Merry Christmas

In what has been a historic year in the world, many people have had difficult years financially due to their jobs or their savings. However, as long as you still have your friends and family, no year is ever truly bad. Appreciate what you have! I know I am blessed beyond measure because of this, and nothing will take this away from me. Here is a link to a friend of mine's blog. I think he states things very well: http://www.straight108.blogspot.com/

Merry Christmas from the Viox's!

I Challenge Thee

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

The WBCOOP is an online Poker tournament open to all Bloggers.

Registration code:
document.write(paramCode)
291661

Precipice

11
10.5
10 ..........................................few months
9.5 ...................................next................. if
9 ...................y ha.en..the......................... thi
8.5................a... pp. in................................. ngs...pen
8 ..This......m.................................................... hap...as
7.5......is...at...................................................................I...in
7 ..........wh...................................................................... th. k
6.5.......................................................................................... it
6 ...............................................................................................wi
5.5 ...............................................................................................ll
5


However the other likely scenarios are: 1) we don't have big rally I expect after falling from where we at 2) we hold this level for the long term and go sideways in a wide range for some time



Once again, I hope I'm wrong, but things are still getting worse despite the governments best (worst?) efforts. We are definitely hanging on by a thread. The greed and lying of our political and financial leaders have led us to this point, and more than likely they will lead America and the world over the precipice like a bunch of lemmings.

FTOPS Over and Done

Another FTOPS is finished, and once again I have had a poor monetary series (which is all that matters). I didn't play the full slate of tournies this time due to other commitments, but I did manage 17 of the 25 events. I had 3 cashes (18%), and once again I got teased with a big finish only to come up short. I had a 26th in PLO, and a 40th in PLO8. Neither paid too much, and this has become a reoccuring theme for me in the FTOPS. I actually went back to look at all my FTOPS results because I am ranked 50th or so in their all-time rankings, but I feel like I have done very poorly in them.

I have 24 cashes; 16 of which qualify for their point system (top 72). However, my top 4 finishes are a 7th, a 17th, and two 26ths. THAT IS PATHETIC! Either I am doing something fundamentally wrong late in tournies, or I am just running like $%#$% at the wrong times.

This weekend I did have two final tables and another 15th in some $200 Pokerstars tournies. Unfortunately, they were small fields. I got the 15th in O8; I had a 6th in PLO8, and a 4th in Razz. These three finishes got me to about breakeven for the weekend in tournies.

Oh, and BTW please read the blog below on gold. I truly believe this is VERY important for anyone with a decent amount of assets.

Piece of Advice

Buy some gold.....................

If I'm wrong about what possibly lies ahead, this will be a small mistake. If I'm right, then it will rise substantially. Gold stocks are an idea too, although they will be far more volatile than physical gold (at least 4 times more volatile currently). This is great if gold increases. FWIW, I am becoming more and more invested in some form of gold at about a 2:1 ratio of stocks vs. physical.

If you want to discuss any ideas, I will be more than pleased to talk with you.

Difficult Day

Yesterday, we had to put our family dog, Abby, to sleep. She had been in our family for about 13 years, first with my parents, then with my brother, and finally with us the last year or two. This was hard in itself, but it was really difficult explaining it to my daughter. She's definitely old enough to know what's going on. To say the least, all of us shed many tears. Ellie is extremely caring and empathetic, and these are great traits for someone so young. Her major concern with all of this made us smile and cry all at the same time. She was worried when we go to heaven that we would never be able to find Abby because someone else would have already taken her from the pet store. Also, as kids often do, she drew many pictures to help deal with the loss. It's probably why kids are so resilient. They do not hold anything back.

Actually writing this has been difficult. So I'll make it short. As my dad said when he said his good-byes, "Abby you were a good dog." Thank you.

The Truth About Paulson

Back when he worked for Goldman Sachs, he testified before Congress that getting rid of the 12:1 leverage laws for financial institutions would be a good thing. This law had been in place for a long time to protect from overleveraging. Essentially the more leverage a person or business is, the smaller cushion there is for a downturn. Sure in good times, it ramps up profits, but if things turn sour you have a bankruptcy in the making. After the law was passed to get rid of limits on leverage. Many of the financial institutions that you see everyday in the news ramped up their leverage to 40 and 50:1. This meant that even a miniscule 2 to 2.5% move to the negative would jeopardize the financial staility of these companies. Thus, when defaults started to roll in on mortgages that never should have been lended, the companies were in deep %#&*! Especially given the fact that they were heavy into unregulated financial deritives (that were once again mainly used by firms like ......Goldman Sachs and the other big investment brokerage houses).

So what does Paulson do? He rides in to save them by lying to the American public with the infamous bailout bill. The $700 million bill was supposed to be used to buy up toxic securities to clear out the bad debt. How has it been used? Well $125 billion has gone to large banks with basically no strings attached. In fact, many of these same banks are still paying out large bonuses to their employees. More has been used to set up lines of credit with many emerging market countries. However, not one penny has been used as Paulson sold it to CONgress and America. He's used most so far to bailout his former coworkers so they can keep their nice lifestyles. Most people would consider this a crime worthy of a long time in jail. America needs to rise up and demand culpability for everyone involved in this lynching of the future of America. Hopefully, the damage will be limited to what we've seen so far (which is massive), but it likely is just the start.

For what it's worth, Bernanke, Congress, Bush, and Wall Street are all largely to blame also, but Paulson is the posterchild.

Here We Go!

Last Wednesday, I wrote within the next couple weeks we could easily see 7000-7500 on the Dow Jones. If things continue to go as I think are possible based on my best guess, we should end today somwhere near the lows and then hit a short term low sometime next Monday or Tuesday at the aforementioned level. At that point, I would look for a 3-5 month rally into the 10000-11000 range. At that point I would put a bunch of limit sell orders under many of my positions because if things continue to go as I see, that could be the point where things go down for a while.

Once again, this is just my best guess. However, for the last couple weeks things have been going almost exactly as I thought would happen. While this is confirming my beliefs of the extreme danger our economy faces, what lies ahead is still to be determined. Nothing has been fixed yet, and if this is still the case a few months out, be very very careful. Hopefully, the economy will start to become stronger over the winter. If it does, the 7000's may be far into the rearview mirror, but don't count on it.

Besides the strong cash heavy stocks with good dividends, I am currently very bullish on gold/gold stocks, and very bearish on the US dollar and US Treasury Bonds. Gold may not have hit a near-term bottom yet, but I think is a very good play over the next 3 year time frame. In the same respect the Dollar and Treasuries have rallied hard recently. This may continue for the near-term, but I see them much lower in value a few years out. All of this is based on my best guess belief that things will not get better soon. For what it's worth, I would put this at about 30-40% likelihood of happening (I'm not talking exact numbers, but rather a low hit early next week followed by a strong rally, followed by a sell-off to even lower lows sometime next year).

Hollywood Studios

This was easily my favorite place even though it had the fewest attractions. However, most of the attractions are good. We saw two different stunt shows: one based on Indiana Jones and the other on car chases. Other top-notch attractions were the Star Wars flight simulator and the Toy Story ride. The Toy Story "interactive experience" is the most popular attraction, and it's easy to see why: Joe actually liked it (and it involved a tunnel ride)!! It's a 3-d shooting game. They keep your score and we rode it 3 times during the day.

We come home today, and despite the fun, I am ready. Joe is getting sick and my back is very sore (this is not unusual lately, but it's getting worse).

Animal Kingdom/Epcot

Today went much smoother than yesterday despite not obeying rule number one. In fact, not obeying it may have been the only problem as Joe got grumpy as dinner time approached. Extremely grumpy! However, once we got some food in him and the various princesses came around for photos, he got rather happy:)

At Animal Kingdom, Ellie found her favorite ride: essentially a white water rapid ride similar to Thunder River at Six Flags. She went on it twice, once with me and once with Julie. We also went on a fairly cool Safari adventure attraction where you ride among many African animals in an open air vehicle. Ellie once again surprised me by riding the Expedition Everest roller coaster and enjoying it, but "not as much as Space Mountain." Joe once again surprised me by being afraid of anything and everything loud, dark, or having sharp teeth.

At Epcot, one of the coolest attractions (even though designed mainly for kids) is the Turtle Talk(?) with Crush from Finding Nemo. It uses a fairly new technology that recognizes speech so that the animals on the large computer screen can actually interact with the audience. It does so flawlessly, and is designed with a decent amount of humor. Joe almost enjoyed it, if it wasn't for the whale that comes on at the end of the show. Oh well.

Tomorrow, will be a far less busy day. We have an early dinner at the Coral Reef in Epcot. We may stay there late to see the show at the end of the day or go over to Hollywood Studios to see its nightly show.

The Magic Kingdom

Our first day down here was spent at the Magic Kingdom (which for those who don't know is the main park with the well known castle). My favorite ride/attraction was the 3-d movie (I can't recall the name of it). It was short but I have always been a sucker for the attractions like 3-d and ones where it feels like you are moving despite just sitting in your seat. This combined both, and is good for all ages except 2 year old boys who think they are tough, but are really not. In fact, my son liked the tamer roller coaster which was still pretty fast, but when it comes to anything involving the dark or loud noises, he becomes an instant scaredy-cat. I'm sure he will grow out of it, but between Six Flags and here we may have ruined him for life on anything involving a dark tunnel.

Ellie enjoyed pretty much everything. This even included Space Mountain which I thought would test her limits. I remember coming here as a kid probably about her age and pissing in my pants as I was about to get on the ride. To be honest it was so long ago, I can't recall if I actually did it or bailed at the last second. I do recall looking up into the blackness and hearing the screams though. Ironically as I rode it this time I was thinking, "if it wasn't almost dark in here, this would just be a middle of the road coaster." The pitch black idea though makes it fun.

Tomorrow will likely consist of Epcot and the Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios.

Day 1 lesson learned: Limit yourself to 6 hours at the park at a time when dealing with a 2 year old!

I Stand Corrected

After reading and hearing ALOT of different opinions on the bailout bill, and then seeing how the government is already using it, I have realized that it will probably be a big mistake. This is mainly because the government has chosen to use it (at least initially) in a way that likely won't help. It is also in a way that is different from which they insinuated when trying to get the bill passsed.

Essentially over 25% of it has simply been used to fund 8 different huge banks in the US ($250 Million). Now the government is getting preferred stock to hopefully get our money back, but it hasn't addressed the problem at all which is visability. By this I mean, banks still don't trust each other. Many companies are still loaded with crazy swaps and derivatives that know one knows the potential downside of. No one knows who has what, and therefore, who is the next to fall. And the companies that don't have them, they are being thrown in with everyone else.

Here is how Karl Denniger (a noted economist) describes it:

So you stole $250 billion that you allegedly were going to buy mortgages with (we knew that was a scam up front, as I said, but heh, you had to keep up the appearances until the ink was dry right?) and blew it on preferred stock in the banks - directly.

