4 in a row....

Here I am at river rock again with my EA colleagues... I try to earn as much disrespect as possible in the beginning, and got my bluff called EVERY TIME!...

Oh well, a good investment, by the end no one trusted me and I got called almost every time... I'm gonna stick with this strategy; hopefully it will earn me some unpredictability at the tables...

Net Result: +$160...

Addiction is growing...

So, not satisfied with the winning session yesterday I decide to try my shot today. What a miserable bunch of cards... Not one fucking hand... nothing... my stack kept going down and down... I stole a couple pots, and got my bluff called a couple times... I finally pick up a hand "QQ" and everyone folds to my raise.. oh well... I'm in middle position and I pick up Ad 8d... I bump it up to $22... I get one caller..

flop is 7 9 3...

He bets $22... and I'm thinking, what on earth could he have that he bet less than half the pot with... Thought he had low pockets so I decide to represent an over pair...

"Times 3... "... and I throw in $66..

He puts me all in (clearly fucking flopped a set.. prolly 7's or 3's), and now I gotta find a way to save grace ...

"hmm... its so obvious you got a set... umm... fine, I usually call and regret it, so I'll listen to my hindsight... I fold"

He shows a set of 3's and the table thinks I made a great laydown... but more importantly the guy that won thought I was a stupid rock that would fold to a re-raise whenever.

A few hands go by and I've got Q 5 in late position... so I limp in, and its all checked...

flop is 3 Q 4...

This guy (who thinks I'm a rock) checks... I bet out $20... everyone else folds except for Mr. Jonny Chan wannabe...

turn card is a J... and he bets $90 representing a set?? *BULL SHIT*.. I go all in for $110 and he's sick about it and calls.. he shows pocket 10's, and my Q holds up...

Then he says to me "what a ballsy fucking call... you had just a 5 kicker"... I smugly replied with "Represent a set on the flop, not the turn ok...".. what a moron, thinks that I will fold whenever someone puts me all in...

Bottom line is, he tells me on the flop that he has a draw, (either over cards, or maybe a weird straight draw or maybe a queen with not a very good kicker).. Then on the turn he tells me he's got a monster.. *yeah right*... But funny thing is his bet... He bet double the pot on the turn, after *just* calling my bet on the flop. Well if you indeed wanna lure me into a trap since you just called me on the flop, why are you in a hurry to drive me out of the pot so quickly?... And I can't just assume that he thinks that I think he's that good of a player to make such a play because such a play would only work against someone who's also thinking along those lines... Its more likely that he noticed I only had $110 left and a bet like $40 if called would make me pot committed... Perhaps, however irony is a bet of $40 would have got me out of the hand because it didn't break the flow of his initial story that much.

I mean, imagine for a moment you're watching a movie about a lawyer that is battling this really tough case, and midway through the trial the lawyer announces that he can't defend his client anymore on account of the fact that he's an intergalactic space alien and has to go back to his mothership because his home planet is under attack by space pirates. The moral is, have the fucking conviction to stick to your initial story...

The guy next to him then says "So all I gotta do to get your chips is represent the wrong hand and then pretend like I got something else??".. *BINGO!... Welcome to the next level in holdem...*

Net result: +$74...

For getting virtually no cards and really only winning some cash with Q 5.. I think it was not bad...

I wish I lived in richmond...

Ah what a crappy day today, useless cleanup tasks at work... The end of the day is near and I've already gotten word that my deadbeat friends aren't interested in poker this week again... *gee what a shock!*

So as I'm about to call it a day, a co-worker invites me to go play with them at River rock... There was no arm twisting required...

Crappy start at the tables, I raised my usual positional raise with 9 10 suited (raise of $25... into a pot full of limpers ).. Got called by A 7... flop comes an ace, and he checks and I take a stab at it with a bet of $30.. he called me ofcourse.. turn is a blank... *check check*... river is a blank.. he checked to me indicating possible mid pair... so I threw in a bet of $40.. (nice tasty bet on a stone cold bluff).. and got called.. oh well.. down $95 just like that... but earned a fair bit of disrespect from that guy...

Another hand goes by and I've got 9 8 suited... I limp in..

flop is 7 Q 8...

everyone checks... turn is a 4... everyone checks.. river is an 8... and one guy bets $10... theres a call... What should I do?..

I'm thinking, the guy that called clearly has a marginal hand, but what about this peculiar raise of $10... I thought about it and decided that re-raising here would be out of the question since a Q will prolly chuck his hand away, and probably wouldn't have bet the river... so I *just* called... original raiser turns over a straight and I pat myself on the back for losing the minimum with a set.

I played tight, and got paid off on a couple hands... hehe one hand I got paid by the guy I originally bluffed at.. he re-raised me with mid pair thinking I was upto no good.. haha.. *sucker* I called him with my top pair...

