $1,000.00 even. Everyone folded and the bet went
back to him. He had alot of chips and made sort of a crying
call. I hoped that my hand was live and didn't run into a
premium pairs. Just my luck, he had an overpair of Jacks in his
hand. The board flopped out Ace of Diamonds, Ace of Hearts and
Three of Clubs. I need a miracle of runner Nines or Tens. Well,
the turn bricked out a Five of Spades and the river bricked out
a King of Diamonds.

I should have paid better attention of the action in front of me.
I didn't even have my shades or Ipod on. What happened?

You have to minimize these types of mistakes, yo...

Again, I broke my rule of going all in with a hand that had a
Nine in it, lol...

Nines, do suck...hehe...

Nines, Suck: Part II...

10/27/08

Nines, Suck: Part II

Well, today I got to enter the freroll tournament at Caesar's
to win a seat into their Main Event. The casino added 2
more $10,000.00 seats, for a total of 12 seats to be won.

Not a bad overlay for the hours I put in the last week,
considering I made an actual profit from that time. I
registered the day before, finding out that I was actually
logged in for 50 hours of total live play. I guess I didn't
need to go in to play Saturday night.

Anyway, the tournament started out with 398 players. You
started out with $2,500.00 in chips. The blind levels
changed every 30 minutes, with the starting level of $25/25.
This was not a bad structure, considering this was a
freeroll.

One key hand I had had was when I called with Jack/Ten of
Hearts mid position. I called the bet of $50.00. The
dealer button player called, small blind player called and
the big blind player raised to $150.00. I called the
additional $100.00 (into a pot of $300.00), I figured I was
behind in the hand, but I could flop a monster with this
hand, plus I had position on the big blind player. The
other players folded behind me. The dealer dealt out a
King of Hearts, Three of Hearts and a Jack of Diamonds.
This was not a bad flop for me, I had a pair of Jacks, plus
the flush draw. The big blind player checked, I then put
out a bet of $200.00 to see where I was at in the hand.
The big blind player raised it to $500.00 total. The pot
now had a total of $1,100.00. A pretty good price for me
to call the additional $300.00, for the flush draw (An
additional Ten or Jack could be good cards for me, unless
he has three Kings already). Anyway, I called the
additional raise. The dealer dealt out a King of Spades
on the turn. The big blind player checked and I checked as
well. The river was dealt a Two of Spades. The big blind
player bet out $500.00 into a $1,400.00 pot, a small
"call me" bet. I decided to fold there, he probably had
at least Three Kings. Anyway, the big blind player said
that he got a "monster hand" on the turn. He might have
actually had Quad Kings. Either way, I was behind in the
hand. I did not want to donk off more chips to this guy.

I found myself on the short stack after one level of play
already. I needed to tighten up again. I just don't know
how some peeps get these large chip stacks early. Well,
I know, there is some luck involved, hehe.

I actually doubled up in the 2nd blind level, when I raised
all in over the top of a UTG raiser with Ace/Queen OS.
The UTG player was the only one who called me and he tabled
Ace/Nine of Diamonds. Wow, I was going to wait for the
dealer to peel off a Nine out the door. The dealer dealt
out a Queen of Hearts, Seven of Hearts and Two of Spades.
I should win this, unless the turn and river gets funny.
The dealer dealt out a Seven of Spades on the on the turn
and a Six of Clubs on the river. Cool, back up to $2,900.00
in chips. Blinds were $50/100 at this level. I got some
breathing room now.

I made it to the $200/400 blind level, with about $4,200.00
in chips. I went all in with Ace/Jack OS in the cutoff
and was called by the big blind player, who had King/Queen
OS. I had the lead in the hand - can't complain, I just hope
the winning percentages hold up. I caught a Jack on the
flop, but of course the river was dealt a Queen. The other
player outlucked me. I now had about $1,400.00 in chips.

The next level of blinds started at $300/600. I still had
$1,200.00. I found Three/Four of Hearts in mid position and
decided to go with the hand. I figured, if I get called, my
hand would be live (meaning that the other player/s would not
have the same cards I would be holding). I went all in with it,
as was called by only the dealer button player, who held
pocket Tens (Diamond/Spade). I took off my Ipod and sunglasses
and was ready to take a walk out the poker room. What do you
know, the dealer dealt out a Six, Nine and Eight of all
Hearts - I got a flush on the flop! Dang, that was lucky.
The dealer button stared down at his card and again confirmed
that he did not have a Heart to redraw to a better flush.
The turn and river were dealt non Heart Kings. What a crazy
hand.