Sounds kinda Swedish. Except its not, because the Swedes, when they had this same sort of problem with their banks, did two things you didn't:

1) Forced shareholders to take all loss before taxpayer money was used.
2) Forced full, complete balance sheet transparency.

The second is the critical item and the one that you and Bernanke have continually refused to address. Yet this is the root of the problem with trust, when you get down to it. Nobody trusts the banks to lend to them because they have been shown repeatedly, over the last year, to be lying about their exposures and the state of their balance sheets, to the point of their CEOs showing up on national television days before they filed bankruptcy (as in the case of Bear Stearns)!

You have repeatedly thrown tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars at these institutions and it has, in each and every instance, disappeared into a black hole.

There is still time to get the situation fixed, but our "leaders" continue to baffle. However, time is of the essence. If things don't get corrected, you do not want to see the consequences.

I pray I am being overdramatic, and I pray the moves will start to get credit flowing, but each day I am becoming less and less confident. The kicker is that our economy was already in or about to be in a recession.

For a bit of levity, what am I going to do: I'm going to Disneyworld!!!! I really am. Julie and I have had this trip planned for many months now for our kids. It's not the best time for me to go, but hopefully it will help me get my mind off these things somewhat for a bit.

The Current Market

I know most of my recent blogs have been about the economy, but we are in the midst of one of the most critical times in world history. I fully feel we are going to rally from Friday's lows (the Dow hit 7800 intraday). My best guess is a rally into the 10000 to 10700 range. This would be just a natural bounce-back rally after a dramatic plummet over the course of the previous couple weeks. If and when we hit this level, I would need to reassess the situation. However, there are many scary issues underlying the world and in particular the US economy. If these remain, it will be time to go defensive because we will go lower than we did on Friday. If the issues start to clear up, then we will likely have hit a long-term low Friday. Right now though, I can't give a good opinion on if all these moves by the governments worldwide will work or not.

So Now What?

As most of you know, my second profession is as a portfolio manager, and I have one question for anyone interested: Will someone sub in for me for at least the next month?!?!

The market right now is truly like watching a 50 car pileup in a toxic waste pool. You want to do something, but you don't know what or how. The statistics piling up seem make believe: 6 straight down days with a total drop in the neighborhood of 18%, down 35% or so on the year. Both of these numbers haven't been seen since the Great Depression. A stock that has only dropped 20% in the last year is in the top quartile.

Why is this happening despite everything Congress, the fed, and other countries have done in the past couple weeks? The answer is surprisingly simple....no one trusts anyone. There are other reasons, but this is by far the most important. Banks are afraid to loan companies money because no one knows what may be hidden in the finanacials of that company. Just when you think a company is fine, you find out they're not. While most companies are more than secure, everyone is getting clumped in one big pile of s&%t. Bonds have also been selling off dramatically. There literally has not been any safe place to go. Until we get clarity on public companies, the market will be hanging by a thread.

There are a few scenarios that can happen from here. One, these moves start to work, and we rally hard (30% or more) over the next couple years after finding a bottom sometime in the next month (odds 25%). Two, these moves don't do a damn thing because the financial statements are too murky and consumers have put their tails between their legs. The market plummets another 30-50% for a total of 55-70% overall (odds 10%). Three, the moves help reduce the pain and we stay in a very volatile up and down scary market for a while (odds 65%). This scenario is most likely, but still would have to be updated as new info comes into play and still could result in either of the two aforementioned scenarios. No matter what scenario takes place I would expect a huge (10-15%) rally to start within the next week because we have sold off so much so fast. This would probably be a good spot to sell some positions to get some extra cash on the side.

To be honest, I'm not sure what to do, and I don't think anyone is. Every "expert" I listen to seems to have a different opinion, but the problem is no one has ever been in a situation like this. Therefore, answers are based purely on opinion and not historical data. I do know, I would love to have alot of cash right now that I could put to work once I get a better grip of the situation. At the same time, I'm not selling right now because the market is so oversold, I would be shocked if we don't have the major relief rally I mentioned before.

The Lovable Losers

100 YEARS!!!!! After last night's loss to complete a 3 game sweep at the hands of an inferior LA Dodgers club, the Chicago Cubs have once again disappointed all their faithful fans, and brought a smile to every Cardinal fan. 100 YEARS!!!!! And who can they blame this year? Well, it can't be Steve Bartman: maybe the first three batters in their order who couldn't even bat an Olsen twin's weight, or maybe their vaunted starting pitchers who acted like they were back in rookie ball. 100 YEARS!!!!! In any case, to quote many a Cubs fan: "Wait 'til next year!"

100 YEARS!!!!!

The Rant

How 'bout that economy?!?! For all the people who don't think Congress needs to pass this so called "bailout bill" because it would just be helping the people who caused this problem, I have news for you. If they don't pass this bill, our current economy may look heavenly compared to what it could turn into. Sad to say, but true. Our entire financial system could easily come crashing down. A Great Depression scenario is definitely possible if something drastic isn't done. Furthermore, while we (the taxpayers) would be footing the bill (maybe as much as $700 billion!!!), it is very likely that all of the money, if not more, will be recouped.

I don't want to go into intricate details about how this bill will work. The simple version is currently their is a huge credit crunch. Defaults on homes are at historical highs and many banks that got lax in their lending standards are bankrupt or in danger of being bankrupt because they can't get short-term funds to get them through their financial obligations. Banks won't lend money to other banks because of fear that they won't get the money back, and thus banks aren't loaning to regular Joe's either. This extends not just into home loans, but also cars, small businesses, etc. What this bill will do is buy up the questionable loans from many banks. Right now these loans are virtually untradable because no one wants to touch them. However, they have some intrinsic value. The government will go in and buy them at greatly discounted values. This will free up most concerns for the banking system, and it should get money flowing again. When this happens these loans that were bought up will evenutually start to trade again at a "true" value, and the government can sell them off at a profit. There are many other details of the bill that are being debated, but this is the crux of the problem that will be fixed.

Why am I writing about this? Because their are several polls that have shown a majority of Americans do not support this bill. The main reason - Americans don't want to pay for Wall Street and our government's mistakes. They don't think it is their problem. It shouldn't be, but it unfortunately is. If we don't do this, we will pay for it anyway and it will be far less pleasant.

In the Immortal Words of MasterJ.....^%%@#%#@^

The WCOOP is over for me. I went out in the main event on this hand:

PokerStars Game #20588389315: Tournament #200800033, $5000+$200 Hold'em No Limit - Level III (100/200) - 2008/09/21 17:41:57 ETTable '200800033 222' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: 100189 (27155 in chips)
Seat 2: Shifty1768 (33425 in chips)
Seat 3: who's bad (39850 in chips)
Seat 4: Dyzalot (20745 in chips)
Seat 5: PieOhMy (32950 in chips)
Seat 6: ministerborg (16230 in chips)
Seat 7: gregior (24900 in chips)
Seat 8: PiMaster (18370 in chips)
Seat 9: Hero-BS (17725 in chips)
Shifty1768: posts small blind 100
who's bad: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to PiMaster [Ts Ks]
Dyzalot: folds
PieOhMy: folds
ministerborg: folds
gregior: folds
PiMaster: raises 300 to 500
Hero-BS: folds
100189: folds
Shifty1768: folds
who's bad: calls 300
*** FLOP *** [Js 3s 9s]
who's bad: checks
PiMaster: bets 650
who's bad: raises 1200 to 1850
PiMaster: calls 1200
*** TURN *** [Js 3s 9s] [7h]
who's bad: bets 4200
PiMaster: calls 4200
*** RIVER *** [Js 3s 9s 7h] [Kd]
who's bad: bets 9250
PiMaster: raises 2570 to 11820 and is all-in
who's bad: calls 2570
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PiMaster: shows [Ts Ks] (a flush, King high)
who's bad: shows [As 8s] (a flush, Ace high)
who's bad collected 36840 from pot

I'm not sure there was much I could do on the hand besides save my last 2500 by not going allin. In a cash game obviously you go allin, but I should have saved my last bit just in case because the extra 2500 in the scheme of things isn't worth it. The only good news is I satellited in for $2800.

For the series, I was down about $3100 despite the 7 cashes in the 28 events I played (I do still have 3% of TheMasterJ33 as I write this). That's what happens though when you never finish better than 54th place.

Major Disappointment

So I was kicking ass in the $500 NLH 6-Handed w/ Rb's. I was chip leader or top 5 for about 3 hours straight. I was playing well and getting Jamie Golded. Then 3 hands took me from near the top to out in a fairly short time.

Hand 1) 350K for me - I raise with QJc from the SB. The BB calls. QJ2 flop two hearts I think. I cbet and he just calls. K on the turn. He bets 27K (about 60% pot), I shove his last 100k in. He insta calls with T9.

Hand 2) 250K for me - I raise 9800 w/ AQ UTG. DuckU reraises me from the BB to 36K leaving himself 70k. I had been really active and he was steamed at the time. In either case for 25 BBs I think its a fairly easy shove. He tanked and called with 99. He won the race.

Hand 3) 130K for me - 5 handed active UTG raises to 10K. I call from button. T44 flop two diamonds. He bet 18k I raised to 55K (half my stack). He shoved me in w/ QT. I miss.

I finished a respectable 56th in a very tough field, but another low payday is hard to take when I was in a great position for so long. I now have 7 cashes in 27 events, and I think I am roughly down $500. GROSSSSSSS!

WCOOP Update

I cashed in both events today for a small profit (again). I now have 6 cashes in the 17 events I've played. This already is almost to my goal of 7 cashes. However, I am no where near my goal of assuring a profitable series because I keep failing to get real deep. Here is a run-down of my cashes:



Event #2: 5 Card Draw - 93rd of 1024
Event #4: Limit Holdem - 91st of 2258
Event #5: No Limit Holdem - 54th of 7351
Event #14: Stud - 74th of 627
Event #17: Pot Limit Holdem 6 Max - 99th of 960
Event #18: HORSE - 102nd of 2091


I've netted about 4k on these events (not counting satellites - I haven't looked at these to see if I'm up or down), but I still have roughly 14k in entry fees left for the series. I feel like I keep putting myself in good positions, but the cards aren't falling right at crucial times. Hopefully, a big break through is right around the corner. I would like to cite the "due factor."

Past 2 Days

0-4, nothing noteworthy. I am 3-11 in the series now with the $200 NLH w/ RBs and $300 Stud today.

On a somber note, my best friend's grandmother died over the weekend. She had been in poor health for a while. So it wasn't totally unexpected, but it still is difficult for their family. She was one of the sweetest persons I knew. When my daughter was a baby, she gave her gifts a couple different times. I mention this because I probably hadn't seen her but once or twice in the years following college. Yet, she went out of her way just to do this simple act of kindness.

