POKERadical FeedFeds Raid San Francisco Bay Card RoomsJason M2011-03-03T05:46:39Z2011-03-03T05:46:39Z<p>A little birdy dropped this info into my mailbox today. It's common knowledge, but I wouldn't have seen it otherwise. Thanks, little birdy! :)</p><h1 id="DrugsGangsandMoneyLaunderingOhMy">Drugs, Gangs, and Money Laundering, Oh My!</h1><p>I haven't played at these clubs, but I know a lot of people who have. Crrrrrazy.</p><ul><li><a href="http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/nationalbreaking/ci_17520961">Artichoke Joe's Casino raided</a></li><li><a href="http://emeryvilletattler.blogspot.com/2011/03/oaks-club-raid.html">Oaks Card Club raided</a></li></ul><p>Was anybody who uses PokerSoup.com at the places when the raids occurred?</p>Jason M2011-03-03T05:46:39Z2010 World Series of Poker - PreparationJason M2010-06-04T20:34:23Z2010-06-04T20:34:23Z<p>What's up, people of 'Soup? As usual, it's been a while... Thanks for sticking around or just checking this out for the first time.</p><p>I know a lot of members of this site are hitting up the 2010 WSOP, and I am no exception. I am slated to play on Day 1 of the $1000 event #36 on Saturday, 6/19. I will also be playing (with Adrian) in the 3-day $1500 event #42 on Wednesday, 6/23. I haven't had much time to play this year, so I'm pretty excited.</p><h1 id="SeeYouThere">See You There?</h1><p>Thomas, a.k.a. Shadow, a.k.a. DJ Unknown, will be turning 21 the weekend before the tournaments, so I will be in town 6/18-6/27. Let me know if you want to hang out any time.</p><p>If you have played or are playing this year, feel free to post it in here or in the PokerSoup forums. Any interesting stories or suggestions would be great to hear. Thanks!</p><h1 id="TwitteringUpdates">Twittering Updates</h1><p>I'm going to try to post updates on my Twitter feed: <a href="http://twitter.com/jdmounge">http://twitter.com/jdmounge</a></p>Jason M2010-06-04T20:34:23ZWhere are Full Tilt Poker Player Notes Stored on my Mac or PC?Jason M2010-01-05T07:43:47Z2010-01-05T07:43:47Z<p>It's been a long time, but I haven't had much of anything to say about poker. Hopefully you find this post useful. If you don't think taking player notes when you play online poker is a good practice, you can stop reading this.</p><p>I was recently in a tournament against some players I knew I had notes on, but that nice little triangle in the corner that signifies stored notes was not appearing. What?!</p><p>I did some digging, and it turns out the player notes you enter are stored on your computer. That means any notes you take on one computer <strong>will not</strong> be available if and when you play on a different computer. This could be especially devastating if you take good notes, win some cashola, and get a new computer to go pro (like a good player would). Or, it can just be a big annoyance for a player like me, who plays on different computers over the course of a week and likes to remember basic notes on common opponents.</p><h1 id="FileLocations">File Locations</h1><p>There is a fix. The player notes information is stored in easily readable XML files. You can view (and edit) these files with any text editor. Here are sample locations and names of the files:</p><table><tr><th> PC </th><td> C:\Program Files\Full Tilt Poker\my-full-tilt-username.xml </td></tr><tr><th> Mac </th><td> /Users/my-mac-username/Library/Application Support/FullTiltPoker/my-full-tilt-username.xml </td></tr></table><h1 id="FileStructure">File Structure</h1><p>Like I said earlier, the file structure is XML, which is human readable, but has a few quirks. <a href="http://www.w3schools.com/xml/default.asp">Go here</a> for a tutorial if necessary.</p><p>Below is a sample player notes file from a Mac. The PC version is essentially identical. Note the "do not edit this file" comment. You can ignore that.</p><blockquote><p><?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><br/><!-- Do not edit this file --><br/><PLAYERDATA version="1.0" xsi:schemaLocation="<a href="http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/schemas/client">http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/schemas/client</a> <a href="http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/schemas/client/PlayerNotes.xsd"">http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/schemas/client/PlayerNotes.xsd"</a> xmlns="<a href="http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/schemas/client"">http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/schemas/client"</a> xmlns:xsi="<a href="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">">http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"></a><br/><NOTES><br/><NOTE PlayerId="Big Donkey" ColourIx="7" Text="Terrible&#10;&#10;calling station on river" /><br/><NOTE PlayerId="Great Player" ColourIx="13" Text="Do not play against this guy" /><br/></NOTES><br/></PLAYERDATA></p></blockquote><p>Here is a table that describes the "NOTE" element attributes:</p><table><tr><th> Attribute </th><th> Description </th></tr><tr><td> PlayerId </td><td> The player's name </td></tr><tr><td> ColourIx </td><td> The color of the note indicator triangle; possible values: 0-13; this attribute can be left out (which represents the color selection "NONE") </td></tr><tr><td> Text </td><td> The notes on the player </td></tr></table><p>The value of the text field may contain some weird looking characters, such as "%#10;" in the example above. These are just encoded versions of a new line. Some other characters, such as greater/less than and apostrophes are also encoded.</p><h1 id="TheSolutionMovingConsolidatingFiles">The Solution - Moving/Consolidating Files</h1><p>Warning: the Full Tilt application writes out the player notes file <strong>after</strong> you close the application. Any notes you take while the application is running will not be reflected in the file real-time. Any edits you make to the file will be lost if you then exit the application.</p><p>If you need to reinstall everything or get a new computer and want to transfer your notes, just keep this file and put it in the right place on your new install. If you are converting between a Mac and PC, you may have some of character encoding issues (such as "%#10" showing up instead of a new line), but you will be able to see your player notes when you start the Full Tilt application and fix it from the application, or by editing the file directly.</p><p>It is slightly more complicated to consolidate files from two computers into one file. The basic problem is if a file has two separate player note entries for the same player, it is indeterminate as to which note will appear or get updated, so you may "lose" notes without even switching computers.</p><p>A little by-hand magic can solve this problem if you don't find or write a script to help you. I didn't want to write a script just yet, so this is the procedure I followed. I used Microsoft Excel to help me remove any duplicates:</p><ol><li>Close the Full Tilt application on both computers</li><li>Copy both files to the same computer</li><li>Copy all of the lines that begin with "<NOTE" from each file into Microsoft Excel</li><li>Sort the file by column A</li><li>Look for duplicate "PlayerId" attributes, which should show up right after each other; Copy the "Text" value from the second one into the first and delete the second row from the spreadsheet</li><li>Replace all the "<NOTE" lines in one of the files with the rows that remain in the spreadsheet</li><li>Save the file and put it into the original location</li></ol><h1 id="TheFunBegins">The Fun Begins...</h1><p>I hope that helps. It might be interesting to find other uses for knowing the location and contents of these files. Here are some suggestions. I suggest using an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XML_editor">XML editor</a>. Good/fancy text editors will usually support context-based highlighting to make it easier to read XML.</p><ul><li>You can check out all the notes you ever took (without running into the player). I went through and updated a few notes on players I recently played against and cleaned out a few useless notes.</li><li>If you don't want to use any poker opponent/hand tracking software, you know where to go to look up the players who you have marked as easy targets. I've often had times when I knew I took a note on somebody, but I couldn't remember who it was.</li></ul><p>Let me know if you can think of other ways to use this file. Thanks for reading!</p>Jason M2010-01-05T07:43:47ZPoker Life UpdatesJason M2009-09-19T05:54:26Z2009-09-19T05:54:26Z<p>Megan has to work early tomorrow so she's asleep and it's too late for me to start an online session, so I figured I'd catch up on the site. That got me thinking that I haven't really posted here in a while, so I'd write an update for all my lovely fans (hah).</p><p>I haven't really been playing much at all. I might have played 10 times since the WSOP aside from the Monday night online PokerSoup games. I had a good run cashing in those almost every time, but that has stopped for the last month. I played a 40-person tournament not so long ago and drank waaaay too much tequila, especially considering I'm taking medication that increases the effects of alcohol. I didn't do too well. Oops. Stephen of "Stephen and Jeff from Las Vegas" fame was over for my birthday, so we played some small cash games. I ended up being ahead, mostly because my <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/8s-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/9d-s.gif"/></span> saw a flop of <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/7s-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/6h-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/5s-s.gif"/></span> against his <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/6d-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/6s-s.gif"/></span> and the board didn't pair. Stephen was not hitting much and was finally happy to have a quality hand to get it all in on the turn. Sorry, dude!</p><p>I've been watching the WSOP Main Event on ESPN. It's fun to see Hellmuth playing "every hand". He should have started doing that bout 3 years ago. His edge is his situational game (he can read cards, betting patterns, and body language very well), not so much his nittiness. Is that a word? The guy is a total dick so often, but you gotta love his ability. I'm hoping they show more Ivey as he progresses through the tournament. I'd like to see some of the awesome decisions he makes. How about the army father and the cancer dude? Wow, that is some serious stuff.