Exploits of a PokerTart

Oh, right. Manners.

2009-10-06T20:29:00.002-04:00

Banky's out playing squash (his new obsession), the baby (when, officially, can I stop calling him the baby, anyway?) is sleeping, so here I find myself in front of FullTilt. Lately I only have time for 15-30 minutes here and there, so I've been limited to small-stakes ring games....but since I have more time tonight, I decided to fire up a SNG.

Just as the game starts, another player wished everyone good luck.

I honestly did a double take. It's been so long since I've been at a poker table with strangers where there was any sort of geniality. I was a little shocked.

And then I remembered how poker was when I started playing. People would say good luck, and good game, and nice hand (or GL, GG, and NH). It was rare that anyone spewed the venom and hate that I saw so much that I started tuning the chat out (or outright turning it off at times). When did everyone get so mean?

It took me a few seconds - but I responded to the other player, wishing them luck, too. I busted early - I hope Ms.Friendly goes on to win it...

7 years

2009-09-28T11:08:00.003-04:00

In an attempt to find an appropriate picture to commemorate our 7th year of wedded bliss, I took a quick scan of Banky’s pics on Facebook, and discovered something shocking.

It appears that being married to me has made Banky turn to the bottle.

Happy Anniversary, Babe! Hope the next 7 are as filled with margaritas as the past 7 have been. Oh, and love and joy and all that other stuff, too.

Giving today a chance

2009-09-08T13:16:00.004-04:00

I always liked the first day of school. It was nerve-wracking, but there was always a sense of promise, of a fresh start - this year, things will be better. I will be cooler, I will have more friends, I will be smarter, and I will actually do my homework. And of course, there was the new clothes, which were always just a touch too heavy to wear in early September, but I wore them anyway.

I'm not going back to school - but I want a new wardrobe anyway. If I can't actually have a fresh start, at least I can get a new pair of shoes...

***

Been suckered into playing every day on FullTilt (at least for a few minutes) in their Take 2 ring game promo. I both love and hate poker equally. Poker is like the worst boyfriend you could ever have. Makes you feel beautiful and then screws your best friend. But I come back for more, because I CAN CHANGE HIM. *sigh*

***

Kevin Smith did a 24-hour tweet-a-thon on Twitter yesterday/today. I only saw a handful of his tweets this morning, and this one resonated with me...

ThatKevinSmith Via @Tkide "give me some inspiration to make it through the work day" Today could rule. Give it a chance.

Today could rule. Give it a chance. I like it. I like it a lot.

The edge of the universe and trip Kings

2009-08-18T15:49:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, my mind was blown not once, but twice.

First, Bankwell and I have been watching Journey to the Edge of the Universe. We PVR’d it awhile ago and have watching it in bits here and there (mostly because the visuals & narration are at the exact right frequency to send me into dreamland). The content, however, is anything but snoozeworthy.

The documentary combines actual images from telescopes & space probes and combines it with CGI to take the viewer on an exploration through the universe. Pretty trippy.

We stopped last night when we reached the Crab Nebula. I’m learning all sorts of fascinating tidbits – like stars are actually nuclear reactions – freaky! But what blew my mind was when we got to a black hole – something so dense and with such strong gravity that not even light can escape – everything that approaches the black hole gets sucked in,...the narrator said something like this: “what happens when matter goes into a black hole, we do not know. We have reached the end of human understanding”. Whoa.

I’m pretty sure this is out on DVD – I highly recommend it.

And then, my mind was blown in a completely different way in a $20 SNG last night.

I get pocket Kings in late position and raise 3xBB (I’m so predictable). Blinds call and UTG limper calls.

Flop comes 10, 6, 3 two diamonds. Checked to me, I bet about 2/3rds of the pot.

Blinds fold, limper calls. Hmmm...does he have a set?

Turn K (not a diamond). Yippie!

Bet 2/3rds of the pot again (looking rather silly mind you, because I’m left with only about 400 chips...I thought it was a total ‘call me’ bet).

Limper calls. Must have a flush draw.

River 9, no diamond. He must have missed his draw – not likely going to make more money….but I’ll give it a shot. So I go all in (which coincidently puts him all in as he had slightly less than me).

He thinks for a bit, and calls. With A3. No flush draw, just a 3 that paired on the flop. HUH?

I had to check the hand history twice. He called all the way with bottom pair, and then called off his whole stack on the river.

I have absolutely no idea what he was thinking. Most of the time, when people play ‘badly’, I can understand how they might have justified it to themselves (hell, I’ve done a lot of justification of my own craptastic play), but this? It just left me scratching my head.

I managed to use that nicely wrapped gift to finish 2nd while also making a little profit in a PLOHL cash game. Yay me!

How having a baby has ruined my poker game (and why I’m ok with it).

2009-08-14T10:40:00.002-04:00

Annie Duke played the WSOP 8 months pregnant one year. How she did it, I do not know. I lost my poker game sometime around month 6. I think the growing baby living in my uterus somehow siphoned all my brain juice (that’s a medical term, yo), and I became unable to make any proper analytical decision.

Sample discussion of a typical post-game analysis:

Banky: Why did you call that raise?

Me: Um. I don’t know?

Banky: There was a 4 card flush on the board.

Me: Um. Yes.

Banky: What did you have?

Me: I forget.

But, you know, pregnancy can do weird shit to you. So I chalked it up to my status as a human incubator, and shrugged it off. Then I actually had the baby and, well, that was some insanity all on it’s own. ‘Nuff said.

When I finally (after 7.5 months) started getting some sleep, I thought my game might come back. Nope. I still suck. I chase flushes and open-ended straight draws are my own personal kryptonite. Raising pre-flop is a foreign concept to me. Value-bet on the river – why would I do that?

Why this has all happened, I’m not quite sure. I’m only half kidding about the brain juice – my memory really is for shit these days. But maybe it’s something more...maybe karma has decided that my life is an embarrassment of riches (good job, hot husband, and now a lovely happy, healthy, little boy) and decided to smite me with the poker game of a blue-haired old lady at a charity casino. If that’s the case, then I’m cool with it. I’d rather lose to a 2 outer on the river because I checked the whole way, then change anything about TartWell – because he, dear friends, is the stone-cold nuts.

I post, therefore I am.

2009-05-11T13:08:00.001-04:00

I write about myself on Facebook, Twitter, LiveJournal and here. And you know what? I’m just not that interesting. I am, however, narcissistic, so I shall continue.

Last Thursday was the Season Final game for the Poker League. I was once a regular fixture in this game – so much so that at one point, Banky and I had attended more games than the league host (he went out of town for 3 weeks, and we hosted the weekly games at our house in his absence) – but this season I barely qualified to play in the final, just barely squeaking out the minimum 4 of 12 games to play.

I think part of my ennui with poker these days is because I am playing like shite, and I know it.

My starting requirements are so loose – I can find almost any reason to call. 10 5 off suit? Well, you know a 5 or a 10 is needed to make any straight. And with two suits, I have TWO chances to make a flush!

Loose starting requirements are ok, to an extent, but only if you’re able to pick up orphan pots. Not when you check/fold when you miss.

I know this, yet what do I do? Call-Check-Fold. Call-Check-Fold. Call-Check-Fold. Oh look! I have no chips left. Push with AK, get called by 1010...and I’m out!

Booo. Poker sucks. But it really doesn’t – I’m just not enjoying myself. The league games (the only live poker I’ve been able to squeeze in) just aren’t what they used to be. The games are too small, and all the people who make me laugh are gone. There are still people whom I like – but no one that I really look forward to interacting with.

If I’m going to burn money – I might as well do it while getting a few laughs at the same time. I need more pokery FUN.

I definitely want to stay playing Woody’s game again. Those boys always make me laugh. And I think it’s about time the TartWell residence hosted another homegame.

Any takers?

When the opportunity of a lifetime comes at the wrong time

2009-05-04T14:33:00.002-04:00

Dude. It’s been forever since I blogged or read a blog (other than other mommy journals and Julius Goat’s LOST recaps).

I haven’t played poker online in...I can’t even remember.

My live poker has dwindled to maybe twice a month.

The Pokertart is feeling decidedly less...tart, these days.

I just caught up on all my bloglines feeds. It felt weird – almost like I was eavesdropping. I’ve been pondering why, after it was such a big part of my life, poker has fallen by the wayside. I do still watch it on TV (oh lordy do those GoDaddy commercials featuring Vanessa Rousso make me cringe), but for the most part, I’ve put it on the back burner. Of course, H has a lot to do with it. Becoming a parent sucks a whole lot of energy out of you – but there’s more...I think it boils down to an opportunity I turned down, and how it has made me view poker.

When H was 4 months old, I turned down a ‘dream’ job in the poker industry. I had verbally accepted, but it took over 6 weeks for the contract to get put through, and by the time it arrived, I was simply too exhausted, physically and mentally, to contemplate taking a new job, especially one that would require travel, as this one did. I don’t regret my decision – I love my current job, and I know I made the right choice for where I was in my life then. But I do wonder what might have been had I taken that job.

I think a part of me is afraid to embrace poker as I did before I had H, because if I do, perhaps I’ll find myself full of regret. If I dive into the poker world with as much enthusiasm as I had a year ago, will I long for a life I turned down?

I don’t know. I just don’t know.

***
The other day, Banky mentioned that he’d like us to try and win our way to the 2010 WSOP. H will be almost 2 then, so will definitely be able to stay with my parents for a few days. I kind of like the idea of working towards a goal in poker...and I’d still like to be the first woman to win the Main Event.

C’mon now, a Pokertart can dream, can’t she?

H to the E to the L to the L to the Yeah!

2009-03-11T12:47:00.002-04:00

In.

Does it ever get easier?

2008-11-27T15:54:00.002-05:00

How do you Moms and Dads out there do it?

I'm STILL exhuasted, and grumpy, and I just want to sleep.

Please, please tell me it gets easier than this.

life tilt

2008-10-15T15:53:00.002-04:00

I'm sick and tired and grumpy. I should not play poker like this...ever. Down two SNGs and a full buy-in at PLOHL. Bah.

At least I have this to cheer me up:

Feeling the felt again

2008-10-03T16:31:00.005-04:00

I started getting butterflies shortly after dinner. I looked at the digital clock on the DVR as Banky fast-forwarded through the commercials on an episode of last week’s Poker After Dark.

7:18

“Is there money upstairs?” I asked. “Because I don’t have any on me.”

“Yes.” Banky replied. “I monied last week, remember?”

Right.

7:26

“What time should I leave?”

Banky looked at me like I had just sprouted a 2nd head.

“It’s 5 minutes away. Leave 5 minutes before you want to get there.”

Right. Of course.

The butterflies continued, and I started to feel silly. I’ve played more poker than I can remember. This was just a small game. The Thursday league. I’ve played with these guys over 100 times. Why was I feeling so nervous?

I had been looking forward to this night ever since Banky and I decided that we would rejoin the league after a one season absence. By alternating weeks, one of us would be able to play while the other stays home with little Tartwell.

But despite my anticipation – or perhaps because of it – I was a bundle of nerves.

Luckily, the nerves dissipated as soon as I walked into the home of the league director. Before I even saw anyone, I heard familiar voices and the riffle of chips. As I rounded the corner I was greeted with big smiles and a handshake. “Welcome back! You’re in seat 8”

And so it began.

I played average poker and finished 7th, but had a great time doing it.

Three months and nary a chip nor a card graced my hands. In the throes of new motherhood I lost many parts of myself - sitting at a poker table reminded me of an old part of me. A part I liked, a part I missed.

I'm back and boy does it ever feel good.

That's a lot of candles!

2008-08-06T10:38:00.002-04:00

Warning: Poker content=0%

I’m 33 years old today. I’m not sure where I thought I’d be at 33, but I’m very content with where I’ve ended up.

Taking stock of my life…

Good column:
Handsome, funny husband who truly loves me.
Healthy son.
Positive (but not perfect) relationship with my parents.
A handful of smart, interesting, funny friends.
Nice house (with lots of potential).
Great job that pays me well.

Needs work column:
Weight is too high.
Fitness level is pretty weak.
Health isn’t ideal (kidneys)
Don’t spend enough time with friends.

The weight and fitness issues really go hand-in-hand. I’ll be starting Weight Watchers again once Henry reaches 6 weeks, and by that time I should be ready to get more serious about adding activity into my program. I really have no excuse, since we have a treadmill. And while improving the weight & fitness issues won’t eliminate my kidney disease, getting healthier will minimize the impact on my long-term health.

The friend issue has always been a tough one for me. I find it very hard to grow and maintain friendships. This year I’ve met some amazing people, but I find it hard to deepen those casual friendships. I also have some wonderful, loving people in my life, but I don’t make the effort to communicate with and spend more time with those people. Changing that would have a huge, positive, impact on my life.

Overall, I’ve got a great life and I’m happy. Not too shabby for 33.

Happy Birthday to me.

back in the saddle

2008-08-01T15:29:00.003-04:00

It only took 3 weeks for the poker bug to hit. Henry has gotten into a bit of a routine, and will happily sleep in my arms as I use the computer one handed, so I've been able to play a little poker this week.

Before he was born, I used some FT points and played a 600 point token tourney...winner gets a $26 token. I won that and played another tourney and won a $75 token, and then played a 3rd tourney and won over $200 in $T. I then played some micro limit SNGs, so I had a little over $13, plus the $T at the start of this week.

I've been playing micro limit PLOHL as well as some tourneys. Apart from winning a $5 HORSE sng, the tourneys have been rough...getting deep but not moneying. The micro PLOHL however, has been a cash cow.

It's been fun to play, because it gives me something to think about other than the colour and consistency of Henry's poop.

Better than flopping a Royal Flush

2008-07-22T09:37:00.002-04:00

Meet Henry

He was born at 6:46 on Wednesday, July 9th. He weighed in at a respectable 6lbs 9oz.

The birth was traumatic and the first 9 days were the most exhuasting (mentally, physically, and emotionally) of my life. But he's perfectly healthy, and so lovely and amazing.

He looks just like Banky (minus the goatee).

Poker is on the back-burner for now....any time not spent tending to Henry is spent trying to sleep. Hopefully I'll get back on the poker wagon when things settle into a more regular routine.

Busto!

2008-06-11T11:04:00.002-04:00

It's official, I am busto. Well, at least online.

My FullTilt account contains the princely sum of $1.67. I'm so sick of the terrible beats (I know, 'wahhhhhh', but it's been bad for months), that I'm not sure I'm going to even bother reloading.

Live poker is the shizz anyway. Man I wish I was in Vegas right now.

Donkey crushes my horse!

2008-06-02T17:15:00.001-04:00

A friend and fellow Thursday Night leaguer decided to play in WSOP Event #2 and offered up shares....I snapped up 10% because he's one of the best poker players I know.

I woke up this morning, checked my email and got a note from another backer....our Horse had been snapped off by a donkey. My horsey had AK, K on the flop....all the money goes in and he gets called by QQ. You guessed it....Q on the river.

I told Banky that all J had to do was avoid the bad beat pitfalls, and he'd do really well.

Ah well, there's always another tournament!

If you aren't already, run, don't walk to Tao of Poker. Seriously - there's no WSOP coverage like Pauly's.

And while I won't be able to make any Wsop tournaments this year, I may try a hand at some of the non-Hold'em MSOP tourneys on FullTilt. I love me some LO8 and SHL!

In need of a laugh?

2008-05-29T16:32:00.002-04:00

If you haven't already, you must read Bam-Bam's post about Youranus.

Expose on the UltimateBet and Absolute Poker scandals

2008-05-27T13:32:00.003-04:00

Through Pauly's blog, I found this article. I was already well aware of the Absolute scandal, but was only marginally aware of the situation with UltimateBet.

I post this excerpt from the "Intro" to the article, as well as the link to the entire thing, because I believe that we, as poker players and enthusiasts are responsible for protecting the integrity of the game. Only by shining the light into the dark corners of the world we inhabit, can we claim the game we love is a healthy pursuit. By chosing apathy, we're as bad as the cheaters and theives.

Please read and pass along to your poker playing friends.

I believe that it is important for online poker players to know about the unethical business practices of UltimateBet and Absolute Poker. It is also imperative to understand that these unscrupulous activities are not an indictment on the entire online poker industry. As you read this thread please keep in mind that UltimateBet and Absolute Poker are owned by the same company. They are also regulated by the same puppet regulatory commission. Most poker sites are run with the utmost integrity and security. UltimateBet and Absolute Poker are the exception and not the rule.

I urge the concerned reader to pass word of this summary on to other interested parties. The spread of this information will ultimately protect poker players from unknowingly exposing themselves to the corruption detailed below.

The full summary of the cheating scandals can be found here:

Superusers and Silence: How UltimateBet let players get cheated for millions

Poker + BBQ + Ice Cream cake = Pokertart heaven

2008-05-26T16:00:00.002-04:00

I’m feeling like utter crap right now, due to a life circumstance that I won’t bore you with the details on; suffice it to say that I’ve learned a very valuable and expensive life lesson about trust.

Now onto some pokery goodness that will, hopefully, bring me out of my bad mood.

Saturday night Banky and I hosted a “season ending party” for the Thursday Night league. It was a tradition started after Season 2 (I think) where the season champ would host a little get together. Early on in the league, it was often either Banky or I who won the season, so we hosted our fair share of parties. A few others have also hosted, but for the past few seasons, there’s been no party. (Some recent season champs have not been very...um...hospitable or gracious about their wins. But that’s another story!)

This season’s champ has shown no interest in socializing with anyone outside of the game – so it wasn’t looking likely that there would be a party. Since I likely won’t be returning to the league for a while due to impeding baby arrival, I thought it was appropriate that Banky and I share some BBQ, Beer, and Bad Beats with our fellow leaguers.

Most of the regulars were able to make it, along with some wives & babies! It was a real ‘family affair’ (at least until the poker started). We had SO much food...I had the basics covered (burgers, dogs, salads), and almost everyone brought something...including a delish ice cream cake & of course, beer.

Since the league also invented a game we call “Polish Poker” (after one of the league members who is polish) we also had some interesting Polish beer, vodka and a cabbage & kielbasa stew!

We socialized & ate for quite awhile before the game started. It was awesome to be on the deck in our backyard. It was the perfect temperature, and everyone seemed really relaxed. At one point, I was laughing so hard (the topic was ‘at home vasectomy kits’ – with Banky acting out the scenario) that I thought ‘life doesn’t get better than this”.

After a couple hours, we descended into our rec room for the tournament. I busted out first after about an hour and a half. All in on the flop, I had top pair (Queens), opponent had Jack-high flush draw. He gets there. I play on FullTilt, so I wasn’t surprised.

Once about half of the players were out of the tourney, we started a cash game – I was up and down the whole night, and ended up down $30, but it was all good. Banky was up overall (I think).

It was just a good time overall, and exactly what I was hoping for. It’s nice to share a good meal, a good game, and some good laughs with people. You know?

Seriously?

2008-05-18T13:20:00.002-04:00

Ok. Who did I piss off, that out of the last dozen online tournaments I've played, I've lost critical pots when my opponent catches a miracle card on the river?

I'm about to lose my mind.

Um. Yeah.

2008-05-13T14:43:00.002-04:00

I have a crapload of work to do, and yet can't get motivated to do anything.

That's bad, right?

Just a little poker...

2008-05-12T17:22:00.002-04:00

I had a couple days off last week due to doctor’s appointments, but was able to squeeze in some poker.

I won a single-table satellite into the super-sat for the SHL FTOPS game on Friday night, but couldn’t close the deal. I would have liked to play that FTOPS event…SHL is one of my favourite games right now. But alas, it was not meant to be. I was pretty proud of my performance in the single-table sat though. I was short stack when we were down to 3 (only 1st got into the super-satellite), and I crushed my opponents. I think they were each sitting back to let the other player take me out, so I was able to steal a few pots, and once I got enough chips, I was able to play again.

It felt great to take it down.

In the afternoon on Friday I talked Banky into playing the $20 lunch time HORSE game on FullTilt. I had signed up from home, and he was having a quiet day at work. He said that if it was a ‘small game’ he’d sign up. He signed up with 18 seconds to spare, and took it down. It was really fun railing him from a distance.

At one point he was VERY short stacked – and I told him that he could still win it. I don’t think he believed me, but soon enough, he was rebuilding, and then when it got 3 handed, I knew he would win.

We don’t have any ‘live’ games on tap for this week….and that’s kind of weird. We usually have at least 1 game to look forward to. I think this week is going to feel a little extra long!

Feelin' good

2008-05-05T12:54:00.002-04:00

I like playing poker for many reasons, most of them selfish. I like the feeling of winning, I like that there’s something ‘competitive’ that I’m good at (sometimes), I like the camaraderie that (hopefully) exists at the table, I like watching my poker fund grow. But sometimes, there are better reasons to play.

On Saturday night, Banky and I played at Woody’s house, in a game he organized to raise money for mitochondrial disease research. Unfortunately, one of the regulars we play with every other Monday has a very close connection to Mitochondrial disease; his nephew lived with the disease since shortly after birth until he passed away this winter at age 6. Every game we play at Woody’s we donate $10/player to the Mito March (the big annual fundraiser), but this game was a bit different...it was a rebuy game where 20% of the prize pool would go to the Mito March.

Woody designed a great structure – very player friendly. And between the tournament and the “Mito Tip Jar” that we used in the cash game afterwards, we raised $700.

That makes going out on the bubble a little easier for me ;)

It’s safe to say that Banky had more fun than I did (if that’s possible). I think when he relaxes and doesn’t care about the result so much, he gets much better results.

I did make my buy-in back in the cash game, and had a HUGE amount of fun, so it was definitely a good night. The only drawback:

Playing from 8pm–3am + 7 months pregnant = swollen ankles of hilariously disgusting proportions.

For more info on what we raised money for, visit: http://www.mitomarch.ca/

Escape from working and pseudo-philosophy

2008-05-02T15:47:00.004-04:00

I’ve been writing a design document on a big project for pretty much the entire day. It’s safe to say my brain is fried. What better way to ease a sizzled melon than with a blog post?!

Last night was the Thursday League’s season-ending game (each season is 12 weeks long). I went out 15th out of 16th. Boooo. Is there any solace in not being the chump? Not really!

Just like my play there for most of the season, I just couldn’t make things happen. It’s funny, I actually almost broke even this season due to a few money finishes, but overall – it just hasn’t been a good run. I never went on a tear – every money finish was a real scraping battle.

Due to the impending arrival of the Spawn (tm Cayne) I won’t participate in the next season, and I’m glad for the break. I nearly stopped going last season as I was so dissatisfied with the structure – but changes were made, and the game improved tremendously…but the truth is, I still need a break. I’m just not ‘feeling it’ right now.

Truth be told, I haven’t felt on my game for awhile now – and while I hadn’t seriously considered it before, a couple comments to my last entry made me realize that being pregnant probably does have something to do with it! Being tired, nauseous, worried, tired, excited, tired, achy, tired and tired surely doesn’t help my poker game.

I’m still going to play until the baby is born (well, maybe not right up to the minute!) but I think I’m going to give myself a little break on the results part, and just enjoy the game for the sake of playing.

***

Banky didn’t have a great game either last night – and if you’ve read Banky's blog or played with him, you know he’s an emotional player. He takes losing very hard. Over time we’ve come to a bit of an understanding…he vents, I listen, and then it’s over.

I’ve recently been reading Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth – and while it has absolutely nothing to do with poker, I had a lightbulb moment last night with Banky as we were rehashing the game.

I won’t even try to summarize Tolle’s theories as they are complex and not easy to explain (at least by this Tart) But he talks a lot about how the ego in us (i.e. the voice in our head) is different from who we really are (the ‘being’ who is aware of the voice in our head), and how the ego is always trying to identify with thoughts and things, to distract us from truly living in the present moment. One of the ways that the ego does this is through complaining,and as Banky vented last night, I realized that he was totally identifying with the results of his poker game. It was as if the bad beats, or bad cards, or bad luck were somehow a reflection of him…when the reality of the situation was NONE OF IT MATTERED.

Right there, in that moment, as we were sitting side by side with each other – did it matter who won, or who lost? Did the turn of a card have any impact on who he was? Even if he had won, did it change who he was as a being?

Clearly the answer was no. I think it was an interesting discussion, and I know Banky came out of 'venting' mode a lot sooner than usual!

Any book that can do that, has got to be a keeper. Hopefully Banky will read my copy when I'm done.

Out of sight, out of mind

2008-04-28T17:40:00.002-04:00

I guess blogging is the ultimate “what have you done for me lately?” The love, she is gone. I’m not even sure Banky checks here any more.

I’m still feeling rather craptastic about my poker results these days. I think I’ve identified a couple of weaknesses in my live game – most notably, allowing myself to be bet off of hands. When I was feeling more confident about my game, I’d make those tough calls. Now I’m finding myself folding much more easily.