The funeral is today. Hopefully, everyone celebrates her life in the way she deserves.

Bubble Burst

I went into yesterday with some (unjustly?) high hopes. I know I was short in day 2 of Sunday's event, but I felt with one double up I could have gotten right back into it, and the other two tourney's of the day were two of my favorites.

Needless to say, I didn't see a hand in the day 2 tourney for about 25 straight to start the day. I came over the top once and bought a pot. Then I reshipped AT against a late position raiser and got called by ..... AT. We chopped. Then I got 99 in middle position thinking there is no way I can't be shipping this for my 12 or so BBs, but the 2nd pos guy or somewhat short stack opens (I'm still going with it). Then the next guy on a similar stack reraises 2.5x and about 25% of his stack. Now maybe I'm being nitty folding on my stack size with a fairly premium hand, but I can't figure I'm in good shape here very often. The second guy likely has me, and the first may even though I was willing to risk it against him. Anyway, I go another round without a hand before picking up 54h (this is how ugly they've been, 54 looked pretty sweet) in MP with 8 BBs. I ship and get called by the BB's AK. I finished 54th.

This wasn't the end of the disappointing day. I proceeded to bubble the other two events - 391st in the PLO (360 paid), and 182nd in the Mixed Game (168 paid). In the latter tourney I was among the chip leaders about half-way through before going cold. I also felt in it I gave some chips away with some loose play. This bothered me as much as anything because my whole strategy in this tourney was to sit back and let everyone else make mistakes. Hardly anyone in the tourney knew how to play all 8 games well (or likely even 4 well).

Time to forget about yesterday. I still have 3 cashes in 7 events for about +$5000. There are, however, some very expensive tourneys coming up. My anticipated remaining outlay is still about 19-20K. Today's two events are NLH 4-max (which should be just a crazy tourney) and Razz. Obviously I like my chances in Razz.

Weekend at the WCOOP

Overall it went pretty well, and it has the potential to be great if I can get hot.

On Saturday, I cashed in the LH event in 91st out of 2258. It was alot of work for not too much cash, but it's better than nothing. I also was one of the first out in the 2 to 7 Triple Draw. All I can say about that is that I kept getting good hands beat by better ones, and in no time I was gone.

In bigger news, I am still alive in the Sunday $500 2-day event. 7351 entered it, and with 72 left, I am sitting in 64th. I've locked up $5500 so far, and I've cashed in 3 of my 5 events so far. I have 450K in chips with the average around 1 million, and the blinds will start at 12.5K/25K with a 2500 ante. So with 18 BBs, I will have to pick my spots well and hope for an early double up. I am really pumped about this one because within the first hour, I fell to about 2300 from 10K starting stack. I grinded it for about 2 hours before I even got above 5k. I never had over 15bbs between level 3 and 5. Then I hit a decent rush combined with some big calls and bluffs. I've run pretty good, but not great. I've had 2 big pot suckouts (although only one for my life), and I've lost 2 huge pots w/ QQ vs AK.

Anyway, I need some sleep. It starts back up tomorrow at 3:30 cst. I also have the PLO 6-max and the 8 game mixed tourney. So it will be a very busy day hopefully.

5 Card Draw Rocks!

Well day 1 of the WCOOOP is done for me. I cashed (somehow) in the 5 card draw tourney - 93rd of 1024 for $430.08. I don't know if I played well or poorly, tight or loose, etc. I don't particularly enjoy the game, and I think it has to be my worst game. However, I play it once a year in the WCOOP. It has to be my first ever cash in this game. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! In addition, with the cash I am officially up $0.08 in the series.

I didn't get in any of the bets on pocket 5's with J. We never found a third. That was a little of a downer for me. Especially after J cashed in the NLH 6-max and I had my cash. Oh well.

WCOOP

Friday starts the best online series of the year, the WCOOP on Pokerstars. It is the biggest, longest, and best structured series anywhere on the net. It lasts 17 days, and has 33 events (including 3 10k+ events - which I likely won't be playing). However, I do plan on playing most, if not all, of the other 30 events.

Jason and I are still looking for a third for a pocket 5's contest. I'm not sure if we will find one we like by tomorrow afternoon. As a result, I may get in the individual contest instead. I would rather do the team one though.

I have some tough goals for the series.

1) Play in at least 28 events as well as most of the 2nd chance events
2) Cash 7 times (not counting 2nd chance tourneys) and be profitable
3) Make a final table

#1 should be easy for me to get barring outside issues.
#2 will be somewhat difficult, but I think with these structures, I have about a 33% chance (last year I had 5 cashes in something like 25 events.).
#3 is also in the 33% neighborhood I think.

Let's Play Four - National Champs!!!

Nationals - Game #5

This was the winner's bracket final. However, we apparently decided to take the game off in the field. In what was easily our worst defensive game of the year, we got blasted 11-4 by a team of all-stars from California. I think only four of their runs were earned. We hit fairly well in this game, but were unable to get the timely hits to get us back into the game. Losing this game meant to win it all we would have to now win 3 more games all in a row with no breaks.

Nationals - Game #6

This was a rematch of the previous night's game (the team we blasted 13-1). They started a different pitcher this time, but the result was the same. We scored 6 in the second. They brought in the previous night's pitcher (I'm sure he was happy about that) in the 3rd. The shelling continued with 2 more in both the 3rd and 4th innings, and we cruised to a 10-2 five inning victory. This got us to the championship game, but we would have to win twice because the California team had yet to lose in the double elimination format.

Nationals - Game#7

First an aside - For those who don't know much about fastpitch, most teams from California have try-outs. As a result, they usualy are loaded with guys that are pretty built. I'm not going to say our team isn't built, but I will say our "big" guys aren't big because of their muscles :) Furthermore, this team's two main pitchers were picked up solely for this tourney and had never played with them prior to this tourney. Pickup pitchers are fairly common at higher levels of fastpitch, but it is something our team has never done. We play on the philosophy of "win with what brought us here."

After the debacle earlier against this team, I think they thought this would be an easy game for them. Little did they know they got our D- performance in that game. We started well and methodically scored runs all game long. Our pitching was fabulous. The result - an 11-0 domination. We just needed to keep this momentum going into the final game.

Nationals - Game #8

As I stated, momentum was a key. We batted first for the 7th time in the 8 games, and promptly put 3 on the board. However, they responded with 2 of their own. In the second, we scored 4 more, but they only countered with 1. The third had us adding 3 more, and after three innings we had a nice 10-4 lead. Unfortunately, these were the last runs we would score. The California team added 3 runs in the 5th inning to cut the lead to 10-7. In the last two innings, they were unable to mount any legitimate threat, and after a 1-2-3 7th, we had done it!

Notes:
Most importantly, this was a complete team effort.

Everyone in our lineup was locked in offensively. I'm not sure what we batted as a team, but my guess is something in the .400 to .420 range. This just shouldn't be possible at a national tourney.

Defensively, we played outstanding except for the one loss. Of note was Mark Beatty. He rarely gets to bat due to our potent offense, but when our number 1 pitcher is pitching he is our defensive specialist. I don't think he had an error all tourney long, and made numerous difficult in-between hop scoops. DJ (our SS/2B) also did fabulous. The last mention defensively is for Wes. He is normally our 3rd catcher, but due to an injury and a guy that couldn't make it, he had to catch all 4 games on Sunday. This was 24 straight innings behind the plate.

On the pitching side, Mike Godar had a great overall tourney. He pitched in 7 of the 8 games with 4 complete games. I believe he led the tourney in ERA out of all the pitchers who pitched enough innings. He is our rock on the mound and a complete bulldog. Our other pitcher up there was Al Ohms. This guy has seen it all (as he is in his early 50s). I can't speak for him, but I think his win in our first championship game might have been his biggest win ever. It also may have been his best game ever given the competition and the enormity of the game. Against a loaded lineup, he pitched 7 shutout innings. He had them off-balance all game long, and got out of a few very tough jams. This game was the most important of the whole tourney. It completely switched momentum for both teams.

We put 6 guys on the all-tourney team:

Mike Godar P/SS
Mike Klein C/1B
Wes Strowmatt OF/C
Eric Schultz OF/C
Isaac May OF (MVP of tourney)
Me OF

I plan on posting our stats for the tourney hopefully when I get them.

Nationals - Game #4

We are in a zone! We just won 13-1 against a guy that was bringing some pretty good heat. It was 1-0 going into the 3rd, but even then we were smoking the ball. Then the flood gates opened up. I think the other team was in shock at some of the shots we were hitting. In any case, our pitching was great as well as our defense this game. We are in the winner's bracket final tomorrow at 9:45 AM, and we have guaranteed ourselves at least 3rd place. If we can keep this train going, it could be a fun day!

Nationals - Game #3

All that needs to be said is we were up 9-0 after the first inning. 9-0!!! They had error after error all game and pretty much handed it to us. I'm not sure exactly how many of our runs were even earned. Things did get a tad precarious when they closed to 10-6 in the fourth, but we proceeded to put 6 more on the board, and ended it 16-6 in 6 innings. Everyone in our lineup is hitting right now. As long as our pitching is decent and we keep our heads in the game, things are looking good. We play our next game at 8PM tonight. If we win it, we are int he winner's bracket final tomorrow morning. If we lose it we will have to win 5 games in a row tomorrow to take the tourney down.

Nationals - Game 2

Wow! We played maybe our best game of the year. What I thought would be a low scoring nail-biter became a 10-0 blowout in 5 innings (and it was 1-0 going into the 4th). Their pitcher was not bringing it like he seemed to be doing last night. His ball was coming in flat, whereas last night he had a lot of movement. All three facets of the game (pitching, fielding, and hitting) were firing for us today. We play Bowen, IL tomorrow morning at 11:30. It's a team we've seen many times over the years, but have not played this year.

Nationals - Game 1

We won our first game at nationals 6-4. We didn't play particularly well, but we had a fairly easy opponent. Tomorrow's game looks like it will be against a pretty tough opp. Their pitcher is easily the best I saw out of the teams that were playing while we were at the softball complex. We play at 5PM. Here is the website link to check how we are doing: http://www.2008ws.nafafastpitch.com/a/a.htm. I doubt they update it too regularly, but the box scores might be the best spot to look for scores.

FTOPS Wrap-Up

Overall, I had a pretty bad/good series in my opinion. By this I mean, I lost a fair amount of money in the actual tourneys, but I won the contest I was in (because I had the most cashes of anyone in it). As a result, I actually made a little for the series. Furthermore, I thought I played really well in most of the events, but I could never break through for the big score. I cashed 5 times in 25 events. This is right around my historical rate of 18-20% and is perfectly fine. I also bubbled two big events (less than one table from the money).