I managed to put another bad beat on another player during
this level. I had about $3,200.00 in chips at this time and
stared down at Seven/Nine OS. I again decided to go all in,
thinking I was live, and I still had some fold equity against
the other players. The player to my immediate right also
went all in with about $4,200.00 in chips. Man, I just ran
into a big hand again. The other players folded and we were
heads up. He tabled his hand, which was of course pocket
Kings. I need help. The dealer dealt out Seven of Spades,
Ten of Diamonds and a Jack of Hearts. Wow, now I need another
Seven, Nine or Eight to win. The turn was dealt a Nine of
Clubs. Two pair now, just need to fade a King, Queen, Jack,
or Ten on the river. Again the gods found in my favor as the
river was dealt a Six of Clubs. Wheeheehee!!!. I doubled up
again, but still need to get more chips.

The next blind level of $400/800 was the fateful one though.
I folded out the first 3 hands in this level. My fourth hand
in I found Eight/Nine of Hearts. I had about $3,700.00 in
chips at the time. I thought it was now or never, and pushed
all in. The small blind and big blind players had called my
all in. They still had chips behind to bet. The flop was
dealt Queen of Hearts, Four of Diamonds and Eight of Diamonds.
The small blind player checked and the big blind player went
all in. I knew I was dead, but I had outs to win (hopefully
my additional Eights and Nines were still live). The small
blind player folded. The big blind player tabled his hand,
which was a pair of Nines. Now I need another Eight on the
turn and/or river. The dealer dealt out a Six of Diamonds
on the turn - hurry up, just deal out that river. The river
then fell a Ten of Hearts. No, dice...

I busted out at about 117th out of 398 players. Not bad, but
they only gave the $10,000.00 seats until you made it to the
last 12 players. My prize amount was the same at 398th place,
which was zilch.

It's all good - I kind of surprised myself to last that long
without even seeing a premium pair in the tournament. Plus,
again it was a free tourny.

Putting those bad beats on a couple of hands, was pretty good
entertainment though - sorry to those players, but it is
better to be lucky than good, hehe...

I just hate the walk of shame, when you bust out of a tournament.
You say your good lucks to the other players, when you wish
you were still mixing it up at the table.

Poker Sucks!!! Yeah right, at the bust out, that was my exact
feeling, lol...

Nines, Suck...

10/24/08

Nines, Suck...

On the heels of a successful past couple of days of poker,
Yesterday, I went back to Caesar's to play some some cash
and enter their 7pm NLHE tournament.

Today was not a good day in my poker life. Things could
have been worse. I could have been shot in the poker room,
but today, that did not happen to happen, lol...I had to
settle for losing some of the capital.

I started at a $1/3 No Limit Holdem table and cashed in
for $300.00. I play for approximately 2 uneventful hours,
where I lost about half of my starting stack. Most of it
went in the pot, when I doubled up another guy when we
both hit three Sevens on the board and I had a lower
kicker. He had paired his kicker on the river. Why did
I play Nine/Seven of Spades? Well, I was on the dealer
button after 2 other players limped in. The hand could
be a good hand when it hits the board pretty hard. The
flop was dealt out with two Sevens and a Jack. The small
blind and big blind players checked. The middle position
player bet out $10.00 bucks into a $15.00.00 pot. The
cutoff player folded, I called and the other players
behind me folded. The turn card came an Ace. There
was no flush draw and a harmless straight draw with the
Ace and Jack on the board. The middle position player
then bet out $35.00 bucks (he had about $65.00 bucks left
behind). I put him on a two pair of Jacks and Sevens.
I really didn't think he could have the other Seven.
I reraised him all in and he immediately called. He
flipped up Queen/Seven OS - damn, he did have the other
Seven. The river paired his Queen for a full house.

Again, why did I play that cooler hand....?

I played a little bit longer and entered the 7 pm NLHE
tournament. The buy in was for $200.00 bucks and had
similar blind structures to the other Caesar's poker
tournaments. You started off with $6,000.00 in chips.

Early in the tournament, I picked up pocket Aces (both
red). The dealer button player raised the bet to
$175.00 (blinds were still $25/50). The small blind
folded and looked down at my cards. I reraised him to
$500.00 total. The dealer button player just smooth
called. The pot now held $1,025.00, before the flop.
The dealer dealt out a Jack of Spades, Nine of Spades
and an Eight of Diamonds. I thought to myself, "did he
flop a set of Jacks?"...I bet out $1,000.00 and he then
reraised me another $1,000.00. The turn came a Five
of Hearts. I checked, I was sure he made a set of Jacks.
The dealer button player went all in and I went into the
tank. I had about $3,400.00 left in chips and he had me
covered. If I call and lose, I will be out of the
tournament after ten minutes. I just decided to fold in
that spot, as I still had chips left. I even folded my
hand faceup and tossed them to the dealer. The dealer
button player said, "Good fold, I had a set". He didn't
show it, but I had a hankering that he had me beat.
It was too early in the tournament to go all in with a
pair of Aces and not the "nuts".