</p><p>Last night I played in 4 tournaments on Full Tilt: one single-table and three 45-persons. Of course, I was doing other random stuff, so I wasn't paying enough attention to the individual players, but I managed a 2nd place in the single-person game. I got knocked out on a bad beat in one of the 45-person games, made a dumb all in in another one, and bubbled on the third one. Which brings me to:</p><p>$11 5-table (45-person) tournament on Full Tilt. The blinds are at 300/600 and you have 4000 left. You are in 5th place in chips out of 7 players (6th place pays). Your image is relatively tight, but not a nit (they've seen you make loose calls to knock other players out when pot odds demand it). You recently doubled up when you shoved <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/as-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/ks-s.gif"/></span> and <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ad-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/qc-s.gif"/></span> called (thanks!).</p><p>You are on the button and it folds to you. The players in the blinds have 3000 in chips (1000 less than you). What do you do with your <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/as-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/6d-s.gif"/></span>? I shoved, got called by <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/kd-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/9s-s.gif"/></span> and lost. I was happy to get my money in good, and even if I decided to only raise pre-flop (raaaarely limping there), the dude rainbow flopped two-pair so he would have checked it to me and I would have c-bet. In other words, I was doomed, this time, but what's the best EV play?</p><p>I'm going with the shove. Or the $2750 bet, just for fun (effectively putting them all in). What you say?</p>Jason M2009-09-19T05:54:26ZLeaving for the 2009 World Series of PokerJason M2009-06-24T00:23:07Z2009-06-24T00:23:07Z<p>It's that time of the year again! Tomorrow (06/24) Adrian and I are leaving for Las Vegas in the wee hours of the morning (to us, 8am is within the "wee hours" timeframe). We are staying at the Rio for a week and playing in two $1500 WSOP events, as well as many as two Venetian Deep Stack tournaments and of course as much cash game action at the Rio (and hopefully a bit at the Venetian) as we can handle.</p><p>A lot of PokerSoupers have <a href="http://pokersoup.com/thread/show/716?page=last#message6642">already played in Vegas during the WSOP this year</a> and have done fairly well. I hope Adrian and I don't disappoint!</p><h1 id="Updates">Updates</h1><p>I will be posting updates on my <a href="http://pokersoup.com/blog/pokeradical">POKERadical blog</a> here at PokerSoup and also potentially on <a href="http://twitter.com/jdmounge">my Twitter</a> feed. I might even get Facebook and Twitter tied together before I leave.</p><h1 id="Schedule">Schedule</h1><ul><li>Wednesday - 06/24: <a href="http://www.venetian.com/Pages.aspx?id=2451">$330 Venetian Deep Stack</a> event</li><li>Thursday: maybe the <a href="http://www.venetian.com/Pages.aspx?id=2451">$550 Venetian Deep Stack</a> event</li><li>Friday: rest and cash game</li><li>Saturday: World Series of Poker <a href="http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/tourney/tournament-results.asp?tid=7276&grid=607">$1500 No Limit Hold'em (Event 51)</a> Day 1</li><li>Sunday: Event 51 Day 2, hopefully</li><li>Monday: Final table of Event 51 or World Series of Poker <a href="http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/tourney/tournament-results.asp?tid=7279&grid=607">$1500 No Limit Hold'em (Event 54)</a></li><li>Tuesday: Event 54 Day 2, hopefully</li><li>Wednesday - 07/01: Final table of Event 54 and/or returning home</li></ul>Jason M2009-06-24T00:23:07Z2009 WSOP Main Event Satellites - WOWJason M2009-06-22T01:07:52Z2009-06-22T01:07:52Z<p>Chad has been messing around with the PokerStars satellites to WSOP. There are a lot of ways to get in cheaply and have a shot at playing at the main event. Chad has done pretty well playing in some of the smaller satellites, but hasn't made it into any of the big games. We decide to spend the day trying to do just that, and we did :)</p><p>I still had $60 in my PokerStars account from when Tony gave me the $11 to play in the record-breaking tournament a while back. We stuck our money into various $7, $8, and $11 satellites. We busted out of a few but got in the top 14 out of 100 in one of the $7, which qualified us for a $215 Shoot-Out with 81 players and a first-prize winner-take-all of a main event seat. It was actually pretty easy... we folded a lot, shoved a lot, and sooner or later didn't get unlucky.</p><p>Shortly after that my cousin Adam arrived, so the three of us plus my roommate Garrett were all working the table.</p><h1 id="ShootOut">Shoot-Out</h1><p>We folded a lot and finally got <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/qs-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/qd-s.gif"/></span> and somehow got it all in with 3 other people: <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/as-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/kd-s.gif"/></span>, <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ad-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/kc-s.gif"/></span>, <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/7s-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/7c-s.gif"/></span>. We tripled up and we didn't realize it was a shoot-out until we were playing 4-way and the tables weren't being balanced. We changed out strategy to win the table and managed to get heads up as a 3-to-1 underdog. For whatever reason, our opponent folded every small blind and every time we raised, so we got closer to 2-to-1 and woke up with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/as-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/ks-s.gif"/></span>. We raise, he shoved, and we called and made it was <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/9s-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/5s-s.gif"/></span> to change the chip lead to a 2-to-1 favorite for us. The very next hand we had <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ac-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/qc-s.gif"/></span> and he had <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ks-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/8c-s.gif"/></span> and we advanced to the final table.</p><p>At this point we couldn't believe we had a 1/9 chance of winning the seat. We buckled down and tried to concentrate on how everybody played. Jeff (weezermoo) suggested that many of the players would be playing pretty tight, so we should figure out who that was and take advantage of it.</p><p>The blinds were reset to 10/20 and the stacks were set to 1500. It was a turbo tournament, so blinds went up every 5 minutes.</p><p>We limped early with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/4h-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/4d-s.gif"/></span>, <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/qc-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/jc-s.gif"/></span>, and <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/3s-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/3d-s.gif"/></span> but missed each time. We stole some blinds with decent hands, and re-raised from late position with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/4s-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/4d-s.gif"/></span> to win another pot. A couple players dropped out and we were 6 away from the seat!</p><p>We started the hand with about 1500. The blinds were 50/100 and we opened a pot to 300 with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/kc-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/js-s.gif"/></span> from middle position when one player (the chip leader) limped. We raised and he called. He had been playing fairly loose to get his chip lead, so with 750 in the pot and 1200 in our stack, we were ready to commit our chips if we hit. The flop was <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/jd-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/tc-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/9h-s.gif"/></span>. The player bets into us for 500, and so we ship it in with our top-pair, next-to-top-kicker and gut-shot draw. He thought for a bit and called withi <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/js-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/2s-s.gif"/></span>! The turn was <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/3c-s.gif"/></span> and the river was <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/2c-s.gif"/></span>, of course :(</p><h1 id="More">More?</h1><p>We managed to get 14th in a 150+ person $11 satellite and qualified for a $109 seat-winning tournament that will start in an hour or so. Wish us better luck this time :)</p>Jason M2009-06-22T01:07:52ZRandom Weekend Poker HappeningsJason M2009-05-06T23:58:05Z2009-05-06T23:58:05Z<p>I played in a deep stack tournament this weekend at Dub's. The game is always well run, and always a blast. We get shrimp, sandwiches, Coronas, and when Brent is there, plenty of Tequila :) This was the first time in a long time that I was able to fully commit to playing the whole night and I wasn't disappointed.</p><p>I'm writing this for two main reasons. First, I gotta give props to Dub for the game and to all the players that make it a great time. If you aren't in on these games, you should be jealous :) It's tough to get an invite, and sometimes even harder to RSVP in time to be able to participate. The second reason is there are a few hands I just don't want to forget. I think I played pretty well, and I want to be able to remember this when I'm feeling down about my play ability.</p><h1 id="TheSetup">The Setup</h1><p>12 players, mega-deep stacks (100k) and small blinds (100/200). Most people are very experienced, but a lot of players are playing for fun or have ulterior motives to get points for the end-of-season free-roll. The deep stacks allow for a lot of maneuvering. All in all, it's a great time.