In summary, if I had not won the contest, this would have been a very disappointing series because I felt I gave myself a good shot to get a big score, but it just didn't develop.

Up and Down Day

The bad news first: I busted out of the $2500 FTOPS event today on a decent sized coin flip early on.

The good news: I played 4 other tourneys today and cashed in 3 of them: 9th of 100 in a $200 PLO on Stars, 15th of 394 in a $300 NLH on Stars, and 29th of 1058 in the FTOPS $100 PLO w/ RBs. The last one also moved me into the lead in the FTOPS contest I'm in. The lead is very small though. I have about 568pts. Mig.com has about 566pts and Stevie444 has about 563pts. A handful of other guys still have a chance if they can get 2 cashes tomorrow or a final table. If I can snare a cash tomorrow it will be very difficult for anyone to pass me but the top 2 guys, and even they would need a very good finish.

FTOPS Update #2

I am pretty much having a pitiful FTOPS up to this point. Everything that can go wrong seems to be happening since my last update. Yet, somehow I am still in third in the contest. This is partly because I had three early small cashes, and partly because no one else in the contest is doing that much. There are three events left (today's $2500 event doesn't count). I need at least one cash to have a chance to win it. Hopefully, I can pull one out. Today's PLO w/ RBs is easily my best chance.

FTOPS Update

I ended up getting in a $500 contest on Pocket 5's. It has 28 entrants with some very big names. Here's the link for it: http://www.mttbacking.com/ftops.html. Through five events I should be in 3rd place after finally getting a cash in the $200 Stud tourney. I finished 56th out of 581. I think I played pretty well. I didn't get many good starting hands, but I picked my spots well when my cards were real live. I ended up hitting some big hands on later streets as a result. Tomorrow are two big events, the $500 PLO 6 Handed and the $100 NLH w/ RBs. I'll need a minimum of 4 cashes to get top 3 in the contest I think, unless I hit a final table.

FTOPS and the Summer Olympics

While the FTOPS is run 4 times every 1 year, the summer olympics are run 1 time every 4 years. I love the olympics despite the constant doping allegations and the prima donna pro atheletes that are now allowed in in many of the sports. It usually brings out the best in athletics. Some of the biggest names at the end of these few weeks are no names as we speak today. I plan on watching ALOT of the ridiculous amount of coverage spread over NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, USA, Oxygen, plus some others I'm sure I'm forgetting. My only disappointment is that curling only goes on during the winter olympics.

Now on to the FTOPS (which starts tonight)

This FTOPS has 25 events spread out over the next twelve days. I was hoping to get together a team for Pocket 5's contest like before, but Moon and J do not think they are going to be able to play enough events this time around. Unless I scrape together two guys (I am still working on it), it looks like it won't happen. I am still looking forward to this nonetheless. Here are my over/unders for the series:

Events I play: 24
Cashes: 4
Final Tables: 0.5
FTOPS All-time Leaderboard Ranking: 40th (I currently sit in 51st going into the series with
396 pts - 40th has 432 for perspective)

State Champs!

The fastpitch softball team I play on won the Class "B" state championship this past weekend. We went 5-0 and completely dominated the competition. The crazy thing is I don't think we played nearly as good as we could have, although we did hit like madmen. Our pitching was hit and miss (either very strong or pretty soft), and our defense was generally good, but we made some bad and almost critical errors. Of note on defense was Steve Godar at third base. He made play after play (some of them pretty fantastic).

The all state team included six of our players:

Mike Klein (C)
Derrick Johnston (IF)
Steve Godar (3B)
Mike Godar (P) Most Valuable Pitcher
Isaac May (OF) Most Valuable Player
Me (OF)

Isaac had a ridiculous tourney as our leadoff hitter. It seemed every time I came up to bat he was on base. In addition, everyone on our team seemed to contribute in some respect during the tourney.

This was our second state championship in four years. The group of guys I play with on the team are the main reason I keep playing. With my job in poker, I usually miss about half the season for the WSOP. It would be much easier for me to just give it up, but there isn't a guy on the team I don't like. It's hard to quit when it's so much fun to just be around the whole team. Furthermore, anyone that's been around our team knows that the wives and kids just add to the experience. Sometimes it seems like a daycare center at our games, and I actually love that. It is really a great family atmosphere that says alot about the quality of guys I play with. This is what makes winning state even more special.

We go to nationals in Mankato, MN in two and a half weeks. We have had little success recently at nationals, and hopefully we can turn this around this year. We definitely have a team that can do some damage if we play well.

Wise Words from the "2nd Best Razz Player in the World"

Anyone who watched or knows about the Razz final table I played at the WSOP should find this somewhat humorous. This came from an article on Pocket 5's about Mr. Klodnicki:

In the $1,500 Razz event, Klodnicki finished as the runner up to fellow PocketFiver Barry barryg1 Greenstein. On his Razz experience, he admitted, “I don’t have much of a Razz background. I like playing the 9:30pm HORSE tournament on Full Tilt Poker. I really like mixing up games in order to take a break from hold’em and I’ve always found myself chipping up the most in Razz.” He commented on players in Razz tournaments he’s entered: “People tend to play every street badly in Razz. I don’t think many people know how to play it properly. Knowing about odds is really important as well.”

Interesting Facts from the Win

I was curious to see how I ran during my win last night. The only way I thought to look it up was to look at any allins I was involved in. I know this is a very simplified way to look at it. In any case, I definitely ran well but not extraordinarily well. In fact, I never sucked out once, but more importantly, I was never sucked out on either.

In coin flips, I went 2-2.
As a 2 to 1 dog I was 0-3.
As a 2 to 1 fav I was 8-0.
As a 4 to fav I was 3-0.
As a huge dog I was 0-1.
As a huge fav I was 2-0.
I had one lock for 1-0.

Overall, I went 16-6. I doubled up 3 times and had one triple up. I cannot ever remember hearing about a tourney where all hands did "as expected." Like Hellmuth said, "I guess if there were no luck, I'd win everyone of these!"

The Master

Congrats to MasterJ (Jason Dewitt) on his 2nd place finish in the Heartland Poker Tour's Event in Gary, IN. His take was for just over 100k and easily set his career best cash. He has been so overdue for a big live score, it isn't even funny. Hopefully, this is the start of a big hot streak for him.

(and a little addendum, I just won the 50/50 on Full Tilt - $50, 50k guarantee - for just over 10K. This is my biggest online score in a while, so while it's not 100k, it is nice)

Why PLO Tourneys Continue to be Great Value

Full Tilt Poker Game #7365751978: $50 + $5 Tournament (55897183), Table 1 - 120/240 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 2:43:28 ET - 2008/07/25
Seat 1: DaBroWitDaFro (19,711)
Seat 3: mlbwanderer (7,046)
Seat 4: DylanMichael (13,173), is sitting out
Seat 7: Bailey22 (14,120)
Seat 8: PiMaster (9,584)
Seat 9: johnsonck69 (29,366)
DylanMichael posts the small blind of 120
Bailey22 posts the big blind of 240
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PiMaster [3d 9c 8d 7c]
DylanMichael has returned
PiMaster calls 240
johnsonck69 folds
DaBroWitDaFro folds
mlbwanderer calls 240
DylanMichael has 15 seconds left to act
DylanMichael folds
Bailey22 raises to 1,080 (AA monkey getting in 7% of his stack pre, easy double thru if I hit)
PiMaster calls 840
mlbwanderer folds
*** FLOP *** [9s 4h 3c]
Bailey22 bets 2,520
PiMaster raises to 8,504, and is all in
Bailey22 calls 5,984
PiMaster shows [3d 9c 8d 7c]
Bailey22 shows [Th Ad As Ac] (rofl - not just AA but AAA and bare)
*** TURN *** [9s 4h 3c] [5h]
*** RIVER *** [9s 4h 3c 5h] [Tc]
PiMaster shows two pair, Nines and Threes
Bailey22 shows a pair of Aces
PiMaster wins the pot (19,528) with two pair, Nines and Threes
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 19,528 Rake 0
Board: [9s 4h 3c 5h Tc]
Seat 1: DaBroWitDaFro didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: mlbwanderer (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: DylanMichael (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: Bailey22 (big blind) showed [Th Ad As Ac] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 8: PiMaster showed [3d 9c 8d 7c] and won (19,528) with two pair, Nines and Threes
Seat 9: johnsonck69 didn't bet (folded)


Bailey22: nh too call a raise
PiMaster: nh to call an allin
Bailey22: morons with 50 bucks
Bailey22: tired of gettin cracked down
PiMaster: y u were a huge fav
PiMaster: real impressive ur "monster" was in fact a dog (I was in fact a 53/47 fav pre)
Bailey22: dont care it the thought of call a raise 9378
PiMaster: im almost puking thinking of the raise from the BB w/ AAAx

A beacon of light in a hurricane....

In what was a brutal day, I did win this humorous and profitable hand.


PokerStars Game #18907552366: Omaha Hi/Lo Limit ($75/$150) - 2008/07/18 - 08:08:55 (ET)
Table 'Orthosie III' 10-max Seat #10 is the button
Seat 1: BluffMeNot ($3413 in chips)
Seat 2: Rinehart ($2820.50 in chips)
Seat 3: Batera ($4225 in chips)
Seat 4: fishrus ($3975.50 in chips)
Seat 5: dagunman ($5823 in chips)
Seat 6: CRossiter ($6236.50 in chips)
Seat 7: 13Ghosts ($2438.50 in chips)
Seat 8: kcodya ($632.50 in chips)
Seat 9: badabang ($812 in chips)
Seat 10: PiMaster ($1767.50 in chips)
BluffMeNot: posts small blind $50
Rinehart: posts big blind $75
badabang: posts big blind $75
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PiMaster [Ad 3d 2d 4d]
Batera: calls $75
fishrus: folds
dagunman: folds
CRossiter: folds
13Ghosts: calls $75
kcodya: calls $75
badabang: checks
PiMaster: raises $75 to $150
BluffMeNot: folds
Rinehart: calls $75
Batera: raises $75 to $225
13Ghosts: calls $150
kcodya: calls $150
badabang: calls $150
PiMaster: raises $75 to $300
Betting is capped
Rinehart: calls $150
Batera: calls $75
13Ghosts: calls $75
kcodya: calls $75
badabang: calls $75
*** FLOP *** [8s 8c 4s]
Rinehart: checks
Batera: bets $75
13Ghosts: calls $75
kcodya: raises $75 to $150
badabang: folds
PiMaster: calls $150
Rinehart: folds
Batera: calls $75
13Ghosts: calls $75
*** TURN *** [8s 8c 4s] [Tc]
Batera: checks
13Ghosts: checks
kcodya: bets $150
PiMaster: calls $150
Batera: calls $150
13Ghosts: calls $150
*** RIVER *** [8s 8c 4s Tc] [Kh]
Batera: checks
13Ghosts: checks
kcodya: bets $32.50 and is all-in
PiMaster: calls $32.50 (100 to 1 odds why not?!?!)
Batera: folds
13Ghosts: folds
*** SHOW DOWN ***
kcodya: shows [As 5s Qh 6s] (HI: a pair of Eights)
PiMaster: shows [Ad 3d 2d 4d] (HI: two pair, Eights and Fours)
PiMaster collected $3112 from pot
No low hand qualified
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $3115 Rake $3
Board [8s 8c 4s Tc Kh]
Seat 1: BluffMeNot (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: Rinehart (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 3: Batera folded on the River
Seat 4: fishrus folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: dagunman folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: CRossiter folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: 13Ghosts folded on the River
Seat 8: kcodya showed [As 5s Qh 6s] and lost with HI: a pair of Eights
Seat 9: badabang folded on the Flop
Seat 10: PiMaster (button) showed [Ad 3d 2d 4d] and won ($3112) with HI: two pair, Eights and Fours