During the $400/800 blind level, I found myself with
pocket Tens on the dealer button. There were 2 limpers
in front of me including the small and big blind players.
I told myself now or never and pushed all in with $4,700.00
in chips. The small and big blind players immediately
folded. The UTG player who limped had me outstacked and
asked for my chip count. He took out some chips and
just called. The player two spots to my right folded
and I was heads up with the UTG player. I asked him if
I ran into Aces, he said no, and he tabled Ace/Jack OS.
Man, if he was gonna play that, why didn't he raise. I was
probably gonna go all in anyway. Anyway, I called out
for a Ten to be flopped out and I got my wish when the
dealer dealt out Ten of Hearts, 8 of Diamonds and Queen
of Hearts. Dang, need to fade four Kings now. Luckily
the dealer dealt a Queen of Clubs to give me a full house.
The UTG Player was drawing dead. The river was dealt an
Eight of Clubs. Wow, I usually don't win those races, lol.
But that's what I always say - I've put beats on other
players as well.

I was able to survive until the blind level of $600/1,200.
I had been grinding all tournament long and had about
$6,800.00 in chips at the time. There was also an
additional $100.00 ante from each player in the pot.
The pot was laying $2,800.00 in chips before any betting.
There were two limpers in before me, where I was sitting
two seats from the button with Ace/Nine OS. I felt that
these limpers were probably coming in with some marginal
hands and would fold to a significant raise. Having the
Ace in my hand, I figured that no one else would have one
in their hand. I decided to push all in and hope for the
best. The cutoff seat folded and the dealer button player
went all in over the top of me. I said, "What did I run
into?". The dealer button player said, "The biggest hand",
which he shouldn't have done, as there were 4 other players
to act behind him. Dang, I thought he must have Aces.
Sure enough the other 4 players folded and we were heads up.
I tabled my hand, then the dealer button player put his
hand up on the table, which was of course pocket Aces.
The flop ran out Eight of Clubs, Seven of Clubs and Eight
of Spades. I need runner, runner Nines, or straight cards
to come out. The turn card was a Three of Diamonds, which
sealed my loss. The river card was an uneventful Jack of
Diamonds.

I should have really put more thought into the hand before
pushing. The fact that there were two limpers ahead of me,
should have given me a sign that there were players that
may call a raise. They might have limped in with a big
hand and were hoping for a raise from another player. I
forgot my other rule of going all in with at least Ace/King
or a made hand (a good pair). Or at least a suited
connector that could play against a high pair or high
Ace hand. Well, it can be a learning process at times.

Well, at least I got to put 5.5 hours toward the freeroll.
I was thinking of playing more, but just didn't not have
the desire to grind out more poker that day.

I will not play any hand with a Nine in it, unless it is
a pair of Nines. Nines, suck...lol...

Yum, Yum, Jack in the Box Chicken Sandwiches...

10/23/08

Yum, Yum, Jack in the Box Chicken Sandwiches
and Hump Day Redeaux...

I went back to Caesar's to get some hours in to try to
reach that attainable 40 hour mark by next Monday. I
cashed in $500.00 bucks into one of the $1/3 No Limit Holdem
games there. A very non productive 4 hours passed and
was down about $70.00 bucks from my initial buyin. Those
are the swings of the game, which I should know by now.
Which is not a big swing - I'm still beating the Dow, hehe.
My only discontent was the fight I had inside of trying
to be disciplined enough to play my game.

I felt that this would be a grinding session, so I decided
to play in the 1100 pm NLHE tournament. The buyin was for
$120.00 and you would get $2,500.00 in chips. This was not
the deepstack tournaments that I have come to like at Caesar's
or Orleans for that matter, but I thought I needed a change of
pace for the night. At least the blind levels changed at
every 30 minutes, so you didn't have to really double up
until the 3rd level of blinds. If I busted out early,
I could still play some more cash games in the main poker
room.

32 players eventually signed up to play the tourny. I even
came on a little late in the first level, as you could buy in
to the tournament any time during the first 30 minutes.
The tourny would pay the top 3 finishers. I think it was
about $1,600.00 for first, $930.00 for second and $620.00 for
third. There was about $3,104.00 in the pot. The money spots
are not restricted, as deals can always be made at the final
table.