</p><p>I started the game in 11th place on the leaderboard. Only the top 9 make it to the freeroll, so I had plenty of work to do. There were 3 players at the game that were all competing for these last spots and a couple other players who didn't make the game. I forget to mention that this was a "double points" game, so players who skip this game are at quite a disadvantage.</p><p>Two more notes: there are 2-3 rebuys at each game, but they count against your points standing. Rebuying is as if you finished two places worse than you actually did. And taking out a player (bounty) is as if you finished a place higher.</p><h1 id="TheHands">The Hands</h1><h2 id="Bluffaroo">Bluffaroo</h2><p>I had a fair amount of good hands early on, and did not hesitate to show them. That allowed me to pull of some pretty good bluffs. One in particular was against the Salt-man.</p><p>I ended up seeing a flop with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/kc-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/3d-s.gif"/></span> from the big blind.</p><p>Flop: <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/6c-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/4h-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/2h-s.gif"/></span></p><p>I flopped the dumb straight draw and called a small bet (there were 5+ people in the pot).</p><p>Turn: <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/6s-s.gif"/></span></p><p>No bets - awesome!</p><p>River: <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/6c-s.gif"/></span></p><p>I check and Salty makes a substantial bet. I decided that, based on his flop bet, he could easily have a flush draw or overcards, so I raised about 4 times his bet. After a lot of deliberation, he folds and uses his "show me" chip to force me to turn my hand over.</p><p>When he saw the bluff, he (of course) was not pleased. It turns out he had <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/2c-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/2s-s.gif"/></span> and had turned the full house but though he was counterfeited on the river! Wow.</p><h2 id="Nemesis">Nemesis</h2><p>I don't like using real names unless I have permission, so we'll call my nemesis "C". We were fighting for that 9th place and seem to get into hands frequently, so this hand was really important. Especially considering what a rebuy/bounty point differential would mean to the standings!</p><p>I picked up <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/9s-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/9d-s.gif"/></span> under the gun. I limped in because I usually get called, so I don't like building a big pot when I'm going to be out of position. One or two people limp in from middle position and C limps from the button.</p><p>Flop: <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/tc-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/9c-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/6s-s.gif"/></span></p><p>Bingo! Well, it was little ugly, but fine. Again, since people tend to call me, I decided a check-raise is a better way to get people to pay the most for their draws (or build the biggest pot if I'm against a big ten). The pot has about 2k and C bet out 1k or so. I raised to 4k and was called fairly quickly. Heads up.</p><p>Turn: <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/jd-s.gif"/></span><br/>Current pot: 10k</p><p>This was not exactly a card I liked, but if I was "crushed" by a straight, that hasn't changed, because I don't think she was playing KQ. However, I decided it was time to put a big bet in to keep charging old draws and start charging the potentials new draws. I bet out about 10k and she called.</p><p>River: <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/7c-s.gif"/></span><br/>Current pot: 30k</p><p>That was pretty much the worst river possible. Ugh. I was hoping C didn't hit any of that and would be scared to bet, so I checked. If she was on <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ah-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/ts-s.gif"/></span>, I don't think she would bet.</p><p>C shoved all in for 80k! Oh my...</p><p>There were so man conflicting emotions. If I call and take her out, that's huge for my chip stack and points. If I call and lose, I'm almost out and she'll surely outlast me and get more points. But something in the back of my head would not let me fold. I don't know if it was just me being stubborn, or if I was smelling something. I took a while (2-3 minutes?) and Dub called time on me. 30 seconds... What should I do? 20 seconds... A shove is so weak there... 10 seconds. Ugh, I call.</p><p>C turns over <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/tc-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/7s-s.gif"/></span></p><p>She had top pair with a gut-shot and turned the second pair. Wow. Had the <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/8c-s.gif"/></span> come on the river, could I have folded? Would she have shoved? Who knows. I have observed that sometimes when people make a "weakish" hand, they tend to overbet it, thinking that the strength will push a better hand out. Perhaps that's true. I did almost fold. Or maybe she was really value-betting me. Maybe she'd shove with the straight or flush there. I don't know.</p><p>Chip city. Point city. Awesome!</p><h2 id="ReturntoBluffland">Return to Bluffland</h2><p>At this point I had a couple drinks, and a lot of chips, so why not limp in with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/qh-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/th-s.gif"/></span>, right? Who cares if I'm UTG.</p><p>Salty limped in and made a comment "only for Jason", so I immediately put him on a middle suited/gapped hand like <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/7s-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/8s-s.gif"/></span> or <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/6c-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/9c-s.gif"/></span>. The latter is one of my many "favorite hands" with this group, and I do tend to limp and raise with those hands in late position here.</p><p>The flop came <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/8h-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/6c-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/5d-s.gif"/></span></p><p>I checked and Salty bet about half of the pot. I had him on a single pair and I had overcards, as well as the back-door flush draw, so I called. I figured I could take it away on the turn if any overcard came and perhaps even make the better hand. I might even see a river for free if he was being more creative. I called.</p><p>Turn: <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/9c-s.gif"/></span></p><p>At this point, I gave up. One of the hands I put Salty on was <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/8s-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/7s-s.gif"/></span>, so it's over. I checked. Salty checked. At this point, I should have figured he didn't make his hand (straight or two pair), because he would have bet. The last hand I bluffed him, he didn't bet when he made his hand here and I was able to take it away from him on the river. However, I guess history shows he will check the turn with the near nuts when he's in late position against me. I don't know. This matters more on the river, anyway.</p><p>River: <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/js-s.gif"/></span></p><p>I actually had to look at my hand to verify that this was for real. Holy crap! I still put Salty on the straight (error?) so I decide I'm going to play the hand the <strong>exact</strong> same way the previously bluffed hand played out. I checked, he bet (yes!) and I thought for about 5 seconds and put the stack of all my 10k chips into play. I was too dumb to make sure it was enough to cover him (remember, bounties), but it turned out it was enough. After a couple minutes Salty begrudgingly called and was not happy to see my nuts on the table!</p><p>I still don't know what he had. I second-guessed my "straight" read, especially after he took so long to call the river. Maybe <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/6h-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/9h-s.gif"/></span> would be a closer guess? If so, why did he not bet the turn? I guess that's what he does? The only other thing I could think of is <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/js-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/8s-s.gif"/></span>. That explains the bet on the flop, the check on the turn, and the bet/call on the river for a straight-forward player. Any ideas?</p><p>It was awesome how the hand played out exactly as the previous bluff hand. Wow, how "lucky" for it to go down like that, right?</p><h2 id="Endgame">Endgame</h2><p>Eventually, it became 3-way and the stacks were pretty small compared to the blinds. I got it all in with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/qs-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/jd-s.gif"/></span>. From the small blind <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/6d-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/6s-s.gif"/></span> called and the big blind shoved with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/9h-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/9s-s.gif"/></span>. I was in and the small blind folded. I missed and finished in third :(</p><h1 id="TheResult">The Result</h1><p>I'm in 8th place on the leaderboard with 2 more games to go. Woo woo!</p>Jason M2009-05-06T23:58:05ZA Poker Movie I Forgot to Watch - DealJason M2009-04-30T06:45:59Z2009-04-30T06:45:59Z<p>I recently watched the movie "What Happens in Vegas" (which was funny). One of the trailers on the DVD was for the movie "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0446676">Deal</a>", which stars none other than <strong>Burt Reynolds</strong> (among others).</p><p>Did I happen to mention the others include Shannon Elizabeth? I met her twice. Once was with Galen at the best place to eat in the world: Grand Lux Cafe at the Venetian. She was sitting across from us. The other time was while she was playing in event #48 in the 2008 WSOP. She was kneeling on her backwards-turned chair with her butt in the air.</p><p>Did I happen to mention that by "meeting" Shannon Elizabeth I meant we kind of looked at her and talked about her? Yeah.