I'm getting ready to leave (some $220 up), just waiting till the big blind comes to me, and what do I get dealt in third position... *American Airlines*...

UTG (the guy who doesn't respect my raises anymore) raised the pot to $5... what a stupid raise... so I reply with "umm, times 5"... and throw in $25... everyone else folds, and this guy calls with possibly a connector of some sort...

Flop is 9 8 K ( no flush draw )...

He bets $30... "times 3" I say and I threw in $90.. he only had $75 left and *just calls* the $60 that it was to him... so I threw in $15 into the pot blind, and turn is a deuce.. he's sick about it and throws in the remaining $15... I show him the rockets and the river was a Q followed by a muck from him...

Net result: +$364...

Man I really do miss playing at River rock, I get paid playing hands straightforwardly... People at boulevard casino are getting better unfortunately, and it is hurting my profit potential... Sadly I live in surrey and not richmond...

Round II EA superstars invitationals....

Well, kinda a crappy start... got out flopped, didn't catch a flop, bla bla bla... Oh well I tightened up and managed to make it to the final table...

There's three of us left, and I'm bullying the table and wind up 2nd in chips... I get dealt A 4 on the button... Why stop bullying right?...

"All in"...

Ace deuce calls me and the flop has a 2... and I'm returned $150 in chips since I had him covered barely.. Oh well, I got lucky one hand that night as well so I'm cool with going out third... Sucks that I won't be part of the final table of champions ($40 buyin)... Oh well, the next season starts two weeks from now and I'm psyched... Haha, another reason for why it was a good move to leave my old game company... People at EA know how to have fun...

Online poker sucks...

I was reminded today as to why I quit online poker a couple months back... It's mid level in a $30 buyin tourney and I've got KK.. and I'm second in chip stack at the table with $5600 in chips. I'm in late position and I raise to $1000 (blinds are 100/200)... I get called by Mr. Big stack (8190 in chips)...

flop comes 3 9 5 (paint)..

he bets 1000.. I go all in.. and he calls... shows 3 2 of hearts (with no flush draw on the board)... river brings him his 2 and he wins and I'm knocked out.. just like that... Where's the justice?... Anyhow Pokerroom.com just lost a player for life... I was up like $100 there and submitted a cashout.. I would have liked to make more since players there for the most part suck shit... however I'm going to take this as an early warning sign that live poker is the only way to go for me... Players in live poker atleast have some shame... Guess shame is not a word online since we're all just avatars... behind a dollar amount... behind an internet IP... behind a firewall... and lastly behind a monitor.

Denial leads to acceptence and a loss

Wow, the dream is dead... oh well, I had a decent run, 8 wins in a row... can't win em all... especially not tonight. Getting drawn out so many times, and never catching a card after that. I was at a weird table though, at first some are loose and some are tight, then everyone is tight again... By the end I was done, I got beat today, no excuses...

Denial is a funny thing... The only time I got good hands were the hands that I either didn't connect on the flop at all, or I got outflopped or out drawn... I made a few donkey plays through out the night tho... like one hand the flop is all clubs.. I have the 10 high club draw... and I bet out just *hoping* the flush draws would go away ... but the problem is why would they?... I've played better than this... But after getting beat so many times, I still was hoping that my cards would get better... instead that stack kept getting smaller... I have to work on the whole patience thing tho, because I was playing a bit recklessly at one point due to frustration over my bad luck. I think they call that *tilt*... something I should be so beyond...

It's funny though, no matter how straight forward you play... when things just don't go your way... you start to feel as though you could not play any dumber... Guess everyone's a genius when they get the cards, or when they gain momentum when their plays workout...

Net result: -$382 ... Time to regroup and make sure the next time I play, I play more focussed. Game is a game, it is ok to lose... The better man is the one that knows when he's beat and walks away.

Poker at Electronic Arts

Wow talk about tight players... I lost virtually every coin-flip situation and still managed to come in 6th out of 15... I think that is an impressive enough feat considering I barely got any cards the whole night (not one pocket pair higher than 7's).

I firmly believe the next time I play I should be able to score first or second atleast... Don't get me wrong, the players were for the most part tight and played reasonably well... but I noticed a lot of:

- Calling large bets preflop with semi decent hands and then getting in trouble.
- Unwillingness to protect top pair when there are dangerous draws on the board.
- Giving free cards when the draws are plenty and all they have is top pair.

Oh well, the only odd thing was, these were mistakes made by the top standing players of this poker group. I'm not going to be too judgemental too soon however, there might be method in their madness... Next week we shall see where each of us stand.... I for one can't wait!

Just another night at the casino...

$1/$2 table again… Nothing too interesting happened in the 2 hours I played… got dealt a lot of garbage, tried to steal a few pots here and there, and got bit a couple times… oh well.. left the night $214 up… And that’s 8 winning sessions in a row… I don’t know how much longer my cards can hold up.