That should give you an idea of what happened later, to my
delight...hehe...

Anyway, my first hand in on the big blind turned out to be
Ace/King OS. There were 3 other callers, before I actually
saw my hand. The table seemed pretty casual, so I blurted
out that I had a good hand and then raised it to $200.00
total (blinds were $25/50 at the time). I got two callers
and a fold. The dealer flopped Ace of Clubs, Five of
Clubs and a Nine of Diamonds. The small blind player
checked and the UTG player started to talk about how I
should have bet more so he could have folded. I chuckled
and put out a bet of $500.00. The UTG and small blind
players folded. I then decided to show my hand to the
table. I want to show the table a certain image right
away sometimes. Especially in that situation, where I
came in late to the table.

Again, I trucked along without getting into any trouble and
found myself at the final table, meaning the last nine
players (no matter how many players were in the tournament,
I always call the final 9 players - final table). We still
had to play for the last 3 money spots, unless we made
a deal. I probably would not have minded to chop the pot
at that point, as each player could gross about $345.00
if we all agreed to do that. I would be happy to parley
that cash into another tournament or cash game. Don't get
me wrong, I play for first all the time - but it sucks
to bust out on the money bubble with nothing to show for it.
I play poker to make money. You know what I'm sayin'?

I was glad to get the hands I went all in with not get
outlucked, meaning that the best hand would win after all
the cards were dealt. I did get pair of Kings twice and
Aces once, during my play at the final table. Got calls
from Ace/Jack twice and Ace/rag once - the best hand
won each time. I was expecting a suckout on the river
or something.

When it got to sixhanded, a couple of players and I again
suggested a chop of the pot at about $500.00 apiece.
A good overlay for 3 hours of play at the time. This
Vietnamese female player, kept on saying that she wanted
to play for first - I really didn't care either way, just
want to bring up the chop issue, so everyone is a winner.
There can be a lot of variance at the higher blind levels,
so you can be forced to go all in with any random hand.
This turns it into a luckfest - which is a part of the
game.

I made it to the final four players, which was the dreaded
money bubble. 4th place would not make any money. 3 of
us again suggested a chop of the money at about $775.00
each - the only dissenter being the Vietnamese female
player. She kept on going that "this is good practice"
for everyone, when we are ready to player bigger tournaments.
P'shah biatch - I hope you bust out 4th then, hehe...

I played even more disciplined at that point, as I did
not pick up any good hands during that time. The dissenting
player was playing pretty crazy and I thought in time, she
would eventually bust out. She was actually chip leader
from time to time, but we all traded chips equally
during that last blind level. I could not get any cards to
call her all in bets. She finally was called by the small
blind player (older white lady, who was chip leader at
that point), when she went all in with Jack/Nine OS in the
big blind. The small blind player called with pocket Sixes.
Fortunately, the big blind player, I'll call her Miss
Dissenter - did not get any help from the board. She got
up and left without saying anything. I told her "Good
Game", and she had no reaction. Well, she actually had
a look on her face of regret that she bubbled. F-U then
kid!, hehe...

Right after she left the tourny room, the three of us final
money table players agreed to chop the pot equally. I was
actually about even with one player, with the older white
lady was the chip leader. She had no trouble splitting the
pot equally among us. That's cool, I usually would do the
same, unless I was a clear dominant chip leader. I think
we were all kind of happy that Miss Dissenter did not agree
to a chop and she did not make any money. After our chop,
we got about $1,034.00 each.

After we got our money at the cashiers cage, we gave our tips
to the dealers and I was off for the work day, lol...

Oh yeah, I got about 7.5 hour hours in today, so I will
still need about 23 more hours and change to qualify for the
freeroll.

I also think I have found a pattern of winning - every time
I eat Jack in the Crack Chicken Dolla' Sandwiches, I make
the money in tournaments. Don't try this at home, alright?
Or was it because it was Hump Day? Hmmm...

30.75 hours to go...

10/22/08

30.75 hours to go...


Shoot, I thought I had built up a few more hours of live
cash play at Caesar's. I put in about 9.25 hours today,
which means I still have to play 30.75 more hours by Monday
10/27/08. I need a total of 40 hours by then, to qualify
for that freeroll for one of the $10,000.00 seats into their
main event starting the next day. I believe they will be
giving out 10 seats during the freeroll. It's not a bad
overlay, unless you lose throughout the 40 hours of live
cash play. If you do lose, stop playing - yeah right...

Played $1/3 No Limit Holdem today. I cashed in for $300.00,
intending to play my game. Win or lose, I want to make sure
I play good. Please no cracking of my Aces, if I get them,
hehe. It was a pretty good day for me, I left the table
with $550.00 total, for a $250.00 profit for the day.