And then there’s the leak of getting drawn out on but there’s not much I can do about that one ;)

I hadn’t played online since we got back from Key West….I’ve been too busy or too tired. But decided to try a couple SNG’s this weekend. Banky convinced me to try an online tool (I forget what it’s called…Tournament Indicator I think?)….you get a free trial for 2 days, so I downloaded it. Essentially it helps categorize the players in the SNG based on their play in that game, and also help you determine the strength of your current hand against various other potential hands.

I’ve avoided using any tools at all, because I view them as a crutch….but my results couldn’t get much worse, and when you’re crippled, you need a crutch, no? I did find it helpful to some degree….the hand-strength thing really opened my eyes to how I ws over-valuing some hands, and in general playing way too loose for online SNGs. It also helped me focus on my play.

My results were good (I played 2 games, 1st in one, 3rd in the other. The 3rd was due to a really big mistake I made ). Insignificant sample size, but I felt better about playing…so that’s got to count for something.

Aside from poker, I'm still working away at growing this human. Pregnancy is so wacky!

I’m starting to feel the physical effects at my regular live games. My back & legs are pretty sore most of the time…so sitting in folding chairs isn’t the best. I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to be able to keep playing. I’m not due until mid-July…so hopefully I can keep it up for a little while longer!

I wonder how many other mothers-to-be have this concern? I’m such a degenerate.

Check out the Tart in baby-making splendor. This was almost 3 weeks ago in Key West…I’m even bigger now – sheesh.

pity party

2008-04-03T15:22:00.002-04:00

I'm in a bad poker place.

I'm so sick of the bad beats. Plus I'm probably playing like shit.

We have our team game thing coming up again on Saturday - and I'm not looking forward to it. I can just feel the cloud over my head.

Thank god we leave for Key West on Sunday.

Random updates

2008-03-28T15:01:00.002-04:00

It’s Friday and I’m cheerful.

After a day and a half of no kicks, the baby gave me a series of good whallops when I got out of the shower this morning. I guess s/he likes Fridays as much as me.

It’s been a strange few weeks. Someone I work with died on the 14th and his funeral was last Tuesday. He had been sick and out of the office for several months, so it wasn’t a shock. But it’s still jarring to know that cancer doesn’t care if you’re only in your 40s and have 4 kids.

Life sure is funny. A death really makes you appreciate what you've got. This morning Banky had a hot cup of chai latte waiting for me when I came downstairs. It's the little things that keep you in love.

I’ve been ambivalent about keeping up with my blogs (reading and writing), and I’ve been equally ambivalent about playing. My attitude has shown in my results, too. I’ve had a couple of good sessions this week – a good variance day online plus a second place in last night’s league game. I feel like maybe I’m getting some of my confidence back. I think my lack of confidence has lead to people running me over at the tables. perhaps I need to borrow a little of Kat’s biker-chick shit-kicking persona, although methinks I don’t have quite the cojones to pull it off like she does.

With work + baby stress mounting, Banky and I decided we needed a vacation. We both immediately thought of Vegas, but frankly….the thought of Vegas without our mandatory margarita stop at the Pink Taco, and our drunken Pai Gow Mania sessions….well, it just wouldn’t seem like Vegas to me. So instead, we’re heading for a week of fun in the sun with my best friend and her wife in Key West.

I definitely need the time away.

I’d love any advice, tips, recommendations from people who’ve been to Key West…

Poker binge

2008-03-17T16:47:00.003-04:00

Friday, poker. Saturday, poker. Sunday, poker.

Thus was my weekend.

I decided to fire up the laptop for the Donk-a-thon on Friday night, only to find a small group, with none of the regulars I recognized. There were just 13 players...and I gotta say, for the first time ever, I hated this game. It was so UN-fun. No one was chatting and it was all-in every hand. I expect frequent all-ins, but at least give me a little witty banter along the way. Not to mention a total grump at my table who complained the whole time. I rebought 4 or 5 times before I realized I wasn’t getting any enjoyment out of it, and left the last time I busted out (with still 30 min to go in the rebuy period).

I guess when the Kat’s away, the mice don’t play (nice).

Saturday was a rebuy game at Woody’s. It was a deeper stack than we normally play there, and the buy-in was a little higher than normal. There were some new players, and quite honestly – it was a tough field. The guy sitting to my left when the game started made the final table of a WSOP tourney in 2005.

It was a 16 man (well, 14 man and two ladies *natch*) game, and I made the final table, but couldn’t pull out a cash. I made a questionable call with pocket 10s...

I was actually second chip leader at that point, with just over 24,000 in chips. WSOP-guy was a monster chipleader….so even though I was second in chips, blinds were 1,000-2,000…..if I was second chip leader, you can imagine the rest of the field. I think at this point there were 7 players left.

Anyhoo….in mid-position I get pocket 10s. I raise 3xBB to 6,000. It folds to the BB who pushes in for another 5,500 chips. I pretty much immediately called – she had Jacks, they held up, and I was down to approx 10,000 chips. Bah.

I question my call because not too long earlier, this player had raised 3xBB and then folded to my all-in, and she said she had pocket 10s. Knowing that, I should have out her range on better than 10s...she’s going all-in against my raise, and her all-in is less than double my raise...she pretty much is expecting me to call...she’s got to have ‘something’. Sure, she could have had AK there...and I can convince myself that I was ok with a race – but knowing my relative chip stack, I think a fold should have been possible.

Anyone play 10s differently in that spot?

Needless to say, I went out not all that long after with Kd10d to get called my AK. By the turn I had two diamonds, but the river didn’t bring a 3rd. I went out 6th (I think) and got a lovely parting gift. It was a rebuy game, and I rebought once, plus did the add-on, so for the low-low price of $250, I got a stunning golf shirt and baseball hat.

I didn’t bother with the cash game that was going on afterwards...I just didn’t feel up to it.

On Sunday, Banky and I went to Seneca Casino in Buffalo for a deepstack tourney. At over 150 entrants, it was the largest live field we’ve ever played.

I was extremely card dead. I had no pairs above 10s (and I had to fold 10s in the BB to a raise and a re-raise all-in in front of me). I had AK once (that’s the hand I went out on), and the only other Aces I had were with baby cards. The thing is, I was so patient and focused. I doubled up in the 3rd level when I called from a blind with Ac2c...I hit 2 clubs on the flop, led out & got called – hit a 2 on the turn, checked and called a bet, and then hit the flush on the river. I checked (my opponent was aggressive) – he bet and I went all-in for about 1,500 more and he folded. So it was an ‘almost’ double up.

That was my only big hand of the night. The rest of the time I stole small pots here and there to stay alive.

My final hand came when we were down to approx 50 players. I had recently moved to a new table, so I didn’t really have reads on anyone. I stole a pot from late position, but otherwise had been pretty quiet. There was a 3xBB raise from late position, from a player with a large stack. I put him on a bit of a steal. I’m in the blinds (I can’t remember if it was SB or BB) and I have AKo. I re-raise just over double his original raise (expecting him to fold or push me all in, in which case I call – as the pot would be slightly more than what I have in my stack). Instead, he smooth calls. The flop brings As, Js, 3h. I push all-in and he immediately calls, I table my AK, he tables his JJ.

I was extremely bummed – because I felt like I’d played solid, patient poker all day long (this was about 5 hours in), and to go out like that felt awful. Why couldn’t he have QQ or 1010 there?

Banky and I went with a group of friends, and it was good to have them there right after the bustout, because they wouldn’t let me take it too badly. I was pretty quiet for most of the car ride home though – just processing everything through my head. But by the time I got home it was ok. Usually it’s me that has to cheer Banky up after a tough game – but this time he was the cheerleader. It felt good to have him tell me all the good things about the day, and really, there were lots...but the top two were:

I spent the day with 4 friends I made through poker (plus Bankwell, of course) – they are all really good guys, and I’m glad to know them.

I made it to the top 3rd of a BIG live field.

Not too shabby. Maybe next time I’ll make the final table ;)

Oh, and Bam-Bam...I need your Let-it-Ride secrets. I dropped $80 at a table before the tourney. Ouch!

Coming up for air

2008-03-10T14:57:00.003-04:00

I’m so out of the poker blog loop these days – I haven’t even been keeping up with Banky’s blog.

Work has been kicking my ass, as has the weather. When I’m not working, driving, or sleeping, I’m trying to figure out what the hell a breast pump is, and why on earth I might need one.

I am completely and utterly unprepared for motherhood. These days I’m not even sure I could handle the rigors of pet goldfish ownership.

When I’ve had a few moments of downtime – I’ve been getting killed at online poker. I took the day off on Friday...my big events for the day were getting my hair cut and avoiding the impending storm. As I had an afternoon free...me and my glorious new hairdo sat down for some FullTilt quality time. And I lost every game I played. With the exception of free points tourneys, I just lost and lost and lost. It was soul crushing.

The bad beats continued when Banky and I went to the UB Cross Canada Tour thing on Saturday. I’m extremely glad that we got free tickets, because had I paid $300, I would have been mighty pissed. It was interesting enough, I guess, but wasn’t worth $40, much less $300.

Sunday I played some more on FT during the day, and lost again and again. When I finally busted out of a 90-man knockout in 15th place tears actually welled up in my eyes. Banky looked at me like I was losing my mind. Crying over a poker game? I was mortified. I can assure you, losing $26 on teh interweb is not tear inducing to my finances. It was the complete and utter frustration of losing YET again. And of course, since I religiously track my play, I had to enter another ‘minus’ into my results spreadsheet. I shut the computer off, and then went and had a long, hot shower.

I’m not sure I have all the answers as to why I’ve been such a consistent loser this year (and yes, so far in 2008 I am a losing player)...but I do know this. It’s not just bad beats. Sure, there have been more than a few ovary-crunching beats – but I’ve also been playing less than stellar poker. Poorly timed bluffs, calls instead of raises, playing passive when I should be aggressive (or vice versa). I’m not sure when I started to suck so badly, but I do know that I’ve been ultra-stressed at work (and somewhat at home), and that is never good for my game. I think that when I get stressed out, I gamble more. It’s like I’m looking for that rush of a win, as opposed to really enjoying the game for the game.

My Eh-Vegas recap

2008-02-25T16:33:00.003-05:00

I am a total suburbanite. Only the promise of a poker blogger gathering could summon me to the big bad city.

Banky and I left with plenty of time to spare...although we didn’t count on hellish traffic that started right when we exited the highway, and the political demonstrations near Astin's place impeding our ability to easily find a parking spot...but we did find a spot a couple of blocks away, and made it just a little late.

Not being the most socially adept with ‘new’ people – I was feeling the butterflies. When we walked into the lobby and dialed Astin's buzz code, I wasn’t sure if we should say our real names, or “PokerTart and Banky” – we went with real names...there was a slight pause from Astin, and then we were buzzed in. We got up to the apartment door and heard loud music. We knocked a couple times and got no answer. We started to wonder if we got the apartment number wrong…then we heard chanting…

‘WE WANT CARSON! WE WANT CARSON!”

Ok, right place...we just have to knock louder. 3rd time did the trick, and we were greeted by a smiling (and bleeding) Astin. We walked in to see a rousing game of Guitar Hero in progress. We got hugs from Kat, Bam-Bam, Pebbles, DonKaaaaaa, Carson and the rest of the Tuckfards.

The butterflies started to fade.

We soon met IronGirl and Joanada. We didn’t officially introduce ourselves to Al, Riggs, and CK until later (during and after dinner)...Astin’s living room was packed full of folks playing/watching Guitar Hero, so there wasn’t a good moment (and I’m a bit of a wuss when it comes to just walking up and introducing myself).

Dinner was served not to long after we arrived, and it was awesome. The appetizer and dessert were my faves though. I could have eaten bowls of both. In fact, I helped myself to 2 servings of dessert. It goes against my nature to allow ice-cream, especially home-made deliciousness, to go uneaten. And by then, I was ready for a nap. But, no nap was to be had. Instead we walked 345,897,987km to the poker game. Ok, maybe that was a slight exaggeration. It felt long though, because I was blindly following Kat & Astin.

After a quick stop into the liquor store, we were up in the club. It was bigger than I thought it would be – but emptier. I guess Saturday is slow?

Soon we were into the game. And it was not at ALL like I expected! These bloggers play toight! I guess I’m too used to Woody’s rebuy madness...I didn’t know how to play against real players who know how to play.

I think Banky had the same problem. There were only 3 rebuys, 2 of which were from us. Heh.

Needless to say, I won the “first person to rebuy” prize. I’ll post pics of my well-earned prize later.

I did manage to make the final table, but busted when my all-in was called by pocket 3s. I guess he put my range on...um...pocket 2s? I had J10, the flop brought a Jack in the door, and then a 3 right after. Booooo.

I’ll let Kat tell the rest of the final table story...I’m sure she’s dying to!

After watching the final table action for awhile, a 1/2 game started up. Banky and I played with Astin, Astin’s buddy, some club people, and Riggs, Joanada, and Kat joined later.

None of the other bloggers joined the cash game...the party seemed to end after the tourney finished and almost everyone left. I was bummed – not because they didn’t join the game, but because I didn’t get to spend nearly enough time with all of them.

The cash game ended when one of the club players left. It was pretty late and my back had been bothering me for hours. I hated to leave (Banky and I leaving essentially busted up the game), but I was too tired and sore to keep going. I was down a little in cash, but up a LOT in hugs.

It’s hard to put into words what it was like hanging out with these folks. I can only imagine what it would be like in Vegas, where the drinks flow freely, and there’s no worry of getting home.

Some of my highlights:

Seeing the Tuckfards again, and getting lots of hugs from Bam-Bam and Pebbles.

Spending quality girl-time at the poker table with CK, Joanada, Pebbles, IG, and Kat. In my normal poker travels, it’s testosterone city. It was awesome to play with these smart and funny chicks.

“I am going to beat you WITH your kid, if you don’t keep him away from my daughter”
- Riggs, telling the story of meeting the father of his 7 year old daughter’s boyfriend.

Watching Carson SMOKE Guitar Hero.

“They must have known you’re American. We have universal health-care in Canada”
- Banky, explaining to Riggs that he got double-screwed by his stripper’s sob-story about needing money for surgery for a kid with no feet.

Meeting Astin. I now have a girl crush on what has to be one of Toronto’s most eligible bachelors. Cute, cooks, and made me laugh repeatedly at the poker table. (Even after crushing me with his QQ v my JJ).

“REMON!”
- CK. No other explanation needed.

Meeting Al. He was much more subdued that I was expecting. But it was great to finally meet someone I’d been reading for so long. Next time, Al, once this baby is born...we’re doing SoCo shots together!

There were many more moments, but most too hard to explain. All there is left to say is THANK YOU, to the bloggers who traveled from near and far, to Astin for hosting a terrific dinner, and to Kat for herding us poker-cats together for a wonderful time.

It's here!

2008-02-23T13:02:00.002-05:00

A long, shitty week at work ended with me nearly comatose by 7pm last night, so the beginning of Eh-Vegas festivites were out of the question for me....but I'm SO excited for tonight.

I think a nap might be in order though. I get the feeling I'll need to be well rested!

I'm a bitch on Mondays

2008-02-19T16:24:00.003-05:00

I know it’s Tuesday, but it feels like Monday. And the older I get, the more I hate Mondays.

Ugh.

I tried to arrange a poker game Saturday night, but the notice was too short, and no one could make it. So Banky and I went to another game. I was originally hesitant because I was worried about the weather – but the skies were blue, so we went for it.

I had a great first half of the game. The hand of the night was when the blinds were 100/200 with a 25 ante. Player A in mid-position raises to 300. I have pocket aces and smooth call from the button. Player B in the small blind re-raises to 900, and the Player A goes all-in. I nearly creamed my jeans and was a little too enthusiastic with my all-in. Luckily, the Player B couldn’t bring himself to throw away his Kings and called. Player A had Queens. So the three hands were Queens, Kings and Aces. Total cooler.

I nearly died when a Queen fell on the flop, but an Ace on the turn won me the pot (and I took out both players at once). I then had a h-u-g-e stack. Someone said something about knowing who was going to win the game….but I knew better. I said “I’ve lost better leads than this”. And true to form, I bubbled.

Fuck.

The lesson I learned from Saturdays game was when a Lucksack is running hot, there’s nothing you can do.

I raise with AQ, Lucksack says “this is a bad call” and calls. Ace hits on the flop, I bet, Lucksack calls. Turn brings 3rd flush card, I bet, Lucksack goes all-in. I fold, he shows his flush. He called with 2c3c.

Same guy, later.

I raise with Aces. Lucksack calls. Flop brings two of one suit. I bet the pot. Lucksack thinks long and hard, then calls. Turn brings 3rd flush card. I bet, Lucksack goes all-in. I tank (one of my aces matches the flush), but ultimately fold. Lucksack shows the 10s7s.

What can you do?

And it wasn’t just against me. It was against everyone. The guy could not miss a flop. Truth be told, I want him to call with his shitty flush cards…and it’s nights like Saturday that encourage him to play like a donkey. I just wish I had managed to pull out a cash rather than a bubble.

After those hands, my stack was normal, and then I let them get eaten by the blinds. I should have been more aggressive, but I honestly think that I lost my heart after having such a big lead, and losing big hands in such a crappy way. At least I found the fortitude to make the right decisions (and thankfully the Lucksack confirmed my decisions each and every time by showing his made hands).

I played a ton of online poker this weekend – and ended up exactly where I started…up 2 buy-ins, down two buy-ins, up a buy-in, down a bunch of tourneys. Blah.

In good news – I felt the baby kick this weekend. That was wicked.

Am I better because of poker? Part 5: Friendship + a little pimpage.

2008-02-07T15:20:00.000-05:00

In this look at how poker has impacted my life, I’ll be covering the following topics:
- Finances
- Career
- Health
- Marriage
- Friendship

Welcome to Part 5: Friendship

Writing this series of posts has taken longer than I expected – and truth be told, I’ve been avoiding this last entry like the plague. Not because of the poker part, but because of the friendship part. I’m afraid that to look at the impact poker has had on friendship in my life, I’ll have to take an honest look at friendship before poker, and I’m not sure I’m emotionally ready for that.

But, I want to finish the series because not finishing it has held me from posting anything else of consequence, so here goes…

I’m a friendly person. I’m cheerful, I’m optimistic, I laugh easily and enjoy making others laugh. I feel like I’m likable, and make good company. Hell, I’d be friends with me. But all my life, I’ve had very few friends.

When I was very young, my parents had a close group of friends – they all had children in two waves; the first wave (which contained my older sister) was all girls. The second wave, 4 years later, contained me….and a bunch of boys. My first friend was David. Because our parents were best friends, we were joined at the hips as babies, and toddlers, and very young children. We did everything together….until we entered the first grade. He ran off with the boys, and I was left with the Stephanies and Jennifers of my age-group who didn’t seem to get me. I wasn’t a tom-boy, but I wasn’t a girly-girl either. Even at that age I was a plain-Jane bookworm, and I didn’t seem to fit in with anyone. You see, I didn’t really know how to socialize with girls. The older girls in my parents’ extended family wanted nothing to do with me (they were too old to hang out with a ‘baby’), so I either hung with the boys, or as I grew older and was no longer welcome there (ewww! girls are gross!), I hung with the adults, or, more often than not, a book.

What’s odd, is that I didn’t seem to have a problem socializing in a group – but I never made that one-on-one connection with anyone. I never had a ‘best friend’ that the girls around me all seemed to have.

I came close in the 4th grade – with Christie, who was a year older than me. We were in a 4/5 split and became close. We used to ride bikes, go swimming, and watch scary movies (Children of the Corn was our favourite). But then the school year came to an end. Christie was going to the Junior High, and told me that we couldn’t be friends anymore, because she wanted to be with a cool group at school. And I wasn’t cool. I was devastated. 3 years later I was walking home from school one day and passed Christie and one of her cool friends. As I walked by, she moo’d like a cow. Mean Girls indeed.

Junior High and High School were much the same story. I was fine in groups, always had someone to each lunch with, or play Echure with in the cafeteria, and had a couple of close friends, but was never the best friend. The closest I came was Laura – who I am still friends with to this day. However, there were three of us who hung out together, Laura and Leanne were ‘best-friends’, while I was a welcome, but very clear, first runner-up. Even now, as adults that dynamic exists, Leanne was Laura’s maid of honour, Laura will be the same in Leanne’s in her upcoming wedding.

I’m right there with the bridal showers & bachelorette parties…but haven’t quite reached BFF status. When it came down to it – in all situations, I was the one passed over.

Post-high school was all about teh interweb for me. Again, I found lots of friends – and one, truly best friend in Tonya. She and I are still wonderfully close. Except, that is, for proximity. She lived in Florida when I met her, moved to Tennessee for university, and now lives in Maryland. We stood up for each other in our weddings. She is the funniest, most loving, and dearest friend to me. Except we see each other once a year, at most, and communication (besides keeping tabs via personal blogs), is inconsistent. I know if she lived closer, we’d see each other all the time. But distance has not been kind to our friendship.

And thus lies my biggest problem - me. Lest you think this post is all ‘woe is me’. I know the reason I don’t have a bustling social calendar is my own social ineptitude! I am a terrible friend. I don’t call. I rarely email. I make no real efforts to foster a new friendship or to keep one alive.

I’ve never had trouble making “situational’ friends. If I see someone frequently, we become quite friendly. But as soon as that regular contact dies…it’s out of sight, out of mind. Well, not truly out of mind – I frequently think of those lost relationships, but don’t make the effort to reach out.

I’m not sure what my problem is. Maybe early rejection by peers makes me hesitant to put myself out there. Whatever the case. I can literally count on 1 hand the number of people I consider close to me. And that includes Banky (who, truly is my best friend and makes me happy every single day.)

So, happy, gregarious friendless loser meets poker. What happens then?

Well, I can easily say that poker has expanded my circle of friends. Poker has also expanded my horizons, and introduced me to wonderful people from many walks of life. I’ve slung chips and shared laughs with sports agents, bankers, coffee truck drivers, architectural students, used car salesmen, teachers, engineers, retail clerks, and computer technicians. I've socialized (both at and away from the felt), with people I never would have met otherwise.

It's strange, because I've become friends with people I regularly try to win money from. But there’s a camaraderie, and a sense of competition that draws us together.

Poker blogging has introduced me to another whole set of IFF’s (and some now visible ones). I’ve been happily amazed that there are people who regularly read my blog, and I can feel the beginnings of real friendships blooming. Through my writing, and reading of their writing, there’s a connection that feels very real.

And there are many others who touched me deeply when I shared some sad news early in the summer. Their simple comments meant more than could be imagined. While many of those commenters (and those who commented on our recent good news) aren’t close friends (at least not yet) – I felt embraced by a community at large. And that, my dears, is what poker has given me – a sense of belonging. And for a girl in a corner with a book, that’s pretty awesome.

~

Thanks for reading this self-indulgent series of posts. I did it more for me than for anyone…but I hope you learned a little more about me in the process.

And now, to read some REAL writing, head on over to Truckin’…

February 2008, Vol. 7, Issue 2
1. Benson and Hedges by Paul McGuire I looked at her arms and wrists. She didn't appear to be a cutter, but she listened to a lot of angry indie chick rock and idolized Ani DiFranco. Her sullenness always bothered me. I wanted to try to talk to her, but it was not easy. She used to sit in her room and drink alone... More

2. Declaration of Independence and Love by Betty Underground It felt like I had stopped breathing for minutes as he brushed his lips across mine, without touching them. Dusting them like feathers. My head grew light as he teased me. I was frozen. Suffocated by desire... More

3. The Big Empty by Johnny Hughes Ever time I see Dowd, he gets shorter. Used to be taller than me. They say he puts a drop of honey on everything he eats, and he gets Chinese herbs from a chiropractor... More

4. Squirrel Hunting with Pudddin' Tooth by Clay Champlin I was merely a hunter trying to kill him before he made it home. Without a word I pointed at the little grey dot bounding across the forest floor. Puddin' Tooth sprung to his feet, and we were off tracking the beast... More

5. Dragon Slayers and the Angry Villagers by Mini Waffles J and A heard about a war and it was about the angry villagers and the Charlyaters but the angry villagers had to fight to keep their lands. Then they signed up... More

Thank you Jordin Sparks!

2008-02-05T15:11:00.000-05:00

I made my very first Superbowl related bet at a party on Sunday. I took the over on the length of the U.S. national anthem. Ship it!

If only all sports betting was as easy as this. But I know nothing about sports, and I’m no Pauly – so I’ll stick to poker.

I’ve been playing a lot of SHL on FullTilt lately. I made a killing at the 1/2 tables – experimented higher, and ultimately have had to come back down. I don’t know if it was variance, or my own ineptitude, but after a few lost buyins I decided I was above my pain threshold.

Overall, it’s a pretty stress-free game, which is right up my alley these days. It also requires patience, and that I pay attention…both skills that I need to work on.

