The League Loses One of its Own

Yep, the day was going to come, but we finally lost one of our original members, and no, he isn't dead.

Klownboxer has gotten himself a new job with a National Racing company, and will have his weekends spoken for for the foreseeable future. While it is great for him, it sucks for the rest of us.

Klownboxer (from here on out will be referred to as KB), is one of those players that makes you applaud his play at times, and makes you pull out your own hair at others. He has truly improved his play, so much so, that one of the top players in the league hates to have him at his table because, "I can't get a read on him. I can't figure him out."

While a compliment, there are times that not even KB knows what he is doing!

KB can mix up his game (knowingly), and can also mix it up, without really realizing it. I won't go into specifics, but one hand comes to mind. This took place many months ago, and is still one of the classic KB moments ever:

Playing at Irish Jim's game, I am in BB, KB UTG. KB raises it 3x BB. 1 player in mid-late position calls. I had rags, I fold.

Flop:

10-7-9 rainbow

KB checks, caller bets out, KB flat calls

Turn:

??(I think paint)

KB bets, caller shoves all in, KB calls.

KB shows 8-6 offsuit (flopped nut straight)

Caller shows 99 (set of 9's)

Caller needs board to pair to win the hand--he whiffs, KB takes the pot, and busts the player out.

I don't even want to BEGIN to analyze this hand, because if I do, it would ruin one of the fonder memories of grinding it out at the table with him. Suffice to say, nice hand, sir.

KB will be missed by the league, but thankfully he is not relocating anywhere, so I will have a chance to catch up with him at Irish Jim's game (on the rare occasions I can make it), and then a few weeks during the racing year, he will be around the track also.

He's a solid player, but more than that, he is a solid human being. He will be missed at the table, as well as in my office.

Good luck, assclown!

Damn, what a week....

A week filled with visiting NASCAR drivers and their race shops--all work related. It was fun, but it was a grind (harder than poker for sure). If you check out my buddy Jason's blog, you can see some of what we gathered as guests at some of these things. It was kinda cool, and considering all the lugging of gear from one place to another, the clusters of media conducting interviews, it was nice to see some of the things we got.

OH, and there actually WAS some poker played!!!

TUESDAY:
I worked a day shift all week, and one benefit was playing in Irish Jim's game. I didn't fare too well there, finishing 5th out of 10. Only real good news from that night was that I didn't need a rebuy!!! Made a couple of nice hands, but got crippled on a hand when I shoved with A-3 to try and steal, and got called (and raised all in) by a player with KJ. J hits, I lose. Crap.

Showed some Kreskin-like skills (that actually amazed me) by reading 2 different opponents hands just by their tells, and bets. Called my boy JC with J-10 off suit, and my other pal Tracy's AA. Both showed me the hands after I called them out. Freaky.

Anyway, still a fun night, and a good time.

WEDNESDAY:
A long day of interviews (talked to drivers from Roush Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, and Joe Gibbs Racing), some major editing at the station, and then more interviews at Penske racing, it was time for some Hold 'Em with the media. The tourney was sponsored by TUMS, and was a freebie. Winner got a plaque, a 200 chip set, and his name on a "scholarship" for a child to attend Victory Junction Gang Camp. I came in 2nd. Crap.

Hit a couple of huge hands (flopped nut flush twice, top set twice, and caught a full house on the river once), but made one mistake in heads up. I got a plaque, and a 200 chip set, but would have loved to send a kid to the camp. Click that link up there to find out more, and if you can give, please do so. The Petty family has done amazing things there.

I am dog tired, but wanted to drop a line to all and say thanks for checking out the blog--some nice hit numbers over the week, while I was playing NASCAR boy, and it's nice to know that the blog is being checked out.

Peace y'all....a game may be forthcoming Saturday...if you are in the league, and reading this, go to the league site for more details!

~M

Grinding to 5th

Wow. What a grind.

I had such a good feeling heading into our league event for January, and came away with a 5th place finish (which was a cash).

Had pocket pairs a bunch: 66, 99, 10-10 (twice), JJ, QQ, KK (twice). best Ace I saw all night was AQ suited, but had a couple of memorable hands.

Early on, had 66 in BB, and checked preflop.

Flop: J-x-x rainbow.

SB bets out and I ended up donking off a bunch of chips because I thought my hand was best--oops. Dropped my stack to about 800. Built it back up and then had this beauty.

Level 2 (blinds 25-50)
UTG, I hold 99 and raise and make it 150 total. Only SB calls.

