Saint Bayne

Not unlike a grease stain on a wall that looks like Elvis, railbirds and players alike last night were witness to a very rare event. The canonization of Saint Bayne.

His ascension completed at approximately 1:10am, as he won the "Monday at the Hoy" tournament, which culminated in a unanimous vote of poker playing cardinals, hereto anointing Bayne, The Patron Saint of Card Racks.

As if auditioning for the part, Saint Bayne took great pride in stealing my blinds with some of his more marginal hands such as AJ, AQ, AK, JJ and AA. When he saw a flop, he had much better cards. Top Pair became almost a sign of the devil, which Bayne would vanquish with a simple flick of the wrist.

At the final table, almost as if on cue, the table glowed and so did Saint Bayne, winning each and every hand he touched. The players, unable to muster any more resistance, watched in awe as we were dismissed one by one.

So let it be know, that today is Saint Bayne day. 6/26. Mark it on the most paper of calendars, lest we forget to bring the pope-mobile to Vegas in December for his emminence.

Oh yeah, I came in third.

What’s a precipice?

I played in the "riverchasers" 3 table HORSE MTT yesterday. Get a load of this:

After the first hour, I was chip leader.

After the second hour, I was LAST (second to last?) and down to a VERY short stack. Basically, any hand I play, I am committed to.

At the final table I was the CHIP LEADER with 8 left (pays 4).

I bubbled and went out 5th?!

What the heck is wrong with me? How does one go from Chip Leader, to LAST, to Leader, to bubble??!!!

Am I any better at all? or just suddenly more volatile?

strange days

The Hoy last night:
Pocket Kings FOUR times...
Won 3 races, all of which sent a player to the rail...
Had an Average stack with 20 left (just in the points)...

I LIMP with a small pocket pair.
LP players bets 3xBB (which is pretty big now). I have about 10xBB total (despite being avg stack).
I figure that the limp, all-in may look like aces and if I get called I am probably a slight favorite. I push 44 into what turns out to be AK.
Flop is AKx and IGHN.

Was I foolish and impatient or was it just my time? I noticed in reflecting on my play, that I dont think I see enough flops and instead rely on odds when the blinds are large. Good or bad?

Taking Stock and Kicking Ass

After playing with the bloggers for a weekend, I had to admit somethings to myself. The hardest was that I am not as good as I SHOULD be after 3 years of being a wanna-be.

1. I dont read hands well! I read SITUATIONS well, but not hands. I am going to start recording hands as I play them and write down what I think my opponent has on every street.

2. Because of #1, I am too risk adverse on the turn with lowers my EV. I need to use the turn for PRESSURE.

3. I still struggle with calling raises with marginal cards despite being in position. After the first raise goes in, I tighten up considerably. This is ok in a tournament, but foolish in a cash game where people are raising up with A5s.

4. I am not aggro at a loser table. BUT I FIXED THAT MONDAY. I walked over the bridge to the TI, plocked down $60 for the 10pm tourney and chopped with the other 2 remaining players when the blinds got too high for sanity. I was SUPER-AGGRO all night, until the bubble, where I watch the short stacks committ suicide...

I have a new goal... and its nasty... (cue eye of the tiger?)

WPBT Recap

Another WPBT party draws to a close and what a fun weekend it was. So much to say, lets just start talking.

I flew in Friday and made the $250 HORSE down at Binions. 224 entries was a bit too high for my normal sweet spot. I played very well through level 11, but never could get very far above an average stack size. I was reading the newspaper on the plane and I noted that some new tennis star won a match and they wrote that she had only 11 unforced errors. I thought to myself, what a great way to measure your success in HORSE! So at the end of level 11, I had only 3 unforced errors, and 1 forced error. (I consider an unforced error one where you simply make a mistake with a hand. An unforced error is anything where you are better off taking the action, such as calling with a draw on the river because you have pot odds, and then you miss and have to muck.) So I am playing very well. But now the levels start to really move up and everyone's M drops significantly. You basically have 2 showdowns with an average stack. I ended up stuck with an O8B hand where I was cheated for High on the turn, then cheated for Low on the river and made a crying call which was at the time $4k of my $26-$2k-$2k-$4k stack. Ends up I make a lower aces up and second nut low to nuts. I lose half my stack and suddenly its the dinner break. Level 13 is razz and I get in short stacked with 3 to low only to end up with a boat to finish me off. I finished 38th out of 224, 14 places out of the money.