I just wish I had certain hands, when certain players stacked
off their chips with some pretty marginal all in bets preflop.

The hand I am talking about, went like this. I was under
the gun with Ace/Queen OS, so I raised it to $7.00 bucks.
It's a raise to basically build the pot. If I hit a
Queen or Ace on the flop, with rags, I would probably have
the best hand and can take it down with a modest best
of half the pot or close to the pot amount. If I don't
hit my hand, I can get away from it easily, as I have not
invested too much in the pot. Two people called behind
me and then it got to the small blind player. He put in
a reraise of up to $25.00 bucks. The big blind player
folded and I was next. I thought to myself, he has to
have Ace/King, a pair of either Jacks, Queens, or Kings.
A pair of Aces could also be a possibility. I paused
for a moment and decided to fold. Ace/Queen OS or suited
for that matter, is not a good hand to call a reraise
with. I believe I had him outstacked in chips, as I had
about $500.00 or so on the table and he had about $240.00
behind him after his raise. He could even have me beat
by any pair. I've seen him put big raises in with
mid pairs. I just didn't feel right to call and see a flop.
There was also 2 other people behind me in the hand that
still were to bet after me. If I had at least Ace/King,
I would make the call to see the flop.

Anyway, after I folded, the player after me had reraised
the small blind player's bet of $25.00 to $60.00 total.
The next player folded and suddenly the small blind player
went all in for the rest of his money, $240.00. I stood
up, like I always do when someone else is all in. I thought
to myself that these guys were facing off with a pair of
Kings and Aces. The other player immediately called the
all in bet. I then said, "I wonder who has Aces and Kings?".
Both players did not flip up their cards, as they are not
required to do that on a live cash poker game. There
was about $550.00 in the pot preflop. The dealer then
dealt out for first 3 cards. It came 2 of Hearts, King of
Spades and 4 of Diamonds. I then said, "It looks like
pair of Kings are good". Still, both players did not flip
up their cards. The dealer dealt out the turn card, which
was a 5 of Diamonds. Nothing from the players. The
dealer finally dealt out a Nine of Spades. The first
player flipped up his hand and said he had Trip Kings,
but tabled a pair of Tens. The small blind player looked
at the board and quietly folded. I then asked him what he
raised preflop with, he didn't say anything. I thought to
myself, did he reraise all in with Ace/Jack or a low
pair like Eights or something? The player with the pair
of Tens scooped the pot. He then rejoiced like he won a
bracelet at the WSOP. These guys played their hands pretty
bad.

Dang, these guys were willing to stack off all their money
on some mediocre hands. It was like they were playing
tournament style poker.

I just wished I had a hand against these guys during
my session. Well, I can't complain. I made a decent
profit for the day and put in some hours toward the
freeroll. I hope I see them later this week, lol...

I still have 30.75 hours to go...

Back to Vegas...

10/20/08

Back to Vegas...


Dang, must have forgotten that I booked my flight back to
Vegas, with a connection in Ontario, Ca. Two flights back
to Vegas! Woe is me, hehe...Need a speedball of Xanax and
a Heineken, to calm me down. Just kidding.

The flight from San Jose to Ontario was actually pretty
smooth. There was only slight turbulence when decreasing
our altitude above the smoggy skies of LA.

The weekend before was the GF's birthday. I hope she
was happy with what we were able to do last Saturday. It
was nothing crazy - just a day at the museum. Namely,
the Californa Academy of Sciences at Golden Gate Park,
San Francisco...

She's never been there, and I haven't been back there since
I was a kid. They have recently refurbished it and it was
reopened at the end of last month. It's kind of like our
West Coast version of the Natural History Museum of
the Smithsonian or like the one in "Night at the Museum"
(with Ben Stiller).

We had a late start Saturday and didn't make it to the
museum until after 3 pm. The place closes at 5 pm -
whoops...I purchased a yearly pass for her anyway, which
enables you to bring in one other guest for free, each time
you visit the museum. The daily ticket costs $24.95 per
adult anyway - 2 trips will equate to the yearly pass,
so why not buy the pass? Kind of a no brainer. SF Residents
also benefit with free weekends (but they can be crowded)
and Wachovia Wednesdays are free for everybody. An added
bonus is that the yearly pass is tax deductible as well.



I dig going to museums, even in my "old age". I guess I'll
always be the exploring kid at heart. Wow, I feel like
buying Legos and watching Raiders of the Lost Ark. "Ta-
Na-Na-Na, Na-Na-Na, Ta-Na-Na-Na, Na-Na-Na-Na-Na", ala
John Williams theme to my famed fedora wearin' hero...