Flop: J-9-9

BINGO!

Just PRAYING the SB makes a hand--ANY hand. Checked it on flop and turn, but finally had to try and get ANY value out of it on the river. I bet 200, but might have gotten more had I bet out more. Got a call, showed the quads and scooped.

Later: I have 10-10 in SB. Get a raise all in, I call, and the BB comes over the top for all his chips. Another 625 to call. I make the call.

BB has KK (ouch), original all in has KQ off.

Case K hits and I am back to 800. Rats.

We condense to 3 tables, I am 800, had to push with A-4 off as the blinds were 200-400 with a 25 ante. 1 caller and his QJ lost when an A hits--a needed double up.

Doubled up again when my QQ held up against an AQ suited. Back in business.

Didn't scoop any monster pots after that, but was able to pick up some here and there, and make the final table.

Ran my stack up to about 10,000 chips, moving with some nice hands in early position, but 2 hands at FT sealed my 5th place finish.

UTG, I raise with J-10 clubs. All fold to BB who goes all in for another 1300. My raise priced me into the call, he paired his Q, and won the hand. A dent in the stack, but not crippling.

Later, in early position with K-10, I raise, get 1 call, the BB goes all in for 700 more. I call, then the original caller shoves all in.

What's the play?

My K-10 is offsuit, and I had to put the orignal caller on at least an A-paint at best. At worst he flat called with a monster pocket pair.

I mucked.

Turns out, the caller had 99, the all in had 44.

My cards were live, and had I called there, I would have won the pot, and knocked out both players. The board made me a straight, and then a higher flush. ARRRRGHHHH!

Still, I make that lay down 10 out of 10 times. My K-10 just CAN'T be good against the 2nd all-in (at least in my thought process). That's a spot (in hindsight), that I should have gambled. 2 live overcards with the board still to come--wow. Huge spot. Huge opportunity missed.

So, 5th place finish moves me to a tie for 2nd in points overall, and in good shape for the Tournament of Champions, not locked, but in good shape.

Congrats to Dealerman--he finally closed the deal on a tourney, and locked up his TOC seat. And congrats to our girl Karen--he first final table in league play. The hand that got her saw her in the lead after the flop, but her opponent had a decent and very make-able draw, which he made. She played great, and I was very happy for her. She deserved a good finish, and got one.

Frankly, I was glad she got knocked out when she did...I know she has won other tourneys before, so she knows how to finish. Scary player when she has a stack of chips.

Blog may suffer a bit this week, as I will be on the NASCAR trail, but have plans to play tuesday night, as well as Wednesday with some of the NASCAR media folks...we'll see how it all plays out.

Good luck and good cards!
~M

PS--comment posting has been amended--no idea why I made it so tough for folks to leave thoughts. I know, I'm an idiot.

Online Poker rant

OK...NetTeller is gone, as far as online poker goes.

They pulled the plug when 2 former execs were arrested in the US (NT is not a US based company). I don't exactly know why they were arrested--just that they were, and the company shit all over itself, and yanked any connections with online gaming sites.

So, to quote my buddy Kris, "What does it all mean?"

It means that Bill Frist (the ass of a formerly elected official-he did not run for re-election), is getting his way. The passage of the Safe Ports Act is the death-knell of online poker. They slipped the UIGE (slang for Unlawful internet Gaming Act) into the Safe Ports Act, and guess what? It passed virtually uncontested. Something like 2 Senators voted against it. Who is going to vote against Safe Ports for our country? No one. So the bill passed easily.

There are other ways to get your money into an online site, but the question now is, is it all really worth it?

I am finding more idiots online than ever. Donks who wouldn't last a minute in a live game. Yes, I should be happy about the fish, but I am not. I play tournaments and sit-n-gos online. I don't play the ring games--I hate rakes. It's a different mindset in a tourney, and I like that kind of pressure. Lately, online poker has been bad for my live game.

Which leads me to this weekend. January event in the league. I have had 2 clunkers in a row, and need to get back on stroke. I got a nice boost of confidence last weekend during the wife's birthday game, finishing 4th. I folded hands I had been playing the past 2 league tourneys, and now, I think I can get back on stroke and play well. I am sitting in good shape points wise, but one more bad finish, and that goes away too. I don't want that.

I know I can win this month.

And I just might.

~M

PS--here is the hand history for the pictured hand at the top--check out the limp on AA and then watch as they get CRACKED!