Keep in mind this was 6 way action pre and had 21 big bets in the pot, and my little pair of fours scooped!!!!! Don't ask how much I lost on the day though :)

Back Home - Thankfully Safe and Sound

The long trip out to Vegas and back that began back in late May had one more big surprise about an hour and a half from home. Driving back on I-70 going about 75 mph a car we were passing decided he was going to switch lanes without a signal and without checking to see if anyone was there. Considering Julie and I were about even with the middle of his car, this became a big issue. She immediately slammed on the brakes, honked but also had to swerve towards the median. The car just kept switching lanes completely oblivious to the circumstances. Once our front right tire went off the shoulder and caught the slight slope, there wasn't much Julie could do. We caught the slope and it took us into what is essentially a metal fence which protects you from crossing into oncoming traffic. After running through/over 2 or 3 of the posts we came to a rest against one. No one was hurt in the least bit, and surprisingly, we only suffered a flat front tire and some decent damage to the front right portion of the car (including the front bumber basically falling off).

However, the thing that pissed me off the most was that noone stopped to help us except for one guy on the other side of the highway. The guy that ran us off...gone; about ten to twenty other cars that had to have seen it...on their merry way. A couple of them did call 911 and verify that we did crash and that a red ford escort had caused it, but did they chek to make sure we weren't injured...nah! I have witnessed one crash in my life, and I screeched to a halt and ran to the car to help the people out. I would have liked to have thought any reasonable person would.

Fortunately, Julie and I are safe and sound, and I got to kiss my wife and kids goodnight. So all in all I can't complain too much.

Get 'er Done Jeremiah

Despite the lack of results in the Main Event by the poorly named "Castle of Pain," there is a "friend of the Castle" doing very well in the Main, Jeremiah Smith. At the time of this blog he was in fact the overall chip leader in the event at bubble time. As you can see, he is a red name in our house already, and may get signed to a long-term deal with a big finish here. With any luck, you will be getting a "Tips from the Pros" email from him very soon about how to pwn people in the main event with a big stack.

In all seriousness, we are all rooting for you Jeremiah!

Heartbreak

I am having a hard time actually writing this. Essentially I lost a 74K pot with 98h vs KK on a 982 flop. A king hit the turn. Average stack at the time was about 30K and I would have been sitting on 82K. A short time later I got busted with 99 vs A6 on a 766 board. That beat hit me about as hard as any I have ever taken. Not only was it the Main Event, but I was on a table I was owning with little risk. I could have coasted into day 2 with a very large stack. It wasn't meant to be, and now I am walking around in a daze trying to get my bearings.

I hope some of the other guys can make a deep run because my 2008 WSOP is over.....

WSOP Prelim Wrap-up

This is what I wrote at the beginning of the series about my goals/expectations.

"The following is a list of minimum goals for my series:
Events: 18
Cashes: 4 for at least 60K (to cover my trip expenses and have a little profit)
Final Tables: 1

Furthermore, I want to stay focused and have fun. Last year, I went 0 for the series until the Main Event. I was very down and not enthused about much. I don't see that happening this year for a couple reasons: 1) I learned from last year. I am not taking the WSOP for granted. Last year I don't think I got pumped up enough. 2) Staying in this house with a bunch of pros should keep the time here very fun and entertaining.

I fully expect at least 20 cashes and 3 final tables from our house. While the odds of a bracelet IMO are about 1 in 4, I still think one or two people will have a great shot. Two years ago, when we had the first "House of Pain", Jason had a 6th place, I had a 3rd place and Paul had the memorable 2nd place Main Event finish. This year's house is far more experienced."

So what has happened? On my personal goals, I have played 16 events with the Main being my 17th. This was one below my target, although I passed up on about 2 or 3 due to just not being in the mood. I have had 3 cashes for 71K which is strong given only 16 events. If I get a cash in the Main then I will be right on the goal for number of cashes. I have already exceeded my most important goal of 60k in cashes (although I won't squabble if I get more). Furthermore, I did reach one final table, and while I was disappointed with the outcome, I am still pumped about it. My emotional goals were exceeded. I feel I have brought my focus and drive to every tourney I entered. Even at the start when I bricked out my first ten tourneys here, I felt I never gave up and was just running horribly.

On the house expectations, we are a little below what I thought would happen. However, I think this is mainly due to many of the guys playing far less tourneys than I thought they would. seven of the regulars have played less than 5 WSOP events. Some of them have played many of the Venetian's Deep Stacks instead. Overall, we have (by my count) 14 cashes and two final tables. In both final tables, we had excellent chances for a bracelet only to fall short with a 2nd and a 3rd. To reach my targets of 20 cashes and 3 final tables, it would take I sick run for the 11 of us playing, but who knows.

50th

Today was one of the more frustrating days of poker I've had. Most times I raised, I got shoved on, and I had 3 guys at my table regularly shoving for 15 to 20 BB's. I only woke up with 3 hands the whole day - AA (bought the BB from the SB), AKc bought the blinds, QQ (busted a shove monkey).

I wasn't really upset with my finish considering I could never get anything going. Plus I won a huge pot allin with A8 vs AK. However, after that hand I lost A9 to 88 for a big pot and KQ to JJ when I was short to go busto. Another final table would have been sweet, especially given the size of the field and therefore the size of the prizepool, but alas it wasn't meant to be.

I maybe done until the main event starts. I will be playing day 1b (which means this Friday, July 4th). With some luck and good play, hopefully I can make it 3 straight cashes in the Main, and with some really good luck and great play ---- who knows...........

My First Donkament Cash....

I reached day 2 of today's $1500 NLH tourneywith a 51,900 stack (avg around 40K). As the title says, it was my first cash in one of these dinky WSOP NL tourneys. I've always thought they were great EV because of all the dead money, but you still need to navigate the mine field.

Today, I ran ridiculously well. I hit at least 4 or 5 sets. Almost all were for big pots. I also chopped with AQ vs AK and won a "race" with AJ vs AQd on a (JTd)3 flop. Both of those were also fairly large pots. I still played really well in not making any notable mistakes, but today was a day I just rode lady luck's back.

58th

At least I didn't get teased with a deep run. I played two hands. One I called a raise pre and folded on a complete whiff post. The next I raised with A6cQ4s only to get called by two guys (one allin). Flop came T(97s). I shoved and the other guy had a fairly simple call getting about 5 to 1 even though he only had A247. The other guy showed KK22?!? (not exactly the hand I want to go with calling allin). In any case they only held 1 spade combined. I even got a nice tease with an offsuit 5 coming on the turn to give me an open ender. However, the 4 on the river sealed it for me.

In other news, I can safely say I already miss my wife and kids, and they've barely been gone. Anyone who has kids knows how great it is to come home to children who love you unconditionally. They run and give you a hug as soon as you walk in the door and just want to cuddle. Who cares that you busted from a big tourney on the bubble? Also, my wife is wonderful and a saint for taking care of the kids on her own for basically a month and a half straight.

Boring but alive...

I made it to day two of the $1500 PLO8 tourney today. We are barely into the money and I am on a short stack of 16,100. Average is about 31K. I was up to about 23K early into the 5th level, but from that point on I never went above 23K or below 15K. I would chip up in small pots and then blind off. I never picked up much of anything. However, in this game you can survive a long time with nothing if you play patient and smart. I am hoping the patience I displayed the last 4 levels today pay off tomorrow with a nice rush.

My wife and kids leave tomorrow for home. It was a nice change of pace to have them here, and I wish they could stay longer. It's always nice to come home after a bad day at the tables to three people who are just happy to see you. Hopefully, my wife will be able to come back out here in early July, and drive back with me once the series is done.

Good News/Bad News

Good news - I played one of my best tourneys today. Bad news - It didn't matter.

I busted a guy on the 50/100 in a 4500 pot with AKc vs JJ to get to 6K. My table was ridiculously weak. The 5 players to my left were all tight and extremely predictable. I was in ATC mode when folded to me from the button to the HJ-1 . I chipped up to around 8k and then I busted one of the remaining two decent players in a 4k pot with AK vs AQ. When I saw my table was breaking soon I raised 3 straight pots to end it. At my new table, not much changed. I literally chipped up to 24K without showing down a hand except for calling a very short stack's allin with 44 from the BB. He had KTs and won the coin flip.

Right before dinner, I got moved to my 3rd and 4th tables within 5 minutes. Ten minutes later dinner came and I had 21.5K.

Before the next level started, I had to move to my 5th table. The only player I recognized was Gobboboy. I raised the 1sy hand from the CO with KT and bought the blinds. Two hands later, I got JJ and raised to 1525. A newb to my left RRed to 4500 leaving him 4700. Normally this seems like a monster (specifically AA/KK), but I just didn't think this was the case. I decided to stop-n-go any flop. A93 flop came. Not exactly what I was looking for, but if he has KK or QQ it should work everytime. He called with AQd and held. I picked up all the chips on the next hand with QJc. I raised and the only other big stack at the table called from the BB. He was a very cocky young kid who Gobboboy had said was very agg. Flop came JT4 with 2 diamonds. I checked behind him and he says "good check". 9d on the turn and he immediately starts saying "oooh man that hit me nicely", and I called his 1975 bet. River x and I just called his 3875 bet. He says nut ten. I quietly flip over the winner and he is shocked. He just couldn't believe I would actually check away from top pair. He also said he would have called me if I shoved (lol). I guess I missed some value. 6 hands later I get AK. 2nd pos made it 2k, then a shortie shoved for 4600. I raised it to 9k. Unfortunately the button then instashoved for 15575. The first guy folded, and I was literally sick to my stomach. I had to call 6575 for about a 32K pot. I was virtually certain he had AA or KK obviously. However, I only needed 17% eq. I called and he "luckily" showed KK. The other guy had TT. Incidently my eq turned out to be 25%, but against AA there it only would have been 6%. I still dont know if I should have called. I suppose there was a small chance he had QQ or AK. I mean this is a $1500. Anyway, the board ran out QT899. This knocked me down to 5300. The next hand, one guy limped and I found 88. This was an easy shove. However, the BB ended up calling off about half his stack with AJ. He turned an A and I was out. I thought it was a semi-loose call given his stack size and the danger of the limper maybe having a monster, but maybe he thought I was tilting.