Touched down in Ontario for about 25 minutes, with no
turbulence!

Waited for the plane to board with passengers, and now
we are back up in the air. Jeez...hehe..

Anyway, back to the museum. We only had about 2 hours
to check out the exhibits. I thought it was pretty
cool that the building retained some of it's "vintage"
architecture. They still had the alligator swamp
toward the middle of the museum. The area around it
retained some of the greek/roman columns of the prior
building. The exhibit itself still had the same brass
railings with seahorses that I remembered from back in
the day. What was kind of scary to me was that there
was a chalk white albino alligator right in the middle
of the swamp. I've never seen that before. That was
a trip, mayn. Well at least you could see the gator
comin' at you, if you were stuck down there. The gator
wouldn't be able to blend in the murkiness like a
fallen tree or floating log.



Couldn't get into the planetium or the rainforest.
There'll be next time - the purpose of getting the
yearly pass. It'll be good for the GF to take one of
her nieces or nephew for another jaunt to the museum
as well.

We mainly strolled into the aquarium portion of the
museum. What, no sharks? The large sea snails had
also tripped me out - I would not want that swimming
toward me. Now that I think about it, I wouldn't want
alot of what I saw at the aquarium swimming at me.
There are alot of fish that look like the alien from
"Aliens" - you know, not the large adult ones, but the
ones that incubate in peoples' gut area and then pop out
suddenly to incubate in others. Why do I want to get my
scuba license in the PI? Probably because it's cheap,
which is no excuse to get it. But I'm adventuresome,
so why not?

Anyway, it seemed like the GF had enjoyed our day at
the CAS. After we made our way up the Great Highway
to eat dinner at the Beach Chalet (just before Cliff
House).

We started out with appetizers consisting of Ahi Tuna
Tartare and Phyllo Wrapped Brie. For dinner, she had
Pan Roasted Chicken and I had Caesar Salad with Fried
Calamari. I love her face when she enjoys the food.
Ooh, I picked a good place. I'll pat myself on the back
and my tummy (well, her tummy).

Dessert was to be found in a drive into the city. I was
pretty stuffed, so we got her scoop of Kahlua Mocha Cream,
dipped in chocolate and in a waffle cone. Where else, but
Mitchell's Ice Cream...

http://www.mitchellsicecream.com/



Wish I had one of my own, but was a bit stuffed from earlier.
I got a lick of it, and it's pretty much the bomb. I'll put
it in 3rd place, after my number one of Chocolate Malted
Crunch (Rite Aid, baby) and Cookies 'n' Cream...

Dang, I'm getting hungry...

Anyway, that's it for now - just touched down at
McCarran International, which means I'm back in Vegas...

And the grind...we'll can't think of it that way.

Need to play cash at Caesar's this week, to hopefully
qualify for the freeroll next week.

Wish this degenerate luck, ayt...

Peace and adobo grease...

Forgot to post before Garden City...

10/11/08

Leavin' On a Jetplane...


I don't think I'll ever get over my jitters gettin' on an
airplane. Weird, I've been flying all my life. It has
affected me about for about the last couple of years.
Like I said before, I think it stemmed from that fateful
"Lost" flight from Tokyo to Manila, in December of 2007.
Any sign of turbulence, makes me take a deep breath and
make the Sign of the Cross. I'm a bad Catholic, the only
time I turn to Jesus are on airplane flights, christenings
and funerals. I have a good heart, but it wouldn't hurt
to go to Church on Sunday, once in a while...

Can't seem to shake it. I think I need to take Xanax...

I'll be in the Bay Area for just over a week. It's
Mom's Bday weekend. Then the GF's Bday next weekend.
It feels good to go back home, even though it's been only a
little over a month since I've been back. I need to make
sure to visit the peeps I missed the last time I was
there.

It seems like Mom is getting better. The kidney transplant
appears to be successful, approximately 6 months postop.
I haven't heard anything worsening from her or my dad,
during our intermittent conversations. Her short term
memory seems to be getting worse though. The good thing
is that her long term memory is intact. She can remember
details of me and my brother's childhood, that I can't
seem to recall in hindsight, but gets refreshed when she
mentions things from the past.

Poker seems to be an afterthought the past couple of
weeks. Still positive for the time I've been here,
but not as much as I would want to be, lol. My mind
seems to be filled with other issues and priorities.
One of the reasons seems to be the state of the economy
in our country.