Full Tilt Poker Game #1624908250: $1 + $0.25 Sit & Go (Turbo) (11865806), Table 1 - 20/40 - No Limit Hold'em - 1:05:24 ET - 2007/01/18

Seat 1: vaaco (1,175)

Seat 2: polko (1,305)

Seat 3: spartan74 (1,830)

Seat 4: tenandtwo (1,320)

Seat 5: ctallen0000 (1,430)

Seat 6: ME (1,430)

Seat 7: lafertydan (1,770)

Seat 8: Poker Loc (1,500)

Seat 9: thatghai (1,740)

ctallen0000 posts the small blind of 20

ME posts the big blind of 40

The button is in seat #4

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to ME [Jd 4c]

lafertydan calls 40

Poker Loc foldsthatghai calls 40

vaaco calls 40

polko folds

spartan74 has 15 seconds left to act

spartan74 calls 40

tenandtwo calls 40

ctallen0000 raises to 120

ME folds

lafertydan raises to 200

thatghai raises to 1,740, and is all in

vaaco calls 1,135, and is all in

spartan74 folds

tenandtwo folds

ctallen0000 calls 1,310, and is all in

lafertydan folds

thatghai shows [Ad Ac]

vaaco shows [Jh Ts]

ctallen0000 shows [Tc Th]

Uncalled bet of 310 returned to thatghai

*** FLOP *** [5c 3h Js]

*** TURN *** [5c 3h Js] [Td]

*** RIVER *** [5c 3h Js Td] [4h]

thatghai shows a pair of Aces

ctallen0000 shows three of a kind, Tens

ctallen0000 wins the side pot (510) with three of a kind,

Tensvaaco shows two pair, Jacks and Tensc

tallen0000 wins the main pot (3,845) with three of a kind,

Tensthatghai: what a !$!@ign joke -- (his comment after losing the hand-LOL)

vaaco stands up

The blinds are now 25/50

*** SUMMARY ***Total pot 4,355

Main pot 3,845.

Side pot 510.

Rake 0

Board: [5c 3h Js Td 4h]

Seat 1: vaaco showed [Jh Ts] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Tens

Seat 2: polko didn't bet (folded)

Seat 3: spartan74 folded before the Flop

Seat 4: tenandtwo (button) folded before the Flop

Seat 5: ctallen0000 (small blind) showed [Tc Th] and won (4,355) with three of a kind, Tens

Seat 6: ME (big blind) folded before the Flop

Seat 7: lafertydan folded before the Flop

Seat 8: Poker Loc didn't bet (folded)

Seat 9: thatghai showed [Ad Ac] and lost with a pair of Aces

Moral of this story? NEVER LIMP WITH ACES!!!! Even though he got all his money in pre-flop, his limp invited other callers, and he ended up losing a monster, rather than winning any size pot at all.

Remember--A short price, is always better than a long face.

Birthday Poker was GREAT!

And, no, I didn't win. I cam in 4th, while the wife ended up finishing 10th. A big thanks to everyone who came by with cards and gifts. She was totally blown away by the gifts and kind thoughts. It's nice to have such wonderful friends. You guys made my night as well. Some pictures....

The birthday girl--she's so cute!
Her cake..note the 3-7..her age!
Pre-tournament gift fun
Knocking out those candles
What we played for: stacks of fake $100,000 and the coveted Candy BraceletLook at all that fake money!

The cash game that broke out after the bust-outs

Your Champion!

ORDER OF FINISH:

1-JASON

2-DEALERMAN

3-KORRIE

4-ME

5-SLY

6-DAVE L

7-JOHN

8-KAREN

9-JOSH

10-TRACIE

11-PUG

12-HAMMER

13-MORGAN

14-KLOWNBOXER

15-DON

16-IRISH JIM

I did manage a 4th place finish, not bad considering I was on life support after round 6. Looking forward to next weekend, and the January League event.

Good luck and good cards!

~M

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year-Updated

WSOP TIME BABY!!! Harrah's released their schedule of events for 2007...and here they are (click to enlarge):

I have some thoughts on the schedule, and will get back to posting them later...time to head off to work!
UPDATE: 7:05pm....OK, looking at the schedule, I LOVE IT! Gone is the overload of hold em (limit and NL), and welcome back to the mixed games (HORSE and SHOE)..multiple HORSE and SHOE events means that some actual POKER will be played. Awesome. Plus the WSOP folks decided to bring back the 7-stud split games as well as a NL 2-7 lowball event. There is no doubt in my mind that the WSOP Players Advisory Board (made up of several top players) got these changes made (reducing the number of Hold 'Em tourneys and bringing back the mixed games etc.), and thankfully those voices were heard, and reacted to.