</p><p>Anyway, back to the storyline. The music and rhyme are designed to make you have a good time. Props to Graham for getting that reference, I'm sure. Anyway, here we go: Has anybody seen this movie? I think I need to see it, just for fun, even though I'm sure it will be ... okay, at best.</p><p>Did anybody see "The Grand"? Funny stuff :) (And Shannon Elizabeth again!) I liked that one, but I'm not much of a movie connoisseur.</p><p>I'm putting "Deal" on my Blockbuster queue and will report back.</p>Jason M2009-04-30T06:45:59ZChad Luck and the Poker FailureJason M2009-04-14T00:43:32Z2009-04-14T00:43:32Z<p>One of the best parts about living in wonderful Foster City are the power outages. I've been told it's because we live on a landfill at a very low elevation, which causes leakage into the power grid tunnels, which causes shorts. I've already had to throw away dinners and change work plans, and worse yet, power outages decimate our database infrastructure at work. I've never had outages affect my online poker, but today something unbelievable happened.</p><p>My good friend and roommate Chad plays low buy-in tournaments on Carbon poker. Some of these tournaments are 25-50 players while a lot of them are 100+ or even 1500. He does pretty well, and usually at least bubbles, even in the big ones. Sunday he was signed up for a 3:30pm $5 bounty tournament, but the power went out at 3pm. He couldn't unregister on his iPhone, so we just hoped the power would come back on in time...</p><p>At 5:12pm, the power came back up. He turned his computer on and logged in. He was UTG with 430 in chips (starting stack was 2k) and the blinds were 150/300. There were still 21 players left out of the 60 initial players. He was dealt <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/3s-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/5h-s.gif"/></span> and decided to fold, since the chance of the next hand being better was so great. A player at another table got knocked out, so it was down to 20. On the 300 big blind, Chad was dealt <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/2c-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/5c-s.gif"/></span>! Five people limped (probably trying to collect the bounty) and a sixth person went all in for 1100. Chad called all in, and another 2 players called the 1100.</p><p>The flop: <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/qc-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/8c-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/2h-s.gif"/></span></p><p>Awesome! Everybody checked it around. We were hoping somebody would bluff with air and the twos would hold up, but no dice.</p><p>The turn: <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ts-s.gif"/></span></p><p>Damn!</p><p>The river: <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/jc-s.gif"/></span></p><p>Pow! While everybody was checking it around we were yelling and were high-fiving each other. Our celebratory yells were soon replaced by yells of disbelief as the monitor went blank. Before we could even tell if we won the hand for sure, the power went out. Insane!</p><p>The power just blipped on again (for only 5 minutes of course) and it turns out Chad won the hand and had about 2500 in chips. He ended up folding into 15th place :p</p>Jason M2009-04-14T00:43:32ZSpring Break in VegasJason M2009-03-31T03:59:32Z2009-03-31T03:59:32Z<p>I'm back from my "Spring Break" vacation in Vegas. It was more of a vacation than usual, which was quite enjoyable.</p><h1 id="NotPoker">Not Poker</h1><p>We stayed at the Venetian (thanks for setting all of that up, Ace) and I spent most of my time there, although others ventured out into the unusually warm (and ever dry) outside here and there.</p><p>Here are some items that I feel are noteworthy:</p><ul><li>I did make it to the Rio to see "Penn & Teller". Some of the tricks were visibly fake (we <strong>did</strong> have 3rd row seats), but overall it was a great show. I especially enjoyed the "Psychic" portion of the show. These guys are smart.</li><li>We went to Tryst at the Wynn. The waterfall + pond is pretty nifty for a club. It's layed out pretty well and it was not overly crowded. Thanks to Dan for getting us all in for free :D</li><li>We got a table in the mega-section at Tao in the Venetian near a group celebrating the birthday of some actor from the Soprano's. Be jealous :p This was my second time at Tao, and I think I like Tryst better. Tao is just too crowded. They opened Tao Beach and it was not as special as I thought it would be. It was fine/neat/cool, but not kick-ass.</li><li>I visited a spa (at the Venetian) for the first time in my life (thanks for setting that up, Megan). I recommend it. Wow. On top of the massage, they have multiple relaxation rooms, saunas, hot tubs, an "igloo" and other crazy stuff, as well as everything you need to get ready to go out. A one-hour massage can easily turn into 3 hours of relaxation for no additional charge.</li></ul><h1 id="Poker">Poker</h1><p>I only played about 15 hours of poker, so I only lost about $300. Not a bad hourly rate, right? LOL. Ace and I managed to play for a few hours each day and also a couple of the nights. Jeff and Stephen from Vegas also joined us (thanks, guys) and so did Nio. Below are some memorable (and not so memorable) moments from the Venetian poker room... Enjoy :p</p><p>My first session ended badly with me flopping a flush. That's a ridiculous statement, isn't it? My opponent had played and raised and won the last 3 hands, so I called his raise with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ac-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/3c-s.gif"/></span>. The flop was <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/kc-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/tc-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/8c-s.gif"/></span> and I was in heaven. I checked and he bet. I just called because he was 3-barrelling the whole way to get his opponents to fold. The turn was the <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/jd-s.gif"/></span> and it went check-bet-call. The river paired the board and he went all in. I called and he flipped over <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/jd-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/js-s.gif"/></span>. Nice! The very next hand Stephen played <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ad-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/3d-s.gif"/></span> in the small blind against the same guy. The guy didn't show because Stephen took his whole stack after rivering the <strong>his</strong> nut flush. Aargh hahahaha. Stephen bought me a drink to help me get over it :p</p><p>Adrian and I played in the noon tournament on Thursday. It was $150 to enter, and we started with 7500 in chips. It has the same structure as the deep stacks, so it was pretty good. We woke up late and got our chips after a few hands had started. I flopped top two pair with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ac-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/qh-s.gif"/></span> and then we got up for the rest of the round to find some food. I lasted until about round 4 when I called an all in semi-bluff straight draw and he hit. Adrian lasted a couple more rounds, but we didn't money. I recommend this tournament. There were a few good players and a few stack-gifters. I felt comfortable at the table from the moment I sat down.</p><p>I had a great session later that night. The best hand is when I defended a raise from the maniac in the hijack with my <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/qc-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/jc-s.gif"/></span> in the small blind. Four people had already limped, there was one call, so I confidently over-called. The flop was <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/as-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/kh-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/ts-s.gif"/></span> of course, so I donked right into everybody for $40 from first position. The relatively solid player on my left raised all in for $64, the player to his left took 3 minutes to (supposedly) fold two-pair, and the preflop raiser flat-called. I think he knew something about how I only donk in with the nuts... The turn was a blank <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/5d-s.gif"/></span>, so I bet and he called $100. The river was another blank <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/3h-s.gif"/></span> so we repeated. I showed the nuts and he showed <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/kc-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/kd-s.gif"/></span>. So I raked in a good $550 pot. Unfortunately, it was Ace who had the kings. LOL.</p><p>Saturday nights are great for poker at the Venetian. I started out by stacking pocket aces with my <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/qc-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/8d-s.gif"/></span>, switched tables and stacked a drunkard with my nut straight (after check-mega-raising because I knew he'd call), and then finished building my stack up to $800 by bluffing the river for $100 with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/qc-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/6c-s.gif"/></span> on a board of <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/kc-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/6h-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/2s-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/js-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/jd-s.gif"/></span> against an aggressive button-raiser only to get called because she didn't think I had a jack. She was right, but her pocket threes didn't hold! I'm going to write about my last hand of the session in the strategy forum to get some input. It was a crazy one :)</p><h1 id="Bye">Bye</h1><p>I'm really busy right now and expect to be taking some time off poker except for a game once or twice a month until I get finished with some of the other projects I have going. Thanks for reading, and I will catch up with the comments and questions here and on the forum as soon as I can.</p>Jason M2009-03-31T03:59:32ZOff to VegasJason M2009-03-25T16:54:16Z2009-03-25T16:54:16Z<p>We have a big group going to Vegas, leaving in 10 minutes. Woo! So far we plan on going to Tao on Friday (with snazzy table service) and Penn & Teller on Saturday. We don't know what we are doing Saturday night, but hopefully there is a place we can get into easily enough after the show.