There was poker at the Superbowl party – and Banky and I cleaned up. The first two were just short SNGs before everyone got there. Top 2 paid, and in the first we both busted out…in the second I took second. Then we played two rebuy games. Again, top two spots paid, and both times, it ended up with he and I as the final two. Everyone expected us to chop when it got down to us (which we did – the first time, because everyone was waiting to start a a second game, and the second time because I was exhausted and wanted to go home). It kind of bugs me that everyone assumes we’ll just chop because we’re married. While we do pool our bankroll, we track all our play separately…and we are very competitive – I want to WIN, not chop. Oh well.

Truth be told, I didn’t even want to play the second game – but I didn’t just want to take the money and run after the first game ended, so I figured we’d ‘donate’ back some money and then we could leave when we busted. Um. Nope…we took it down. I wonder if we’ll get invited back.

At least they can’t accuse us of taking advantage of drunks. I may have been sober, but true to form, Banky drank for two. At one point, the host’s wife even commented “I’ve never seen someone so eager to take shots. He even says ‘yes, please’ when I offer them”. That’s my Banky.

This is when I love poker the most...

2008-01-28T16:58:00.000-05:00

Banky and I hosted a game on Saturday night – it wasn’t the first game we’ve ever hosted, but it was the first in awhile, and the first in which the attendees all didn’t know each other before.

Truthfully, I was a bit anxious. I always get nervous when I have people over…I want people to have a good time – but as I’ve learned over the years, when the people you invite over are fun & awesome, you don't have to worry.

We had a bunch from the Thursday league, Bill (of Woody’s fame – Bill=Woody), a friend from work & her husband, and the lovely Kat.

We started pretty much on time – with only Bill running late due to work. Banky and I decided to use the WSOP prelim events structure with 25 minute blinds, and we had a starting stack of 4,000 chips. The idea was to give everyone a lot of play – we were there for fun, and busting out in 20 minutes isn’t fun.

I squeaked my way into 3rd, and then played in the cash game until 1:00am which is late for me....these days I'm lucky to make it past 9:30!. Since I'm eating for two these days, Banky took one for the team and drank for two (maybe even three based on the number of Sleeman's empties I cleaned up), and I know he made out ok in the cash game. But even better than having a profitable night, was having a basement full of people who make me happy.

I don’t know about everyone else – but I had an amazing time. At one point I was laughing so hard I was crying (and that’s the best kind of laughter).

Poker, laughter, good people. If that’s not the recipe for a good night, I don’t know what is.

We'll be doing this again...and soon!

Grizzle, good beats, and the truth about December

2008-01-22T10:48:00.000-05:00

Sam Grizzle is one funny dude.

Last week’s Poker After Dark featured famous “Hecklers” – and the highlight for me was Sam Grizzle. I’ve read a lot about Sam, but had never seen him in action. He truly was as funny as his reputation, and I loved hearing some of his stories. I wasn’t that impressed with his play (he seemed to find the exact wrong time to bluff, every time he tried). But I enjoyed watching him at the table.

It got to heads-up between Shawn Sheikhan and Phil Helmuth, and Shawn was horribly out-matched. I think Phil’s ego needs a seat of it’s own, but there’s no doubt he can play, and he outplayed Shawn completely.

-----------------------

I had a good poker moment on Saturday night. But first, I have to tell a bad beat story. I will not pay you $2 for listening…you can skip by the story itself if you wish…

***Bad beat story begins***

20 player game, I made it to the final table with a short stack. There are 8 players left. I just scooped a nice pot without having to show down. I’m in late position (1 off the button) and the blinds are 150/300 with a 50 ante. As I’m stacking my chips from the last pot, a player in early position raises to 1000, and gets two smooth callers. I look down at two red Aces. Gorgeous. I push all in (only about 2500 more). The early position player calls immediately, and both the other players hem and haw before folding.

I immediately flip over my aces, and my opponent flips over AsKs.

The flop is Qh, Jh, 3s.
Turn is 8h

Someone calls for a 10 – but Banky says “10 of hearts" which would give me the flush. Of course, it’s the 10 of clubs that falls on the river, and I lose to a 2 outer.

***Bad beat story ends***

Despite the bad beat, it was a good poker moment for me – because I didn’t get mad, not at all. I felt flabbergasted, but not mad. I didn’t feel frustrated, or hold any bad feelings towards the other player. To me, that was a very good thing, and a sign that I’m maturing as a poker player.

-------------------------

And now the real reason Banky and I didn’t go to the blogger event in Vegas…

We’re on a bracelet race of our own, but a bracelet race of a different kind:

I’m due in July, so in December I was knee deep in morning sickness and daily naps. Not sure I would have been in any shape to meet a bunch of poker bloggers for the first time.

I’m definitely up for Eh-Vegas though, albeit a much more sober version than I’d like! So I hope to see a bunch of you there...

Monday sucks balls

2008-01-14T17:01:00.000-05:00

I’m not in a good mood today. I’m tired, grouchy, and if the sun doesn’t shine sometime in the next week, I’m going to lose my fucking mind.

Thank god for a mindless meme. This one comes to me courtesy of the lovely Kat.

****

Here are the rules: Put your music player on shuffle. Press forward for each question. Use the song title as the answer to the question even if it doesn't make sense.

30 Songs:

How am I feeling today? Hella Good

Will I get far in life? King of Swing

What's your current state of mind? On the Grind

How do my friends see me? Auf Achse

Where will I get married? Every Breath You Take

What is your view of marriage? Queen of the Air

What is my best friend's theme song? Three Imaginary Boys

What is the story of my life? Interesting Drug

What is/was high school like? Perfect Strangers

How can I get ahead in life? Everyone Says Hi

What is the best thing about me? Brown Eyed Girl

What is today going to be like? Low Low Low

What is in store for this weekend? The Boogie Bumper

Describe my parents? You And I Are a Gang of Losers

Describe my grandparents? So What

How is my life going? Air Force Ones

What song will they play at my funeral? He Knows I’d Love to See Him

How does the world see me? Sexy

Will I have a happy life? The Night Has Opened My Eyes

What do my friends really think of me? Pimp Juice

Do people secretly lust after me? Breakfast in Bed

How can I make myself happy? Baseline

What should I do with my life? Batter Up

Will I ever have children? My Sexual Life

What is some good advice for me? William, It Was Really Nothing

How will I be remembered? #1

What is my signature dancing song? Empty

What is my current theme song? Here We Go Again

What do people think my current theme song is? Maddest Kind of Love

What type of men/women do you like? Cool Wit it

Some of those were pretty close to what I would have picked. Others, not so much.

**********

I just remembered something I wanted to post about....

Banky and I PVR Poker After Dark, and last week's final episode was hilarious. Gavin Smith was obviously well into the bevvies by the time it was heads-up between he and Phil Ivey. He ended up winning, but that was irrelevant. What was entertaining was watching his drunken babble as he tried to engage Phil in coversation. Several times Phil just couldn't help but break into a huge smile.

I like Gavin Smith - he was gracious when we met him in Vegas in 2006. Wow. I bet that's the first time "gracious" has been used in the same sentence as Gavin Smith! But it's true. It was nice to see him win, especially when trashed.

Am I better because of poker? Part 4: Marriage

2008-01-10T16:05:00.000-05:00

In this look at how poker has impacted my life, I’ll be covering the following topics:

- Finances
- Career
- Health
- Marriage
- Friendship

Welcome to Part 4: Marriage

Since Banky and I had a fight this morning, I thought what better time to write about our marriage. If only I was kidding. But seriously, who doesn’t want to plan a Vegas trip as he’s about to head into the shower? Seize the moment, I say!

This morning’s argument is a prime example of how different our temperaments are. Banky is a planner – I’m a spur of the moment kind of person. When Banky needed a new car, he did weeks and weeks of research. I bought the one I thought looked cool and felt good during a test drive. I trust my instincts, while Banky trusts the facts. It’s amazing that we ever agree on anything (when the reality is, we actually agree on almost everything).

But back to the task at hand – how has poker affected our relationship?

Banky and I got together long before I had ever felt the weight of a poker chip in my hand. He was a friend of a friend, and in our very early 20s, we attended many of the same parties. After about a year of peripheral friendship, we connected (over a game of trivial pursuit, no less.)

One awkward first date later, we were joined at the hip. That was 10 years ago.

We’ve grown so much since those early days. We’ve been laid-off, quit, hired and fired. We’ve had surgeries, car accidents, witnessed the joy of a new life beginning, and the sorrow of too many lives ending. We became first-time home owners together, got married, and saw our friends marry (and some divorce). But through it all, we’ve laughed. There are very few people who can make me laugh as hard as Banky can.

Our relationship with poker started well into our relationship with each other. We’d always been game players – we spent many a late night playing Euchre with friends. But it wasn’t until poker that we became fully immersed in a game.

It started with watching poker on TV, and then watching Rounders, then nervously playing at the Flamingo in Las Vegas. Soon after followed online poker – and that’s when the poker affair got serious. We played frequently. Almost exclusively side-by-side. He’d play while I watched, or I’d play while he watched. It was fun and exciting as we learned the game together.

We found a local home game that we played weekly, and within 6 months, poker was an every day conversation.

Over the past few years, we’ve had so many shared experiences through poker. It always amazes me when we go to home games filled with men who are there to escape their wives. There’s one player we play with frequently who has to get ‘permission’ to play (no joke!). Another player’s wife constantly complains about the money he’s spending. But most of the wives I’ve encountered are ambivalent of poker, and somewhat disdainful of me for playing ‘with the boys’. Many of these players spend as much time playing poker as I do – and that’s time away from their partners. But I can’t imagine investing myself so fully in something that I couldn’t share with my partner. How can someone understand the joy of a win, or the agony of a bubble finish, unless they’ve experienced it themselves?

In addition to the shared experiences, Banky and I have also benefitted from an accelerated poker education, because we’ve been both student and teacher to each other.

Many times after a poker game, we’ve gone over hands or situations and talked about why we did what we did. We’ve celebrated together, and commiserated together. Ultimately educating each other in the process. We've read poker books one after another (and sometimes simultaneously) and discussed the concepts. Sometimes agreeing with the author, and sometimes not. We always have each other to bounce ideas off of. Without Banky, I'd still have trouble understanding pot odds, or why calling a re-re-raise with pocket Jacks might not be the best idea.

So far, it all sounds rosy – but ever silver lining has a dark cloud...

It’s not always easy when your best friend and partner is sitting across the table from you; especially when you go on tilt and make an incredibly stupid mistake. Many times I wished my husband was safely at home so I could entertain him with the story of how I got sucked out on the river to lose – as opposed to him knowing I called off three quarters of my stack with middle pair. Knowing that he knows what a donk you just were can be embarrasing.

It can be extremely frustrating to still be steaming from your bad exit from a game, and to have your partner say “why did you do that?”. There have been many post tournament temper flares (although luckily, they flame our pretty quickly - especially with the aid of a cold beer and a cuddle on the couch).

It can also be boring sitting around after you’ve chumped out, waiting for your loved one to (hopefully) cash, so that your 3 hours of waiting are worth it.

There have been trying times when one of us or the other is on a losing streak. Banky and I handle variance in very different ways – I get non-chalant (and sometimes reckless with my online bankroll), while he gets pessimistic and angry. It’s difficult - wanting to help, but not being able to find the right words to bring someone out of a dark space.

Ultimately though, there have been so many more light, wonderful moments than dark ones.

As I see couples who have been together for a long time begin to drift apart, I’m thankful that Banky and I have a shared hobby that we are both so enthusiastic about.

For me, the answer in this category is clear: poker has definitely been good for my marriage, and my marriage has definitely been good for my poker!

My year so far...

2008-01-08T14:33:00.001-05:00

With my lack of posting over the last week or so, you think I’d have been bereft of poker games. Nothing could be farther from the truth!

Our Thursday league had it’s season ending tournament – and it was a disappointment. I gained a lot of chips early on, and lost them shortly after the break. But I wasn’t all that disappointed in my play – I had AK 6 times before the break…in the league structure, 2 or 3 continuation bets that don’t pan out can ruin your stack, and that’s what happened. Que sera sera.

What I was really disappointed about happened after Banky and I left. He wrote about it, so I won’t bother rehashing all the details. But it just struck me as so sad and pathetic that people would chop 5 ways in a 13 player game. How desperate must you be to leave with money in your pocket that you’d have so little regard for the game that you’d chop when barely over half of the players were gone? If people need money that bad, they shouldn’t be playing in the game to begin with.

I can understand if HUGE amounts of money are on the line. I hate chops (the few times I’ve succumbed to them, I’ve felt very dirty afterwards) – but if I was at a WPT final table, where the difference between 4th and 1st is hundreds of thousands of dollars, I’d definitely consider a chop - especially if I doubted my skills in comparison to the other players. But on Thursday we were talking about a total prize pool of less than $1000.

The whole thing grossed me out – especially when the story that was related to us included the host of the league literally yelling “chop” after every hand for 5 minutes. Asking for a chop is one thing, intimidating other players into chopping is another.

I told Banky that I was unequivicably done with the league – at least for the next season. The league was no longer fun for me – and I suspect for other players as well. I was done before the beginning of this season, but gave it ‘one more try’ because we’ve been with the league since the beginning – but I can’t keep spending a night a week in a game that frustrates me so much. Not when there are so many other fun options.

We also had the final game of the season at Woody’s. It was on New Year’s Eve – so was a mix of a poker game and a party. We had tons of fun. Even though I busted first (I think), I had a smile on my face. We played a second SNG, I didn’t make the money again – and then after midnight decided to play a cash game. About 2:00 in the morning, I was felted when a VERY drunk player flopped a straight on me, and I decided not to buy back in. Banky was having fun, and another player begged me not to stop playing, so I bought back in. And doubled up with Kings on the very next hand. Sometimes poker is so funny. Banky and I ended up slightly up for the night (good cash game results made up for the bad tourney results).

Finally, last night was the Woody’s TOC. I did my usual – build up a nice big stack early on, and then blind it away in the late stages. I think I went out 6th. I was very card dead, but I can’t fully blame that. I should have used my big stack to my advantage more. You can’t always wait for good cards. I also made a HUGE mistake early on by not raising with the nuts on the river. I was so distracted that I didn’t make the flush I was hoping to make, that I only called with my nut straight. Had I thought for 2 seconds I would have realized I had the nuts. D’oh.

I’ve also been playing some online poker again. I got a 3rd place finish in a $20+2 HORSE MTT on FullTilt. Which was a good thing, because I had run my online bankroll dangerously close to nada. I decided that I needed some focus and discipline (I get bored easily online and play above my bankroll, stay longer than I should, and pretty much just piss my money away) – so I looked up the rules that Chris Ferguson used to turn his $0 into $10,000. I’ve been using the rules to manage my play at the low-limit HORSE games, and have been having fun. I’ve increased my FT bankroll by 14% - not too shabby.

So that's the start to my 2008. I think it's going to be a very good year for the Bankster and I. I'm going to focus on playing games I enjoy, and with discipline that makes it profitable.

2 posts in 1 day. I'm exhuasted!

Am I better because of poker? Part 3: Health

2008-01-08T14:28:00.000-05:00

In this look at how poker has impacted my life, I’ll be covering the following topics:

- Finances
- Career
- Health
- Marriage
- Friendship

Welcome to Part 3: Health

This will be the shortest of the topics I cover – not because health isn’t important to me, but because the impact poker has had on my health is negligible.

Growing up, I was a chubby bookworm. As an adult, I was much more than chubby & a couch potato. In my late 20s I joined Weight Watchers and lost 100lbs – I have more or less maintained that loss since then…although I was, and still am, far from my goal. To achieve a normal weight, I had to lose almost exactly 1 half of the weight I started with. Pretty crazy.

But I’m way healthier now than I was then, so while I’m far from goal, I’m in a much better place.

All that happened before poker though. Since poker, nothing much has changed health wise. It’s not as if I had an active lifestyle that I abandoned for the lethargy of online poker. I was pretty lethargic then – I’ve just traded in the TV remote for the mouse or the live game.

So physically – it’s a wash.

A TuckFard Experience

2007-12-30T09:34:00.000-05:00

Last night Banky, Kat and I had our first, official, TuckFard experience.

The drive up north took a lot less longer than I anticipated – so when we were almost there 45 minutes early, we took a quick side trip to Starbucks for a latte (for Banky) and a Strawberry Fappuccino (for me). I’ve been craving a strawberry milkshake for weeks – and this finally satisfied it. Somehow I knew this was a good omen for the night.

We arrive just on time, braved the icebergs on Carson’s street, were greeted at the door by Carson himself, and we were whisked into the Carsino. I’ve played poker in quite a few home games, but I think the Carsino has the sweetest set-up I’ve seen…let’s just say he and his lovely wife know how to host a game!

I spotted Bam-Bam right away. He came over to shake my hand, and I was having none of it! It was a hug or nothing! Lucky for him, he obliged ;) Pebbles insisted on her hug too, and then the introductions began. I was worried about my piss-poor short term memory and forgetting everyone’s name…but because I knew them all by their online names, it was surprisingly easy.

Everyone was smiling, laughing, chatting away. In ‘real life’ I find it quite difficult to socialize with new people, but the TuckFards were so welcoming that within minutes I felt like I was one of the gang. I don’t know if all poker blogger gatherings are like this, but if they are, I can’t wait to meet more of you!

Kat arrived shortly after we did, and the poker started soon after.

And the poker was awesome. The structure was so good – it was definitely designed for play. We didn’t lose a player for over and hour and a half! Unfortunately, that player was Banky – but I’ll let him tell his own stories. I was seated with Carson on my right, SuzyQ on my left, and Pebbles, Mike, and Kathy. After about 10 minutes, Carson joked that the random seat generator put all the chatty-kathy’s on one table (not ours) – but between listening to the stories from the other table, and doing a little chatting ourselves, we held our own.

The TuckFard poker play was exactly the kind of play I like – they take the poker, but not themselves, seriously. So it’s a solid game of poker, but fun and lively. A real joy to play.

I didn’t get many hands early on – but at a crucial time I was able to take some big pots, and went into the final table as chipleader. However, the final table was not kind to me at first, and I folded away half my stack. I was extremely lucky in two major hands – I won a race against Bam-Bam with AQd when he held Jacks. Then came the hand of my night.

I had been folding A LOT, and I picked up KQo in middle position. Not a stellar hand, but the table wasn’t overly aggressive and I figured I could go in for a steal.

The blinds were 400/800 with a 200 ante. So I raised to 2400. To my surprise, Carson reraised all-in for 5900 more. CRAP.

Bam-Bam tanked. Double Crap. Then he folded. NutzFirth also painfully folded. It was them my turn to tank. I rarely take a long time to make decisions, but this one required some thought. I didn’t want to call – but I thought I probably had the odds…I knew I needed to do some math. And like Barbie says…”Math is Hard” – but I did my best…

We were 7 handed, so there was 1400 in antes, plus the 1200 from the blinds, plus my bet of 2400, and Carson’s stack of 2400+5900 = a total pot of 13300 (and if I’m honest, I didn’t know the exact amount…I just knew it was over 1200 when I did my count). At 2:1, I reluctantly called.

I was relieved when Carson turned over Tens since neither of my cards were in his hand. But I nearly jumped out of my seat when NutzFirth showed his fold… pocket kings!

I guess my tight play really had been noticed, because he put me on Aces. There’s no way I could have folded Kings there, but I understand NF’s play based on his read of me. Bam-Bam told us he folded Queens – and fortunately for me, and unfortunately for Carson and Bam-Bam, a Queen came for me. I was lucky that not only did I win my race, but the TWO players that would have beaten me had either called, both folded.

Between that hand and the previous hand with Bam-Bam, I had a very large stack, and through some careful play made it heads-up against NutzFirth.

He had his revenge for the folded Kings, however, and pretty much schooled me heads-up. I had the lead going in, and lost pot after pot. Amazingly enough, though, I had a blast doing it.

Banky likes to say “First or Worst” – but I’ll happily take a cash any day – and I was very pleased with my second place finish.

Banky managed both First AND Worst, as he won the side game once it got heads-up between he and Kat.

By this time it was way past my bedtime, and after more hugs and handshakes, we were on our way home.

Thus ended our inaugural TuckFard experience. Great people, great poker – what more can a PokerTart ask for?

Am I better because of poker? Part 2: Career

2007-12-27T14:51:00.000-05:00

In this look at how poker has impacted my life, I’ll be covering the following topics:

- Finances
- Career
- Health
- Marriage
- Friendship

Welcome to Part 2: Career

I’m typing this at work at 2:00 in the afternoon. I guess that gives a little indication as to my priorities. I kid, I kid. I’m usually pretty busy during working hours – but the week between Christmas and New Years Eve is notoriously slow.

Truth be told, while I wholeheartedly acknowledge my corporate drone-ism – I actually like my job. On some days, I even love it. I work in marketing and I lead a team of smart, funny, and hard-working people. Venture outside my little fiefdom, however, and the office if filled with every The Office stereotype you can think of. It’s when I have to deal with people not on my team that I want to either punch them in the throat or drink myself into oblivion under my desk. But I digress….back to my career….

I’ve traveled a pretty golden road on my career path to date (barring a few potholes that I fell right into). The path to my current situation started out when I volunteered with Microsoft to get free hours of Internet access (this was back in the days when you paid for Internet access by the hour). The volunteer gig led to a part-time gig, which led to multiple full-time gigs where I got to do interesting things and meet interesting people. The good times, however, did not last and after a couple years of very fruitful freelance contracting, I was without a source of income.

A few months of unemployed self-loathing and afternoon matinees led to a job in my industry, and after 6 months there, contacts there led me to my current employer.

I’ve held 6 different jobs here, each more interesting than the one before. At one point, I was a golden child here. I was encouraged to get my M.B.A. so I could take on more senior level positions. Unfortunately, I didn’t have an undergrad degree. I dropped out of college a few months in, and started working full-time (the Microsoft money was too appealing). However, the program I wanted to attend said they would potentially accept students without undergrads as long as they had 7 years work experience, scored high on the GMATs and had good reference letters – luckily for me, I was able to pull off all 3 (even luckier that my 98th percentile in the Verbal section made up for a piss-poor Quantitative section. Thank God poker isn’t ALL math, or I’d be screwed). I was accepted and began my 18-month quest to get an M.B.A.

I wish I could say I was proud of my accomplishment – and in many ways I am. I know I worked hard, and learned a lot. But this was an “Executive M.B.A.” program – and some of the people in my class were complete and utter idiots. Knowing they ended up with the same degree that I have kind of tarnishes the whole deal. I’ve never held higher education in the same esteem that other people have. But at the end of the day, if a piece of paper reassures other people that I have the knowledge that I know I have, than so be it. The best part of the whole experience was seeing how proud my Dad was on graduation day. That pretty much made up for the 18 months of torture.

While I was in the M.B.A. program I was playing poker online. It was for small stakes, and not all that often (working full-time, plus school every other Fri-Sun didn’t leave a lot of free time). I graduated in 2005, and it was after that that Banky and I started playing more frequently, both online and live.

It wasn’t until early 2006 that poker became an everyday topic of conversation in our house. And it’s really been over the last year that I think it’s impacted my working life – and the impact is thus:

I’ve become apathetic.

And I don’t mean that in a bad way. In many ways, the apathy has been good. In the past, I was extremely emotionally invested in my work. I carried everything home. If work went well, I was happy, chipper, and fun to be around. If I dealt with an asshole, or my boss stole my idea, or if results weren’t as good as I hoped, I’d be devastated. Tears were not uncommon. I would spend evenings ranting to Banky, and being frustrated that he couldn’t understand. I’m sure I was not the most pleasant person to be around. Now, things just don’t bother me the way they used to.

However, apathy can also be bad. I still care about what I do, so perhaps apathy isn’t the right word – but I just don’t care as much as I used to. I feel like I’ve put work in it’s proper place….as a means to an end (the end being a lifestyle that I want). I no longer aspire to a bigger, better, career. I just want to be intellectually stimulated and work with fun, interesting people. I could care less about promotions, and hierarchy, and office politics.

I’m sure my attitude change has been noticed, because I’m not longer on the fast-track that I once was. But I’m not willing to sacrifice my time the way I was before. I leave work at work. Some other chumps can take their Blackberry’s with them on vacation. I don’t even check mine after office hours.

It’s hard to pinpoint that yes, this change in attitude is entirely because of poker – but I have to think that playing, thinking, and talking about poker so much has to have had an effect.

Playing poker has taught me how to deal with bad beats. I don’t get fazed by them any more. Work is full of bad beats! Dealing with an douche, having your boss take your name off a presentation and present it as her own, losing a great employee to another dept. The old me would spent days steaming – but now I’m mad for a few minutes (or a couple hours, if it’s something really bad) but then I shake it off. Just like at the poker table.

