Moving on up

My online bankroll has been moving in the right direction as of late, and quickly at that. I've had a really good week. I guess when you make more $$ in your 2 days off than you bring home in your weekly paycheck, that qualifies as a good week, right? Or I just needing a better paying job, it can work either way I suppose- lol.

The main thing I have been doing differently is choosing a better game, rather than jumping into the first available seat. I'll take a few minutes and scout out a few tables, and then when I decide on a table and join the waiting list, I'll turn down openings until I can get position on a few "target" players who I think I can outplay. This strategy has done wonders for my bankroll, but I feel a little sleazy about it at the same time. Shouldn't I just be sitting down and letting my skills determine my wins and losses, rather than picking on those who just seem to be giving their money away? Am I becoming a better poker player, or just an opportunistic one? In a lot of the poker books that I have read, they talk about table selection being a big factor in finding success in the game. It was advice that I have overlooked until recently. It's good advice. I've run into a few more bad beats and suckouts than I would have normally, but the huge pots that I take when my hands hold up have more than made up for them.

Related to my choice of tables, has been my choice of games. I have finally convinced myself to stay away from the Multi Table Tourneys. While I have hit for some nice finishes in MTT's in the past, I am a much better ring game player at the moment. I just haven't been going deep enough to come close to breaking even on my buy ins lately. This has become very apparent ever since I started tracking my play. I record every session and every table that I sit down at. The day I went out and bought that notebook and started noting my results, it forced me to be a better player. Maybe not a better player, but a more responsible one. Up until that point, my bankroll management skills were severely lacking. To a point I guess you could say they still are, since I am still playing slightly above my bankroll. And let's not forget that just a few weeks back I nearly wiped out my account. I'd like to ride this current rush that I am on just a little higher, so I can get my bankroll to the point where it can handle the variance of playing 1/2NL and not worry about getting felted again. When that happens, I'll go back and reread a few books on tournament play and give those MTT's a try one more time. But for the time being, I'll stick with the cash games.

I've been itching to get back down to Atlantic City again, but it won't be happening anytime soon. Jess and I will be heading out of town tomorrow on a 4 day weekend to Wisconsin. My Dad has 6 brothers and sisters that are spread out all over the country, and every year we all get together during the last weekend of July. This year it is just outside of Milwaukee. It's always a fun time. A little more tame these days than I remember them growing up- back in the day, they would work through multiple kegs over the course of the weekend. I guess it is time for my cousins and myself to pick up the slack. There will definitely be some cards in the air as well, the men usually retreat to the garage to play some micro-limit poker, and the girls take over the dining room table to play a game called "May I". I don't know how the game is played, I just know that it is a very loud game- always resulting in shouting, sometimes tears, and very occasionally violence. It's extremely intense, and us men want no part of it.

Golfing in the AM

Dave and I didn't make it down to AC this weekend. Surprise surprise, work got in the way again.... Go figure. Friday night I worked from 4pm - 6am, then had to be back in @ 10am. By the time my shift ended 11 hours later, I was feeling ok, but didn't know how much longer I had until I hit the wall. I ended up putting in a few hours online and called it quits up a couple hundred for the evening.

Looking forward to getting some fresh air tomorrow and playing a round of golf with my buddy Eric. I am sure there will be lots of talk about our trip to Vegas in October. He was looking to organize a trip in the fall with a couple of our buddies from college and our wives, and it just so happened that Jess and I were already planning on being out there halloween weekend, for Vegoose. How convenient! I'm not sure if anybody from that crew will be interested in attending the festival though, so there may be some scheduling conflicts. He was talking about catching one of the Cirque de Solei shows, David Spade, etc. The shows I'll be more interested in catching are those featuring Galactic, and Oysterhead (keeping my fingers crossed- lol), etc. It *has* been confirmed, however, that I'll be in Vegas for a whopping 10 days!!! I'll be flying out the morning of Mon Oct 23rd, landing in plenty of time to catch the Giants take on Dallas on MNF, and I'll make my return on November 1st. That will give me 4 days of poker before the wife hits the town. Hopefully I'll still have enough money to take her out to dinner when she arrives!

Looong weekend

Last weekend Jess and I went down to the Borgata in Atlantic City. For our anniversary, Jess had gotten us tickets to see Robert Randolph & the Family Band and the Black Crowes concert last Sunday. It was also the first time I saw their poker room since the renovations, and I have to say I am impressed. The room is huge, a ton of tables, and their was little to no wait to get on. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to sit down, as there was no way I could have pulled off a profitable session. By the time we got there, thanks to an INSANE 26 hour shift I pulled at work, I was going on 32 hours without sleep. Yes, that right, a 26 hour shift. I went in @ 10am on saturday. At approximately 5pm, there was a power outage at the warehouse. We still had 12 trucks to ship, and we couldn't use 13 out of our 15 doors because the dockplates were electric. By the time we finished loading @ 4am, we were shipping trucks with three flashlights in the pitch black dark, because our backup power supply that generated the emergency lighting had also failed. The electric company showed up about that time with a huge generator on a flatbed tractor trailer, and as the highest ranking manager on duty, I had to stick around so when the power did come back on I could reset all the systems. We were fully operational by 5:30am. Sunday is usually my day off, but sadly I had switched with one of my co-workers so he could take a vacation, so I was scheduled to be back in @ 7am. There really was no point in driving home just to turn around and come back in so I stuck it out. By the time my relief came in, it was noon on sunday. The concert started @ 7pm, so I had just enough time to go home, get a shower, and we headed down to the shore. As you can imagine, I was absolutely fried by this point.