Castle of Pain's Good Week Continues

Last night, Seth Fischer had the COPs 2nd final table of the week when he placed 2nd in the $2500 NLH 6-max tourney for a mere $330K or so. He seemed to play very well from what I saw. Although he did run very well in his allins throughout the tourney (including an AK vs AA win that basically could have knocked him out 3rd), in a sick reversal of fortune he was one card away from the bracelet before losing. He got Dario Minieri allin with KK vs 43s, and the flop brought two spades and then running 4s. Sad to say, he was unable to mount a comeback after this and lost a little while later with KTd vs QQ.

Hopefully, all of us can continue this streak with good play and deep runs. I am playing tonight's 10K O8 World Championship.

Mixed Emotions

To find out what place I got today, all you need to do is refer to the quote on the left surrounding the picture of me. I really felt all day long that I was going to pull it out. I had over half the chips in play at a couple points 3-handed, but unfortunately this one guy repeatedly doubled through me. Only once did we get it in with him as a favorite, and a few times he was drawing very thin. This left a bad taste in my mouth when I got knocked out because he was easily the worst player at the final table. Congrats to Barry G for taking home the bracelet.

I am extremely pleased with my performance in the event. I did make a few mistakes at the final table, although only twice did it potentially cost me. The money was much needed for me because of the cold streak I had been in, but I really wanted that bracelet......

Thanks for all the HOP II guys for sweating me. One of these days one of us will bring the big prize home. Also thanks for all my family supporting/rooting me on back in IL.

Finally!!!!

I just ended today with the chip lead going into the final table of the Razz tourney with 359,500. Second is around 220,000 and is Barry Greenstein. Also of note is Archie Karas. For those who don't know, Archie is famous for going on a legendary streak on the craps tables and in heads-up poker matches. He rode it up to supposedly more than $40 million before losing it all. However, he was also known for taking on all challengers in heads up Razz.

I went on a sick rush to end the day. With 16 left I had 128K which was slightly above average. Over the next 45 minutes, I rode it up to my current stack, and eight guys quickly busted. Alot happened during the day, including my being allin 4 times. Two of the times I doubled I had less than 5K at the 2000/4000 level.

Anyways I am started to crash here.

Happy father's day dad! Love ya.

Momma said I can talk again (at least for 1 day)

Today was easily my best day of poker in a while. I know it was Razz, but almost all of my decisions were spot on Even when I was wrong, I felt like like it was a proper play. My table started out super juicy...beyond my lofty expectations even. The two worst guys lasted a significant amount of time while some of the better players busted early. Everything seemed to play out beautifully. I don't have a huge stack, but I am a fair amount above average with 20,500. Average is around 13k I think. I don't even think I ran that well. In my estimation, I ran a little above average maybe, but I didn't spew a bit and made some thin value bets and some big calls with very marginal hands.

I'm not sure what my table will look like tomorrow, but if I can continue my play and dodge the bad luck, I like my chances.

My momma said.....

If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. So, hopefully I'll have something to write tomorrow.

Short and bitter

Out early in the $1500 PLO. AAQ7 vs JT74 on a 775 board. I was a 60/40 favorite although at the time I thought it was more like 70/30. The pot was about 4600, and he hit a J on the river to win.

I play the 3K HORSE tomorrow.

Quick Update

While I've been ice cold, some guys in our house have been doing excellent. Tom has had a 12th place finish in the $1500 NLH 6-max, and a 22nd finish in the $1500 NLH (that had over 3900 people). Jason finshed 13th (I think) in the 5K Mixed Holdem event and 16th in the $1500 NLH 6-max. Toph had a 18th place finish in the 1k NLH w/ RB's. Also of note is our friend Nappy (he's not in the house), who just finished 11th in the $2500 NLH for the biggest cash of his career.

All in all we've been doing really well, it's just kind of sick we have 6 top 22 finishes (5 in the house) but no final tables. The breakthru will come shortly if everyone keeps playing as well as they are.

1 2 3 You're Out!

My short stack lasted all of 3 hands today. On the second hand, I woke up with a real strong hand and bricked out to get crippled. Next hand, I was allin and flopped top two vs a set.

Tomorrow is the $1500 PLO. It is crucial to hit your big hand early because there isn't alot of play with your starting stack in this tourney.

On to Day 2....barely

I'm pretty tired, but suffice to say I have made day 2 of the 2k Omaha H/L event with only 5k. We started with 4k. I won few pots for the majority of the day. To be honest, my hands just sucked. Fortunately, I hit one 10 minute rush to go from 4k to 10k. Outside of that, it was pretty much sit on my hands for 8 levels. The only significant pot that I got screwed on, I chopped 3 ways after flopping the nuts. The river cost me about 6K and would have got me to about 15k at the time. I feel I played super strong outside of one hand. I truly think the vast majority of the field would not have made it through the day given my hands. Hopefully, this will pay off tomorrow (actually later today) with a strong run.

Fun in the Sun

Lost JJ to 99 allin pre to get to about an average stack after losing about 40% of my stack in the first level. Nine came on the flop. See ya next time. The rest of the tourney was fairly noneventful except for two hands. Both times I lost to flushes with top pair decent kicker (one I folded on the river, one I called on the river).

Bleh

Misplayed a hand early on and let a guy hit a one outer for free. Then made a mistake by calling his allin on the turn. This crippled me, but I doubled up twice to give myself a chance. Unfortunately, I lost a coin flip that would have been big. This was the first tourney I was really mad at myself afterwards. I not only need to bring my A game everytime, I also need to catch some breaks. Today, neither occurred, and I basically got what I deserved

On a good note, we moved into the house today. It is great to have all the guys together again like two years ago. Hopefully, this will get me going again.

Close, but no...........

I never really could get anything going today. On one of the first hands, I lost about 4K (or about a third of my stack). I dwindled down to 6K before hogging a 3-way pot I almost (and maybe should have) folded on the flop. This took me up to 16K when the average was about 17K. After that, nothing really went well. I got knocked out in about 120th.

The $1500 NLH 6-max is tomorrow. It's a fun event especially if you can get a hold of some chips early. Pretty much everyone I know will be playing it. Also, we move into our house tomorrow.

Event #6 - $1500 Omaha H/L

I expected this to be a juicy field with much more prestigious events going on. However, my first table had only 2 or 3 weak spots, and most of the guys knew each other. Fortunately I ran well out of the gate and got up to 4100 from a 3K starting stack at the first break. Early on in level 3 I got up to 5500 before going somewhat cold and siphoning a few chips. I got moved to a new table and went into the second break at 3300. This new table was still above average for this field, but it was definitely softer than the first table. I lost a decent pot on a huge draw to fall to 2100 at the 200/400 level. However, right after this I got a little lucky in a big scooped pot, and then I won another scooped pot the next hand. This took my stack up to over 7k. Most of the good players at my table got eliminated soon after. I chipped up a little more to get to 9700 at the next break going into the 400/800 level. Nothing much happened in the last two levels of the day until the last 30 minutes. I hit a little rush to finish right at 13K. I wish we could have kept playing because this table was real soft by the end of the night. The average is about 13K with about 200 of the 830 remaining. Top 81 cash and hopefully, I can hit a rush to start the day tomorrow.

Event #3 - $1500 PL Holdem

Not much to this one. I chipped up to 4500 in the first hour with two well played hands, but then ran into a ridiculous and unavoidable cooler. It folded around to the small blind at the 50/100 level and he completed. I checked my option with T5o. Flop came KT5 and he check called my 100 bet. 5 on the turn, and he check called another 250. On the 9 river, he check-raised my 650 bet to about 1900. I put him allin for another 600 and he called. I knew there was a chance he had K5, but that was the only hand that beats me here. He should never show up with KK, TT, or 99 here. However, 95 and especially QJ are easily possible. Of course he had K5 and I was crippled to 1K. I stayed there for another hour before busting with AK vs JJ vs ATh 3-way allin.

On a crazy note the guy on my left at my starting table had AA, KK, 3 QQ's, 2 JJ's, and TT all in the first 90 minutes or about 45 hands. Eight premium pairs in 45 hands!!! He showed almost all of them, and also said he had 88 77 and AK that he didnt show because he had to muck them to bets on losing hands.

I play today in the $1500 Omaha H/L. The field should be extremely soft.

Two congratulations need to be sent out - 1) to Tom Fuller who played deep into the morning today before falling out of the $1500 NLH tourney in 22nd out of 3900+. 2) to my daughter Ellie for having finished her last day of kindergarten yesterday.

Event #2 - $1500 NLH

This massive event with a so-so structure is usually very juicy. However, because you don't start with that many chips (3k w/ 25/50 blinds) a good start is relatively important. Typically by the 3rd level (100/200) the average stack only has around 4500. At this point, there is a big consolidation period where getting some big starting hands can boost your stack dramatically.

At the first break, I was sitting about average at 4500. Nothing much had happened, and my table was ideal. I had a great read on the most active player at the table, but no one was really too aggressive. I then lost a 1500 pot with K7s vs A3o where I was getting exactly 2:1 to call pre after two guys had limped, I limped, and then the SB went allin for 500 more.

I chipped back up into the 4500 range when I ran my only substantial bluff of the tourney. At the 50/100 level, a guy limped in MP, and I completed my SB with T3h. The BB checked his option, and the flop came down T82. I check-raised the limper's 200 bet to 600. He was a guy who was obviously scared to bust based on some previous hands/comments. The BB folded, and when the action got back to him he muttered something along the lines of "damn I think I'm outkicked." He didn't say it loudly, but I clearly heard it, and I knew this guy wasn't angle shooting. I figured he'd fold right there, but then he just called leaving himself 1175 in chips. I know this b/c I asked for his chip count prior to the turn card. Now I know he has a better T than me, but I also don't think he'll call a shove most of the time on the turn unless he pairs his other card. A beautiful 2 rolled off and I shoved him in fairly quickly. He hemmed and hawwed for a bit before folding QT face up.

I got up to 8k with a 2:1 suckout for a 4k pot, but then got moved to a new table where my stack was only about average. I misplayed a hand to lose 1500, then made a semi-marginal call to lose another 2500. For the next two hours, I bought a couple blinds and shoved allin over the top of someone once with 66. My stack stayed pretty even during this time.

