Poor Kiwi
Sorry in advance if this ruins your day 
I fought the power
I fought the power in todays DADI tournament (a tournament for poker bloggers who love the hammer), but the power was to strong for me. I was able to ride my short stack all the way into 9th place, which was exciting, but only the top 5 get paid.
Here’s the hand I went out on: I’m the shortest stack with with 94s in the big blind. GCox25 (edit: apparently high on poker’s jordan was playing as gcox :-o) limped and i checked with intent on getting all my chips in with any pair or draw. The flop gave me middle pair, but GCox had the higher pair and I wasn’t able to donk a better hand. Hopefully he’ll avenge my loss by winning the tournament.
Full Tilt Poker Game #1258657844: DADI X: Fight The Power (7953554), Table 1 - 120/240 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold’em - 22:37:58 ET - 2006/11/16
Seat 1: lucko21 (12,485)
Seat 2: GCox25 (13,670)
Seat 3: DuggleBogey (4,920)
Seat 4: smokkee (2,550)
Seat 6: dbirider (2,065)
lucko21 antes 25
GCox25 antes 25
DuggleBogey antes 25
smokkee antes 25
dbirider antes 25
smokkee posts the small blind of 120
dbirider posts the big blind of 240
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dbirider [9h 4h]
lucko21 folds
GCox25 calls 240
DuggleBogey folds
smokkee folds
dbirider checks
*** FLOP *** [9s 6c Kh]
dbirider checks
GCox25 bets 480
dbirider raises to 1,440
GCox25 raises to 13,405, and is all in
dbirider calls 360, and is all in
GCox25 shows [Jd Kd]
dbirider shows [9h 4h]
Uncalled bet of 11,605 returned to GCox25
dbirider: bleh nh
*** TURN *** [9s 6c Kh] [5c]
*** RIVER *** [9s 6c Kh 5c] [Td]
GCox25 shows a pair of Kings
dbirider shows a pair of Nines
lucko21: gg
GCox25 wins the pot (4,325) with a pair of Kings
GCox25: gg
dbirider stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4,325 | Rake 0
Board: [9s 6c Kh 5c Td]
Seat 1: lucko21 folded before the Flop
Seat 2: GCox25 showed [Jd Kd] and won (4,325) with a pair of Kings
Seat 6: dbirider (big blind) showed [9h 4h] and lost with a pair of Nines
Retarded “no blind increases” heads-up sng
While playing heads up sit and go’s I accidentally joined one of pokerstars new ‘no blind increases’ versions. What a mistake that was. They basically give you 1500 chips each, set the blinds at 15/30 and force you to play until someone loses their stack.
I think this is pokerstars response to everyone asking for heads up NL poker tables. It’s not the same though. The problem is that you can’t just play a few hands and then leave the table. You’re locked in until someone has all the chips. So if you sit in one of these there’s no estimating how long it can take.
It’s been almost 45 minutes and I’m still playing this $50 no blind increase sit and go. I’m at 1900 chips (i’ve been wavering between 1500 and 2000 the entire game). I tried offering a chop, but he hasn’t replied.
So if you read this post, don’t make the same mistake I did. Avoid the no blind increase sit and gos, because if you get stuck with another solid player, it will kill your earn rate.
(50 minutes and counting)
Getting Back into Poker
For the past few months i’ve barely played any poker, but i’m just starting to feel like I am getting back into it again. I’ve always had the most success from heads up Sit and go’s, so that’s what i’ll be playing.
My plan is to start at the $50 level, and hopefully after I make a few thousand, i’ll mix in $100 games, and then eventually $200, $100, and $50 games. I’ve played a ton of games at all those limits before and know what to expect. What i’ll be doing different this time is focusing hard on game selection. I’ll never sit first and only play losing and inexperienced players. The goal is to make money with as little variance as possible by playing bad players.