</p><p>As always, there will be some pokering. I might try some 6/12 or 8/16 limit just for Nick :) Maybe some 2/5 NL if I'm feeling lucky. Hopefully we can win some money to justify coming back in April for the Deeeeeeep Stacks!</p><p>Quick question: does anybody have any recommendations for food and/or after-show party location at the Rio for Saturday?</p><p>If anything amazing happens, I'll post it here. Bye!</p>Jason M2009-03-25T16:54:16ZFull Tilt Poker AcademyJason M2009-03-18T03:52:13Z2009-03-18T03:52:13Z<p>I received an email from Full Tilt a couple weeks ago touting their <a href="http://academy.fulltiltpoker.com">Poker Academy</a>. I was a little bit skeptical and put off reading the email until just now.</p><p>I just hit the URL and the first thing that struck me is the site looks good. The design is aesthetically pleasing. Videos are integrated into the pages. It's just pretty slick. I logged on with my Full Tilt account and it turns out I am a "Gold Member" which means I get unlimited featured content. You can become a Gold Member by gaining Full Tilt points by playing real money on the site or by finishing challenges in the Academy.</p><p>I'm pretty sure this isn't as good of a learning community as some other pay sites offer (CardRunners.com, for example), but it seems pretty slick. I'm sure the main goal is to make a nifty-looking community that gets more people to log on and play on their real money application, but it seems like there are some good lessons to be had, also.</p><p>If you have time, check it out and post your comments below. I probably won't get around to logging in to it for another couple weeks, so it'd be nice to see what other people think. Thanks!</p>Jason M2009-03-18T03:52:13ZEven My Cat Beats Me at PokerJason M2009-03-11T06:52:13Z2009-03-11T06:52:13Z<p>This is the last picture I took of Buddha. He masterfully trapped me with his aces.</p><p><img border="0" src="/vimages/user/1/i/uszg-buddha-poker.jpg"/></p>Jason M2009-03-11T06:52:13ZFebruary 2009 Vegas Deep Stack Extravaganza RecapJason M2009-02-24T04:44:12Z2009-02-24T04:44:12Z<p>I was hoping I'd be able to write a long post about how this last trip to the Venetian was another success, but that's not going to happen. In fact, being in Seattle, then getting sick, then going to Vegas has left me with way too much stuff to do, so I'm not going to go too much in depth here.</p><h1 id="Tournaments">Tournaments</h1><h2 id="Day1">Day 1</h2><p>The first day ($340 entry) I went out in 200th place out of 430 players. I didn't actually get a hand better than <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/as-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/js-s.gif"/></span> or <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/9c-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/9h-s.gif"/></span> until we were 4 hours in. I had just made a failed steal attempt when the blinds were at 300/600 with 50 antes and the blinds increased to 400/800 with 75 (that's 2k in the pot). I picked up <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/kh-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/ks-s.gif"/></span> and rejoiced inside. I set the new standard raise a bit high at 2600 and the big blind defended. With about 15k to start the hand, when the blind checked to me on the <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/qc-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/7d-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/6d-s.gif"/></span> board, I bet out 3300. The blind then raised 15k on top, which put me all in, so I called. He had <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ad-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/5d-s.gif"/></span> and the turn was the <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/9d-s.gif"/></span>. I didn't bother staying to see the river :) Adrian lasted a bit longer.</p><h2 id="Day2">Day 2</h2><p>The second day ($340 entry) I actually made a run for it. There were 534 entrants, and I picked up <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/as-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/kc-s.gif"/></span> a few times in the early rounds to build enough of a stack to keep things going when I went card dead. I failed to pick up another hand for the next 3 hours. I was waiting for an opportunity to build a bit so I wouldn't be blinded out, and something interesting finally happened. One of the most aggressive (and large-stacked) players on the table made a fairly large steal raise from the button to open the pot, and I decided to make it 3.5 times more his raise to go from the big blind with my <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ad-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/9d-s.gif"/></span>. He thought for a bit, and to my surprise he went all in. I thought he was a lot weaker than that... So I called and he had <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/kc-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/jh-s.gif"/></span>. The flop came out <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/9h-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/5c-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/2s-s.gif"/></span>, so I called for a diamond on the turn. Oops, it was the <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/kd-s.gif"/></span>. So I called for a diamond on the river: <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/6d-s.gif"/></span>! Yay.</p><p>A few hands later, I received <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/qh-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/qd-s.gif"/></span>. I raised, somebody shoved, so after some deliberation I called. They had <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ac-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/kd-s.gif"/></span> and I didn't get unlucky. Evidently, I offended my opponent by thinking about it for a couple minutes. Whatever. The very next hand I was dealt <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/jc-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/jh-s.gif"/></span> and made the same raise. My opponent on my left, who had been respecting me a lot, smooth-called (damn) and the small blind (who had re-raised me twice already) shoved. Awesome! I reshoved, <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ah-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/kc-s.gif"/></span> on my left folded so the <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/as-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/ts-s.gif"/></span> in the blinds was isolated, missed the flop, and was out. It turns out <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ah-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/kc-s.gif"/></span> would have been the best hand ;) Woo woo! I was up to 120k with the blinds at at 600/1200.</p><p>Adrian busted out a bit ago and met up for dinner with Chad, Jeff, Stephen, and a few of their friends (Dan, Meagan, Laurel). I took my 10-minute break opportunity to eat some stuff off of their plates and get a few pieces of advice. Unfortunately, when play resumed, I folded away about 20k. Then the maniac who doubled me up with his <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/kc-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/jh-s.gif"/></span> built back up with a few lucky and good hands. He made another button raise against my blind, and I smooth-called with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ah-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/jd-s.gif"/></span>. Long-story short, he flopped a set of sevens and I hit my ace on the turn, so he took me for a good 50-60k.</p><p>Jeff and Stephen stuck around with Adrian and Dan to watch me eat dinner. We talked about every possible hypothetical situation with my 5-M stack that had me starting on the big blind. I felt pretty confident I could make it work... So I went back, ready to shove. Everybody folded to my big blinds - great start! I shoved two more times and didn't get called and then switched tables :D</p><p>I shoved again with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ah-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/qh-s.gif"/></span> and doubled up against <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/kh-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/ks-s.gif"/></span> LOL. But then I had to fold a fifth of my stack away with crap hands when people raised (and re-raised) in front of me. I went out open-shoving with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/9h-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/4h-s.gif"/></span> against <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ah-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/qd-s.gif"/></span>. Oh well.</p><p>80th/534 players. Meh.</p><h2 id="Day3">Day 3</h2><p>This one is short and sweet. It was the $560 tournament with 340 players (more than expected). There were a few bad players and a few great players on my table and we never moved. Eventually the bad players gave the money to the good players. I ended up losing with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ac-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/kc-s.gif"/></span> on an ace-high flop when the guy called my turn bet for 600 with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/6c-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/6h-s.gif"/></span> because it was <strong>six</strong>-hundred and he had sixes... He busted out pretty quickly.</p><p>I folded everything but about 10 hands for about 5 hours. No jokes. I ended up getting crippled when I raised an aggressive pre-flop raiser with my <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/tc-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/th-s.gif"/></span> from the button but had the big blind come over the top with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/qh-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/qs-s.gif"/></span>. Ugh. I went out shortly after that with a <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/5s-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/4s-s.gif"/></span> open-shove into <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ac-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/kc-s.gif"/></span>. 