After getting moved to my third table, I proceeded to fold for about 2 or 3 rounds. There was a nut there opening alot of hands, and I was card dead with not much fold equity. Soon the blinds were up to 200/400 with a 50 ante. I finally found a chance to shove for 2700 in the cutoff with xx. I didn't look. Everyone folded. Next hand I got QJ and shoved again. The BB made me sweat and then folded saying "I'll let you have this one." (This foreshadowed the bustout hand.)

I folded another round and a half. Then the UTG guy limped (which seemed weak from him), and I looked down at JJ. In went my 3700 in chips. It folds around to the button (the previously mentioned sweater) who ships his 6-7K in chips in. Everyone else folded. I honestly had no idea where I stood. I thought he could have anything from 88 on up to AK or AQ. Of course, my thoughts on his range were a bit off as he flips over A4s. I think I would have rather seen AK, at least that would have made sense. Anyway the flop came 653. Turn 8. River 2.

Not the way I'd like to go out, but I have plenty more chances in the coming month. My next tourney is on Monday - $1500 PL Holdem.

The 2008 WSOP

The WSOP starts today. Unfortunately, mine only starts tomorrow as I will not be partaking in today's 10K PL Holdem event even though I consider PLH one of my strongest events. I simply only have so much money I am willing to spend, and a loaded field for 10k just doesn't cut it for me right out of the gates. Hopefully, I will get a big score early on that will allow me to play some of the bigger events I'd like to play.

The following is a list of minimum goals for my series:

Events: 18
Cashes: 4 for at least 60K (to cover my trip expenses and have a little profit)
Final Tables: 1

Furthermore, I want to stay focused and have fun. Last year, I went 0 for the series until the Main Event. I was very down and not enthused about much. I don't see that happening this year for a couple reasons: 1) I learned from last year. I am not taking the WSOP for granted. Last year I don't think I got pumped up enough. 2) Staying in this house with a bunch of pros should keep the time here very fun and entertaining.

I fully expect at least 20 cashes and 3 final tables from our house. While the odds of a bracelet IMO are about 1 in 4, I still think one or two people will have a great shot. Two years ago, when we had the first "House of Pain", Jason had a 6th place, I had a 3rd place and Paul had the memorable 2nd place Main Event finish. This year's house is far more experienced.

Shuffle up and deal!

Vegas Baby!

Today's final leg wasn't as bad as the first, but definitely wasn't as good as the second. Fortunately, it was easily the shortest at 4 hours. The Utah portion was fairly nice with a few beautiful mountains. However, the highlight was the short 2o something mile hop through Arizona. It basically consisted of a winding 3000 foot decline through the last real stretch of mountains we encountered. After entering Nevada, almost all visual stimuli disappeared. There is a reason the government owns the vast majority of the state. The only saving grace was that we only had 1 1/2 hours of driving through the hazy landscape.

On a side note, Julie had her Lasix surgery today. Hopefully, everything ends up perfectly.

Leg 2 - Boulder to Richfield

As dull as the first and longest leg of this journey was, this one was delightful. A short time after leaving Boulder, Tom and I took route 6 to connect with I-70. Route 6 wound through some beautiful green mountains. However, I-70 was just as good even as the landscape changed to desert in western Colorado. The multitude of canyons you drive through or can see from the highway was right up my alley. After passing through Grand Junction, the road is very isolated from other cars as well as places to stop. This made for a very peaceful ride. We arrived in Richfield, Utah just before 9 in the evening. We drove for 8 hours, but it was about as easy of an 8 hour drive as you can imagine.

Today, we will arrive in Vegas sometime midafternoon. Tom's WSOP starts tomorrow in the 10k PL Holdem. I don't play until Saturday or Sunday in the 1500 NL Holdem.

Leg one of the Vegas Drive

I arrived in Boulder Colorado about 12 hours after leaving Glen Carbon yesterday evening. Originally I was going to call this blog "Stairway to Heaven." I was going to provide some pictures of my drive, and show you how beautiful Boulder is while the rest of the drive sucked. However, a couple things ruined that plan. First, while I did take some pics, I left the cord to transfer them to my computer at home. Secondly, apparently I brought St. Louis 2008 weather with me. Anyone who lives there knows I mean rain. As I approached, Boulder the cloud cover was so low, I never could see anything off in the distance. As a result, I have yet to see a mountain despite being a mile above sea level. So while this may be heaven visually, I am unable to tell you yet. I can tell you the journey from central Kansas right up to the outskirts of Denver is pretty BORING. The only thing that changes for over 400 miles is the color of the landscape. While Kansas is green, Colorado gets a little less rain and has a browner tint to it. Nonetheless, it is simply a very slow raising plain. Furthermore, I saw sunlight for maybe an hour. Otherwise it was overcast, misty, and dreary.

On a good note, over half the trip is done, and the second half should be beautiful. The WSOP starts on Friday, and I am super excited and looking for big things to happen. I will hopefully write more on this after I get to Vegas on Thursday. Moon and I will be leaving on the 2nd leg of the trip early this afternoon.

Quotes for Me to Remember

You live longer once you realize that any time spent being unhappy is wasted. ~Ruth E. Renkl

Whether it's the best of times or the worst of times, it's the only time we've got. ~Art Buchwald

If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You have another chance. ~Andrea Boydston

A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words

Ugly Weekend, BUT......

This weekend's tournaments were a complete waste for me. I found out that when you have alot of coolers, bad beats, and bad plays, it's hard to win anything. Fortunately, I can work on one of those factors. If you don't know which, I welcome you at any table I am playing at.

and now onto the BUT..............

My mom returned from a trip to visit my sister in South Africa on Sunday. This was great for all of us to see her on Mother's Day. My kids especially love seeing grandma. She's the best! I know almost everyone says that about their mother, and they should. Mother's do so much for their families. It's a shame most only get recognized this one day a year. Love ya!

Read and Learn

Today I decided to take a big risk - I played a super turbo satelitte to try to win my way into the $100 RB event. I would like to walk you through my thoughts/comments/strategy with Matt as I "earned" my victory.

mdviox (3:08:41 PM): you need to do one of these satellites
mdviox (3:08:45 PM): looks like fun
vioxc (3:08:54 PM): what sat?
mdviox (3:09:01 PM): the 100 chip sat's
mdviox (3:09:05 PM): for the event
vioxc (3:09:06 PM): ive done them
mdviox (3:09:16 PM): good ev
vioxc (3:09:20 PM): lol
vioxc (3:09:21 PM): y
vioxc (3:09:40 PM): i am 1 for 2 or 4
vioxc (3:09:42 PM): 3
vioxc (3:09:43 PM): i mean
mdviox (3:09:47 PM): see?
vioxc (3:10:03 PM): last one i lost j8s vs 85 on the first hand
mdviox (3:10:03 PM): do the 12 i want to watch
mdviox (3:10:05 PM): $12
vioxc (3:10:17 PM): there
mdviox (3:10:23 PM): hehe
mdviox (3:10:25 PM): ty

Full Tilt Poker Game #6362235649: Super Turbo Sat to FTOPS #7 (48400546), Table 1 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:10:44 ET - 2008/05/10
Seat 1: nikavfc (100)
Seat 2: mater1 (100)
Seat 3: tennisklause (100)
Seat 4: buchtom79 (100)
Seat 5: james124 (100)
Seat 6: PiMaster (100)
vioxc (3:10:31 PM): good pos
vioxc (3:10:34 PM): key in this
mdviox (3:10:34 PM): very
mdviox (3:10:41 PM): bb is brutal
vioxc (3:10:45 PM): i was sb last time
Seat 7: alimousine (100)
Seat 8: FishOnTilt (100)
Seat 9: IfloatU (100)
nikavfc posts the small blind of 15
mater1 posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PiMaster [Qc 4s]
tennisklause folds
buchtom79 has 15 seconds left to act
buchtom79 raises to 100, and is all in
james124 folds
PiMaster folds (patience is key in these things - don't just go with first hand)
alimousine folds
FishOnTilt folds
IfloatU folds
nikavfc folds
mater1 folds
Uncalled bet of 70 returned to buchtom79
buchtom79 mucks
buchtom79 wins the pot (75) (wow someone actually bought the blinds - you kidding me!)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 75 Rake 0
Seat 1: nikavfc (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: mater1 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: tennisklause didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: buchtom79 collected (75), mucked
Seat 5: james124 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: PiMaster didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: alimousine didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: FishOnTilt didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: IfloatU (button) didn't bet (folded)

Hand #2

Full Tilt Poker Game #6362240687: Super Turbo Sat to FTOPS #7 (48400546), Table 1 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:11:11 ET - 2008/05/10
Seat 1: nikavfc (85)
Seat 2: mater1 (70)
Seat 3: tennisklause (100)
Seat 4: buchtom79 (145)
Seat 5: james124 (100)
Seat 6: PiMaster (100)
Seat 7: alimousine (100)
Seat 8: FishOnTilt (100)
Seat 9: IfloatU (100)
mater1 posts the small blind of 15
tennisklause posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PiMaster [Jd Ac] (monster - hopefully I can get this HU)
buchtom79 folds
james124 folds
mater1 is feeling angry
PiMaster raises to 100, and is all in
alimousine calls 100, and is all in
FishOnTilt calls 100, and is all in
IfloatU calls 100, and is all in
nikavfc folds
mater1 calls 55, and is all in
vioxc (3:11:19 PM): wanted hu
mdviox (3:11:23 PM): haha
mdviox (3:11:28 PM): more the marrier now
vioxc (3:11:31 PM): first guy buys it
tennisklause folds
PiMaster shows [Jd Ac]
alimousine shows [Ks Qs]
FishOnTilt shows [Js 6s]
IfloatU shows [7c 9c]
mater1 shows [Jh Kd]
*** FLOP *** [Kc 2h 6h] (come on ace)
*** TURN *** [Kc 2h 6h] [8h] (COME ON ACE)
*** RIVER *** [Kc 2h 6h 8h] [As] (pwned)
vioxc (3:11:42 PM): ship
mdviox (3:11:48 PM): best hand wins
PiMaster shows a pair of Aces
alimousine shows a pair of Kings
FishOnTilt shows a pair of Sixes
IfloatU shows Ace King high
PiMaster wins the side pot (120) with a pair of Aces
mater1 shows a pair of Kings
PiMaster wins the main pot (380) with a pair of Aces
mater1 stands up
IfloatU stands up
FishOnTilt stands up
alimousine stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 500 Main pot 380. Side pot 120. Rake 0
Board: [Kc 2h 6h 8h As]
Seat 1: nikavfc (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: mater1 (small blind) showed [Jh Kd] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 3: tennisklause (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: buchtom79 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: james124 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: PiMaster showed [Jd Ac] and won (500) with a pair of Aces
Seat 7: alimousine showed [Ks Qs] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 8: FishOnTilt showed [Js 6s] and lost with a pair of Sixes
Seat 9: IfloatU showed [7c 9c] and lost with Ace King high