Sometimes, in poker, you do your best and you still lose. It’s the same at work. Sometimes you are smarter, better, more qualified than your co-worker, but they still get promoted. It’s like watching a fish catch hand after hand. There’s nothing you can do but play your best game – in poker, and in life.

When I reflect on where my career is now – I have to say that as far as progression, I’m no better off than I was before poker since I've been in the same role since 2004. But because of poker, I’m happier where I am than I would have been without it.

I’m not sure where that nets me out. I still have some thinking to do on this one.

Excellent advice...

2007-12-26T07:33:00.000-05:00

You'll Look a Little Lovelier Each Day with Fabulous Pink Pokertart.

Generated by the Advertising Slogan Generator, for all your slogan needs. Get more pokertart slogans.

Am I better because of poker? Part 1: Finances

2007-12-21T14:34:00.000-05:00

Back when CC was over at Pokerworks, he wrote an excellent series of articles about the impact poker had on his life. It was an introspective and well written series, and I felt compelled to write something similar. I emailed him asking for permission to copy his format, and he graciously agreed. I, however, let time pass and never sat down to write my own series.

Now that months have passed, and I think I’m finally ready for the introspection.

So, in homage to CC’s original series, here is my look at this wonderful, crazy, frustrating and rewarding game and the impact it’s had on my life.

I’ll cover the following topics:

- Finances
- Career
- Health
- Marriage
- Friendship

Finances

I decided to start with this topic, because it’s the easiest one to quantify. I’ve tracked my play since the beginning of 2006, so the financial impact poker has made on my life is easily measurable and, luckily, positive.

The first time I ever played poker was in the Flamingo poker room in April of 2003. I had been watching the WPT with Banky on Sunday afternoons for a little while, and was intrigued. On a previous Vegas trip, Banky played 7 Card Stud, but I was too shy to approach the poker tables. This time, I mustered up the courage to give Limit Hold’em a try. I really only remember two things from that time at the tables: calling out that I had a straight at showdown, only to realize that I didn’t, in fact, have a straight and chatting with a tablemate who told me about a place on the web where you could play poker. He seemed shy when I asked him for the name of the site, but eventually he told me it was called ‘PartyPoker’. When Banky and I made it home, it wasn’t long before I signed up for an account.

I played on Party for a long time. I have no idea how much I won or lost. Only that I probably lost more than I won. But I had an amazing time. I then switched to Pokerstars (I can’t remember why). Banky and I started playing in some local home games, and were active on a poker forum. At the end of 2005, we decided that to truly get better at poker, we needed to track our results. Being a corporate drone, I’m an Excel wiz so I whipped up a spreadsheet and we tracked every cent.

Sometime in 2006, Banky discovered PokerSourceOnline where you got “free” stuff for completing bonus at various poker sites, and I became his guinea pig. I played on Pokerstars, poker.com, absolute, and Ultimate Bet. We got poker books, a folding poker table and other various ‘rewards’. But the real reward came on one random day in the middle of ’06. I can’t recall why, but I was at home for the day. At the time I was playing on Absolute, and I started off playing 1/2LHE. I had an incredible run that day, and rampaged my way up in levels. Every time I got enough to play at a higher level, I moved up. Soon I was playing 25/50 (or a limit close to that…the memory is fuzzy), and I Could. Not. Lose.

I hit every draw. Every high pocket pair held up. Every call I made was right. It was insanity. When Banky arrived home from work, I showed him my balance. I had made over $7,000. In one day.

Now this amount might be pitiful for some ballers out there. But the highest buy-in games we had ever played were $50 freezeout sng homegames. Online, $20 sngs were on the high side for us. This amount of money was more than I imagined making in poker in a year, nevermind one day.

After a few days, I decided to cash most of it out. In retrospect, it might have been wiser to try and continue to build a bankroll. But I had no delusions of grandeur. I knew that I had been incredibly lucky on one day, I didn’t expect that the luck would continue. I thought that cashing out would be my best bet. However, I didn’t just want to roll that money into our regular bank account. It was, afterall, poker money! So Banky and I opened a separate account for our poker winnings. We dubbed this our ‘poker fund’. At one point, the fund was up to 12,000. In the last year, it’s dwindled down to $4,000 – but not because of poker losses….instead we went to Mexico, remodeled our bathroom and installed some new windows.

I do still take the occasional shot at the higher levels – with various degrees of success and failure. I know it takes big money to make big money. Sometimes I crave the thrill of the higher limits, and sometimes I just want to play for the sake of playing.

As for 2007 – it’s been a good year. We’re both ‘up’ – but not by nearly as much in 2006. The thing is, as much as poker has had a positive financial impact in the sense that I have more money because of it – I’m not as interested in the money as I used to be. I’m less concerned about the financial cost (or benefit) of the poker session, than I am in how I played it and how much fun I had. Having a hobby that pays for itself is a joy.

Soooo close

2007-12-18T15:35:00.000-05:00

Every other Monday, Banky and I play a game at Woody’s. It’s probably the most fun poker game I play. It’s a bunch of beer-drinking, trash-talking men, and me ;) At first they would censor themselves around me. Not any more. Last night I was privy to discussions about crapping at work, and masturbating while using a bidet – and that was all before the break.

Woody runs the games as a year-long series. At the end of the year, the person who has won the most money is declared the champ – and gets a super-cheesy bracelet, a trophy, and their picture up on the wall. He’s got champs from 2004-2006…and a spot all picked out for the 2007 champ. Up until last night, I held the lead. Now, with one game left in the year, I’m in second place, $415 behind none other than Banky. Mofo!

I’m the only woman that has ever played at Woody’s, and I so want my picture up on that wall. The thing is, I’ll need to win the next game, and Banky has to not place in the money at all. It could happen…

Otherwise, I’m not playing much poker. I haven’t played online in weeks. The online poker bug I get just hasn’t been there. Between the Christmas festivities, a busy work schedule, and not feeling up to snuff, the TV has been calling my name most nights (especially when Christmas movies & specials are on…I am a complete and utter sucker for Christmas specials). I’m hoping to play some more live poker in the new year – Kat and I are hoping to get together a trip to Rama or Fallsview (maybe a Tuckfard get together at Rama is in order…hmmmmmmmmmm?). A few friends and I are hoping to play in some tourneys at Seneca, and Banky and I really should get to the casino more….

*********************

I was disappointed not to win the Write Your Way to the Aussie Millions contest – but I gotta give Julius Goat props…his entry was fantastic. A Christmas Carol is one of my fave stories – twisting it poker-style was genius. I did get mentioned in a note from the FullTilt gang, so that was nice. I had fun writing my entry. I'm sure I made myself laugh more than those who read the entry, but that's pretty common in my life. If I can make myself & Banky laugh, I'm all good.

Huge thanks to Al for organizing this amazing event, and good luck to all those playing in the TOC. I’d love to see a blogger take the Aussie Millions down!

No respect for Annette

2007-12-12T17:12:00.000-05:00

I’m soaking up the WPBT trip reports – wishing I could have been there with you all. Please keep ‘em coming!

I haven’t felt very ‘pokery’ lately. Work has been both busy and full of holiday activities that it’s all a bit overwhelming. Most days I just want to go home and fall into a TV-induced coma.

I did get the urge to write here last though, when I collected the latest issue of Bluff from my mailbox. I’d been waiting for this issue to arrive, because I assumed there would be great coverage of Annette_15’s WSOP-Europe Main Event win. What I saw, however, was Joe Sebok & Barry Greenstein on the cover. Huh? Annette Obrestad, a woman*, won the main event being both the youngest to ever win a bracelet, and the only woman to win a Main Event – and all she gets is a couple pages in the middle of the magazine? Wha?

Don’t get me wrong – I have tons of respect for Barry Greenstein. I think he’s an incredibly talented player, and I love his demeanor at the poker table. I’m sure the dynamic between a father and a son who both play poker is very interesting. But would this not have been an ideal opportunity to put the record-smashing Annette on the cover?

Banky and I got into a heated discussion over breakfast. I was ranting at how it was sexist – and he said it was because it was the WSOP Europe and the average Bluff reader is a white American male and isn’t interested in a European event they can’t watch on T.V.

I disagree – I think it has way more to do with not wanting to put a normal looking girl on the cover. I’m sure if Annette looked more like Pamela Anderson she’d be splayed all over that cover in a heartbeat. Instead, she’s a normal (if not super-young looking) girl, who is crushing games online and live, and was pushed off the cover by an editorial piece on father/son relationships. Just doesn’t sit right with me.

This isn’t the first time I’ve been disappointed with Bluff. I still cringe every time I come across ZeeJustin’s monthly column. It’s pretty hypocritical of Bluff to fire one of their editors who recently got caught cheating online (which I think was the right move), while contracting with Justin (another self-confessed online cheater). So which is it? Cheaters are allowed to write for Bluff, or they aren't? The Bluff moral compass is out of whack.

I guess my problem is I’m so starved for quality poker content that I can’t bear to cancel my subscription.

* homage to Wicked Chops Poker

Office vultures and loving Doyle

2007-11-28T14:04:00.000-05:00

Tis the season...

Gifts from vendors have started to arrive in the office. When a big box gets delivered, everyone gathers to see what treasures it contains. Wine (the favourite, but difficult to share), chocolate, cookies, fruit…it all gets ooooohed and ahhhhed over before it gets ripped open and devoured.

Clearly we need more excitement in our days.

I’m going to try not to gain 48765803876lbs this season.

-------------------

I started writing some commentary about Monday’s High Stakes Poker episode, but it got boring so I deleted it al, because really, all I want to say is I heart Doyle Brunson.

My favourite Doyleism was actually from last week’s episode. After Jamie Gold and Farha made fools out of themselves over the AA v KK hand, Doyle (after referring to them as Dumb and Dumber) turned to Barry Greenstien and muttered:

“If my Daddy knew I was a loser in this game he’d roll over in his grave”

Oh Doyle, you had me at Dumb and Dumber.

This week I loved how he handled Guy Laliberte not wanting to turn over his hand when Doyle called his huge check-raise on the turn. The pot was over $800,000. Doyle said:

“You don’t want to turn over your cards after you asked to see mine? Ok” and shrugged.

He totally called Guy out, without being a jerk about it. Guy turned over his cards.

Class and a quick wit – not much more you can ask for in a man. Oh, and he has nice, warm hands too ;)

Easy come, easy go

2007-11-26T13:18:00.000-05:00

Working from home on Thursday brought a lovely side effect – lunchtime poker. I convinced Banky to play a $5 HORSE sng with me. Big mistake – he busted me on (or near) the bubble. At least he took second place ;)

When my ‘work day’ was done, I decided to play way above my roll (as I am occasionally known to do), and crushed the 15/30 OHL game. I quadrupled my buy-in (which, incidentally, more than doubled my roll on FullTilt). Wheeeeee

I know one shouldn’t risk so much of their bankroll on one game. But my offline bankroll is more than sufficient. And sometimes I just get sick of the small stakes. I’m a gambler at heart.

The league game that night was disappointing as usual. When the blinds were 150/300, we had 6 players left and we were all shortstacked. I was the chipleader at one point, with less than 10 times the Big Blind. There’s so much wrong with the structure of the game, and I really don’t have fun there anymore. The people I really liked have stopped coming, and last week the ONLY person talking it up and trying to have a good time was Banky. Everyone else was sitting there stonefaced. BO-ring. Anyhoo…

That lead to Friday and what is quickly becoming the most therapeutic game I play…Kat’s Donkament. I like being able to act silly and not care about the results. Last week I think I was in for $15 bucks. This week, I didn’t have to rebuy once. The poker gods were on my side. I ended up losing to Carson when my hammer lost to AceJack. I think that was hammer karma hitting me because I told Astin that his hammer was no goot. Ooops!

Saturday I thought I was the shiznit and tried to repeat my OHL crushing, and was crushed instead. I lost 2 buyins…gross. But I was still up for the weekend, so I was able to keep it in perspective. The only bad part is, after riding the variance train on Thursday, I cashed out a bug chunk of change, so with the loss on Saturday,my FT balance is back on the paltry side. Ah well, time to rebuild...

I'd rather be eating turkey

2007-11-22T09:20:00.000-05:00

While many of my poker blogging brethern are enjoying a day filled with family, turkey and football – I’m working at home due to some terrifically crap-tastic driving conditions.

I’m pretty lucky that I have the kind of job where the occasional work-from-home day is acceptable, because 2+ hours each way = my personal hell.

Pokering has been ok lately. Banky and I went to a game on Saturday night that did not end well. I busted just before the bubble, and Banky on the bubble. I really didn’t care, but Banky was really ticked off about how card dead he was – and it showed. It was kind of uncomfortable, especially since I started dealing after I busted out. I know I’m not personally responsible for the cards I dealt out, but somehow I felt like I was pouring salt in the wounds. Not pretty. I think his reaction was less about this game in particular, and more about how bad he’s been running lately. Bubble after bubble can wear you down.

Good news is, the bubble streak was broken when he won Woody’s on Monday. Of course, he took me out along the way. Punk.

Now for the bad news. Banky and I are out for Vegas. There are a bunch of reasons….but ultimately it’s just not the right time for us.

Hopefully we can organize some sort of GTA-Vegas get-together in the near future...we have a swank poker room. Ok, it’s a folding poker table in our basement, but still, the invite is open…

My Aussie Millions Adventure

2007-11-12T18:14:00.000-05:00

My Aussie Millions adventure happened so serendipitously, it’s like it was meant to be. Like Sonny and Cher. Only without the divorce part. Or the skiing into trees. That wouldn’t really be serendipitous. Anyhoo…

*insert flashback waves here*

I’ve never been the greatest poker player. But I love the game. The competition, the camaraderie, the challenge.

When Al teamed up with FullTilt Poker to give bloggers a chance to win their way into the Aussie Millions, I knew it was probably my only chance at a major tourney. My biggest problem was trying to play the BBToo events. My early morning starts at my corporate job (and my general love of sleep) coupled with a killer cold in early November put me out of commission for many of the tournaments. But buoyed by the idea that even a blind squirrel can occasionally find a nut, I entered a few, and by the luck of Jebus, I finally won one!

The hand that won me the game went something like this:

Limp with 45o, get quads, get paid off.

Many people have questioned the pre-flop limp with 45 offsuit UTG. But what can I say? Women’s intuition, suckahs, women’s intuition.

Of course, that only won me into the big game. I was worried. How could I beat the field full of poker blogging elite? I figured my only way to win was to lucksack it, so lucksack it I did.

When, late in the game, I was dealt 45o UTG. I knew it was my time. We were 3 handed, and I had my opponents both slightly out-chipped. I raised and they both called. The flop came 2,3,6 rainbow. All the money went in, and my opponents showed KK and AA.

It’s good to be lucky.

The 45o was officially renamed “the tart”. Well, my opponents tried to call it “that f’ing b--ch”, but I’m calling it “the tart”.

So with my lucksack packed, Banky and I boarded the plane to Australia.

Banky had 3 big agenda items for Australia:
1. Eat some kangaroo
2. Climb into a eucalyptus tree and hang with koalas
3. Dress in drag and lip synch to Abba in the outback.

Banky's kind of weird that way. Makes me love him more.

I only had one agenda item – take the fooker down!

I was extremely intimidated playing the event.

At my first table I had one pro I knew (Gus Hansen – hubba hubba), and a bunch of internet people that I had never heard of. They don’t typically play the $2 +$0.15 heads-up SNGs on FullTilt like I do. But apparently they are pretty big in teh interweb poker. I nursed my stack for awhile until I pushed in with, AKc, got called by AA and KK, and caught a flush. Wheeeeeeeee! I never heard a Dane swear so much in my life.

Honestly, I can’t remember much from the rest of the hands that lead up to the final table. I do, however, remember seeing a lot of head shaking and hearing the phrases “on the f-ing river” and “caught a 2 outer!” over and over. *shrug*

By the time I made it to the final table, I was ready for a nap. Poker is hard!

My final table featured hometown favourite Joe Hachem, Phil Ivey, Allen Cunningham and some other dudes. I was surprised when they all showed up decked in hats and shirts from various poker sites. I tracked down a FullTilt rep and asked what was up…

Tart: Um. Hi. So. No one approached me to wear a FullTilt hat or anything.
FullTilt Marketing Lackey: Ahhhh…yeah. About that. *looks around skittishly* We’ve, uh, watched your play, Tart. And uh, we at FullTilt want to promote poker as a game of skill.
Tart: Yeah?
FTML: Um. Right. And we think it’s best if we associate ourselves with skillful players.
Tart: Sweet! I’m a 2XL. Can I get a hockey jersey with “TART” on the back?
FTML: *cough*

Needless to say, the hockey jersey didn’t arrive before filming started. I guess it takes awhile to get them personalized.

When final table play started, I was pretty nervous. I had Cunningham on my left, Ivey on my right, and Joe right across the table from me. For the first hour, I couldn’t play to save my life. My hands were constantly shaking, every time I raised I got re-raised and folded. It was brutal. And that’s when I realized that I was actually trying to outplay these guys. How stupid! That’s not how I won my way here, that’s not how I survived the days leading up to the final table…I made my way here by relying on my natural gift – lucksackery!

But I was so intimidated. Could I really donk-it-up here, on TV, against Ivey, Cunningham, Hachem and the dudes? The only way to find that answer was through alcohol, and lots of it. So I ordered up a round of tequila shots. For reasons unbeknownst to me no one else partook. In my neck of the woods, we call those people wusses.

Now that I was feeling libatious, I loosened up. I don’t think Cunningham liked it when I called him Doogie Howser. I guess that’s what made him call my all-in. How was he to know I flopped a full house with J6? Anway, who goes all in with a straight and expects it to hold up, Doogie?

Some other dudes went out, and it was down to me, Phil, and Joe. Now Joe, I wasn’t worried about. I’ve watched him on TV many times and no one, and I mean no one, gets sucked out on more than Joe Hachem. If it got down to me and Joe heads-up, I was sure I could squeeze out at least a 6 outer in him. But Phil was trickier, he kept avoiding me. And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t tilt him. I tried calling him Tiger. I tried asking him for golf tips. I even tried imitating him at the table. All I got were sore eyeballs, and a dwindling stack.

Here’s where my uber-luck kicked in. Joe and Phil got into a big pot with A 8 8 on the flop. When the dust cleared, Joe with his quads 8s had knocked out Phil with his Aces full.

I congratulated Joe

Tart: Whoa nice suckout, Joe!
Joe: Roight.

I offered to chop the money with him, and shockingly, he declined. So we went into battle. I knew I needed to reach into my reserves – so I ordered another round of tequila shots. Joe declined. I advised him that the buggery might not be so painful if he imbibed, but he chose not to take my advice.

Heads-up lasted 2 hours, and it was the most painful 2 hours of Joe’s life. He would whittle me down and I’d suck-out to double up. He spent a lot of time pacing back and forth, hiding his eyes from the flops, and wincing as my cards magically turned into boats, flushes, and straights before his eyes.

The crowd was growing hostile. Banky took off his “I’m with Tart” t-shirt and started waving an Australian flag, lest he be mauled by frenzied Australians.

Finally, it came down to the last hand. Joe, sick of trying to outplay me post flop (because really, how can you outplay a lucksack?), pushed all-in. I looked down at two black Aces. The poker player in me leaped with joy. But then the lucksack in me filled with dread.

I’d made it this far by coming from behind. I’d sucked out my way to this, the pinnacle of my poker career. I’d be going against everything that had worked for me thusfar. But I had the best hand in poker. Pocket Rockets…the hand you wish for every time you peel back the corners of your hole cards, the hand that makes your heart do a little jig when there’s been a raise before you, the hand that you can legitimately say was the favourite pre-flop. I couldn’t NOT play these cards, could I?

I can only blame the tequila.

I called Joe’s all-in.

He showed KingJack.

Flop – Jack, Jack, Jack.

The crowd goes wild.

Ace on the turn.

The crowd groaned. Joe began to sweat through his dress shirt and khakis. Banky started to giggle. Could this be it? Could this be the suck-out of all suck-outs?

2 on the river.

Joe Hachem wins the Aussie Millions, and I take second. No sponsorship. No title. But I do console myself with a whole chunk of second place dough.

Banky comes over and gives me a hug. Joe, being the consummate gentleman, shakes my hand. The Aussies in the audience quietly put away the Tart effigy they were about to light afire. I’m actually a little relieved I didn’t win – had an Ace fallen on that river, I’m not sure I would have made it out of the casino alive.

After getting my cheque, Banky and I quickly exit the Crown Casino, put on our high heels and head for the outback.

*end flashback waves*

And so ends my Aussie Millions adventure. I didn’t win enough to quit my day job. But I did win enough to fix up the house, get Banky a sweet Jacuzzi, and take a trip to Europe.

Life is pretty sweet these days.

Although I’m still waiting for my FullTilt hockey jersey.

TGIF

2007-11-09T16:21:00.000-05:00

What I’ve been up to for the past two weeks:

Coughing, sniffling, sneezing
Week 3 of being sick. I called in sick today, because my head felt as if my brain had been removed, and then placed inside a skull two sizes two small. I just want to feel normal again. My desire to play the BBToo events has been surpassed by my desire to sleep.

Turning into a domestic goddess
I was feeling pretty bored with our standard dinner routine, so I picked up Jamie Oliver’s newest cookbook (Cook with Jamie) and I got pretty inspired. I made gnocchi with meat sauce one night. How I lived this long without discovering the yummy, potatoey goodness of gnocchi is beyond me. I also made coleslaw another day, and it was freakishly good.

Reading up a storm
I finished Neil Gaiman’s American Gods (on audio), and started Neverwhere…I love discovering a new author and going through their backlist. I’m also reading (in print) Ken Follett’s World Without End. It’s a quasi-sequel to Pillars of the Earth, which is one of my all-time favourite books. It was the first book I ever read where as I was coming to the end, I was happy that the story was coming to a conclusion, but sad that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy it longer. I didn’t even know the sequel was coming until Banky pointed it out in a flyer we got at the house one night. I was so excited…and the next day, I came home from work and Banky had picked it up for me.

Eating far too much Halloween candy
Damn you snack-size Kit-Kats and your tempting chocolate waferness!

Playing poker (of course)
I came in second at Woody’s on Monday…which puts me in the lead for the year. Woody tracks all the money finishes for the year, and the person who wins the most money is crowned the champ and gets all the rights and priviledges associated with champitude…picture on the wall in his basement, cheesy trophy, and of course bragging rights. As the only woman who plays in the very testosterone-charged game…I’m salivating to be the champ. I also won the Thursday league last night for the first time in a long time. I was so happy at the end of the game, because I went into heads-up at a huge chip disadvantage, and I absolutely schooled my opponent. I felt so in control of the game. It was awesome.

Banky and I have a busy weekend coming up. It’s his 32nd birthday tomorrow, and we’re celebrating with our families on Sunday, because it’s my uncle’s 60th birthday on Sunday, and my aunt is having a party for him on Saturday. Very convoluted.

I still have to figure out what to get Banky for his birthday, and what to cook for the family on Sunday. If I still feel as sick as I feel now, I sense a nice big order of Thai food in my future…

Tuesday evening blues

2007-10-30T17:24:00.000-04:00

I’ve been in a rut lately.

I haven’t been getting a lot of joy out of things.

Poker wise – things have been up and down. Busted out of a blogger game last week to a total asshole. I HATE players who berate their opponents. To keep my sanity, I have to remind myself about the inverse penis:asshole ratio.

The bigger the dick the guy IS, the smaller the dick the guy HAS.

And yes Fluxer, I mean you.

I placed third in Kat’s donkathon – which was fun. But boy did it last a lot longer than I thought it would. I played like crap near the end…way too weak/passive.

I dunno. I just feel…..blah.

Apathy is a dangerous beast.

Early exit from the Big Game

2007-10-22T10:43:00.000-04:00

Three easy steps to busting out of a deep stack tourney in 8 minutes.

1. Get AKh, raise 3xBB and win the blinds.
2. Get AKo, raise 3xBB, get called and fold to a post flop bet when you miss the board.
3. Get QQ, call a pre-flop reraise and then go all in on a flop of 3 baby cards. Get called by AA.

And there you have it!

I thought a lot about the QQ hand. And there are only two ways I don’t lose my stack there. I can fold pre-flop when Al re-re-raised me. I know that the 3rd raise is supposed to mean Aces…but I just don’t think I’m good enough to fold there. And an Ace or King on the flop would have stopped me.

Ah well – the better hand held up, as it should. I don’t know who won yet, but I hope Al put my stack to good use & took the fooker down!

Ignorance is bliss

2007-10-19T12:22:00.000-04:00

Getting rivered sucks. Having someone catch a 2-outer stings. But what hurts worse is playing like an idiot, and knowing it. Sometimes I long for my early poker-playing days when I didn't know what a donkey I was.