We arrive @ the Borgata with some time to spare, and I figure that I needed to load up on whatever stimulants I can get my hands on. So the choice was obvious.... Red Bull and vodka. So after I knock down a handful of these, we get ready to head into the venue, with a pit stop @ the restrooms on the way. I use the facilities, and as I go to wash my hands, my heart drops down to my knees. My wedding ring is gone. I check my pockets, the floor, my pockets again, take a peek in the urinal just in case, it is nowhere to be found. It's always been slightly loose, so I am figuring the worst at this point. I'm a mess- the sleep deprivation and the drinks aren't helping either. I break the news to Jess, and we start tracing our footsteps back through the casino just in case, with no luck. I was never certain that I had it with me when we left for AC, when I shower I always take it off because it is loose and slips off easily when my hands are wet. But I couldn't imagine that I wouldn't have noticed in the last 5 hours that I didn't have it on. But there is nothing we can do at this point, so I get another drink and try to take my mind off of it and enjoy the show.

Robert Randolph comes out first. His music just has a way of making everything alright in my soul. I saw him for the first time almost 5 years ago, and just hours before that show, I was laid off from my job. Walking into the show that night, I was at the lowest of lows. I had never lost a job before, I never saw it coming and I had no idea what I was going to do. Within minutes of RRFB taking the stage, I knew everything was going to be alright. And the same thing happened again on Sunday. Jess and I snuck onto the floor and worked our way up to the front, and danced our asses off. His set was a little on the short side, but that's ok because the Crowes were on deck. They blew the roof off the place. Chris Robinson just might be the best frontman of a Rock n Roll band of our generation. By the end of the show, I had forgotten all about the fact I was up for over 40 hours straight, the lost ring, and anything else that may have been bothering me. Of course, reality set in pretty quickly, and Jess and I decided that rather than spend the night @ the hotel, we would drive back to Philly and look for the ring at home. And wouldn't you know, when we got back to the apartment it was right there on the sink next to the shower, right where I left it.

Dave and I have plans on heading back down to AC saturday night for a session. I've been on a decent run as of late, working my online bankroll back up to where it was before I tilted off almost all of it a few weeks back. I've decided it is best to stay away from tournaments for the time being and just stick to the cash games, which is where I have been doing most of my damage of late.

Have I mentioned before how much I love my Sirius satellite radio? In addition to having great music at my fingertips that you just won't hear on conventional radio, I stumbled across another fantastic little programming nugget. Every day, 12 hours a day, live coverage from the World Series of Poker. They've been keeping an eye on all the tourneys (right now they are highlighting the final table of the Ladies $1000 No Limit event), interviewing a bunch of pros, taking phone calls, and basically making me wish I was in Vegas right now! Not that I am sitting around the house listening to every minute of the action, but it's good to know that it is out there.

Haven't played any live poker since last weekend, with Atlantic City being shut down for a few days and all. I am glad that Jersey got their budget straightened out and the casinos are back in business. Jess and I will be heading down to AC this upcoming weekend. Robert Randolph and the Black Crowes are playing the Borgata on Sunday night, and I am psyched for the show. I would like to head down early and check out their new poker room, but there is a chance that I may have to work Sunday morning. I *love* going into work on my days off! Especially when I have other things I'd rather be doing, such as checking out the Borgata's new poker room! But on the other hand, I really don't mind stockpiling all these comp days, because I'll be cashing them in for Vegoose at the end of October. Jess and I are trying to figure the logistics of it all now. If I play my cards right (pun intended) and don't do anything to piss off the wife between now and then, I may be looking at 9 days in Vegas =)

Winning Weekend

I hit a one-outer on the poor guy. On the river. He had me dead to rights, and I put a terrible beat on him.

I'm not proud of it. I wasn't even particularly happy about it at the time, knowing that I was a 98% dog.

But then he gave me the finger. Flipped me the bird. And for good measure, told me to "Go fuck myself". I enjoyed scooping that pot.

Welcome to Saturday night at the Tropicana Poker Room.