220th place.</p><h2 id="Thoughts">Thoughts</h2><p>I felt pretty good at the tables. There were some really good players, and a lot of mediocre players. I seemed to pick them out pretty well. I did make noticeable mistakes in both tournaments, which motivates me to keep trying. I would rather look back and see what I did wrong than just think I was getting unlucky. However, I was seriously card dead for hours at a time in all three tournaments. I think I had JJ-AA about 10 times in 15 hours of play. I should do the math and see if that's normal.</p><p>One thing I know I need to work on is accumulating chips when I don't have hands. I need to figure out when to re-steal. I have no problem raising with mediocre hands in position and stealing on the flop (or doubling up when I accidentally hit it). Maybe it's not necessary to re-raise with junk, but it seems like I need to do <strong>something else</strong> to help build when the hands aren't coming or connecting.</p><h1 id="a12NLattheVenetian">1/2 NL at the Venetian</h1><p>The first night was great - I made about $650 in 2 hours with Chad. I flopped three-of-a-kind a few times and got full value. The rest of the nights were so-so. Some wins, one big loss. It's definitely amazing to play late nights on Friday and Saturday. Wow. People are just drunk, tired, stupid, or all 3. Or they are pros, capitalizing on those traits :)</p><p>The most disappointing pot was when I 3-bet this dude on the turn to build an $800 pot. I had ace-high on a flush draw board and I just couldn't believe he had me beat. Unfortunately, he didn't, but he called with his flush draw anyway (and hit). Boo! I reconsidered the situation and decided I should have flat-called his turn raise and went all in on the river if I still felt the same way. Maybe, maybe not.</p><h1 id="Fun">Fun</h1><p>Although we came out behind, this was definitely one of the better trips. Staying at the Venetian made everything so much easier. I ate at the Grand Lux cafe at least 7 times. I think I played 40 hours of poker in 4 days. I saw my grandpa and grandma from WI and other friends from way back in the day. "ROK" at NYNY was pretty good for a Wednesday, and had <strong>cheap</strong> bottle service ($240 with tip for 4 guys when regular entry would have been $120). Tao lived up to the reputation. And finally, my flight back was only delayed one hour. That's a new record for being home on time!</p><p>I'm sorry I didn't keep people posted in a more live manner. I did not have any down time. Every day was eat, poker, drink, poker, sleep. Repeat. Yay.</p>Jason M2009-02-24T04:44:12ZFebruary 2009 Vegas Deep Stack ExtravaganzaJason M2009-02-19T00:41:56Z2009-02-19T00:41:56Z<p>It's that time again :) I'm walking out the door in 5 mins. Everybody and their mother (including my grandma and grandpa) are going to be there. My poker group has had great success this last month in Vegas last weekend, so let's keep that going! More updates as I get the chance.</p>Jason M2009-02-19T00:41:56ZSan Mateo County Poker Bust Wrap-UpJason M2009-01-28T06:35:34Z2009-01-28T06:35:34Z<p>It's been over a year since the fateful <a href="http://pokersoup.com/blog/pokeradical/show/san-mateo-county-poker-bust-link-roundup">San Mateo County Poker Bust</a>. I was looking over my blog drafts tonight, and realized I never really summarized the repercussions of what went down.</p><p>Here is the standard slanted summary from the <a href="http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=92403">San Mateo Daily Journal</a>.</p><p>For those of us who can read between the lines, here's the real summary...</p><p>On January 12, 2008, Bert was arrested and charged with nine misdemeanor counts of fraudulently obtaining money under false pretenses and for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Trish was arrested and charged for two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.</p><p>As it turns out, the DA didn't want to go to trial (because he couldn't win), so he offered a settlement. Bert pleaded no contest to illegal gambling (and was fined $3,500) and Trish pleaded no contest to disturbing the peace (and was fined $1,159). They both received 18 months court probation.</p><p>As you can see, the end result of this 3-month investigation (and tons of tax-payer money, including the entry fees they lost to me hahahahhahhh) was no-contest pleas to drastically reduced charges and fines. What exactly did the police and DA accomplish, aside from screwing some good people over for a while? I don't know... I guess people can park a bit easier. Seems like the long way around.</p><p>BTW, if you've ever wondered what happens to your things when they get taken in for evidence, I'll let you in on a secret: your things get destroyed and lost. I heard the police put gigantic evidence stickers on all of the table felt and the sticky residue could not be removed. Additionally, multiple chairs and poker chips were missing. I'm sure the police needed some more poker chips for their home games...</p><p>So, if you ever get busted for a standard home poker game that isn't really doing anything wrong, get a good lawyer and don't sweat it too much. And more importantly, the next time you get a chance to vote for a sheriff or district attorney, make sure you make an informed decision. Turns out San Mateo County could have done a better job...</p>Jason M2009-01-28T06:35:34ZSuccess in Santa CruzJason M2009-01-18T02:40:14Z2009-01-18T02:40:14Z<p>I arrived in Santa Cruz last night and unfortunately missed my turn to get to Megan's. The good news is we were going to meet down town in about a half-hour, so I used the opportunity to pick up advance tickets for the Saturday noon 40-person $30+$20 add-on/rebuy tournament at the Ocean View Card Room. And, what do you know, they had three 3-100 Spread Limit Hold'em tables ($100 max buy-in) running this Friday night, so how could I not sit down and play?</p><h1 id="Cashola">Cashola</h1><p>I sat down and promised myself I'd play straight-forward cash game poker, as I have been studying under Jeff and his methods do seem successful. I take down the blinds a few times, check-call a bluffer on the river, and have built up to about $130. Then am fortunate enough to get <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/as-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/kh-s.gif"/></span> in the big blind when faced with a open-raise on the button. I immediately 3-bet the sucka, and he 4-bets for about 10% more of the pot. Aces for the win! LOL.</p><p>Ah well. I fold a couple more revolutions and it's almost time to go when I get <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ac-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/jc-s.gif"/></span> (favorite hand!). (Not really.) I flat-call a mid-position 4xBB raise (maybe I should have re-raised; probably I should have folded) and one person calls behind me. The flop is <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/qc-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/td-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/4h-s.gif"/></span> so I'm ready to release. Raiser checks, I check, and the button stabs at the pot. This guy has been pretty active, so I was considering check-raising him until the preflop raiser called. Then I figured I might as well squeeze the crap out of both them. I pick up that $60 and cash out for a cool $35 profit. :p</p><p>I really wanted to be a dick and ask them why they didn't let me hit my straight and flip my cards up, but I was leaving and figured I'd rather not give them any more reason to remember me for next time.</p><h1 id="Tournamentola">Tournamentola</h1><p>The setup: you get 1000 in chips and the blinds are 25/50 (ouch!) and you can rebuy or add-on (but not both) at $30 for 2000 in chips.</p><p>The hint: if you intend to play well and not gamble preflop, exercise your add-on immediately.</p><p>The result: I tangled with one of the other few big stacks for the whole amount with my overpair against his flop set. Ugh. Stupid.</p><h2 id="TheGalen">The Galen</h2><p>This crazy mofo was down to negative chips (practically). There was a point when he stoled the blinds and his stack increased by 25%... Somehow he held on. I was busy playing the cash game, but every time I walked over, he was knocking somebody out. I swear. Somebody would push, he would call with a better hand, and they would be gone.</p><p>The first hand of note: Galen calls an opponent's all in with his <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ad-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/ks-s.gif"/></span>. The guy had <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ah-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/qh-s.gif"/></span> and a shorter stack. The flop blasts Galen: <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/qc-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/js-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/4h-s.gif"/></span>. The turn is no good... <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/6d-s.gif"/></span>. BUT, guess what the river is: <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/tc-s.gif"/></span>! Woooooooooooo. LOL. Galen takes out the next two players by calling with medium aces preflop and not getting screwed. The other player at the table (Gary, a regular) seems content letting Galen do the dirty work.</p><h2 id="TheProp">The Prop</h2><p>I sit back down at the cash game and the conversation goes towards the heads up battle that is about to ensue. I state that I hope Galen doesn't take any chop offer, as he is almost a 2-to-1 chip favorite. Of course, most players at the table support the regular, and say it's in Galen's best interest to chop. I tell them they don't know the genius of Galen, and even if he gets outplayed, it's still heads up! Galen can get lucky and end it, or he can lose a big hand and their positions would only be swapped. Simple mathematics makes him the favorite. One player tells me Gary doesn't get into situations where he's all in and needing to get lucky... Yeah, right.</p><p>I tell the table to put their moneys where their mouths are. I offer even money that Gary loses, up to $50. Only one player (a kewl kat on my left) has the nuts to sack up and we each threw down $20.