Last night I played like a complete donk. I went out 5th or 6th….I don’t even remember. All I know is I willingly put my money in twice, with hands that had I thought about it, I would have played differently. But I didn’t think. Ugh.

I know what the problem was….I was tilting. Not from anything that happened that night, I was tilting from a brutal suckout the week before. It was like stealth subconscious tilt, and I let it get the better of me.

Live and learn.

On the flipside – I’m stocking up on tokens for BBToo!

I don’t play many of the blogger tourneys because, well, I am lame and am usually in bed by 10:30. But I had so much fun in the couple that I’ve played, that when Al mentioned that BBToo was coming, I decided to try and make as many as I could….and then he announced the amazing prize for the Tournament of Champs. Al can definitely hang.

*********************************************

In case you haven’t seen it….the new issue of Truckin’ is out.

1. AlCantHang and I Walk Into a Bar... by Paul McGuireWhenever you walk into a bar with AlCantHang, you're immediately assuming full responsibility for your actions. You always know what you are getting yourself into. There's no false pretense. You will drink and drink and drink and drink as life unfolds around you. You surrender to the flow of the liquor... More

2. Morrissey by Betty UndergroundI did my usual, obvious, snooping about, inviting myself in to use the powder room after the long drive. I knew my way around. I knew what it looked like the last time I was there. I was looking for signs. Girl things. Grown up girl things. A woman's touch in the decor. Pictures of the happy couple. Anything. Nothing... More

3. Driving to See Mama by John "Falstaff" HartnessWell, there was six of us in that car, and we'd been drinking and smoking cigarettes since we left base, so when Briggs rolled down that window, all that smoke just chimneyed up out of that window and that policeman had to jump back... More

4. A Mawmag's Dream by Sigge S. AmdalI was flirting, no, I was dancing with my own future's certain death. And why? There was no love to speak of. Love can come later in some cases, I know, but if there's nothing, no great emotion to ride on – why on earth was I still dancing? ... More

5. What Might Have Been by Sean A. DonahueThe struggles of life are few and far between. We walk through life looking for the elusive, looking for the elite, or looking to be the elite. Sometimes in our search for what we want, we find what we really need. But we are too self absorbed or blind to see it... More

Have a good weekend kids!

Woooooo!

2007-10-06T14:06:00.000-04:00

October is off to a good start…

Banky posted about the league game on Thursday – I placed 3rd, after getting suuuuper short-stacked when we were five handed (my stack 300 when the blinds were 75/150) yet I managed to stay in, double up a couple times, and make it into the money. The game had 13 players with some newbies, so there was a good sense of energy and fun that we had been missing. I also was happy that I was able to pick up some tells – specifically against one of the new players.

I had KQ on the button and raised 3xBB. SB folded, new girl in the BB calls. The flop comes QJ4 rainbow. She checks, I bet about half the pot and she calls, and when putting her chips into the pot I notice that he hands are shaking like crazy. There have been times where I *think* I notice a shaky-hand tell, but this time I knew it. She checked the turn and I checked behind, and when she bet out on the river I folded right away, and she flipped over pocket Jacks (for trips). I felt so good about my fold because I paid attention, and listed to the information that was given to me.

Banky went out early, but he had a great attitude about it. I think the RC4 win (specifically that he came in first in his Limit table) really gave him some confidence and some perspective on the game.

Today was another good result:

I love the token SNGs on FullTilt…and two weeks ago I won a $75 token (I played the $8 two-table turbo, then the $24 two table). The last time I had one, I played a SNG and won, so I decided to give it another try…and I won again!

I got some nice hands early on, and on back-to-back hands took people out with pocket jacks. I was a monster chip leader, but then went card dead. I played pretty tight for awhile, and then it was 4 handed. By this time, my chip lead had eroded, and there was only one short stack. She stole pot after pot off of the other two players, and then they took each other out on AA vs A9. AA held up, and we were in the money, with equal-ish stacks.

I was able to relax then, and got my aggression back.

The hand that pretty much gave me the game was when the SB min-raised, and I pushed with 55. He insta-called and turned over AJo, and I caught a 5 on the flop. He was left with 210 chips….but battled back to over 2000, but eventually went out to the other player (the previous short stack who played the bubble perfectly) when he went all-in with K2 and got called by AQ. Q on the flop, A on the turn and we’re heads up.

Heads-up was pretty easy….a few hands back and forth. One hand that I debated about was Ac5c in the BB. She went all-in and I considered calling, but I had a big chiplead (9000 to 3000) so calling would have put us even. Banky was looking over my shoulder and said “what hand do you hope she has, A4?” and “do you think you can outplay her – if yes, don’t give her more chips”. I was pretty sure I could chip away at her stack legitimately, so I folded.

The very next hand, I pick up Ac9c and I raised 3xBB from the SB. I already knew I would call her all-in, and when I did, she showed As5s….exactly the same hand I had folded to her push the hand before. And this is the exact reason I folded….if she pushed with a better Ace, I would have been in big trouble, just like she was in now.

The flop was 8c 5d 4c, giving her a pair, and me a flush draw. The turn was the 6d, giving me a gutshot draw to go with my flush draw, and the river was the Tc giving me the flush, and the win.

I’ve felt really positively about my game lately. Decisions seem clearer and easier, and I’ve been lucky to have the results to go along with my play. Sometimes it feels like you play an excellent game, but things don’t go your way. It’s times like this, when the discipline of playing well really pays off.

RC4 victory!

2007-10-01T17:52:00.000-04:00

Sometimes poker can be really fun.

On Saturday, Banky and I participated in RC4 (the 4th iteration of a team based poker event called the Royal Cup). The name sounds more official than it really is…it’s essentially a bunch of poker enthusiasts getting together for a crazy day of poker.

Each team has 8 players, who each play in 4 rounds:

Stud/Omaha (half the team plays Stud, the other half Omaha)
Limit Hold’em
No Limit Hold’em
Heads-up

Our team rocked the house (ok, we rocked the community hall), and took 1st place!

Because you got more points the higher you placed in the sit-n-gos, I knew it was going to be a good day when half of our players finished first or second in the Stud & Omaha games. We remained strong throughout the day, but lost some steam during the heads-up matches where we only won 2 of 8 (last time, we won 6 of 8 HU matches). But despite our lackluster HU performance, we still pulled in a win. It felt so good to win as a team. Especially since poker is both a social and solitary pursuit – week in and week out, these people were my opponents….but they’ve also become my friends. It was a really good feeling to have someone to cheer for, and someone to cheer for you.

My results were not the best of the team, but were still very respectable. I played Stud and finished 3rd, I finished 2nd in Limit, 5th in No Limit, and lost my heads-up match. The Limit game was the most frustrating loss for me, as I really outplayed my opponent – three times I got him all-in with the worst of it only to have him suck-out to double up and stay alive. He was a strong opponent though, and we played heads-up for well over an hour. I was most disappointed in my HU game. I think I was a better player than my opponent, but I didn’t play my best. C’est la vie.

All in all, it was an awesome day…and it’s always fun when you come home with some cash in your pocket.

5 years and 3 things

2007-09-28T13:18:00.001-04:00

First things first….

Happy Anniversary babe.

I can’t believe we’ve been married for 5 years already. When did we get so damn old?

---------

I’m a week late on my 10 (minus the previous 7) things no one knows about me. So here they are:

8. I spent the majority of my senior year in high school playing Euchre in the cafeteria. I had almost all my required credits, and a lot of free periods. I am a wicked Euchure player....although Banky thinks he's better.

9. I’m addicted to audio books. I commute an hour to work each way, and just last year discovered downloadable audio books. I can’t believe I suffered this commute for 8 years without them. Right now I'm listening to The Reincarnationist

10. I’m a contributing author to an HTML instructional book written in 1999. An old MSN colleague was on a deadline and in a bind, so I wrote 2 chapters for her. Now in it's 6th edition, my name no longer appears on the chapters....but I still remember how cool it felt to get my copy of the 1st edition with my name in black and white on chapters 44 and 46.

---------

I feel discombobulated today. With some changes at work I have a new boss, a new desk, and arrived at work today to see a brand spanking new laptop where my old dinosoar used to sit. I knew it was coming “soon” – but was surprised to see it today.

I’ve spent half my morning readjusting all my settings. If that’s not a good use of my time, I don’t know what is.

Lame catch-up post

2007-09-21T17:42:00.000-04:00

It’s 5:30 on Friday night and I’m still at the office. The only other noise I hear is the cleaning lady emptying recycling bins. Work has been chaotic for the past few days while half the department moved cubicles. Oh the joy of packing up all your crap just to haul it 20 feet down the hall.

I wish I could get excited about my new, bigger, cubicle. But a cubicle is a cubicle is a cubicle.

---

I played a lot of poker this week. Sitting at home on Tuesday while Banky and I got our windows replaced allowed for a lot of online poker. I decided to play some micro-limit NL on FullTilt, and I actually had fun. I also played some O8 and Stud H/L. Again, low limit, but lots of fun. The biggest difference in these sessions... I turned off chat.

I’m a pretty social person. I’m not the best ‘mingler’ there is, but I enjoy (most) people, and I love a good laugh. But after my recent post about feeling so ‘blah’ at all the degrading and rude things people say at the tables online, a few people suggested I turn off the chat…and it made a huge difference. I didn’t feel like I had to justify myself to the rude people, I didn’t get titlty because someone was acting like an ass…it really helped me focus on the game.

---

BamBam over at TuckFard Poker tagged me in a “10 things you don’t know about me” thingy…..since I already wrote 7…I figure I’m only on the hook for 3 more…but now it’s 5:42, and I want to get home to Banky, so those will have to wait!

You cannot hide your inner geek!

2007-09-14T11:41:00.001-04:00

I received an email today from Amazon promoting products that are “Recommended for You”. The products featured were 3 boxed sets of various seasons of Stargate SG1, the latest Harry Potter book, Stargate Atlantis the complete 1st season, and the Planet Earth DVD series.

Cleary, Amazon knows that I am a nerd.

I’m a tired tart this morning. Banky and I stayed up a little late last night watching Big Brother and celebrating my 2nd place finish in the season ending tourney for the Thursday league.

It took me awhile to get into the celebratory mode, because I was really disappointed not to win. I was On. My. Game. last night. It was one of those games where you're totally in the flow. I was making correct decisions, and things were flowing my way. Despite not making any ‘huge’ hands (trips, straights, flushes), I was the chip leader (by a large margin) after the break. I was making good bets, raises and reraises, and I felt like I was in control of the table.

Unfortunately I had to call Banky’s all-in when I held AK (he was short stacked and went all-in with A9). It's never fun busting your husband, but sometimes it has to be done.

My downfall came when we were 4 handed, and the blinds were incredibly high. I got two back-to-back good starting hands (AKs, and AJo). In both cases, I raised preflop and was called (by the same player), and made continuation bets when I missed, only to get raised both times. I gave up on the flop…but those bets both cost me a good percentage of my stack. The player I bet into is a very good player and giving him so many chips was a mistake. I couldn’t not play those hands – but the second time around, I think I could have forgone the continuation bet.

I ended up heads-up with that same player, and he had me at about a 6:1 chip disadvantage. We only played 5 hands heads-up. I won the blinds twice (once with KJ, once with AQ), folded twice, and lost when my pre-flop all-in with 88 lost to J10 when a 10 hit on the flop, followed by a J on the turn. Had my 88 held up, it would have been a very good heads-up match. But it wasn’t meant to be.

I’m pleased with my second place finish – but at the time I was disappointed to have come so close to a win.

Ding Ding Ding...followed closely by Wah Wah Wah

2007-09-11T17:29:00.000-04:00

Saturday afternoon I decided that instead of using my $75 token on a satellite into a bigger game, I’d use it for a 9 person SNG. My decision proved to be a good one…since I took the sucker down! Woot!

I’ve won and lost bigger amounts in live games....but this was my biggest online tourney win to date….and let me tell you, it felt great.

I decided to try my hand at the token tourneys again on Sunday. And I lost every one I played. 4 for 4. Bah.

Then at Woody’s last night, I rebought twice before going out in 6th place. The hand that lost me the tourney was when a shortstack went all-in before me, and I pushed in over the top with AK. The shortie had pocket sixes, I caught my ace on the flop, but he caught runner, runner flush cards. Ouch.

I went all-in shortly after with 1.5 BB. I had A5s, got called by QQ and KK. Q on the river knocks out two of us.

Banky hasn’t written about the night yet….but I’m sure he will – he had a worse run than me. Some games at Woody’s, you can just feel that you’re going to get fucked. Last night was one of those nights.

--------------------------------------------

The new issue of Truckin' is out. If you haven't read Truckin' before, you're missing out. Reading it inspired me to write again.

1. Monk's Siberian Dream by Paul McGuire
Brain dead. Deep into the sixth day of a foggy bender, I had forgotten the day of the week. Frisatursunday? I’d successfully lost time. The demoralizing result was that my conversational skills had dwindled down to a few muttering sentences... More

2. The Rubber-less Traveler by Brad "Otis" Willis
Breathless, confused, and sick to my stomach, I arrived at the British Airways gate and looked at the departure board. The flight was delayed for an hour. This is how I travel. I run to nowhere to fly to somewhere where I see little, do much, and find myself asking questions like, "Why do they sell condoms in airport bathrooms?" ... More

3. It's Not Like I'm Dishonest; Honest by May B. Yesno
I'm a private investigator. A damn good private investigator. I have a wife, a very expensive wife. She likes the good things in life. We're matched. I like good things too... More

4. Coming Home by B Kemp
Some of my former friends think that she is using me for my money. It doesn't seem right to them that a man my age would "throw it all away," leaving my career for a life of unpredictability and adventure. My old friends are naturally suspicious of younger women wanting to spend their money, rightfully so I suppose... More

5. The Confetti of Life by Sean A. Donahue
I read the love letters that my grandfather sent to his wife. I could see the tears in my grandmother's eyes as she read them, touched them for one last link to him. I shed many a tear today, ones that no one saw, because I left the room before they fell... More

Diamonds are a tart's best friend.

2007-09-07T12:33:00.000-04:00

Is it wrong to be happy when you suckout a flush to a made straight?

I came in second in the final league game of the season last night – but I should have been out in the second level. I was on the button with Ad9d and called along with several limpers. The flop was 9c, Qd, 10d. Checked to me so I bet with my pair & nut flush draw. The BB check raises me.

As Banky discussed before, there’s not a lot of play in the league structure. If we were deeper stacked, I probably would have just smooth called with position. But a call here was more than a 3rd of my stack. If the diamond doesn’t come on the turn, I have to fold to another bet. My opponent is a smart, sometimes tricky, player – and I thought he could be doing this move with a straight draw, as well as with 2 pair or trips. I’m losing to the stronger hands – but with the exception of the made straight, I could see him folder.

As I thought more about it, I really felt that I’d rather bust here, than call and be crippled, or fold what is a strong(ish?) hand. So I pushed. He insta-called with the J8, and my diamond came on the turn.

There was a lot of talk about what a suckout it was – but I feel like it was the right move at the time.

I maintained this big stack for quite a few more levels. I was determined not to lose my early lead like I usually do. When it was down to 5 handed, my big stack was now average, and I lost a chunk of chips with AK (preflop bet, missed flop, continuation bet got called by tight player – had to fold when he bet out on turn). I was shortish – but doubled up when I went all-in with Jh10h, got called by AJo (yikes) but flopped a flush.

Unfortunately, I ended up heads-up with a strong player who had a major lead on me. I doubled up once, and then a few hands later, had an open-ended straight flush draw on the turn when he pushed all-in. I called. He had two-pair, and my gazillion outs didn’t come through. I don’t regret the call.

I really enjoy the league and the people I’ve met there. But I’m not sure if I can continue going. The games have gotten really small – we’re lucky to get 9. And with the prize pool being split 3 ways, it’s very hard to break even. Before last night’s game – Banky had 2 wins, a 2nd, and a 3rd out of 12 games – cashing a third of the time – and he’s barely breaking even. I’ve cashed 3 times a 1st, a 2nd and a 3rd, and I haven’t broken even. We still have a chance to make some money next week with the “free roll” ($10 per player, per game comes out of the prize pool each week…at the end of the season, we play for that money). But without a cash there, this season will be a bust.

It was different when the games were bigger, and we had a lot of new people coming in and out of the game. But now the game has gotten stale. I know Banky and I aren’t the only people who feel this way…I’m not sure what the prospects are for the future of the league.

At least the friendships will live on. That's gotta be +EV ;)

The curtain of anonymity

2007-09-04T11:35:00.000-04:00

I’ve been dabbling again in online poker at FullTilt. Mostly playing OHL, but also the occasional tournament. On Friday afternoon I played a token frenzy tourney and won a $26 token – on Monday afternoon I played a 2-table $26 tourney to win a $75 token. I ended up winning the token…so now I have to find a good $75 game.

Despite having two successful games though, I left the game feeling…I don’t know what the right word is…not unhappy…but disappointed? It feels like every time I play online, I get heckled by at least one other player at the table. I’m sick of the venom that is so easily spewed by other players.

The heckling in question on Monday came after I made a marginal call on the turn when I had the second nut flush draw, and a gutshot straight draw. The 9 of hearts on the river made the straight and the flush for me. My opponent bet out into me – which gave me pause. I thought my call on the turn gave away the fact that I was drawing, so when she bet into me, I was concerned she may also have a flush – but I couldn’t fold the second nut flush, so I just called. I won the pot (she was betting a made straight – a move I still don’t understand). She called me “%^$#%ing donkey”.

Then later, I made a pre-flop raise with a mid-pair, got called by the blinds. The flop brought 1 over card, they checked so I made a continuation bet, only to have the BB go all-in. When I folded (remember, the point of a token tourney is not to win, it’s just to get into the ‘money’), she wrote “hahahahaha %&%^ing idiot”.

It’s not that I care about what this particular person thinks of me. It just bothers me that people have no sense of decorum at the table. They think nothing of saying something so rude to another human being – all over a game of poker that costs less than a trip to the movies.

I’ve been called worse than a donkey. I’ve seen things typed into chatrooms that are truly horrific. It really makes me sad that people can debase other human beings so easily.

I remember when I first started playing online on PartyPoker, when people would say “nh”, and the person who busted on the bubble in a SNG would say “gg” and “gl” to the players remaining. I guess those days are long gone.

Revenge can still be sweet though. My friend, who was so quick to criticize me, went out 8th (when 6th people got paid), when she raised from EP and got called by the BB. The flop came King high and she went all in with AQ. The button had AK. She got no help, and went out without a word.

When getting busted has a whole new meaning

2007-08-31T13:15:00.002-04:00

It was a good poker week for Banky and the tart. I moneyed at Woody’s (3rd) and Banky won the Thursday league game last night. I fucking bubbled last night, which is worse than chumping. I hate the effing bubble. But c’est la vie! At least one of us brought home the bacon last night.

The big buzz around my little poker world, however, has to be the recent string of underground cardroom busts.

The part that bothers me about the busts is that in another article, a police officer was quoted saying something about the players being there “for their fix”. This is just such an inflammatory and ignorant thing to say. Not everyone who plays poker is a gambling addict. I have several friends who play in the clubs, and I certainly wouldn’t categorize them as going there to get a ‘fix’. They go because it’s a fun night out, and they are tired of taking money off each other at the same weekly homegames.

I wish my favourite hobby didn’t have such a seedy image.

I’m an enthusiast, dammit, not an addict.

Master of my own demise

2007-08-24T12:45:00.000-04:00

hu•bris 'hyu brIs, 'hu- - [hyoo-bris, hoo-]
–noun
excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance.

See example: Pokertart pulling off an incredible bluff when shortstacked, and then showing said bluff, only to realize that this cripples her ability to pull same such bluff anytime soon in same game.

Bah.

Out 8th with Kh10h. I was first to push, got called by two better hands. Hit my 10, but still lost to QQ.

Banky was pissed last night after her got slow rolled when he went all-in. Banky announced “I have a pair” and flipped over his 77. Caller said ‘me too’, but didn’t flip his Aces over right away.

It was a dink move for sure, and Banky was not impressed. It’s been tough lately, because Banky has been getting mad after every league game lately….I understand his frustration, but it’s taking the fun out of the game for me.

Being a couple who plays poker together has some incredible advantages. There are times, however, when it’s very difficult – especially when you have very different emotional reactions to the game. I try to be supportive, but the peacemaker in me wants to make him feel better right then and there, when I know all he really needs is to be pissed off for awhile and then he’ll be fine.

Men really are from Mars.

-----

It’s time for a bit of a blogroll update…welcome to the tuckfards over at TuckFard Poker, and RaisingCayne, that Talkin’ Donkey.

Sleepy Tart

2007-08-21T17:26:00.000-04:00

Sing me to sleep. Sing me to sleep. I'm tired and I.
I want to go to bed.
ASLEEP by The Smiths from 'Louder Than Bombs'

Despite playing a ton of poker over the past several weeks I haven’t felt much like writing. Work is pretty busy right now, and when I can sneak a few minutes to myself, I usually try to catch up on poker blogs and Big Brother live feed recaps (I can’t help myself!)

Truth be told, I feel tired. I don’t think I’ve fully caught up on sleep since I got insomnia in Vegas. Banky and I keep saying we need to go to bed earlier and sleep later, but we don’t and it’s catching up on me.

I need to sleep more, eat & drink less, and spend some time with a book on the deck in my backyard.

2007-08-09T17:35:00.000-04:00

Las Vegas has become like an old lover to me. Long gone are the heady days of new love. The surprise, awe, and delight are gone – replaced by familiarity, comfort, and expectation.

There are no certain things that mean Vegas to me….happy hour at the Pink Taco is one of those things. Nothing gets my Vegas trips off to a better start than excellent half-price margaritas, bowls and bowls of free chips with 3 types of salsa, and half price, and very tasty, appetizers.

Banky and I were set to arrive just after 10am on Friday. But due to a full-on cluster-fuck by American Airlines, our connecting flight in Chicago was cancelled and we ended up routing through Dallas and not arriving until well after 4:30 in the afternoon. For some reason, the usually extremely impatient Banky was very zen about the whole thing, while I was on cancelled-flight-tilt.

While waiting in line to check-in at the Golden Nugget, the prospects of Pink Taco Happy Hour looked dim, as the clock ticked closer and closer to 5:30, I thought there was no way we’d check-in and make it back to the Hard Rock in time. But miraculously, the line started to move quickly (after being standstill for 15 minutes), and we were in our room by 5:40. We put down our bags headed back downstairs, hailed a cab and asses were on barstools by 5:55. We had 1 hour and 5 minutes left – and what a happy hour we made it….

In 65 minutes, we downed 5 margaritas and shared an appetizer platter, all for $15 including a generous tip. Even though it was happy hour, our barkeep BJ (a name I found incessantly amusing) comped us all the drinks, and we even got an extra freebie when a rep from Terzon (I think) came in shilling his new tequila.

Nicely lubed, we donked off money at the pai-gow & black jack tables but the dealers at the Hard Rock were jerks, so before long headed back downtown for an evening of more drinking, donking, and general tomfoolery.

By the time we went to bed, I had been up for 27 hours. Nothing like an old lover to keep you up all night…

A weekend of variance

2007-07-30T16:20:00.000-04:00

I never did make it to Fallsview on Friday – hopefully Kat and I will be able to arrange another Vegas North meet before the summer (and my half-day Fridays) come to an end.

Nevertheless, much poker was played this weekend.

I started my weekend early with a win at the Thursday night league. Holy hell it’s been a long time since I won a game there. The first three seasons I was the top of the leaderboard, but this was only my third cash since November – and my first win since even earlier.

The best part of the win was that I was extremely short-stacked before the break – I had 275 chips and the blinds were 30/60. I battled back and had built an average stack with some good steals and a nice double up from the SB when I had Jacks and the BB had Nines. (Normally, the flop would bring a 9 here, and I would go home. I was shocked when my hand held up). But my stack was now in contention, but it was another hand that gave me the win.

The blinds were 75/150 and I was in the BB with 8s9s. UTG limped in, everyone else folded to the SB who completed. I checked after briefly considering pushing. The flop was Qs 2s 5x. SB checked and I pushed – hoping just to take the pot. UTG called, and SB called. Oooops.

Now UTG had been drinking heavily, so I put him on a flush draw…but SB isn’t dumb enough to call an all-in and a call with nothing…so he had to have at least 2 pair.

The turn was a Ks, making my flush. UTG goes all-in for the remainder of his chips, and SB calls with less. The cards get flipped and UTG has KxQx for two pair, SB has trip deuces and my flush is leading. No pair on the board means my flush holds up, and I scoop a pot worth over 3500 chips and after that, nothing was going to hold me back.

Once it got to heads-up, I had a 7:1 chip lead, and got AA on the second hand. I completed the SB, knowing that if the other player had any face he’d push, and if not, if he hit any part of the flop he’d push. True to form, he had 8 10, hit an 8 on the flop and pushed. I called and my Aces held up.