It really has not affected me like other people I know.
I don't have major financial obligations at this time,
like a mortgage, car payment, and/or children/family. I
just have my recurring living expenses every month, which
is not too much considering that my only fiduciary
responsibility is to my ownself. Many say that I am lucky to
be in this situation. Not many can do it, especially now.
It is a good thing not to be stressed...Fuck Yeah, lol...

What it the true meaning of wealth? Is it money?
Income? Material things? I can't really say...I think
part of it is living a life where you are happy in the
decisions that you have made in your Life, with minimal
regrets - Yes, an open ended answer...It differs for
everyone.

I'd be happy spending the rest of my life with my
wife/family on some beach resort in Batangas, renting out
snorkel and surf gear. Can it happen? Yes. Will it
happen? Don't know yet...

We'll have to see if my 401k remains intact, hehe...

Garden City...

Garden City...

10/16/08

I played a $120.00 buyin NLHE poker tourny at Garden City
Casino yesterday. 50 players entered the tournament that
morning. You started off with $4,000.00 in chips,
blind levels for the first two hours were 15 minutes each.
Thereafter, they increased to 20 minutes. It was not too
bad. Blinds started off at $25/25. By the fifth level,
they were at $100/200 - so if you have your original stack
of $4,000.00, you would not be severely short stacked.

The first hour for me was not too bad. I got hit when I
raised with Ace/Queen of Spades from the big blind, after
4 other people limped in. I raised it to $300.00 to thin
the field and put a little more value in the pot. The
UTG player folded, the player next to him raised all in
to $1,000.00 total, and the other 2 players folded. I
thought to myself, did this guy really just call with a
big hand in mid position, waiting for someone to raise
and then he would re-raise? $1,600.00 was in the pot,
I had to call $700.00, and I had about $4,200.00 left
behind if I make the call. It should be a no brainer,
but I sometimes hesitate calling if I feel that the other
player has me dominated. But again, I'm getting pretty
good pot odds, with no more betting, heads up and with
a premium hand (yeah right, read my other blog "Ace
Queen, No Good", hehe). Anyways, I called off course
and tabled my hand, again Ace/Queen of Spades. The
other player sighed and tabled his hand Queen/Eight of
Diamonds. Cool, I have him dominated! Anyway, the
dealer dealt out a Queen of Hearts, Jack of Hearts
and a 3 of Diamonds. I pretty much have him here. He
needs diamonds on the turn and river, or an Eight
to hit to win. The turn card was dealt a 2 of Spades.
Now he only needs an Eight to win on the river. Well,
whattaya' know, an Eight of Hearts hits the river.

Jeez..If I didn't get outlucked on the river everytime,
I would be sippin' Mojitos on some island in the
Carribean with a "St." in front of the name, earning
12% on my stack of cash...

I was happy not be be busted out. What can you do
when you have the best hand? That's poker, hehe...

Another hand came up in the same round, where I was
on the dealer button with pocket 3's. There was about
2 callers in front of me, I called the $100 bet, the
small blind called and the big blind checked. There
was about $500.00 in the pot preflop. The flop came
magic, King of Spades, 3 of Hearts and Ten of Clubs.
4 players checked in front of me. I bet out $300.00,
so now the pot held $800.00. The small blind and
big blind players folded, the UTG player (same player
who got the lucky Eight on the river), called my
bet (he had about $1,600.00 left behind - he's probably
gonna go all in on the Turn). A player behind him
folded. We were now heads up. The turn brought a
Queen of Spades. The UTG player goes all in for his
last $1,600.00. Now the pot held $2,700.00. If I call
I would be left with $1,650.00 (still alive, if I lose).
I can't say I would really lay down this hand, in this
spot. I paused and thought, "would he really go all
in if he hit a straight?" (as the board, read one), if
he did, I could still redraw to a full house for the
nuts, hmmm...Anyway, I called and tabled my set of
Threes and he tabled Ace/King OS (he had top pair
and a gutshot straight draw - he needed a Jack on the
river to win). "Dealer don't do it", I said under
my breath. The dealer dealt out a 2 of clubs on the
river. Nice...

I was kind of surprised that the UTG player didn't raise
preflop with his Ace/King OS. If he did, I might have
folded the pocket Threes preflop. That's his bad, I guess.
Ace/King is very slippery sometimes, that's why they call
it Big Slick. It's still a drawing hand.

The next hour or so was uneventful. I made it to the ninth
blind level, where bets were $500/1,000 at this time, with
no antes. I had $5,000.00 in chips at that point. Had
a couple of non confrontational all ins.