</p><h2 id="TheFinish">The Finish</h2><p>Gary, being the proficient tournament player that he is, does indeed start to outchip Galen. What he doesn't know is that Galen's strategy is to let you think you know what's going on, and then he crushes your hopes and dreams by making a spectacular call that makes you crap your pants. This exact scenario (perhaps minus the crap) went down shortly after Gary become about a 2-to-1 chip favorite. Gary moved in with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ah-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/5h-s.gif"/></span> and Galen snap-called with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ad-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/6h-s.gif"/></span>. These hands will split frequently (I'm too lazy - 30%ish?) but Galen masterfully gets a quick 6 on the turn. Boom, baby.</p><p>If I recall correctly, Gary went all in again the very next hand. This time Galen called him pretty quickly with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/as-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/7s-s.gif"/></span>. The flop was strong: <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ad-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/9c-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/5h-s.gif"/></span>. The turn was theh <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/4h-s.gif"/></span> and the river was the <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/8h-s.gif"/></span>, completing the flush. Of course, Gary had moved in with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/qh-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/6h-s.gif"/></span>. Oops.</p><p>A few hands later it was all over for Galen. Ah well. I guess you can't win every race. I go pay my debt, and the guy who beat me was amicable about it. The guy who told me Gary doesn't need luck tried to rub it in my face. I'm pretty sure my money went in good :)</p><p>Galen scooped $450 real quick and got my lunch. Woot!</p><h1 id="INSANITY">INSANITY</h1><p>Okay, here's the best part of the day. I was stuck for about $200 in the cash game, but I made a hero call with my pocket tens against pocket nines to double my third buy-in up to $195. I was still down $105 and had to get up to watch Galen play the heads-up match. I folded all the way to UTG and decided a straddle was in order. I asked if I could straddle for more than $6 and luckily they said yes...</p><p>I pre-tipped the dealer $3 and straddled for $12. I figured I'd cash out for an even $180. I've had less fun for $12, for sure. Two people called the straddle, and the small blind put in $50 on top. This guy had bad-beat me earlier by calling my preflop raise with some weak holdings. He was pretty aggressive, so it wasn't that unexpected. I sighed and checked my cards, figuring it was a quick muck.</p><p>I accidentally found <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ks-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/kh-s.gif"/></span> under my card protector, and stated "I raise the maximum amount, whatever that is". Of course, that was $100, so I still had $40 left. I could tell the guy really wanted a reason to call me, but was convincing himself to lay it down. I told him, "If you want some help, I'll give you good implied odds. If you call here, I'll put my last $40 in no matter what the flop is." He quickly obliged, and bet $40 in the dark.</p><p>Hero (that's me): <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ks-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/kh-s.gif"/></span><br/>Guy (that's him): <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/as-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/jc-s.gif"/></span><br/>Board: <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/8h-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/7d-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/6h-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/6c-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/kd-s.gif"/></span><br/>Hero: up $90!</p><h1 id="Strategy">Strategy</h1><p>Jeff's cash game strategy worked out pretty well here. People called a bit more than I liked, so I had to tighten up the range and play more positional. In the end, I probably made some really stupid plays and got exceedingly lucky with the kings. Some day I'll learn how to play for real...</p>Jason M2009-01-18T02:40:14ZSolution For How To Play In-Between (Acey Deucey)Jason M2009-01-07T20:50:54Z2009-01-07T20:50:54Z<p>I was co-chilling with my poker-playing cousin and the rest of his family shortly after Christmas when an opportunity to play some cards with his neighbors came up. Never one to pass up such an opportunity, I made the short trip to the neighbors and once introductions were complete, we were gambling it up.</p><p>And I mean gambling... we first played 7-Card No-Peek Baseball. In this house, five-of-a-kind beats straight flushes, and I skillfully flipped over quad queens with my first 5 cards, only to be outdone by quad kings. Of course, I had 2 cards to go and one was a wild. Thank you for the 5-of-a-kind hours rule! :) After a couple cracks at follow the queen (the variant where the queens are always wild, of course) we settled in for a long game of Acey Deucey.</p><h1 id="TheGame">The Game</h1><p>If you don't know the rules, here it is. Everybody antes into the pot. Each player takes a turn, starting with the left of the dealer until there is no money left in the pot. A turn consists of two cards being dealt face up and the player betting an amount of money whether or not the third card will fall in between the first two (thus, the name "In-Between"). A player may bet anything from zero to the pot. If the third card is in between, the player wins from the pot the amount that was bet. If the card is outside the first two cards, the player has to add the bet into the pot. If the third card matches one of the first two, the player must pay twice the bet into the pot.</p><p>The best possible two-card combination is an ace and a two: you only lose if an ace or a two comes up. Thus the other name "Acey Deucey".</p><p>Some variants include:</p><ul><li>You can only bet up to half the pot until everybody has a turn (so the game can't be over right away)</li><li>As the first two cards are dealt out, if the first card is an ace, the player can call it to be high or low. The second ace is always high</li><li>If the first two cards dealt out are the same, you can get two new cards or you can bet if the third card is higher or lower instead of in between</li><li>You can bet an amount and call "inside" or "outside". This creates more action (people will make bets when a six and and an eight come out instead of just passing</li><li>You must bet some minimum, regardless of the two cards</li></ul><h1 id="WhatHappened">What Happened</h1><p>So all seven of us anted $1 and I was first. I saw the <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/3h-s.gif"/></span> and <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/kc-s.gif"/></span> and thought "jackpot". I bet the pot, and my cousin promptly dealt the <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/3d-s.gif"/></span> off the deck. Nice! I'm in for $14 more. It goes around a few times and the host graciously only bets about half the pot both times he's dealt <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ac-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/2h-s.gif"/></span> so the game can keep going. I get dealt another great pair: <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/4c-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/ks-s.gif"/></span> and bet the pot again only to see a <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/2c-s.gif"/></span>. Wow. I run out of money and go meet my friends for dinner.</p><p>The good news is I'll be invited to future games after dropping $30. To them, I was a gambling fool who didn't care about losing $30. To me, I maximized my value by betting the pot whenever it was the right move. Which got me thinking...</p><h1 id="TheSolution">The Solution</h1><p><strong>Disclaimers</strong>: This solution assumes:</p><ul><li>Your bankroll is large enough that you can handle some crazy swings!</li><li>You aren't counting cards in order to calculate your exact outs (it's as if the deck is reshuffled each time)</li><li>The rules are as above with no variants (most importantly, you have to pay double your pot when the third card matches and you can pass or bet zero)</li><li>The Ace will always be high</li></ul><p><strong>Bet the Pot</strong> when there are 8 ranks in between your cards: <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/2h-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/jh-s.gif"/></span> or better, <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/3h-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/qh-s.gif"/></span> or better, <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/4h-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/kh-s.gif"/></span> or better, <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/5h-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/ah-s.gif"/></span> or better.</p><p><strong>Pass or Bet Zero</strong> all other times</p><p>With only 7 ranks in between, the bet is completely even money. You have 28 outs to win your bet, there are 16 cards that cause you to lose your bet, and 6 cards cause you to lose twice your bet.</p><p>With 6 or less ranks in between, it's a losing bet.</p><h2 id="Considerations">Considerations</h2><p>You probably aren't playing this game solely to make a profit. Sometimes it's fun to bet $1 that you can hit that one-outer. Or at least the minimum bet just to juice the pot a bit and seem friendly. </p><p>If your bankroll is not big enough to handle losing $40 at a time, you may want to only bet the pot when you have 6 or 10 ways to lose instead of 18 ways as the solution suggests.</p><h1 id="Also">Also</h1><p>If you like to be nasty, you can also call this game "Between the Sheets". LOL.