It felt so bizarre to have my hands hold up. I’ve been so accustomed to losing as the favourite.

The only downside to my win…it was a small game, so my top prize didn’t make much of a dent in my current deficit. As my mother would say "Beggars can't be choosers". She'd also tell me to wear a skirt to work, but that's another topic altogether.

Friday afternoon I decided to use the $100 I got from FullTilt on a refer-a-friend bonus to play some 5/10 OHL – which I killed. I built it up to almost $400, then lost a bunch, then built some back and cashed out +$200. That was fun – but my love affair with online poker has definitely cooled. I’m going to cash out my little profit and play with the remainder…I’m just not a good enough online player to keep donating. It still kills me when I look at my results this year and see what a gaping hole has been left by my attempts to play online.

Friday night was the Georgetown game again – and that was a lot of fun. I didn’t cash – didn’t even get close this time. But I busted out just in time to see Banky scoop a monster pot in the cash game when he went all-in against two players on the river when the board was 4,5,6,7,8. Only one player called, and Banky tabled the 9,10 for the nuts. It was killer.

Another gaping hole was ripped on Saturday when Banky and I went to Rama. I got completely brutalized in the 5/10 LHE game when every draw got made against me, and every draw I had failed to materialize. It just wasn’t my day. All the profit I made on FullTilt was gone. The worst part was, the game was a bore. No one was there to have a good time. I left and played Pai Gow for an hour. Total Pai Gow profit: $5

It’s 4 sleeps ‘till Vegas. Yehaw.

There's nothing an Oreo Cheesecake Blizzard can't cure

2007-07-25T17:06:00.000-04:00

The best part of the game I played last Friday night was that when Banky and I busted out and headed home, I saw the bright shining light of Dairy Queen and made it in for a Blizzard with 1 minute to spare. 10:59 baby!

It was one excellent Blizzard, let me tell you.

Truth be told, I didn’t feel all that bad about the game. It was just kind of uneventful. There were no blunderous mistakes or gut-twisting suckouts. It was just kind of…meh.

For the past few weeks I’ve played a lot of poker, and I feel like I’ve been playing very well – but I haven’t seen good results. I know there are ebbs and flows in the game, but I’d really like a little boost to the old bankroll.

I’m heading out to Fallsview on Friday – wish me quads!

Pokerless Friday

2007-07-14T15:34:00.000-04:00

You know it’s a good party when some guy starts playing a didgeridoo in the corner.

Banky and I ditched the Georgetown game this Friday for a party at friend’s place, and I’m so glad we did. We had already played poker on Wednesday and Thursday, and were planning on playing Friday night – but we frequently talk about putting friends & family before poker, so it was a no-brainer to accept the invitation.

Our friend Derek lives downtown – and it’s quite a different life than what we live in the ‘burbs. When we have parties I break out my homemade guacamole & chips. When we got to Derek’s place he was shucking oysters while his girlfriend was stuffing freshly roasted peppers with goat cheese – they made the whole night seem effortless. Martha would be proud.

We actually met Derek through poker – another example of how poker has impacted our lives. We never would have socialized with this particular group of people if we hadn’t been trying to win Derek’s chips every week for the past couple of years.

I’m not the most social person and I find it really hard to make small talk – especially when I’m sober – so there were some uncomfortable moments. But all-in-all it was a fun night. At one point I was laughing so hard I was crying, and that’s one of the best feelings in the world. After a stressful week at work, and some frustrating poker sessions, that feeling was exactly what I needed.

Drinking the blues - but not feeling them!

2007-07-08T19:59:00.000-04:00

I was feeling celebratory on Saturday because I cashed in the Georgetown tourney on Friday night (more on that below). Banky and I decided that a night of cocktails was in order. I got inspiration from the Ralph Burch pin-up calendar that Banky got me for Christmas, so a quick trip to the liquor store and we had all the fixings for Indigo Blues.

With tequila and sour mix as two of the ingredients, it was strong & tart…just like I like a drink. After a couple of them I added some Fresca to the mix and they went down even easier. Getting up this morning, however, wasn’t so easy.

Nevertheless, it’s been a good weekend. The Georgetown game was great – just like Thursday, I felt like I was ‘on’, and I was making the right decisions. But unlike Thursday, the decisions also ended with good results.

There were a few really memorable hands:

I had KcQc on the button with 1 limper. I raise, only the BB calls. The flop comes 8h, 9h, 4s. The BB bets out, and I raise, he calls. The turn brings a low heart (maybe a 3?). The BB checks, and I bet out about half of my remaining stack….with my heart about to jump out of my throat – but he quickly mucks.

Sometimes a successful bluff is more exhilarating than flopping the nuts.

In another hand about half the table limped and I had 33 on the button. A ‘poker god’ (who had a huge stack after sucking out a flush with Kh2h in an early hand) was also in the hand, and I was drooling. He had a really arrogant air about him, and commented on how other people played their hands. It was easy to predict his plays, and I was just waiting for a hand to double through him. My dream came true when a sweet, sweet 3 came on the rainbow flop along with an 8 and Queen, and to my amazement the SB bet 5,000 (just over half his stack). Then, in another minor miracle, the poker god came over the top for 10,000. I only had 9,000 chips…and they were all-in the pot in a heartbeat. The SB called as well, and then I got slightly worried that maybe one of my opponents had a better set. But no, the SB had 8-rag, and the poker god had 8 J. So…..yeah, that sums up the competition. Unfortunately I didn’t have enough chips to take out the poker god on that hand – but I took enough of his chips to take some of the wind out of his sails, and he busted out not long after.

One hand I was in caused a brief controversy at the table because the other player attempted to angle-shoot me.

I was in the SB and it got folded to me. I completed with 9 3 off. The BB – new to the table and friendly with another new-to-the-table player who was VERY loud and obnoxious, just checked. The flop was 3d, Xd, As. I bet my 3 and the BB called. I figured he had either a flush draw or a weak ace and I decided I’d let go of this hand unless a 9 came on the turn – but then a 9 came on the turn. Ding!

I bet again, he called again. I was positive he was on the flush draw now. The river brought no diamond, so I pushed the remainder of my chips into the pot. He hemmed and hawed and counted out the chips and placed them next to the rest of his chips (off to the side, not out in front). And then he said “I know I’m beat” and flipped over his cards (Ad, 7d). To me, that was a fold, and I pushed my cards forward and started to scoop the pot. He said “Thank you. I win, she mucked”. The dealer said he didn’t hear a call (and neither did I) but the guy’s obnoxious friend insisted that his friend said “I know I’m beat, but I call”, and that since I mucked my cards, my hand was dead. Luckily for me, I pushed my cards forward, but didn’t throw them into the muck, because the dealer said that since my cards had not touched any part of the muck (and were actually still right in front of me) my cards we live. I turned them over and won with my two pair.

It’s hard to describe exactly how he said “thank you” and “she mucked” – but it was an obvious angle-shoot. But lesson learned – I’ll wait until the dealer declares a winner before I release my cards in any fashion.

I got a little revenge later on the obnoxious loud guy when I took a huge pot away from him with a flush to his two pair. He self-destructed and busted out just out of the money – despite having an enormous stack when we were down to 2 tables.

Ultimately I finished 5th out of 61 and took home $250 for my troubles. I was happy with the finish, but wish I could have lasted a little longer since first place was worth $1100. But a cash is a cash, and I happily recorded my stats – very nice to see a result without a negative in front of it!

Banky was card dead and busted early, but more than doubled up in the wild & crazy cash game. So our combined efforts gave our bankroll a little boost.

Not too bad for a Friday night.

Thinking makes my brain hurt

2007-07-06T13:11:00.000-04:00

If you haven’t been reading Tao of Poker for Pauly’s take on the World Series of Poker, you are missing out. His Main Event coverage starts today. Go. Read. Enjoy.

---

I was touched to see the comments to my post the other day. I knew that the poker-bloggers were a supportive bunch…it felt really good to have it come my way. Also got a bit of a “wow” moment when I saw Larry’s comment…I’ve read his book, he’s read my blog. Wicked!

---

Last night was our Thursday Night League game. We missed a game when we were out in New Brunswick, and it was the first game we’ve missed in the two years that the league has been running. Banky and I have attended more league games than anyone else, including the host! He went on vacation for 3 weeks last year and we hosted the games at our place when he was away. We missed the game, but got to be around this instead…

It was good to be back at the league game, and I decided to experiment with some of the concepts I read in the FullTilt Strategy Guide. I felt like I was playing really well, making some great decisions – but the night never really came together for me. I lost two key hands to Max….one I folded on the river because I knew I was beat, and the second I should have folded on the river because I knew I was beat. Max is so tough to play against because he’ll play with any two. I love to have him in a pot with me (he’s come to the league games for a year now and never cashed until last night), but he also catches some brutal, eyeball squeezing, suckouts.

I got a nice healthy stack early on only to bleed it out for the remainder of the game. This has been a recurring theme for me…something I have to think more deeply about.

I made two very tough calls that were ‘correct’, but would have been winners. I find it hard to shake off those ‘hands that could have been’. Another thing to work on. I thought about one hand for a long time (probably longer than I’ve ever thought about a hand).

There were 7 players (including me) and I was on the button. The blinds were 30/60 and I had around 700 chips (having recently lost 2 big pots). The entire table limped and I had 6h 7h. I knew this type of hand would play well in a multiway pot so I happily limped along. The flop came out 10h, 3h, 2s. It got checked to the cut-off (a tight player on a short stack) who bet 120, I called (which in retrospect I think was a mistake) and the BB called.

The turn brought the 4s. The BB checked and the cut-off went all-on for 460. At this point I knew the tight player had either a set of 3’s or 2’s or the wheel. And I figured I had either 11 or 12 outs to beat him (the 5s for the straight and the flush cards) – I wanted to call, but didn’t have the odds. Even if the BB called – he’s a bit of a table sherrif and likes to call All-Ins – I still wouldn’t be getting the right price. I also got the sense that he would fold if I called. It’s easy to see that all now, but at the time it was a tough fold.

The BB did call with A 4 for a crappy pair and a straight draw. The cut-off did have a set of 2’s, and the flush came on the river. Making me the winner who didn’t call. Ugh.

But for me, it was probably the most I’ve ever analyzed a hand from the beginning – deciding to play because it’s a good multiway hand, putting my opponents on hands, and figuring out the odds when the decision wasn’t easy. So it was good from that perspective.

Unfortunately the game didn’t get much better and I was out 7th of 9. Bah.

Banky busted out a while later and we went home and fired up the PVR to watch the debut of Big Brother 8. Oh let the summer of trash TV begin!

---

Tonight we’re heading out to the Georgetown game again. Hopefully my results will be a little better now that I have a sense of the type of game it is.

Not the news I thought I'd be sharing

2007-07-04T17:26:00.001-04:00

I write this blog anonymously – mostly so that I can write freely without worry that the bigwigs at my corporate job will find out about my poker deviancy, but also to give me the ability to write freely without worry of self-incrimination (especially when talking about other players I play with, or about my craptastic play). Despite this, I’ve hesitated to write anything really personal. The closest I got was my “7 things” post which was incredibly fun to write. I’m not sure why I haven’t shared more of myself here – especially considering that some of my favourite bloggers (Pauly, Amy, Change, CC) are very open and weave their life into their poker blogs. I guess much of it has to do with fear. Fear of not writing well enough to interest anyone. Fear that I’d pour my heart out and no one would read it (or care) – except for dear Banky who reads everything (and when he doesn’t I bug him until he does). Fear that my life isn’t interesting enough to write about. Maybe all that is true - but even if it is, if I wrote more about ME, maybe I’d get more out of the experience of writing, and of life.

So dear ~~readers~~ reader, I’m jumping into the deep end.

I hinted in my last post about dealing with life in a good way, and I had hoped to be able to share some good news with everyone (ok, anyone?) reading my blog, but life takes some funny turns. A few months ago Banky and I found out we were going to be parents – the Tart was with tartlet. Unfortunately 13 days ago, during my first ultrasound, I found out that the baby I was carrying was no longer alive, and 4 days later I miscarried. It’s been an incredibly difficult time for both of us – but we’re dealing. What on earth does this have to do with poker? Well nothing, really, but poker has everything to do with how I’ve been dealing with the loss.

Between the ultrasound and the miscarriage I left for a family vacation and with me I brought the Full Tilt Strategy Guide to Tournament Poker by Michael Craig. I’m more than halfway through and it’s awesome….I know I’ll have to reread quite a bit of it. The book, and the concepts shared in it, brought me lots of needed distraction during a difficult time. After the miscarriage, and after talking and tears, I knew Banky and I were going to be ok when we started talking poker again. It was like a sign that our life was not over because of this one situation. We are still the same two poker dorks who relive the best (and worst) hands we’ve played, who look forward to our weekly games with childish anticipation, and who PVR Poker After Dark so we can make fun of Annie Duke.

I just got back to work from vacation and it was weird coming into the office where only a handful of people knew I was pregnant (and who consequently now know that I am no longer pregnant). I used to have this big happy secret, and now I have another, sadder one. I found it really hard to concentrate so I turned to catching up on my poker blogs. Tao of Poker was my first stop, naturally, and I’ve been engaged in tales of CK Hua’s man-purse, Sartre’s lobster, and of course, reading about Pauly’s WSOP cash. Even though I’m not part of the poker-blogger circle who all know each other – it’s felt good to get immersed back into their world.

After I spent some time reading, it occurred to me just how much poker is a part of my life. Even though I haven’t played a game since I found out our sad news – reading about it, talking about it, watching it – it has all helped me get back to feeling normal. Well – as normal as I ever was.

So that’s the scoop on me and where I am in my life right now. I was almost a mother. Now I’m back to the 30-something poker player trying to find her way.

Piss poor poker

2007-06-15T12:15:00.000-04:00

I've been so busy at work (bad), reading tons of WSOP blogging action (good), and dealing with life (good - more to come on that in a few weeks), that I've completly ignored my blog (very bad).

I haven't been playing all that much poker - but Banky and I have both been consistently cashing at Woody's games, and we both cashed at the Thursday Poker league last week. But last night was just horrible. I played SO badly and I knew it, and didn't stop myself. I was a loose passive calling station and gave my chips away with abandon. I need to give my head a shake.

Aside from our regular live games, I'm not playing at all. I've definitely lost all interest in online poker. My stats have spoken too loudly for me to ignore. It's all live for me baby!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

I have an entry I have to write on Bluff Magazine and my scorn for their glorification of ZeeJustin the poker cheater....but I'll leave that for another day.

Tagged Tart

2007-05-29T13:11:00.001-04:00

In my post-Mexico blog catch-up I discovered that I’ve been ‘tagged’ by Katitude in the “7 Things No One Knows About Me” chain-blog thing that’s been circulating the poker blogosphere. I will openly admit to being excited. As a relatively new blogger, it still feels cool/weird that someone other than Banky is reading this.

So without further ado…..

7 Thing No One Knows About Me

1. I’m a horrific procrastinator.

2. I’ve never broken a bone or required stitches. Growing up, I was the quintessential bookworm (the exact opposite of my sister the tomboy, who broke her arm – twice) and therefore was never really in the position to get injured.

3. deleted to protect the innocent

4. I’ve been a Weight Watchers member for 6 years. I lost 100lbs within the first 2 years, then I started my MBA program while working full-time and stopped losing. I can’t really continue to use that excuse though, since I graduated 2 years ago. I still have over 70lbs to go to reach my goal weight.

5. I hate swimming in lakes (or anywhere where I can’t see the bottom). I get totally grossed out by the thought of strange objects/creatures underneath my feet.

6. The summer when I was 9 my sister and I watched The Breakfast Club every single day.My Dad had a second job as a night-watchman at a Sears warehouse, and using his employee discount our family was one of the first I knew of to own a VCR (remember when you rented them from the video store?). My sister somehow got a pirated copy of The Breakfast Club, and watching it became a daily tradition. I think I can still recite it word-for-word.

7. I sing all the time (but I’m not a good singer). I frequently make up lyrics to existing songs and dance around the house. Just last week I made up a song about vegetables while putting groceries away. Banky has told me that the biggest surprise for him when we moved in together was just how goofy I am in this regard.

And now I’ll tag….

Bankwell.
Grubby.
Haley
Drizz
StB

This Tart is no Ship It Holla Balla

2007-05-28T14:22:00.000-04:00

When we first got back from Mexico last weekend I was hesitant but positive when asked about the trip – but now that time has passed I can honestly say that the trip was a bust. It was nice to get away with Bankwell – but Mexico sucked.

I got sick (and almost 2 weeks later I’m still not 100%), we got stuck in a tropical storm, and got hassled by the cops. Not to mention feeling like a walking dollar sign every time we went into town. I won’t ever go back.

Since returning I’ve had an insanely busy week at work and am just now catching up on my blog reading. I’m insanely jealous of the bloggers heading out to Vegas during the WSOP whether it’s to play, or write, or both. I wish I could be there…well, to be honest, I probably could be there…but Banky has no more vacation time left, and he’s proving to be a hard-sell on the “I’m going to Vegas by myself” proposition.

One thing I have had time to do, however, is review my poker stats. And yet again I am startled by how much of an online poker donk I am. I don’t know why this news continues to startle me, but it does. My results in 2007 look something like this:

Live Tournaments + Ring games = +1,000
Online Tournaments + Ring games = - 850
With the amount of money spent on each relatively similar. So what does this say?

Everything I win live, I lose online.

I’ve come to this conclusion before – and I swear off online play. Yet a few weeks go by, and I’m itching to fire up the laptop.

Banky’s live results are very similar to mine, with one very large exception. He plays online for micro limits a few lunch hours a week. His online results? He’s -$0.05 for the year so far. Obviously his overall bankroll is a lot healthier than mine.

So what to do? Cash out the paltry $350 I still have in FullTilt? Switch to microlimits (which frankly bore me to tears), or suck it up and try to get better?

Pauly’s entry from May 24th (The Birth of Cool) had me thinking a lot about why I keep feeling the call to online poker. For me a lot of it has to do with the dream of the big score. If 18 & 19 year old frat daddies can make hundreds of thousands online…why can’t I? Obviously I’m missing something in my online game. And maybe I’m just not self-aware enough to figure out what it is. I feel stuck (not just financially) when it comes to online poker, and I’m not sure what it’ll take to get unstuck.

Mexico bound

2007-05-11T04:28:00.000-04:00

Bankwell and I are about the depart for a trip to Mexico.

No poker for 7 days, not sure how we'll manage ;)

Scooooop!

2007-05-04T11:34:00.000-04:00

I took the day off yesterday to run errands, and of course, had to squeeze in a little online poker. Limit Omaha Hi/Lo has been my game of choice online lately….and I had a great run yesterday. I had 3 successful limit sessions and won a SNG. However, I decided to try Pot Limit, and holy hell is it completely different. I dropped 2 buy-ins in about 30 minutes. Gross.

Luckily my success at the limit tables put me up almost $250 for the day. Not too shabby.

Bankwell has had similar success at lower-limits ($0.50/$1)…and based on the play at the $3/$6 tables, I think these games are ripe for the picking.

What’s not so ripe, however, is the Thursday night league games. I crapped out at the final table when I was shortstacked, went all in with A9s, got called by KQh, two low spades with a J on the flop, 10 on the turn, and A on the river. Runner runner straight takes me out. Gross, again.

Banky and I were talking last night about how something seems off at the league this season. I think there’s been another blind level added early on which changes the dynamic of the game. After the first break, it seems like almost everyone is shortstacked and it’s a push-fest. I can’t put my finger on it exactly, but there just seems to be a lot less play in the game these days. Maybe I just feel that way because I’ve been losing ;)

Next week is the big season-ending game. Despite having been pretty successful in the league, I’ve never moneyed in the BIG GAME. Next week will be different!

Lucky 44 and a late tart

2007-04-30T10:56:00.000-04:00

I was all ready to play in the Blogger Bracelet Race last night. I decided that I would try and win a token as opposed to buying right in, so I fired up the laptop about an hour and a half before the start of the tourney. I logged into FullTilt and decided to see how many people were already registered. Hmmmm. No $24+2 tourneys starting at 9:00. Strange.

A quick visit to Al’s blog and I see that I got the start time wrong by 2 hours. So here I am, thinking I’m logging in early at 7:30, only to see that the tourney had already been running for half an hour. Ooops.

Congrats to whoever took it down!

Part of me wasn’t really in the mood to play, so I guess it was for the best.

I wasn’t in the mood, because Banky and I got in an argument on Saturday night over how I played….it boils down to this – he doesn’t think I take it seriously enough when I play online (I gamble too much), and I feel too much pressure when he watches me play, because I feel like he’s judging me and if I make the wrong play and lose, then I’ve disappointed him. It’s silly that we argued, but it just soured me on playing online for awhile. I don’t want the fact that I lost $5.75 in an OHL game and a $6 token tourney to result in an argument with my husband. Besides, online poker is rigged! ;)

Live poker, however, is the shiz.

We played in a 60-man bounty tourney in Guelph this weekend. I busted out early (between 45th-50th I think). I think I played fine…but I was card dead and couldn’t make anything happen. I think my biggest downfall was I slipped into passive mode when I got short stacked. But it was what it was, and I busted out when I was all-in with pocket 6’s against pocket Aces and AK. I hand over my lovely pink bounty chip to the AK (who caught a straight), and head downstairs to the $1/2 NL cash game…and that’s where the fun begins!

There’s one empty seat (UTG) at the table, I quickly sit and buy-in for $100 and get dealt cards…I ask the dealer if I have to post and he says no. Okey doke!

I get dealt 44 and limp in. A few more limpers and the SB raises it $10. I know this player, and know he’d do this with any 2, and figure if I catch a set I can get his stack, so I call the 10. There’s 1 other caller behind. Flop is…

2 2 4

Is this a dream?

SB bets out $18, and I, idiotically, say “$30”. The dealer says it’s an illegal raise and says I can only call. Ok…I thought I’d be committed to make it a legal raise since it almost was, but whatever. I make the call.

The player behind me, then says “30 on top” and I am flabbergasted.

He knows I love my hand, yet he’s still raising. What could he have? Please, oh please, don’t let him have pocket 2’s!

Now unfortunately my mistake of attempting to raise chases out the other player. Had I just called his bet, I’m sure he would have come along for the extra $30, but since he knew I was staying, he decided to fold. I go all-in, and my opponenet quickly calls. Oh lordy, he called so fast I started seeing quad 2s flashing in front of my eyes. But no. He didn’t have quads, he had A2 for three of a kind.

Another player said he folded a 2, so I knew the hand was mine. But I got a 4th 4 on the turn anyway. Woot! As I scooped the huge pot, people started commenting on the high hand…and I was told that the organizers were doing a high hand jackpot for the day, and that I’d qualified. Double Woot!

I cashed out about an hour or so later when Banky busted out. By then I was up $90 (lost a huge pot with JJ when a guy overplayed his AK preflop and caught a stinking Ace on the turn – bah!). But still…up $90, and a potential for more with the high hand. I found out the next day that my high hand did hold up, and I was $225 richer!

My cash game winnings covered the cost of our buy-ins, plus a tidy little profit – definitely a good day for the Tart.

Bingo Bonanza!

2007-04-24T15:53:00.000-04:00

After a brief foray into an $80 freezout, the past two Woody’s games have reverted to their previous ~~rebuy~~ bingo structure: $60 rebuys for first 3 levels, $20 addon for half a stack after the rebuy period is over. It’s fair to say that the Woody’s boys were back with a vengeance last night…as the prize pool was almost $2000 for 16 players. I think it worked out to almost $120 per person. It was insanity. I had to rebuy on the second hand after I overplayed my pair of jacks, and I saw one player (Guy) get his pocket kings cracked 4 times (twice busting completely and having to rebuy). He lost to me when I had pocket Aces, and to Banky when he had AK.

My hand was textbook. I was in the BB and player UTG+1 raises it 3xBB. Guy reraises him x3, and I look down and see Aces. I’m worried that if I reraise it’ll just scream Aces, but I wanted to get more money into the pot with two players who were anxious for action. I knew going all-in would scare UTG+1 out, so I just doubled Guy’s raise. UTG+1 folded anyway, and Guy said “raise”, and then my heart went pitter patter. He fumbled with his chips for a bit and then went all in. I immediately called and tabled my Aces. They held up, and I doubled up. Woot!

Guy also had AA twice that night, and they held up both times – but he ended up busting well out of the money after rebuying twice.

But that was just the beginning of the insanity. There were more ball-crushing suckouts than I’ve ever seen in one game. It was painful.

I misplayed the first two hands badly (and the second hand in cost me a rebuy), but after that I pulled my shit together and was able to play a very solid game. One of the most satisfying events last night was a call I made on Al. The details of the hand are unimportant, but the result was I read him as weak and even though I just had second pair/weak kicker I called his bluff bet on the river. It’s an amazing feeling when you know you’re making the right decision (and can also be sickening when you know you’re making the wrong decision, but do it anyway).