It’s so weird looking back a year ago and remembering how I thought I knew everything about poker. Now I’m realizing how much more I know now, and still how much I’ll need to mature at the game. It’s not even obvious stuff or directly related to playing cards, but a bunch of small things that will add up to a better ROI. I’ll talk about some of these theories / ideas in the future.
For now I need to work on focus / endurance at the table. I’ve never been able to play more then an hour or two at a time without an ADD attack. I don’t really have ADD, but I have no attention span. —Oh yeah, that reminds me that i was supposed to put clothes in the dryer about two hours ago.— I idolize the players who can pull 10+ hour sessions day in and day out.
Anyway, I’m really excited that I’m back into poker. Hopefully it lasts and I can make a lot of money.
Back from a Bike Trip
I just got back from a trip with a few friends to upstate NY. I had a great time, rode new street spots and skate parks, and met some really cool riders. Overall we drove (not rode) 900 miles. I was going to take some pictures, but I left my camera at a friends house.
I got pretty beat up from riding, but nothing to bad. I kept bashing the same knee to the point where it got really sensitive and I had to hold back a bit in fear of hitting it more. Even the pain from touching it was really bad. I also have a black eye and a scraped chin after falling eight feet to flat from getting hung up while manualing around a bowl. I’m a little bit sick to, so if you look at a picture of me now and from a few days ago, it would look like one of those before and after crystal meth junkie pictures 
The new frame that I mentioned in my last post is so good. I can definitely feel a difference. It fits me and my riding style much better then my old one, and it’s holding up great. The next thing I need for my bike will be new forks, which cost around $130. I plan on getting those in december.
New Bike Frame!
I love getting new things. I just got a new frame in the mail today. I was able to get $70 off because they’re phasing out the 06 model for the 07’s, which are pretty much the same. so it was $260 instead of $330. ~$300 is the normal price for good bmx frames.
I’m sure nobody has any idea what i’m talking about, but i’ll go on anyway. I got a brakeless Sunday frame. My other frame okay, but the 21″ top tube is a bit to long for me and it’s about 3 years old and getting really beat up. This one has a 20.5″ top tube, internal headset, mid bottom bracket, and a bunch of other innovative features. It’s a little over a pound lighter, and probably stronger then my old frame. Hopefully it lasts me a few years.
By far the best part about it is that it doesn’t have any brake mounts. I’ve ruined a ton of jeans because when riding brakeless, the brake mounts slowly tare holes in them when I pedal. I can stop or slow down by pivoting my right foot so the heel of my shoe goes in the groove between the the back tire and the frame. It’s second nature for me now.
I wish I had some pictures of me riding that I can post. I’ll try and get some next week before it gets to cold. I hate winter so much
Turbo heads up sit and go tournaments
Pokerstars just added heads up sit and go tournaments with 5-minute blinds. I’ve actually been pulling for them to create these tables. Now that they’ve made these turbo heads up sit and gos, I’m having second thoughts.
My first thought was that these would be great. Better players will win money faster while the losing players would just donate quicker. The normal 10-minute blind heads up sit and go tournaments seemed to take forever during the first 20 minutes if we’re both playing similar styles with keeping pots small.
But now at second thought I’m thinking they might be a huge rake drain. The luck factor goes up, because you’re playing less hands, so you’re ROI is going to go down.
Heads up sit and gos have a 5% rake so you need to be able to maintain a 5% roi (without counting rake) just to break even. I know everyone thinks they win 8/10 of these things, but it’s not true. The best players at limits above $50 usually maintain a 6-10% ROI with counting rake in these games. I get these stats from sharkscope, which is surprisingly accurate.
It’s so hard to even speculate, because there are so many variables. But I think these turbo heads up sit and gos will favor the best players who use really good game selection. Someone who maintains a 2% ROI with counting rake will turn into a losing player if it decreases their ROI by 3%. Assuming you can get twice the amount of games in, someone with a 6% ROI would make the same amount, and anything after that, you’d be making more by making the switch.