Then, it was off to the MGM mixed games. but the MGM could not get the table going at first, so it was drinks and greets at the bar. Attendence was much lower (40 people) this summer, but that meant I got to meet every single person this time, which I really enjoyed. They did eventually get our HORSE 3-6 going, where we all bought in for 200 chips. 20 minutes later the casino manager came by and they were out of blue chips now and had to buy some back! priceless. The game broke up just before 3am.

Saturday was the tourney where I finihsed out of the money, but in the points. Pauly did a nice write-up on Tao of Poker. In the end, Mrs. Spaceman was crowned champion, besting Grubette.

The Poker Room manager treated us as if we were an annoyance on his otherwise fulfilling life, and the Orleans will probably never see a blogger (or any of its readers I hope) every again. Say what you will about vegas and poker, but in 3 years and 6 tournaments, the IP was HANDS DOWN the best and most customer friendly to the blogger community and they deserve to host our tournament in December. Volunteers to help arrange it are being sought.

Saturday night was poker with the bloggers where I had to play at a 1-2 table featuring the all-star lineup of Hoy, Blinders, Miami Don, CrackinAces, Likaris, penerii, and statickling and still look like I knew what I was doing. One hand made the OMM for next week. I held my own, until the end of the night, when a civilian filling an empty seat, flopped a set on my overpair on only his 3rd hand and I lost my stack. (I heard Miami Don releaved him of his new stack before the bloggers left.)

Sunday was the private HORSE tournament at the IP, which due to a mistake on My part, I missed and had to watch. Again, the IP not only did that for the pokersluts crew, they that evening they dealt us mixed games including some awesoime rounds of budagi and triple draw until 2 am.

And now, its time to pack it in and return to our otherwise pedestrian lives. The WSOP is going on all around me here in Las Vegas, but I never even stepped foot in the RIO as I was having too much fun. Maybe next year...

Celebrate Good Times, come on!

For those of you who didn’t realize, yesterday was “Hit a flush against Columbo” day. If you were in the Bay area last night, I hope you enjoyed your FREAKING CELEBRATION!!


...Off to Vegas in the morning. Next stop, Binions $250 HORSE.

Quick Exit

Well, I went out in the Hoy last night in 2 hands. I played not a single hand in level 1 and was getting antsy. I was determined NOT to piss away chips early. But its level two and I even fold KJo UTG. Next round I get QdJd utg and do a raise just to play a hand. I get just the BB caller. (oops). The flop is 2dKdAc. The BB checks, I bet 2/3 pot as a continuation and BB min raises. I got trapped. Obvious, but I call as I have odds still. But the turn is a K pairing the board and he bets 1/2 pot. Despite a paired boarded and slightly less than the odds needed, I call suspicious that he has a K, got lucky and I will break him if a diamond comes or a Ten. Instead a black nine comes and he checks. I check back, knowing its a second trap and he shows AK. I am out 1/2 my stack. He played it well.

Second hand it folded around to me in the SB and I look at KQs. I rause and the BB puts me all in. I have to call and he has A5s. And Ace right out the door send me home.

But why did I chase that flush?

1. lack of concentration. My mind was miles away.
2. I was playing alot of HORSE lately and limit mentality might have been in play. i.e. not risk adverse enough.

Shopping and WPBT7 banner

In preperation for yet another business trip (which bookends the summer classic), I went clothes shopping. I usually HATE it, but this time it was almost magical. I walked into the store and it was as if someone had said, "hey, all that stuff YOU like but was never in vogue?? Well, now its all you baby!" Everything that I thought was always cool is now cool. (How long can THAT possible last!?)

Despite the good time, I had to rush back for riverchasers. Why? because you need to be in the top twenty and its not weighted for # of events played. If it was, I would be in. But having missed a good dozen or so, I am like 27th. So, I need to play today.

I would propose a new point structure for next time... Weighted as long as you play 1/2 the events, with token points for being in the top half, points for the final table, points for cashing and bonus points for winning. Weighted by # of events played.

BUT, I am not complaining!!! This has been a GREAT effort by AlCantHang to even do it! Awesome.


and now... a banner