Long story short, I came in second and am now the money leader for the year.

Not bad for a girl in a room full of drunken monkeys!

The Secret to poker?

2007-04-23T11:22:00.000-04:00

If I frequently get a lot of chips early in a tournament and then finish middle of the pack, what does that tell me?

I have to ponder on that thought, because that happens to me frequently. I played in another blogger tourney last night: the WPBT limit event. Early on I was doing well, but then my aggression got the better of me and I gift-wrapped and hand delivered half my stack to another player.

I found it hard to recover after that and I fizzled out in 13th place. I'm sure the spiced rum & ginger ales that Banky was feeding me didn’t help (although it did make for an enjoyable evening).

Banky and I have been watching the NBC National Heads-up Championship, and I was very impressed by Shannon Elizabeth’s play (although only a few hands of her match against Mr. Celine Dion were shown). However, I was a little alarmed at just how shiney her teeth were. They looked great, but really…who’s teeth are that shiney? It looked like they were covered in Vaseline. I’ll have to remember that trick when I make it onto a televised event.

What I was surprised to hear was Shannon’s comment to Shana Hiatt in her post-win interview. She mentioned that she’s using the Law of Attraction in her life. It was a little bit of a goosebump moment for me because I just read The Secret this week and was totally energized by it. I totally see the connection between playing poker and the law of attraction and how it can translate into “luck”. If you persistently think bad things will happen, bad things will happen (see Mike Matasow). I’ve always felt like I was a lucky person…and now I’m going to make that even more true than before!

Cherry Poppin' Tart

2007-04-18T16:39:00.000-04:00

I popped my poker blogger cherry on Monday night and played my first blogger tourney.

I had arranged to play a heads-up O8 game with Change100 (I won the ‘who is the biggest drama geek who reads her blog’ challenge). Unfortunately the SNG server was down so we couldn’t play, but I was up past my bedtime anyway and decide to try my hand at the Mondays at the Hoy game.

I had a great time…except for the part when my QQ gets crushed by InstantTragedy’s AJ when we get all-in preflop and the flop comes JJx. Bah!

That crippled me and I went all-in shortly afterwards with A10 to get called by IT (I think) with AQ and I go to bed.

Bankwell was a bit grumpy when I lost…he’s watched me play a lot lately, and the other day stopped playing the Wii for a minute and said “you get sucked out on. A LOT”, and why yes, yes I do…but it didn’t faze me on Monday night, because I had a good time.

It was nice to play with people who love poker, and who aren’t full of venom towards each other in the chat window. Although Al did bitch me out for betting into a dry side pot when he and I were in a pot with a third player who was all-in. I’m not convinced that what I did was so wrong. I called the all-in player’s bet with AQ, and the flop was Q high. I was worried that Al might have AK, and then if a K hits, I’ve lost a big pot (the main pot was over 4,000 chips, and I only had about 3,300 back). Al ended up folding, and the all-in player had AQ so we chopped. I know about the whole “checking it down” theory. But in this case I think my bet was justified.

One thing I found interesting was that some of the other players commented on how aggressive I was. I’ve never really considered myself that aggressive, so their reaction was surprising. Although if they saw the hands I was getting (high pockets out the wazoo) maybe I wouldn’t have seemed so aggressive.

In other news I also popped my hammer cherry! Raising 27o, taking it down pre-flop and then showing the hand…oh yes, I’m definitely a blogger now.

And in other, other news - I finally moneyed again in the Thursday night league after a 6 month dry spell. Too bad it was a light game and my third place finish was barely a return on my buy-in....but I'll take it!

MIA

2007-04-09T09:02:00.000-04:00

You’d think that with my lack of blogging that I’ve stopped playing…but that is definitely not the case.

Since I last blogged, I’ve continued my losing streak at the Thursday games (haven’t cashed since November), won a bunch of $8 turbo ticket tourneys – and then subsequently lost when playing tourneys with those tickets, played at the same FullTilt tables as Chris Ferguson, Karina Jett, and Chip Jett, came third at Woody’s (Bankwell finished second that night), and won two HORSE tourneys on FullTilt.

The HORSE tourneys were not my biggest tourney wins as far as money goes, but they were my biggest online tourney wins as far as number of entrants. I’ve never had any success at online MTTs…so these two wins (on back-to-back Fridays, no less) felt extremely satisfying.

We’ve also attended and hosted some Saturday night fun games – and they really help me keep poker in perspective. First and foremost for me, I love to play poker. I love trying to read people, I love playing with chips (especially when I have to stack a huge pot I just scooped), and I love talking and laughing with the other players. I have lots of serious games in my poker playing schedule…I need to remember to include some fun in there too.

No Cigar

2007-03-16T13:18:00.000-04:00

Another night of solid play, another bubble. There isn’t enough profanity at my disposal to express my frustration.

I didn’t realize how weak my game had become until I stepped up the aggression and started playing some decent poker again. The downward spiral of my poker game went like this….

Doing very well, consistently cashing.

Loosens up starting hands, plays them aggressively

Gets burned

Keeps starting requirements loose, but plays them passively

Gets nowhere

Tightens up starting hand requirements, but still plays them passively

Sucks ass

So I decided to keep my requirements tight, but play them aggressively – like I used to, when I was winning…and my game has been SO much better. I can’t seem to avoid the bubble suckout though.

Last night I really felt strong at the beginning of the game. I was a big stack when we got to the final table when one bad hand against Bankwell (I had 1010, he had AA) cut my stack by a third. I was steaming like mad because Bankwell played me, and I really, really do not like that. Mofo. But I managed to maintain my composure and played tight aggressive to the final 4, where I was unfortunately now shortstacked (but not critical). The player to my right is mediocre…he overvalues face cards and Ace-anything. He raised from the SB, and in the BB I have pocket nines. I know that he’s raising me with anything, and with the blinds quickly escalating, I don’t have to think twice about pushing all-in. He instantly calls and my heart sinks. He must have a high pocket pair. But no, he has the monster of a hand – A 8 offsuit. He, of course, catches the Ace and I’m eliminated.

What boggled my mind was he was nowhere near pot committed with his hand. And if I’m pushing, what hands does he think he can beat? The only hands that he’s ahead of are A-rag lower than 7 and two paint cards like KQ/KJ (which I would never push with, and if he paid attention he’d know that). With any pocket pair lower than 77 it’s a coinflip, and with any pocket pair over 8s he’s an underdog. So how could A-8 be an insta-call? So confusing.

I was a bit of a baby and just pushed by chips in a big pile across the table and sat stonefaced for the rest of the game…which I had to sit through because Bankwell finished second. Which was good for the bankroll, but bad for my self-esteem.

I knew I should have been able to just shake it off – but I just felt so pissed that such a bad call gets rewarded. I know, I know – I want him to make terrible calls like that, because I’ll win more often than not. But sometimes I just want to jump across the table and strangle the donkeys.

Tomorrow night we’re going to a friend from work’s house for a poker tournament she’s organized. There will be 12 people – most of whom know how to play, but aren’t there to take it seriously…it’s exactly what I need: FUN poker.

2007-03-14T10:08:00.000-04:00

Pauly posted a great entry on balance – it’s a must read for every human trying to live a quality life.

I’m nowhere near balanced right now. Work has been incredibly stressful, and I’ve been using large quantities of Sleeman’s Clear Ale and online MTTs to escape. It’s been work, beer, sleep, poker, work, sleep, poker, work. Add in chocolate & french fries and you’ll get the full sense of my existence over the past month. Not good.

A friend came over last night and told me that he’s getting separated from his wife. They have been married a few short years and have a young daughter. The saddest thing he told me was that there would be days on end when they wouldn’t speak. They weren’t fighting, they just wouldn’t speak to each other. The silence must have been incredibly heavy. It made me want to cry.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the impact that poker has had on my life (thanks to CC’s series of Am I better because of poker articles – a series I intend to do myself). I think the biggest positive impact has been on my relationship with my husband (aka Bankwell). In addition to life, work, family – we now have a shared hobby that we talk about all the time. I can’t imagine a night where we don’t talk and laugh – nevermind days on end.

I’m pretty lucky.

Well, except for on the poker tables lately ;)

Bubbled again in Woody’s on Monday. I was on fire at the beginning of the game. I’d really pumped up my aggression (my game had turned very passive) – and was building a great stack. A few missed flops by mid-game, and then one very bad pre-flop raise (committing myself and considering the stack size of the BB) and I was down to 1,000 chips when blinds were 200/400. Bah.

But I was able to rebuild only to go out 5th when I was a small stack and went all in for 3xBB with A4 and was called by AK. Flop was AX6, turn was 4, river was 6. I didn’t even see the second 6 and thought I had sucked out – but his two pair beat mine and I’m done.

But I actually felt great about the game, because with the exception of that one clear mistake, I played well.

my cup runneth over

2007-03-07T15:37:00.000-05:00

Work has been pretty intense for the past two weeks, so not only has my poker playing slowed quite a bit, so has my ability to take the time to write about it.

But Saturday morning I was pumped and primed for an intense day of poker. I was ready to play…..for The Cup.

6 months ago, I played in my first RC Cup – a team based tournament created by a bunch of poker enthusiasts (i.e. poker nerds, like myself) where you compete in 4 different events for points, which combined with your teammates points give a total team score to determine the winning team – and watched our team barely squeak into second last place. But this time was different. Our team was different, and we were ready.

4 events, 4 disciplines. We were all playing Limit HE, NLHE, and Heads-up NLHE, and in the non-holdem round half the team would play Omaha while the other would play Stud.

There was more than money on the line, there was pride.

We bonded as a team over Friday night practices (which contained a lot more alcohol than was necessary). We talked Omaha and Stud strategy. We got cheesy T-shirts made.

We were ready.

AJ arrived at our place at 9:30 Saturday morning – the BusDriver was not far behind him, and we piled into BD’s van for the hour-long commute to the venue. A stop at Timmy’s was in order and we picked up 4 coffees. Roll-up-the-rim is in full effect, and I win a donut. Aha! Karma is on my side already.

We meet the other half of the team there, and the Hill (our team) is decked out in said cheesy T-shirts. I quick trip to the ladies and I, too, am awash with team pride in my white & blue jersey.

Bankwell in our team uniform.

We buy-in for the high-hand jackpots while other degenerates play $5 flipaments., and before too long, the Stud/Omaha round is starting up.

I was on the Stud half of the team, and proceed to implement my strategy of folding unless I have a monster. Well folks, there were no monsters to be found in my hand. Not a buried pair, not a 3-flush, not even a buried Ace. I was card-dead. But, I was out for points (the higher I finished, the more points I got), so I just waited, and waited, and waited.

Our Stud table must have been the rockiest rocks in Bedrock, because we were one of the last two tables going (out of 8 total, 4 Stud, 4 Omaha), and all my teammates had already ended their games. There were still 5 players at my table…and I was the shortstack. Easy, the other woman on our team, sat next to me and I told her I hadn’t seen a pair all game, not buried, not split…nothing. The poker gods must have heard me bitching, because the next hand I’m dealt, I’m showing an Ace with buried 4s. Not the best hand, but with the size of my stack, it’s now or never kids.

I get it all in pre-flop against a buried pair of Kings. Damn.

But wait – I get a 4 on 4th street to more than triple up. Sweet jebus, I’m still alive.

The game continues, and I’m all-in again with several opponents who check it down – I end up with a flush against nothing better and my stack is no longer pathetic. Through circumstances I can’t even explain, I end up heads-up in a game I’ve never played live before (other than team practices).

Stud: Heads-up. My opponent is in the pimp hat

It’s hard to explain what it was like to play that heads-up match – my whole team was behind me, other players were surrounding the table. There were cheers and groans as every hand was played. It was such a “now” moment. Ultimately I was defeated to take second. But it still felt like a miracle.

My Limit match kind of sucked when I got rivered twice early on to lose over half my stack. I did, however, double up with pocket Aces when two Aces came on the board. Huzzah! But it still wasn’t enough to keep me alive for much longer, and I went out in the middle of the pack.

My No-Limit game was horrendous when I made a terrible move with AK when an Ace flopped and my opponent flopped trips. Crikey. I went out first at my table. Unfortunately, 3 of my teammates had already busted first on their tables too – so the three of us, glaringly obvious in our blue & white shirts, had to pass the time while the games wore on. We corralled another bustee to play Euchre with us – playing poker after such embarrassing bustouts would have been much too painful.

My heads-up match was a breeze – I played against a weak-tight player who folded to any sign of aggression. I made quads for the second time of the day – this time to a board of K6K K Q. My opponent held pocket sixes, but didn’t look at his cards until the turn (he was trying to get tricky by playing blind – I don’t know why). He thought he was trapping me, but when I raised him on the river, he got worried that I had a queen, so he only called my raise instead of going all-in. Had he looked at his cards, all our money would have been in on the flop. It didn’t matter though, because I grinded him down until he had no choice but to go all-in with K-high, and my A-high held up.

My team actually won 6 out of 8 heads up matches….but we couldn’t pull out a win. We lost 1st place by 4 points. If our NL round hadn’t been so terrible, we would have won the event. Ouch.

But all-in-all – it was an amazing time. To play with so many people who love poker was just incredible.

The next Royal Cup is in August….and I can’t wait.

Our team picture - as taken by the most inebriated person at the event:

it doesn't always pay to be right

2007-02-27T17:37:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting here at work, waiting for a final update on the current catastrophe before I can leave for the day...what better time to mull over last night's game.

It was a smaller game than usual - only 11 players. And I went out an astonishing 10th. This is pretty much par for the course for me lately, but I don't feel bad about last night's game at all, because I know I played well.

In the critical hand of the night, I had pocket 10s on the button, and Jr. raised it from UTG (around 2.5xBB). Jr. isn't a good player. I knew his range of raising hands was pretty wide - any ace, any two face cards are high on his list of premium hands. It was folded to me, and I contemplated a reraise. I decided that I could outplay him on the flop if I got a nice board, and decided to just flat call and see what the flop brought. The blinds folded.

I watched Jr as the board was dealt and he was anxiously watching the cards come out, so I knew his hand wasn't strong, and he needed to hit the board. The flop is 5c, 8s, 2c. He looked at the board for awhile, and then moved all-in for more than 3x the pot!

I said "that's a big bet" and he replied, "yes it is". he watched me intently as I counted out the size of the bet. I had him covered, but would only have about 1,400 chips left afterwards (blinds were around 100/200 I think). I just SMELLED weakness off of him, and pushed the call in. He groaned and turned over Ace 8 unsuited (so top pair, ace kicker, the hand his daddy, Sr. loves to go all-in with). Turn is a 7c, river a Jc. His Ace? The Ace of clubs.

So my perfect read, and perfect call gets kiboshed by a runner-runner flush. Yoinks!

I triple up a few hands later with AK when I go all-in against two players preflop and hit two pair (yippie!), and then a few hands after that, go all-out with pocket sevens to pocket aces. The worst part of that is I hit my 7 on the flop, turn a full-house, only to see an Ace on the river.

In those three pivotal hands, my play was solid. I thought about my options, and made the right move. Unfortunately, the right moves don't always pay off.

I feel better about my game though, and that's the important thing. It's incredible how emotional poker can be. It always baffles me when people say that they don't get affected by the emotional aspect of the game. Actually, it doesn't baffle me as much as I think they are full of it. It's an emotional roller-coaster, and it's so eacy to have your confidence dashed against the rocks, and when your confidence is low, you don't play optimally, which leads to more confidence-crushers. I can see how easy it would be to spiral into a really bad losing streak.

I'm not out of the woods yet. I'm still up for the year, but February has made a big dent in my strong start to 2007.

Bankwell placed 3rd last night, for double his buy-in back. There are definitely positives to sharing a bankroll with your husband!

bankroll blues

2007-02-23T17:23:00.000-05:00

I've been playing micro-limit OHL and Razz on FullTilt - I'm down $50 so far, but it's fun learning a new game. I think what I've enjoyed most is reliving those lightbulb moments I had when I was learning Hold'Em. I've been playing the same people in my live games, that I think I go on auto-pilot with NLHE.

Unfortunately, my auto-pilot is stuck on "play like crap".

I played at Fallsview on Wednesday and dropped an entire buy-in. I went into the game not feeling up to it, and just had the feeling that I shouldn't play - but what do I do? Plunk down my $500 like an idiot.

I also haven't had a single decent finish this year at the Thursday league, and last night it really hit me. I'm playing badly. I'm not card-dead, I'm not getting sucked out on (at least not more than usual), I'm playing badly.

I'm playing loose, weak, and passive. I keep getting stuck with second best hands at the river and paying off the best hand. And why do I have second best hands? Because I either call with second-rate hands, or passively let my opponents catch up. I call in stead of folding. I call instead of raising. I check instead of betting. And I pay everyone off. Bad, bad Tart!

I'm such an emotional player - whether I like to admit it or not. How I feel impacts how I play, and how I play impacts how I feel. Lately I've been really stressed out, which leads to bad play, which leads to stress, which leads to....you get where I'm going here.

So what's the answer here? I don't think the stesses in my life are going anywhere anytime soon. I just need to find some better outlets for them, methinks.

No play=good play?

2007-02-16T13:48:00.000-05:00

When ever we have an undesirable result at a game, Banky and I always ask each other “How do you think you played?” If we think we played well, then it’s easier to get over the bad result.

Last night I had a bad result – 12th of 17. But I feel unable to evaluate my play, because I barely played. My wrist got sore from flicking my cards into the muck over, and over, and over. It’s strange, because I didn’t get the frustrating card-dead stack-is-shrinking feeling that I’ve had before, because I was able to steal two pots using position. By the end of the 4th blind level, my stack was $25 above starting, and I still had 10xBB.

I then lost two pots calling short-stack all-ins and lost (with the best hand) both times, and then had just over 6xBB. Unfortunately, there were several shorter stacks who kept pushing all-in while I folded 82, J4, 103, etc. Finally I pushed with a King in the BB when it was folded to the SB who limped in, and he slow-rolled me with AJ. I caught my card on the turn and he caught his on the river. Wah wah.

But it wasn’t dramatic, it wasn’t adrenaline filled, and for the first time in awhile, it wasn’t even that much fun. It was fold, fold, fold, lose a pot, fold, fold, out. Anti-climatic to say the least.

So Banky and I went home, watched Survivor and drank beer to drown our sorrows.

Double Bubble

2007-02-13T17:02:00.000-05:00

Banky and I finished 5th and 4th respectively last night in a game that paid top 3. Bah!

The night started off great when I got a boat lead of chips from Sr when I had nut flush to his trip Kings. But other than that, there weren’t many memorable hands.

I got short stacked bluffing off some chips to Banky when he had a flush draw and I had a straight draw – we both missed, but I chickened out and didn’t bluff the river. Weak.

After that I survived by stealing pots when I could. Banky busted out 5th when he got caught in a semi-bluff. My bust-out was pretty non-eventful. I went out when I had about 4xBB and went all-in with A10. Got quickly called by 1010 and my Ace didn’t hit.

That’s all she wrote last night.

Back in the online saddle...

2007-02-12T11:49:00.000-05:00

I decided to give online poker another try this weekend, and rebought in to Full Tilt. I can honestly say, that although I lost way more than I won this weekend, I had more fun playing online poker than I have in a very long time.

I played a bunch of tournaments, and even won a satellite into the $200 HORSE event on Saturday night. I’d never played HORSE before Saturday, and I loved it. I’d played all the games separately at times, except Razz – which ended up being my favourite of all the rotations. I think I only played “ok” in the big tournament. I went out after about an hour and a half…somewhere in the 500s (520ish?) out of 568 players. I held my own in the early rounds, but was in over my head in one Stud High round and lost a lot of my chips and just couldn’t recover.

I’ve been so down on online poker as of late, because of the horrendous suckouts (which, I know everyone gets, but I find myself more frustrated by them online than I am in real life). But this weekend I just felt differently about my results – I’m not sure if it was because I was playing new games, or because I was playing tournaments instead of cash games – but it was just plain fun.

I also chatted briefly with Michael Craig when we were at the same table in the HORSE super-satellite. I loved his book, so that was neat. And then I, in so many words, was called a donkey by some Full Tilt pro that I’d never heard off (Aaron Bartley, I think?). And that was just plain funny – because I’ve reviewed the hand in question, and I think I played it just fine (not perfectly, but not terribly either). I think it’s amusing that people feel free to criticize you online in a way that they never would if you were sitting right across from them.

I’m definitely going to play more HORSE tournaments (but likely lower buy-ins than this weekend), and try to win my way into Full Tilt’s Sunday night HORSE tourney. But I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to play this week, Banky and I have a lot of poker on the books….

Woody’s game tonight, Thursday poker league, Friday at the Bus Driver’s place, and Rama on Monday (we both have the day off). I’m ~~exhausted~~ excited just thinking about it!

If you see it, it will come...

2007-02-09T11:48:00.000-05:00

I can either see into the future, or I can’t.

Last night was the first night in the new season of our poker league. For the past 4 seasons either Bankwell (aka Mr.Tart) or I have won the opening game. But alas, it was not meant to be last night.

I didn’t play many hands last night. By the 4th blind level (20/40), I was only down slightly from starting stack (875 vs starting stack of 1000). I’m in the BB with one limper in MP, and face a 150 raise from the SB – I look down and see pocket Aces. Sweet!

I figure the limper will fold, and I’ll face the SB heads-up, so I just call the raise. But MP reraises 600 on top. Oh la la. I’m going to get paid. SB folds, and I go all-in.

I know the MP will have AA, KK, QQ or AK in this position, so I’m very happy when he calls my all-in (which really, even if he was making a move, he’d have to call, because it’s only 325 more). He does indeed flip over KK, but a K falls on the river and I pout for about 45 seconds before getting up from the table.

It’s so weird, because I knew a King was coming. I know that sounds like bullshit – but one of the busted out players was dealing, and I looked at her before she dealt the board, and we both shook our heads. Did I send out bad karmic energy to make the King come, or was it a little psychic moment that gave me a glimpse at the river? I’m not a pessimistic person who always thinks she’s getting beat….but this time, I just felt it.

The exact opposite happened to Bankwell. He was short-stacked and all-in with pocket fives, and got called by KQc. The flop came 8, 5, X with two clubs. His opponent said “I can get the flush!” and Bankwell said – “That’s ok, the 8 is coming”. Turn brought a club, river brought the 8 for the full house. He told me later that he was 100% confident the board was going to pair. Did his confidence have any affect on the outcome, or is this all just poker player whimsy?

Only the universe can tell, I suppose.

Yum

2007-02-06T16:39:00.000-05:00

The WSOP needs an official chocolate?

Not that I'm against chocolate, by any means, but what does it have to do with poker?

I can name numerous other consumables that I'd much more aptly associate with poker than chocolate.

Consumerism is evil. In this case, it's evil wrapped in little squares of foil.

The Debut of Mr. Tart!

2007-02-05T14:36:00.000-05:00

Mr. Tart recently wrote the following recount of a party we had to celebrate the end of the 4th season of our Thursday Night poker league., which he has graciously given me permission to post here.

For the unitiated: Polish Poker is a form of Hold'em we invented in honour of K, a Polish player in our league, who would frequently lament that he had folded the best hand (i.e. "I would have had full house!"). In Polish Poker, if you decide to fold, but want to "polish" your hand, you place an amount equal to the SB on your cards, and declare that you are "polishing". Should any other player(s) also "polish", you are competing against those players for the best hand after the board is complete. Should no other players "polish", you win! But if there's no flop, all polish bets are off - or as we determined on Friday night: No Flop, No Pole!

And now onto Mr. Tart's report...

-----------------

Here is my Season 4 party trip report. Now I know many of you are saying “C how can you have a trip report when it was at your house?”

Well even though it was at my house I was playing on another planet (for those of you that were there you know what I’m talking about)

I get home at 7 from having dinner and see that there is a phone message. I get the message and it goes a little like this (please note this is not a word for word transcript but more of a summary):

“Hi this is J aka The Bus Driver”

At this point I realize that I only know one person named J.

“The wife is working a little late and I am going to be late. I should be there at around 8:30. I am not sure if we are going to be playing a cash game, some Sit and Goes or if it going to be a drink fest so just blind me in or what ever.”

A said he would bring his table so I figured he would arrive between 7:30 or 7:40. The doorbell rings and it is D and E (they’re not A).

Beer is handed out.

A arrives a few minutes later with the table and beer. Table is put in the dining room; beer is put in the fridge.

Beer is handed out.

Chips start being set up. At this point K and S arrive (not sure in the order).

Beer is handed out.

I explain that J aka The Bus Driver called and said he was going to be late for the cash game, Sit and Goes, drink fest and ask what we want to do. Every one agrees to a $10 Polish SnG with blinds going up every 10 minutes.