I just pulled a 3% decrease from making the switch out of nowhere. I don’t really know what it would be. Just keep in mind that you’re variance is going to go up and win rate will decrease because of faster blinds.
Bush signs the port security / online gambling bill
And i’m not scared or surprised. We all knew it was coming after the law passed in the senate. I’m sure PokerStars and FullTiltPoker saw this coming as well, and they have already announced that they’re sticking around. Neteller doesn’t show any signs of quitting on us either.
I’m going to continue transfering money in an out of poker sites like I always have. I don’t feel the least bit threatened to stop at this point. I hope nobody else uses this as a reason to give up playing poker.
http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=78B40B10-6486-4E28-BC5A-A5E607EE31AC -
President Bush signed a bill Friday to help prevent terrorists from sneaking a nuclear, chemical or germ weapon into the United States inside one of the 11 million shipping containers that enter the nation each year - many without inspection.
“We’re going to protect our ports. We’re going to defend this homeland, and we’re going to win this war on terror,” Bush said.
…
He didn’t mention an unrelated provision that seeks to put teeth into laws that forbid most online gambling.
Online Poker - Game On!
I’ve been holding back a lot for the past few weeks, just waiting for the dust to settle with the new gambling legislation. While it’s still far from over, I think it’s much easier to speculate on what’s going on the future of poker now.
The day after the bill passed, PartyPoker and 888 immediately announced they were pulling out of the US market. The small to medium sites like Poker.com, Bodog, and Absolute are jumping on the opportunity to become the next PartyPoker by announcing they will continue to take US players, and advertising twice as hard.
Full Tilt Poker is also one of the sites that have announced that they will continue serving USA players. I’m not sure how good their latest marketing approach is going to be in the long run though. They’re basically telling rakeback affiliates to promote that they can give 27% rakeback to existing players. This is bad for two reasons: 1. It’s filling their room up with 8 tabling poker tracker grinders, who strive to always play +ev poker. 2. It’s pissing off a lot of affiliates who are getting their referred players stolen from them by rakeback affiliates.
For the past 10 days I’m just thinking that as long as PokerStars accepts US players, it’s game on for poker. Lee Jones commented on two plus two that they have the best lawyers going over the gambling bill and haven’t made any decisions yet. The good news came last night, when pokerstars made the official announcement that they will continue accepting US players
- http://www.pokerstars.com/legislation/uigea/
Therefore, our business continues as before - open to players worldwide including the US. You may play on our site as you did prior to the Act.PokerStars believes that poker is a game of skill enjoyed by millions of players and we remain committed to providing you a safe and fun environment in which to play. We value your loyalty to PokerStars, and look forward to continuing to serve you with the best online poker experience, as we have for the past five years, six billion hands, and 40 million tournaments.
I’m feeling great about online poker at this point. PokerStars has almost everything I can ask for from an online poker site. I hope they take all of party pokers players, come out with better promotions, and continue having the best customer support.
We’re still not in the clear yet though. If neteller pulled out of the US market like firepay, it would be a pretty big step back. Also, who knows how far the US government is going to go to try and enforce this bill. For now though, it’s looking pretty good.
Heads up WCOOP event
I played in yesterdays $215 world championship of online poker event. Unfortunately I didn’t win or make it into the money. I won two rounds and lost the 3rd, which was the one right before the money.
The first two guys I beat pretty easy. They both choked early on and bluffed their chips away. I didn’t do anything special except wait for them to make a mistake. The 3rd guy I played also choked and threw his chips in with a dumb hand on the flop, but unfortunately he hit one of his outs to beat me.
I had pocket tens on an unsuited 964 flop. He raised, I re-raised, he pushed, I called. He had bottom pair with a jack kicker and hit the jack on the turn. It was a sad way to go out, but I was happy with my play. Next year I’ll win that $70,000 first prize.