</p>Jason M2009-01-07T20:50:54ZPokerStars 35000 Player Tournament Guinness World Record AttemptJason M2008-12-28T20:36:55Z2008-12-28T20:36:55Z<p>I'm going to be live blogging my participation in the Guinness world record attempt by PokerStars. Look for more soon :)</p><p><strong>Update (12:41pm):</strong> I won my first hand. We started with 3,000 chips and I'm at 2,960, after I flopped the nut open-ended straight draw with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ac-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/jc-s.gif"/></span> early on. Heh, while writing this I just stole my second win with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ah-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/js-s.gif"/></span> by continuation betting a terrible flop. Up to 3095. Woo! There are already only 33,744 left.</p><p><strong>Update (12:53pm):</strong> I just picked up some chips with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/as-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/kc-s.gif"/></span> by spiking an ace on the turn. I don't know if it was necessary, as I bet and my opponent folded. The very next hand I pick up <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/jd-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/jc-s.gif"/></span>. The same guy limps in front of me and I raise it up. One player calls and the limper re-raises all in for less than 1k. I call and the other player folds. The dude flips over <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/kh-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/4d-s.gif"/></span>. Awesome?! <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/7s-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/3d-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/th-s.gif"/></span>... <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/kc-s.gif"/></span>!! I yell out "COME ON" and the river is the <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/jh-s.gif"/></span>. LOL. I am up to 5000 and the blinds are 20/40 with 32k players left. While I was writing this I got <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/qs-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/qh-s.gif"/></span> and lost the minimum to <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ah-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/jh-s.gif"/></span> when an ace came on the flop and he didn't bet until the river :)</p><p><strong>Update (1:01pm):</strong> At one point there were almost 250,000 logged in to PokerStars. Tony said he could tell from the speed of the site. Crazy. There are only 170,000 people logged in now.</p><p><strong>Update (1:08pm):</strong> I don't like the PokerStars look and feel, but some of the other features are making me rethink my dislike. First, not only can you select/deselect "muck losing hand" but you can also choose the option for "show winning hand". Better yet, when looking at previous hands, you can do a "live replay" of the action. Very cool. Now I can watch myself bluff-raise continuation bets with ace-high. Maybe not a bluff, I guess... And finally, the "stats" section actually shows some detailed stuff about your position. Here's mine so far:</p><p>During current Hold'em session you were dealt 36 hands and saw flop:</p><ul><li>1 out of 3 times while in big blind (33%)</li><li>2 out of 3 times while in small blind (66%)</li><li>7 out of 30 times in other positions (23%)</li><li>a total of 10 out of 36 (27%)</li><li>Pots won at showdown - 2 of 4 (50%)</li><li>Pots won without showdown - 4</li></ul><p><strong>Update (1:26pm):</strong> Still in it... Luke and Jon dropped out on some bad beats. Paul, Tony, and Parag are still in it. Not much happening for me. I have 5,925 in chips and the blinds are 40/80. The average stack is almost 4,000 and there are 27k players left. Prizes go down to place 8750 or so. Wow!</p><p><strong>Update (1:32pm):</strong> We are on the first short break. I am up to 6285, but the blinds are going to be 50/100 with an ante of 10. That means the average chip stack has an M of 16. Another few rounds and people will be dropping. 26k players left.</p><p><strong>Update (1:50pm):</strong> I'm in 3,617 place with 6,695 in chips. The blinds are going up to 60/120 with 15 in just a minute. The chip leader is at 29k while the average is 4,300. 24,397 players left. Make that 24,384.</p><p><strong>Update (2:03pm):</strong> Whew. I just limped in early with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/qs-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/qd-s.gif"/></span> and caught a middle position all in with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/jc-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/jd-s.gif"/></span>. At 10k.</p><p><strong>Update (2:12pm):</strong> Got <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/kd-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/kc-s.gif"/></span> and took 4 limper's money and the blinds. Not bad. At 10,295 in chips with 19k people left. Average is 5,400 and the blinds are 100/200 with 25 antes.</p><p><strong>Update (2:35pm):</strong> I recently layed down pocket jacks preflop after I 3-bet and was put all in by another player. That was tough. But not as tough as losing half my stack to pocket 3s versus my <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/qh-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/qd-s.gif"/></span> :( I'm at 4,140 and the pot has 850 in it at the start of each hand. Crap!</p><p><strong>Update (2:39pm):</strong> We made it to the second break. Parag, Paul, Tony are still in it, too. There are 12,046 players left. Only 4,000 more to the money lol. The pot has 975 in it at the start and I'm sitting on 3,760 and going to be the small blind. Guess I'll be open-shoving here soon :)</p><p><strong>Update (2:50pm):</strong> Redemption! I cracked aces with my <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/3h-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/3s-s.gif"/></span> LOL. Back up to 8140.</p><p><strong>Update (3:06pm):</strong> Parag is out - he flopped two pair against a flopped straight. Tony doubled up twice and is at 10k. Paul and I are at about 10k, too. The average stack is 11k and there are 9541 players left. 1,000 more until the money ($20 for the worst prize). I've been folding. Woo.</p><p><strong>Update (3:19pm):</strong> We are playing hand for hand at each table because we are on the bubble (8751 players left). I have just under 8k (6000th place) and the average is 12k. There is about 2,000 in the pot at the start of each hand. Play is SLOWWWW so I'll post my latest stats:</p><p>During current Hold'em session you were dealt 143 hands and saw flop:</p><ul><li>5 out of 14 times while in big blind (35%)</li><li>9 out of 15 times while in small blind (60%)</li><li>13 out of 114 times in other positions (11%)</li><li>a total of 27 out of 143 (18%)</li><li>Pots won at showdown - 5 of 9 (55%)</li><li>Pots won without showdown - 16</li></ul><p>18% total flops seen is pretty low. I like it.</p><p><strong>Update (3:22pm):</strong> I just cashed in the biggest poker tournament ever held! We are at 8492 players and I'm guaranteed $20 at least. First place is $30k. The real money doesn't really start until you get into the top 100 ($300 for 100th, $700 for 30th, $1500 for 10th).</p><p><strong>Update (3:40pm):</strong> The action has been fast and most furious. I worked up to 20k in chips with 2 continuation bet bluffs and pocket tens. The players got wise of that so I ended up folding <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/as-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/qh-s.gif"/></span> preflop to an all in but leveled out at 16k in chips. But then I called a short-stack all in but forgot somebody was behind me. I managed to get a straight, but the guy behind me got a flush and I paid him off, not even realizing it was there. I was down to 5k but stole blinds to get up to 8k now. Damn!</p><p><strong>Update (3:54pm):</strong> We are on break. Paul just got knocked out. I stole 3 sets of blinds and am up to 13k. Tony is at 10k. Average stack is 23k and the pot starts at 4k! Math time :)</p><p><strong>Update (4:14pm):</strong> I played <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/kh-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/qd-s.gif"/></span> perfectly against a similar stack and got him to commit all his chips with 2nd pair to my top pair. Yay! I'm at 34k in chips and Tony has 20k. Average stack is 36k. There are less than 3,000 players left!</p><p><strong>Update (4:22pm):</strong> Tony is at 45k and I'm at 30k. Scratch that, Tony is at 55k and I'm at 35k :)</p><p><strong>Update (4:40pm):</strong> I'm out in 1702 place. I had 6 big blinds and went for a steal with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/5h-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/7h-s.gif"/></span>. It's kind of hard to steal from <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ac-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/as-s.gif"/></span> and <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/kd-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/kc-s.gif"/></span>, though. Payout was $60. Now I have a PokerStars bankroll I guess hahahh. Tony is still going strong with 72k in chips while the average is 66k.</p><p>My final stats:</p><p>During current Hold'em session you were dealt 214 hands and saw flop:</p><ul><li>6 out of 20 times while in big blind (30%)</li><li>11 out of 22 times while in small blind (50%)</li><li>19 out of 172 times in other positions (11%)</li><li>a total of 36 out of 214 (16%)</li><li>Pots won at showdown - 7 of 13 (53%)</li><li>Pots won without showdown - 26</li></ul><p>I think I tightened up too much at the end. There were a couple opportunities where I could have called opposing all ins with <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ah-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/jc-s.gif"/></span> or <span class="inlineCards"><img src="/images/cards/ac-s.gif"/> <img src="/images/cards/4c-s.gif"/></span> and the like. In retrospect, I'd rather get my money in there than where I did, but I don't know if it was a mistake.</p><p><strong>Update (much later):</strong> I didn't update this after Tony's 418th finish for $100. Awesome finish man!</p>Jason M2008-12-28T20:36:55ZSnowing in Las Vegas?!Jason M2008-12-18T18:32:17Z2008-12-18T18:32:17Z<p>In case you haven't heard, <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/western_weather;_ylt=AiZYiiJFy5lGRetpa7uanVtsaMYAa">it snowed 3.6 inches in Las Vegas yesterday</a>. I guess the town is being punished for all the sins. LOL. When will the pigs start flying?</p><p><img border="0" src="/vimages/user/1/i/capt.jpg"/><br/>(Is that Stephen in the middle there?)</p>Jason M2008-12-18T18:32:17Z