This is the hand that busted me though, Ace/Jack OS.
A player ahead of me went all in. I was on the dealter
button and peeled up Ace/Jack OS. The other player
had me covered. I don't think I can fold in this spot.
I probably have the best hand "right now" (like how I
said that). I called all in, the small blind an big
blind players folded, so no we were heads up. If I get
this pot of $11,500.00, I can stil be in this game.
The other player laments, says he was making a move and
flipped up Queen/Ten OS. I flip up my hand and kind of
make a sigh as well. I usually don't do well with these
types of hand matchups. The worst hand has been winning
more lately. Anyway, the dealer dealt out Seven, Ten,
Eight Rainbow. Dang, he his his ten. Well, that flop
increased my outs with Aces, Jacks and Nines (for a
straight - now I had 10 outs total for the win). The turn
came a King of Hearts - now I have 13 outs total with
the 3 Queens, for a double gutshot straight draw, Aces
and Jacks. And of course, they didn't hit when the dealer
dealt out a 3 of spades on the river...

Busted 14th out of 50 today. 5 spots out of the final
money table of 9.

It's all good, I think I played the best I could have in
this game. All you can do is call with the best hand
and hope it holds up.

You can't lose what you don't put in the middle, but you
can't win much either - again a quote from my fave poker
movie, "Rounders"...

See you on the felt...Next stop - cash games at Caesar's
need to qualify for the freeroll on 10/27/08.

Pushing With The Ferguson...

Pushing With The Ferguson...

10/09/08

Played in a couple tournaments yesterday. One at the
Orleans and one online with Spade Club.

I played at the Orleans 12 pm NLHE tourny for $80.00.
I've cashed at their Sunday tournament, which is basically
the sameformat each day and time (except for Sunday the
buy in is bumped up to $100.00). The format is pretty
good, where youstart off with $4,000.00 in chips, blind
levels for the firsthour are set at 20 minutes each, then
30 minutes thereafter. 45 players total, signed up to
play for this tournament. The players who play in this
game are pretty solid, so most of the time, you don't get
any type of gambo' gambo' shit..

The first couple of levels, I was able to gain about a
50 to60 percent increase in my starting stack. I had
gotten AK diamonds, pocket Aces and pocket Kings in the
first hour,as was paid off preflop and on the flop. I
usually get busted on pocket Aces, so I was happy to take
down a pot with them, lol.

The next couple of levels, were pretty slow. I was
making some "bump" raises from mid to late position with
some marginal hands (Ace/Ten OS a couple of times, suited
King/Jack - cards like that). I got to take the blinds
each time without any confrontations. The table I was at
had pretty solid players, but I kept a watch out for any
funny plays out there. We actually had one weak player,
who eventually busted out when she was at her last blind.
I think that is one of my pet peeves, when someone plays
to their last bet. I mean, it doesn't allow them to give
themselves any fold equity. If they do win a hand, they
need to double up consistently to give them any chance to
win. But what am I to complain, let them do it, it
usually gives me a better chance to move up as well.

Anyway, I got to the final 9 players with about $11,000.00
in chips. Blinds were $500/1000 with a $100 ante. There
was $2,400.00 in the pot before any betting. That's a
good 20% of my own stack preflop. If I was going to
play a pot at this point, I would be for all of it. I
think theonly time I would put in a standard raise would
be when I would have pocket Aces or Kings. But even most
of the time I would have those two hands, I would push all
in at ten bets. You may get a caller and if your big pocket
pair holds up, you have just doubled up to twenty bets (for
a little more breathing room). I would say most of the
time when I have gone that deep in a tourny, the play
usually works.

This time I came upon Ace/Nine Spades, right about in mid
position. I made a decision to push all in. I got folds
behind me. The small blind had looked at his stack and
said all in too. I'm behind, I know it. The big blind
folded. I flip up my cards and the small blind flips up
2 black Queens. Great...need to get lucky. The board
and turn blanked out. I got an unneeded Nine on the river.
Jeez, I'm out. I think it's a decent play, knowing that
my hand should be better than any random hand on the blind
spots. I can also make a case for just calling or
minraising in that spot. If I get raised off my
original bet, I still have an option of folding
preflop.

What do you think?

On a better note, I played online with Spade Club in a
$500.00 pot freeroll. Again, played my usual style and
ended up in 4th place out of 623. I like playing these,
it gives you practice in a fast, large pool tourny
enviroment.

Ooh, I won $50.00 too. How you like that for a $1.00
first time monthly membership investment, lol...

The site is not too bad, the regular membership fee is
$19.99 monthly. It gives you access to qualify in cash
tournaments of $100,000.00 monthly. Have a $5,000.00
freeroll this Sunday, wish me luck....