Hand #3 - I have huge chip lead

Full Tilt Poker Game #6362248756: Super Turbo Sat to FTOPS #7 (48400546), Table 1 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:11:54 ET - 2008/05/10
Seat 1: nikavfc (85)
Seat 3: tennisklause (70)
Seat 4: buchtom79 (145)
Seat 5: james124 (100)
Seat 6: PiMaster (500)
tennisklause posts the small blind of 15
buchtom79 posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PiMaster [Ts Td]
james124 folds
PiMaster raises to 500, and is all in
vioxc (3:11:53 PM): power poker now
mdviox (3:11:56 PM): haha
nikavfc folds
tennisklause folds
buchtom79 calls 115, and is all in
PiMaster shows [Ts Td]
buchtom79 shows [Ac Qh]
Uncalled bet of 355 returned to PiMaster
*** FLOP *** [5c 9h Kh]
*** TURN *** [5c 9h Kh] [5s]
*** RIVER *** [5c 9h Kh 5s] [Ks]
mdviox (3:12:03 PM): ship
vioxc (3:12:04 PM): ship
vioxc (3:12:12 PM): rush!!!!!
PiMaster shows two pair, Kings and Tens
buchtom79 shows two pair, Kings and Fives
PiMaster wins the pot (305) with two pair, Kings and Tens
buchtom79 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 305 Rake 0
Board: [5c 9h Kh 5s Ks]
Seat 1: nikavfc didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: tennisklause (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: buchtom79 (big blind) showed [Ac Qh] and lost with two pair, Kings and Fives
Seat 5: james124 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: PiMaster showed [Ts Td] and won (305) with two pair, Kings and Tens

Hand #4 - I now have 2/3 of chips in play and I am a finisher

Full Tilt Poker Game #6362253058: Super Turbo Sat to FTOPS #7 (48400546), Table 1 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:12:17 ET - 2008/05/10
Seat 1: nikavfc (85)
Seat 3: tennisklause (55)
Seat 5: james124 (100)
Seat 6: PiMaster (660)
james124 posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PiMaster [Ad 9d]
PiMaster raises to 660, and is all in
nikavfc folds
tennisklause folds
james124 folds
(No one wants to mess with me - I am the real deal. They are playing for 2nd place now and they know it even though 2nd place is worthless)
Uncalled bet of 630 returned to PiMaster
PiMaster mucks
PiMaster wins the pot (60)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 60 Rake 0
Seat 1: nikavfc didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: tennisklause (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: james124 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: PiMaster collected (60), mucked

Hand #5

Full Tilt Poker Game #6362255093: Super Turbo Sat to FTOPS #7 (48400546), Table 1 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:12:27 ET - 2008/05/10
Seat 1: nikavfc (85)
Seat 3: tennisklause (55)
Seat 5: james124 (70)
Seat 6: PiMaster (690)
james124 posts the small blind of 15
PiMaster posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PiMaster [5c Qd]
nikavfc folds
tennisklause raises to 55, and is all in
james124 folds
PiMaster calls 25
tennisklause shows [2h Ac]
PiMaster shows [5c Qd]
*** FLOP *** [Kc 5d 8d]
*** TURN *** [Kc 5d 8d] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [Kc 5d 8d Td] [Qc]
tennisklause shows Ace King high
PiMaster shows two pair, Queens and Fives
PiMaster wins the pot (125) with two pair, Queens and Fives
(stop trying guys)
tennisklause stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 125 Rake 0
Board: [Kc 5d 8d Td Qc]
Seat 1: nikavfc didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: tennisklause showed [2h Ac] and lost with Ace King high
Seat 5: james124 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: PiMaster (big blind) showed [5c Qd] and won (125) with two pair, Queens and Fives

Hand #6

Full Tilt Poker Game #6362258731: Super Turbo Sat to FTOPS #7 (48400546), Table 1 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:12:47 ET - 2008/05/10
Seat 1: nikavfc (85)
Seat 5: james124 (55)
Seat 6: PiMaster (760)
PiMaster posts the small blind of 15
nikavfc posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PiMaster [4c 8c]
james124 raises to 55, and is all in
PiMaster raises to 60
nikavfc folds
PiMaster shows [4c 8c]
james124 shows [2h Ks]
Uncalled bet of 5 returned to PiMaster
*** FLOP *** [Ad 2c Kc]
*** TURN *** [Ad 2c Kc] [9d]
*** RIVER *** [Ad 2c Kc 9d] [7h]
PiMaster shows Ace King high
james124 shows two pair, Kings and Twos
james124 wins the pot (140) with two pair, Kings and Twos
False hope
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 140 Rake 0
Board: [Ad 2c Kc 9d 7h]
Seat 1: nikavfc (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: james124 (button) showed [2h Ks] and won (140) with two pair, Kings and Twos
Seat 6: PiMaster (small blind) showed [4c 8c] and lost with Ace King high

Hand #7

Full Tilt Poker Game #6362262916: Super Turbo Sat to FTOPS #7 (48400546), Table 1 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:13:09 ET - 2008/05/10
Seat 1: nikavfc (55)
Seat 5: james124 (140)
Seat 6: PiMaster (705)
nikavfc posts the small blind of 15
james124 posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PiMaster [Kd 7s]
PiMaster raises to 705, and is all in
nikavfc folds
james124 folds
Uncalled bet of 675 returned to PiMaster
PiMaster mucks
PiMaster wins the pot (75)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 75 Rake 0
Seat 1: nikavfc (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: james124 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: PiMaster (button) collected (75), mucked

This is too funny. nikavfc has yet to play a hand. Seriously does he know what we are doing.

Hand #8

Full Tilt Poker Game #6362265547: Super Turbo Sat to FTOPS #7 (48400546), Table 1 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:13:23 ET - 2008/05/10
Seat 1: nikavfc (40)
Seat 5: james124 (110)
Seat 6: PiMaster (750)
james124 posts the small blind of 15
PiMaster posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PiMaster [8c 6d]
nikavfc raises to 40, and is all in
james124 raises to 110, and is all in
PiMaster has 15 seconds left to act
vioxc (3:13:11 PM): nik is tight
mdviox (3:13:15 PM): lol
mdviox (3:13:18 PM): ya think
vioxc (3:13:20 PM): should i fold
PiMaster calls 80
james124 shows [Ks 2d]
PiMaster shows [8c 6d]
nikavfc shows [As Qs] vioxc (3:13:42 PM): i told u
This is the play I most regret the entire tourney. I had my read, and didn't go with it. Chip preservation is just as big as chip accumulation. I felt lucky to recover from this obvious error.
*** FLOP *** [Kd Jh Jc]
*** TURN *** [Kd Jh Jc] [Qc]
*** RIVER *** [Kd Jh Jc Qc] [Ac]
james124 shows two pair, Kings and Jacks
PiMaster shows a pair of Jacks
james124 wins the side pot (140) with two pair, Kings and Jacks
nikavfc shows two pair, Aces and Queens
nikavfc wins the main pot (120) with two pair, Aces and Queens
The blinds are now 20/40
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 260 Main pot 120. Side pot 140. Rake 0
Board: [Kd Jh Jc Qc Ac]
Seat 1: nikavfc (button) showed [As Qs] and won (120) with two pair, Aces and Queens
Seat 5: james124 (small blind) showed [Ks 2d] and won (140) with two pair, Kings and Jacks
Seat 6: PiMaster (big blind) showed [8c 6d] and lost with a pair of Jacks

Hand #9

Full Tilt Poker Game #6362270825: Super Turbo Sat to FTOPS #7 (48400546), Table 1 - 20/40 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:13:51 ET - 2008/05/10
Seat 1: nikavfc (120)
Seat 5: james124 (140)
Seat 6: PiMaster (640)
PiMaster posts the small blind of 20
nikavfc posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PiMaster [7s Ad]
james124 raises to 140, and is all in
PiMaster raises to 640, and is all in
nikavfc folds
PiMaster shows [7s Ad]
james124 shows [9d Jc]
Uncalled bet of 500 returned to PiMaster
*** FLOP *** [6s 2d Kd]
*** TURN *** [6s 2d Kd] [6d]
*** RIVER *** [6s 2d Kd 6d] [Th]
PiMaster shows a pair of Sixes
james124 shows a pair of Sixes
PiMaster wins the pot (320) with a pair of Sixes
james124 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 320 Rake 0
Board: [6s 2d Kd 6d Th]
Seat 1: nikavfc (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: james124 (button) showed [9d Jc] and lost with a pair of Sixes
Seat 6: PiMaster (small blind) showed [7s Ad] and won (320) with a pair of Sixes

Hand #10 - HU against tight player with a 10 to 1 chip lead.
mdviox (3:13:58 PM): nice
mdviox (3:14:02 PM): this guy can't win
mdviox (3:14:04 PM): too tight
Full Tilt Poker Game #6362274649: Super Turbo Sat to FTOPS #7 (48400546), Table 1 - 20/40 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:14:10 ET - 2008/05/10
Seat 1: nikavfc (80)
Seat 6: PiMaster (820)
nikavfc posts the small blind of 20
PiMaster posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PiMaster [Tc 3d]
nikavfc raises to 80, and is all in
PiMaster calls 40
nikavfc shows [9c 2c]
PiMaster shows [Tc 3d]
*** FLOP *** [5h Qd Td]
*** TURN *** [5h Qd Td] [Ad]
*** RIVER *** [5h Qd Td Ad] [Ts]
nikavfc shows a pair of Tens
PiMaster shows three of a kind, Tens
PiMaster wins the pot (160) with three of a kind, Tens
nikavfc stands up
PiMaster stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 160 Rake 0
Board: [5h Qd Td Ad Ts]
Seat 1: nikavfc (small blind) showed [9c 2c] and lost with a pair of Tens
Seat 6: PiMaster (big blind) showed [Tc 3d] and won (160) with three of a kind, Tens

vioxc (3:14:13 PM): lol
mdviox (3:14:13 PM): omg
mdviox (3:14:24 PM): you owe me lunch sometime
mdviox (3:14:26 PM): i am so smart
vioxc (3:14:26 PM): lol
vioxc (3:16:50 PM): now i can say i satelitted into this if anyone asks
vioxc (3:16:54 PM): y
mdviox (3:16:55 PM): haha
mdviox (3:17:07 PM): screw shortstacking
mdviox (3:17:17 PM): this is what you need to be doing
vioxc (3:17:25 PM): try ultra SS
mdviox (3:18:45 PM): can't believe he went w/ 92c
mdviox (3:18:55 PM): after folding so much
vioxc (3:18:56 PM): he lost his patience
mdviox (3:18:59 PM): haha
mdviox (3:19:03 PM): you got in his head
mdviox (3:22:35 PM): wow congrats
mdviox (3:22:38 PM): that was huge