Only downer from my standpoint is that the NL HE event that I usually play in is gone. There is no 1K buy in event in NLHE....the lowest buy-in for that is now $1500. Guess I have to get a paper route or something to supplement the difference! Anyway, I will hopefully find my way into one of those events. I just hope to be playing the way I was at the start of the league season.

We should have a nice group from the league heading out to Vegas at that time as well--whether I play in the Series or not won't matter--we'll certainly find plenty of tournaments to get mixed up in out there.

~M

The Birthday Plan is ON!!!

The Birthday Poker Jam is a go! I have lined up a 2 table affair to help my wife celebrate her birthday--she would kill me if I divulged her age-so I guess I will die when she sees her cake. Some of my friends and some of her friends are on the guest list, and it should be a great time.

Some rules for everyone EXCEPT my wife:
NO iPods
NO sunglasses

Some rules for everyone:
NO splashing the pot
VERBAL declarations in play

A birthday card for my wife earns a player an extra T1000 in chips.

Oh, and she makes the final table--whether she busts out before that or not. If she is still alive, she is getting some additional chips too!

My wife can call for unlimited "red cards"-meaning she can solicit advice from anyone not involved in her hand.

It oughta be fun, since we are going to keep things VERY light.

~M

Double Header Sunday

What a good time.

Played 2 tourneys in one night....1st game Omaha hi. What fun.

For those who don't know, Omaha is played like Hold Em, but you are dealt 4 cards rather than 2. you MUST play 2 cards in your hand and 3 on the board to make your best 5 card hand. If you are unfamiliar with it, it can cause you a headache.....there was plenty of Advil passed around!

Klownboxer won the Omaha tourney, thanks in large part to big saves on the river. He rivered a 3 outer to knock out Karen, then rivered one of 7 remaining diamonds to bust me out in 3rd. My buddy Vito made the remark that he was proud of me for not chirping at him for the river suckout, to which I replied, "Omaha is a drawing game....can't rip a guy for drawing." I love Omaha...would play it again anytime.

Next we played NL Hold 'Em. Hard to say what the hell I was doing wrong. I know there was a lot of it. I know that when I would raise a pot, I got plenty of callers. Guess folks think I am raising to steal rather than raising with a hand. I'll have to evaluate that some more. For the most part, I played fairly tight, although I made a few mistakes trying reach draws when I should have just gone away. When you make poor decisions like that, your stack dwindles. My stack was magic--it disappeared.

I busted out while chasing the nut flush draw--I had Ac 7c, and called a raise pre-flop. 2 clubs on the flop, opponent shoved all in, I called, I had outs (any A, any club--he had top pair Queens), but the draw never got there. I used my rebuy and busted when my AhKd didn't improve and I lost to pocket 9's.

The charitable folks at the table saw fit to allow the host an additional (read they saw more dead money) rebuy, and I actually compensated the table with an extra T1000 in chips. I ended up 4th (out of the money), but I had a blast. We have such a good group of players--not just good card players, but good friends. I like having them over (and there are others that could not attend this week that certainly fall into that group), makes not winning bearable because we all have a good time.

Hold 'Em ended when Dealerman outlasted Hammer, and I do mean outlasted. Hammer was down to his final 900 in chips with the blinds of 400-800, 100 ante. He was all in pre-deal with 900 left, and proceeded to win 3 or 4 straight double ups. That made it fairly interesting, as Dealerman has shown (at my home games anyway), that no chip lead of his is safe heads-up. Dealerman did finally catch on a hand (Hammer shoved all in with K-8 off, Dealerman called with J-9 off), and the J hit on the river to end it. Karen and I looked at each other at one point in Hammer's comeback and without saying anything, sorta agreed it was too funny to watch, since we had seen this before.

Might have something brewing for this Saturday...the wife is having a birthday and loves playing Omaha with me (the card version you sickos!)...and I have a great idea for her cake!

Good luck and good cards!
~M

Hi there

Long time, no post.

Sorry, poker has been a bit slow for me of late, but hoping to snag a game this weekend (likely just 1 table-9 players max).

My buddy Irish Jim just picked up a new table and a new set of 500 chips. He's playing tonight, and I am stuck at work.

1 Powerball win, and the days of me missing his game are over. I promise.

Another post to come soon--I may try and play a little bit online tonight or tomorrow.

~M