Dave and I headed down to Atlantic City after I got out of work Saturday night. We sat down at the same 1/2NL table. Dave's only been playing for about 6 months or so, and I noticed vast improvements in his game this weekend at the table. He ended the night about $20 down, taking a brutal beat when his opponent rivered a gutshot straight in a large pot that resulted in a $200 swing. But he played solidly and aggressively all night, whereas just a few weeks ago when we went down he was the definition of a calling station. I'm enjoying having a "poker buddy", someone ready to hit the casino with me at a moments notice. Someone to bounce ideas off of, talk strategy, and share a bad beat story or two. Most of my other friends that play poker either live far away and always seem to be traveling (*ahem* Jimmy- lol), or have already started their family, and random, spur of the moment AC trips are out of the question. Plus Dave and I work together, we both have similarly odd schedules, so it makes it easy to plan a casino run. Not to mention that our poker exploits seem to make the gossip rounds at work. For the past two weeks, I've been going by the nickname "quads" at the warehouse (See previous post for the story). Which also segues nicely into the hand which earned me the finger.......

So we've been sitting at the table for about an hour or so, and I get dealt pocket 2's. I've been partial to playing deuces for the last couple of months, dating back to my friend Chuck's tourney where I folded pocket 2's preflop at the final table, and would have ended up flopping quads. So I call $10 preflop with the 2's, and three of us see the flop of A 6 2. Action is to me, and I throw out $15 as there is a flush draw on the board. One player folds, and the "Bird"man reraises me. He has $100 or so in front of him, so I try to put him to the test and I put him all in. It wasn't much of a test, in retrospect, because as soon as he insta-called me, I knew he had pocket Aces. He flips over the rockets, stands up, claps, and high fives his buddy. Turn is no help, and then here comes my one outer on the river..... the case 2. Quads again! (Have I mentioned how much I love the Trop???) He slams his fists down on the table as the dealer pushes the pot my way, as I mumble "Sorry about that man..... tough beat". I probably shoulda kept my mouth shut and not said anything, but I sucked out on him pretty bad and was genuinely sorry that it went down like that. That's when he gave me the finger and shouted across the table, "Go fuck yourself, you fucking Donk". Well then I couldn't help myself, I just started laughing my ass off, and that didn't sit too well with him.
HIM: Oh, you think it's funny that you play shit like that and get lucky?
ME: No, I think it's funny that you are acting like an ass
HIM: Well you're not going to be laughing when I am waiting for you outside this poker room and I kick your ass
DEALER: Floor!!!!
His buddy got him out of there pretty fast after that.
I don't think that I made a horrible play on that hand, necessarily. Of course, if I put him on aces I get out of his way, so feel free to fault my ability to read the opponent, but holding a set I am gonna put my money in the middle and take my chances. But honestly, who flips somebody the finger at a poker table? What is this world coming to? And not that it really matters to me one way or the other, because I'm certainly not personally offended by a little foul language and a finger gesture, but I was surprised the dealer let it go as far as it did before calling for the floor. I guess it takes threatening statements to get management involved in Atlantic City. But on the bright side, Dave and I headed back to Philly @ sunrise, and I had this jerk's $$ in my pocket- I finished up $280 for the evening. Not to mention that I just cemented my new nickname at work..... "Quads"

Online, my bankroll has been taking huge hits for the last week or so. I have a bad habit of playing too many large buy in Multi-Table Tourney's, and that will dwindle a modest bankroll pretty fast. Of course it all can't be attributed to playing these MTT's. I hit a bad run of cards, and I tilted something awful last week. Then I broke the cardinal rule of bankroll management...... I moved UP in limits, trying to get it all back. And I don't really have to tell you how that went. Yeah, I basically went broke. A month ago I had almost $2500 in my Bodog account. Yesterday I had less than $100. I coulda bought some nice shit with that. I could have booked my trip to Vegoose with that $$. I could have put some money into my car, or even used it as part of a down payment for a new ride. I could have done a lot of things with that 2 grand. But I tilted it away. I know that even at 1/2 I was playing above my bankroll, and I was playing with fire. Moving up to try to get it back wasn't too bright on my part either. So what do I do today? I go against my better judgement, and deposit $200 into my account so I can sit down at a couple of large buy in MTT's. I played the 100K guaranteed ($100+9 entrance fee) which I finished middle of the pack. Up until the first break I was well above the average stack, then shortly thereafter I was crippled when my straight ran into a rivered flush. I then entered a $50+5 MTT. 106 entrants, 18 make the money. I was shortstacked almost the entire time, at one point down to T$1200 with the blinds @ 300/600 (that was after I doubled up another small stack, before you go wondering what I was doing waiting so long to make a move) It seemed that every time things got really desperate, I looked down to find KK- I must have had kings 5 times over the course of the tournament. I battle my way into the money, make it to the final table still shortstacked, and steal my share of blinds to stay afloat until we get 5 handed. I catch KK again in the big blind, with an all in and a caller in front of me, and triple up at just the right time. Eventually I am heads up against a player who has me outchipped 4-1, and I take my chances with A7 when he wakes up with JJ, and I don't improve. I collect $1060 for my efforts, and I am on my way to building my bankroll back to a respectable level. Now if I could only find a good book on money management.