Beers are handed out.

Game begins, on the third hand E (the Tart) limps in, a few players limp in as well, me on the button raises approx. 4x the BB, the blinds fold to E who re-raises, people fold back to me and I wondering what I should do, the E then says “Why don’t you go all-in?”

I go all-in, E calls, I show Ace King suited, she shows pocket Jacks. The Jacks hold up and I’m crippled early.

Beers are handed out.

Now at some point M arrives with his girlfriend, then J aka The Bus Driver also arrives not sure that order of the arrival.

J takes a seat beside me and asks about the vodka. I give J the bottle and a few shot glasses. J pours a shot and looks at the bottle. J (I assume being a glass is half full type of guy) sees that the amount of vodka left in the bottle is about the same amount in his shot glass so being the nice guy that he is drinks his shot and then drinks the rest of the bottle.

Now at this point details become blurry and confused.

Beers are handed out.

At one point I won a hand with K-9 by getting two pair, A won the same hand in the polish with the same K-9. I realize that either A is very tight or I’m very loose.

Beers are handed out.

I ended up crippling K when my Red Aces held up on a board of 5-6-2 of clubs when K had the Ace of clubs and a 7.

Beers are handed out.

A was kind enough to show me why pocket 7’s are called walking sticks when he busted me out with them. Not sure what happen after but I know A still continues the love of pocket Queens when D cracked his Kings with them when a queen hit on the river.

We discover that A is the master of Polish poker and will be writing a chapter on it in Super System 3.

Someone won and we decided to play a $20 sit and go.

Beers are handed out.

Some how I get short stacked but work my way back. J raises a pot 5x to 200 then claims 5x is like two times more extreme then 3x porn, something with arm pits and eye brows, I say whoa I thought 5x was like sheep and trees.

I look at my cards and have aces and thinking I’m short stacked go all-in for like 1400 (just a little over bet) everyone folds.

A raises to 120 (blinds are 30/60) and like the whole table calls. I am in the big blind and have crap but I’m getting odds to call, but I can’t figure out if I should polish it or not, so I regular call.

Flop come 5h-6s-7h. J checks, I look at my cards, I look at the board. I look at my cards, I look at the board. I count on my fingers and then say all-in.

A says “What?” and I say “All-in”

A looks at the board and then looks at me; I look at the board and look at my cards. A still looking at me says call. Every one else folds. I turn over my 3-4 of hearts and crack A’s Aces and bust him out.

More poker happens more people get busted, J gets busted and then becomes my consultant, advising me on my hands by suggesting things like, go all-in with that hand, fold that and so on. I listen to J and he’s right.

Jeff then leaves the table and D bends me over the table prison style with his pocket Kings against my J-10. (I can’t sit properly for hours afterwards.) Not sure what happens but I place 3rd.

I think either D or S wins.

We play another $20 sit and go, I get busted early and I am sitting beside D.

D after giving it to me prison style decides we should work together and we start playing our (D's) hands together.

More poker happens, more drinking happens and someone wins.

People start leaving at this time.

Some one suggests we play 7 card stud and the rest of us do. I adjust tournament director and we have a crazy blind structure. Ends up the women are the real studs and A and E chop at the end. By this time it is like 4 in the morning and every one goes home.

Over I think I was down like $30 to $50 but lost a lot more and then the money (like respect).

Great time every one, I had lots of fun, not sure if any one else did but all I know there wasn't a lot of beer left.

-----------

And thus ends our Friday night.

Hopefully Mr. Tart will join me for more posts in the future...

cha-ching!

2007-02-05T13:45:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I was seated at a 5/5NL game, having convinced Mr. Tart that heading to the casino was a much better way to spend a dreary Sunday than doing laundry!

I was fortunate enough to have another spectacular session and ended up +$505. Mr. Tart was down $85….but he battled back after losing a K-high flush to a straight-flush….so the result isn’t all that bad.

The amazing thing about both sessions is that apart from a few hands, I played relatively ABC poker. I was just lucky that not only did my strong hands hold-up, but I also got paid off. It was actually quite strange – there was one player who paid me off not once, not twice, but three times when he held second pair. The first time I guess I can understand – to see if my betting truly did represent a strong hand - but 3 times? The last time he said "I know this is a bad call". And yep, it was.

My favourite hand of the day was early on when I held AA. It’s raised to $25 in front of me. I re-raise to $75 and get FOUR callers. Holy hell.

Flop comes K-high and I check, hoping to check-raise, and it gets checked around. Ooops.

I bet the turn, and everyone folds. I take down over $300 uncontested! Oh lordy, if only every session could be like this.

We left after 3 hours, and I was on cloud nine again.

The next day we had a Monday-Night Boys game. We started playing this every-other-Monday game a year ago….and it’s a crazy game. Most of the players have been friends for a long time – there’s a lot of shit-talking, but it’s all fun. It's not the most profitable game for me, because of the rebuy structure and magnitude of suckouts. But I’m a sucker for punishment, and love the game, so we keep going. Lucky for me, the guy who runs the game decided to try a freezeout format (which works much better for my style), and I guess I was still on my rush before, because I took this game down.

Frankly, when it got short-handed, I looked around the table and thought that I could beat any of the 4 other players heads-up because they were playing so pasively, but my stack wasn’t very big and I was worried I wasn’t going to make it that far. But I pushed, and pushed, and pushed, stealing the blinds for 2 blind levels, until my absolute dream scenario happened…

I was in the BB when Old-timer limps in. Now to understand Old-timer, you only need to know that he has the record for the number of rebuys in this particular game. He thinks that the game is all luck, and has sucked out on so many players, that he’s legendary. Players both drool and cower when he’s in a hand, because he’s either going to double you up, or send you home bruised and battered. For the most part, I avoid him unless I have something super-strong. So Old-timer limps, SB folds, and I have 59o in the BB so I just check.

The flop comes 6,7,8 with 2 hearts. I flopped the straight and while I might normally check here, I know that Old-timer will check if he missed and I don’t want him to get away cheaply so I bet 3xBB. He says “How much you got there?” and as I start to count my chips he says “Doesn’t matter, I’m all-in”. I instantly call and flip out my straight, he flips over A6 for bottom-pair, Ace kicker. Turn & River don’t help, and I double up, crippling Old-timer. This gave me a monster stack, which was all the momentum I needed.

Once the bubble burst, we quickly got down to heads-up, but that proved was more challenging than I thought. I gave my opponent more credit for hands than I should have – not realizing that he had loosened up quite a bit once he made it into the money. After I realized that his bets didn't always represent strength, I adjusted my play and ultimately won.

I took home over $1100 in 24 hours. Poker is crazy.

Mr. Tart talks about Riding The Wa (a term I think he read in an article by Phil Laak) – I’m not entirely sure what it really means….but for us, it’s about feeling the game intuitively. Knowing that your bets are right, that your folds are good, and your bluffs won’t get called. I’ve been riding the wa. I know that the ride won’t last forever, but I’m sure enjoying it while it lasts.

A big cash game win - finally

2007-01-31T14:08:00.000-05:00

Last year Mr.Tart and I started tracking all of our poker play. I created an Excel spreadsheet and, by month, we tracked every dime spent. We recorded date, location, game type, BB, buy-in, and cash-out. This year I modified the spreadsheet to separately track online ring, online tourney, live ring, and live tourney. I also added a column for notes – as I thought it would be helpful to write a few short comments about how I felt about the session, as well as any memorable hands.

First thing I discovered, I am an online donk. Hence, the “break” will continue.

Second thing I discovered was that so far this month, I felt like I have been playing some of the best poker. Every note started with “Played well” or “Played very well” – but I wasn’t bringing home any bacon. Until last week.

I had a meeting in Buffalo on Wednesday that ended at Noon. Since I wouldn’t be driving 4 hours back to work and thus, had the rest of the day to myself, I decided to swing on by Fallsview for a little 2/5NL action.

I got there about 1:00 and there was no 2/5 running, but there was open seating at the 5/5NL game. I initially wanted the 2/5 game because it had a max buy-in of $200, so I could temper any potential losses. To be honest, I wasn’t all that confident about my live casino NL game. But I was there to play, and 5/5 is what was available to me.

The min buy-in was $100, max was $500. The table didn’t seem highly stacked, so I bought in for $300 – with another $200 back in case I needed it. But I didn’t. In a three hour session I was up $550!

I had two really memorable hands. Early on I had KK in LP. EP raised to 20, I re-raised to 60 and got called. Flop was K-xx, no straight, no flush. EP checked, I bet 100 and EP thought for a long time and then called. Turn brought an unremarkable card (but did put two to a flush out there). EP checked again, and I bet 100 again. He thought for a long time and then folded his JJ face-up. I realized, almost immediately, that I misplayed the turn. I think a check there would have conveyed weakness, and he might have bet large on the river. Oh well.

The other memorable hand will go down as one of the best hands I ever played (at least in my own, non-experienced, mind).

The table had been limping A LOT, so I was taking a few cheap flops with marginal hands. This time, I’m on the button, there are 8 limpers before me, and I limp with J8 suited. A little background…the hand right before this had been won by someone holding pocket 9’s, and when UTG limps in, he says “I have the hand you just won with” and then he said to another player “Hear that Joe? I have his hand”.

The flop comes 7, 4, A rainbow (one of my suit). It gets checked to me, so I decide to represent the Ace and bet 20. UTG calls my bet and says “My nines might be good”. The turn is a 9 and everyone laughs. The 9 brings me a gut shot straight draw and I now also have a flush draw. UTG checks and says “I’m going to check my set”. I bet out $40 and he calls. The river brings another 9. The table laughs again, and UTG taps the table. I miss my draws (although I’m still representing the Ace). I pull out a $100 bill and lay it in front of me and say “$100”. UTG goes into the tank and I start silently chanting “fold fold fold fold fold”. I’m not sure what I can do to make him fold, and I then do something that was potentially pretty stupid – a player next to me says “I guess he doesn’t have nines then”, and I say, kind of quietly, “I can confidently say he doesn’t have nines”. UTG shuffles his cards as he thinks, and flashes an Ace before folding, and I scoop the pot. One of the players near me says “She had A9” and I kind of smile and look down.

What made me feel so great was he obviously put me on the hand I was representing, and I was able to sell it, even though I only had Jack high.

Nothing much happened after that hand, until I went on a mini-rush and won three pots in a row with good starting hands that actually hit the flop. I lasted a few more orbits, and left the table just before paying my 7th session fee.

It was a great feeling to have such a profitable cash session. Over the past year my live cash games have been just above breakeven or losers. I drove home on cloud nine, and couldn’t wait for Mr.Tart to come home so I could regale him with stories.

Those stories, however, inspired great envy in Mr.Tart – and it was quite easy to talk him into heading to the casino for the day.

But that’s another post…

thisclose to the final table!

2007-01-22T13:16:00.000-05:00

Oy. How can winning $150 feel so crappy? When you're the "final table bubble" that's how!

The tourney on Saturday featured my best performance to date, but I left feeling frustrated and mad at myself.

The game started late due to some technical difficulties, and we ended up having to grab random seats. Yikes. I end up in the 2s at a table where I know one of the players (a very methodical mathmatical player aka MMP) but the rest were unknowns. I win the first two pots of the game and build up a nice little stack when I river a straight and go all-in (I don't get called, but my opponenent bet quite a bit before folding to me).

There were a few memorable hands - mostly played against MMP. Twice he raised me, and twice I went all-in against him. Both times he put be on Kings, and he was wrong both times. My hands weren't nearly that strong, but I knew I could get him off his hands, and I was successful both times. That felt amazing.

Then, I'm not even sure what happened, but I ended up down quite a bit. In retrospect, I don't remember losing any large pots, but I guess a bunch of little pots along the way add up.

My table breaks, and I get moved to a table with KS - one of the other few women at the tourney, who I've played with briefly before. She has a great reputation (which is well deserved from my observations), and she has a MONSTER stack. Somewhere around 100,000....compared to my measly 12,000. But then, for some reason, chips start coming my way. I go all-in with top pair shitty kicker only to be called by someone who THOUGHT the Jack on the board was a King to go with his KQ. Holy hell, that was sweet.

Then I get involved in a hand with KS. She bluff-raises me on the turn and I smooth call, then go all-in on the river. I knew I had the best hand, and she gave me A LOT of chips. I thought for sure she would call the river (which would have been fine for me), but I read her wrong. She told me later she was on a OESD & flush draw. I put her on trip 8s. So although I was very happy to win the pot, I'm not happy that I got the wrong read.

I made it to the dinner break (24 players left...top 11 pay), and after the dinner break KS busts out, leaving me as the only woman left. And then I RULE my table. The fold to every bet or raise I make. It's like a dream.

Then it's 2 tables. The money bubble bursts. Yippie! My best finish so far! Then another player goes out, and we're down to 10. Final table is 9. And I get moved.

Bah!

My new table starts to bully me (one player in particular) and I fold repeatedly. Then I limp in with 56s (miskate #1), get raised 3xBB and then IDIOTICALLY go all-in, get called quickly by AQo, and his hand holds up, so I go out and miss the final table.

I wish I knew exactly what prompted me to go all-in. Part of it was, I think, that I was sick of getting pushed around. The bully had a huge chip-stack and used it against me. I was right to take a stand, but probably should have done it with a stronger hand. I was so bummed because I had PLENTY of chips. I could have posted & folded and made it to the final table without difficulty.

I feel frsutrated just thinking about it.

But my lesson was learned. I can still take a stand against a bully - I just have to pick my moments with a little more clarity.

My time will come. But aparantly, it will not come on APLady or Titan. I dumped $200 into APLady on Sunday morning and promptly lost is playing 3 tournies and way above my banroll. Cripes. Then I tried to sign up with Titan, only to be given the crazy runaround with my deposits, and am now down about $15. Ugh. Titan's Customer Service is terrible, and I can't seem to win a pot. I'm considering cashing out entirely and giving online a REAL break....not just 2 weeks.

We shall see if Titan ever responds to my email.

the curse of the re-suckout

2007-01-19T16:40:00.000-05:00

Last night was the Season Finale in our Thursday Poker League - the culmination of the past 12 weeks of play, in which the top 16 players (i.e. earned the most points during the season) get the battle for the big pot ($2000). With 50% going to first place, it's a sweet payday.

This is season 4 of the league, and the very first time that I haven't been at the top of the league. That honour, this time, goes to Mr. Tart. I was actually 4th this season...despite having only moneyed 3 times.

The game started out well for me, and I won several smallish pots, but then lost a big chunk by raising on the river when i could have just called.

I was on the button, and UTG+1 raised 3xBB. I had KJc and decided to call, since I had position and a decent stack. SB & BB fold, so it's just UTG+1 and I. The flop comes K, Q, 4. UTG+1 bets 3xBB, I smooth call, putting her on either a K, or a bluff. The turn brings another 4, she checks, I check. The river brings a J, and gives me 2 better pair, than the 2 pair I think she has. She bets, I raise, and she calls, showing AQ for two better pair than me. D'oh! To be honest, I'm not sure why she didn't reraise me....she must have put me on a 4.

My biggest mistake was not narrowing her hand selection when she bet out on the flop. If she did, indeed, have a K, what was her kicker? She raised from early position preflop, so she must have had a decent kicker, and the only one I couldn't beat was K10. So it was a dumb raise on my part.

Second mistake was a poorly executed flush bluff against a very tight player. He is usually very easy to bluff, but I didn't bet enough for him to fold his straight (which if I had done a better job of selling my hand, he would have done).

That left me very short stacked. Blinds were 30/60 and I had $260....with just seconds to go before the blinds increased to 50/100. I knew I was pushing no matter what I had, and then the player to my right raises to 150. Ugh. I still had to push, and did...with 34s. Then the BB raises all-in. Uh oh! Original raises folds, and BB shows JJ....which I crush with a 4 on the flop and 3 on the turn. So dirty.

That almost tripled me up...and I gave my head a shake and started to play some good poker.

I made it to the final table and was short stacked with a few other players. I made a great call against an all-in bluff, and was down to 5 players. I was, however, still short stacked with just over 2,000 chips when the blinds were 150/300. On the button I have A10o and push, only to get called by monster chip leader who has AQs. Crapola.

but then, oh but then....a sweet, sweet 10 on the flop (along with a 7 and a K), then an Ace on the turn gives me 2 pair, and then the evil, evil, King on the river gives the BB 2 pair with a better kicker. He re-sucked out my suck-out!

I can't complain though...the best hand won. We both did the right thing, and the cards just fell where they fell. He eventually went on to win, and I was happy to see him use my chips wisely.

Overall it was a pretty dissapointing season for me. I just never really got in the groove. Luckily Mr.Tart had an awesome season, so combined we're up (and I'm still up overall for the league). The cards can't always be kind....but here's hoping Season 5 is a little better for the Tart.

We're playing in a big freezout tourney tomorrow. I've never made it to the final 2 tables in these particular tourneys....so I'm looking for a better finish tomorrow.

Oh bubble, how I hate thee.

2007-01-12T17:51:00.000-05:00

Last night was the last game in our Thursday League's 4th "season". It was a great game, because only the top 16 point earners get to play in the Season Finale next week, and there was a tight race for the 16th spot.

Mr.Tart has had an amazing season - I think he's had 8 out of 12 money finishes, with 3 1sts (and 4 2nd place finishes IN A ROW). Killer. I smoked last season with 5 1st place finishes....but this season has been a dissapointment. I've had 3 cashes (two 3rds and one 2nd). Last night I made it to the final table with a nice stack, but got card dead, and then wasn't agressive enough to compensate for by bad run of cards.

I ended up all-in with a dominated hand (QJc against AJo) and didn't hit. It was the Mr. himself who took me out. Fucker.

Ah well. He went on to win the game.

I had so much fun though - the game was competitive, but not too serious. I laughed so much. That's what poker is about for me.

The last 3 seasons I've had very dissapointent Season Finale's...I busted very early in the first two, and in the last one I was extremely sick. There was no way I wasn't going though, because we pay into the Finale fund every week....but I had no business being there. I busted out on the WORST suckout ever by the guy who ended up winning the tourney. So I'm hopeful that my lackluster performance this season bodes well for a Finale WIN (or at least money!).

Monday league starts up again on Monday. They've changed from a re-buy to a freezeout structure, so that should be interesting.

Looks like Mr.Tart and a friend and I might hit up a local club tomorrow night...we'll see how things progress.

2007-01-09T17:35:00.001-05:00

If the first week of the year is any indication of my poker life for the rest of 2007, well kids, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

I started 2007 by winning a satellite on UltimateBet into a $200 +15 WPT satellite. Winning the sat ticket was a feat unto it’s own – it was a rebuy (which I rarely ever play), and I got in as an alternate, just as the rebuy period ended, so I double rebought and double added-on, giving me just under average chips. I’m not even sure how, but I ended up at the final table as the short-stack – but I’m a fairly confident SS player, and was able to make my way into the top 6 (and securing my tourney ticket) by attacking the mid-stacks who were afraid to play back at me, less they be crippled.

The main satellite was later that night, and it started off beautifully early on when I was dealt 10 3 off in the BB and got to see the flop for free with one caller and the SB. The flop was 3, 7, 10 – all diamonds. I bet out on the flop, got two callers and said to Mr. Tart – if they have the flush already, I have a full-house redraw. Well lo and behold, the turn is a 10. Sweet! I bet out again, only to get reraised by the first caller, and then the SB went all-in – so I went all in, and so did the other caller. Hands turn over to reveal SB has nut flush, other caller has pocket 33 for lower full house to my 10s full of 3s. Glorius.

But all good things must come to an end – and after tight, conservative play, I end up with a pitiful stack and go all-in with AK, get called by AJ, and lose when a J hits. Bah.

That was Monday.

Thursday brought back our regular league game, where again, I amassed a large chip-stack early on, but pissed it away with a spectacularly dumb move. First, my miracle of the night (aka, how I benefit from my opponent’s stupidity). I am in the BB with AJo. There are 3 limpers plus the SB who completes, so I raise 3xBB. Only one caller from MP. Flop is A, A, K. Niiiiiice. I decide to bet out 2/3 the pot and MP calls. This tells me he has an Ace, but is wary of his kicker. Knowing my opponent, I’m confident that he would have either raised, or reraised me preflop with AK – and definitely would have raised my flop bet with AQ – so my kicker is good. Knowing this, I decide to check the turn, indicating that my flop bet was a “feeler” and that I was giving up the hand. When a brick (a 4, I think) hits, I check, and MP checks. Mmmmmkay. River is a K. FUCK! There goes my kicker advantage. Convinced that we’re going for a chop, I don’t see any point in betting, and just tap the table. My opponent looks at me aggressively, waves his hand over his chips and says “I’m all in”. Still convinced that we’re chopping, I roll-my eyes and say “me too”. He confidently flips over his cards and says “full house”. I flip mine over and say “yeah, me too”, only to see that he has flipped over KJ, for Kings full of Aces, which I completely crush with my Aces full of Kings. Holy crap.

So I totally misread my opponent by thinking he had a weak Ace, but damn, what was he thinking? That I was completely bluffing pre-flop and on the flop? The best he could be hoping for was a chop. Silly, silly.

But in the “what were they thinking?” category goes the rest of my play for the night. I bled a good portion of my chips away by not paying attention to the blind level, and min-raising when I meant to be raising 3xBB. I didn’t realize I was doing it until the break when someone commented on it. Oooops. No wonder I couldn’t get the BB to fold.

Then I just had a complete melt-down by check-calling with AQ without hitting the board. I lost 2/3 of my chips on that hand, and I really don’t know why I kept calling the bets. I folded on the river when I really had no other choice.

Unfortunately I couldn’t do much after that, and went out before the final table. Boo hiss.

Saturday brought another trip to Rama. This time I ended up down $37. I was actually down $120 at one point – so I actually feel good that I was able to bring my stack up to just a “decent” loss. Unfortunately, miserable old Tony wasn’t at my table – but he was at Mr.Tart’s table and managed to suck out 3 monster pots in a row that essentially busted Mr.Tart just before we were set to leave. The 75 minute car ride home was especially enjoyable after that. Mr.Tart doesn’t lose very often at the casino cash games, so when he does, he takes it HARD.

Sunday morning I decided to spend the rest of the money in my UltimateBet account on tourneys…and spend it I did. I lost every tourney to a suckout – no joke. Now I’m officially on my online break. I’m going to stay away for at least two weeks.

That brings us to yesterday, when the 2006 Battle of Champions for our Monday league was set to take place. Every other Monday we play in a league, and if you won a game, and attended 4 or more games during the year, you were invited to play in the Battle of Champions. $50 was removed from each bi-weekly pot, so the BoC is a freeroll. We all agreed to juice the freeroll pot with another $40 each, so the winner would take home just under $800.

There were only 11 players, and I was on. my. game.

I made two excellent calls on opponents who were trying to bluff me on the river – but their bets didn’t make sense with the action, and I caught them both red-handed. The look of dejection in both of them (over 2 hours apart, mind you) when I said “I call”, was priceless.

I made one mistake early on, for sure. Mr.Tart had ended up short-stacked by bluffing into an opponent with a monster, and only had about 1,800 chips left (we started with 4500). The person next to me limped in, and I limped with pocket 88s hoping to catch trips. Mr.Tart, on the cut-off, goes all-in. It gets folded to me, and after looking at my stack (which was over 5,500) I decide to fold. I figured it was going to be a coin-flip, knowing he would push with any high Ace in that position – but based on what was already in the pot, and what I had back, I should have called his bet.

A very similar hand happened later, but it was a good fold. I limped with a low suited Ace (A7s), and Mr.Tart came over the top again. This time I had no hesitation in folding, and he flashed his AQh at the table. That one was a no brainer.

As it got down to six-handed, I was tied for the short-stack with another player. But I wasn’t worried, he was so weak/passive, trying to limp his way into the money…I knew I’d outlast him for SURE. This was when I made my second good call against a river bluff, and that gave me just enough chips to have some room to move. I survived an all-in with top-pair & a flush draw against two-pair by making my flush, and then I was good to the top 3…in the money Baby!

My opponents were polar opposites.

Sr. is an old luckbox who believes that poker is all luck, and doesn’t hesitate to put his money in with second pair. He also thinks everyone is always bluffing.

Guy is one of the best players in the league. Smart, but is also a little fearful of me, because he knows that I’m capable of some solid play.

Unfortunately, Sr has a monster stack.

I survive for quite awhile by stealing blinds, but don’t get called when I have QQ, AK, or 88….I really needed a caller so that I could accumulate some chips. I end up going out with A8o when Guy has AJo. An Ace and Jack hit on the flop. Bah.

Guy ended up winning the game – which was good….I didn’t want to see a luckbox crowned as the 2006 Champ of Champs!

Phew! What a week.

What does it all boil down to? I’m up $50 for the year so far.

Could be worse, I guess ;)