A challenging last couple of days

I had some high hopes of playing over the weekend but sometimes LIFE just gets in the way.

On Saturday, my son went to prom (It is a High School formal dance for those who don’t know). So, I did the “Dad” thing and helped him with his tux and took pictures of him and his date before the dance. Everything went well and he had a good time.

On Sunday, I went to the League forum and found that the VIP freeroll was scheduled. That tourny starts at 12:00 noon my time so I usually don’t get to play because I need to finish my “Sunday stuff” before I play. But, since I didn’t play at all on Sat. I thought I would give it a shot.

I finished 3rd in the Tourny. I played fairly well, only made a few mistakes none of which cost me the Tourny which sometimes they do.

So, I decided to take a break for a while and maybe come back later for some more fun.

Well, at about 5:00p.m. our time we recieved a phone call that my wifes brother and his wife were in a motorcycle accident.

My wifes brother (Mike) and his wife (Jolene) are pretty die hard Harley riders. Anyone who knows Harley riders (especially in Wisconsin where Harley was born) know that about 80% of them don’t wear helmets (it is kind of a freedom thing to them).

Anyway, the initial phone calls were pretty confusing. They crashed about 40 min. from my house. Jolene (Jo) was flown by Flight for Life (helicopter) to one hospital and Mike was taken to another Hospital that was closer.

It took me a while but I found out that Jo was taken to a Hospital about 15 min. from my house. Mike was at a Hospital closer to the accident site and was accompanied by the other riders that were with them.

My wife and I went to the Hospital by our house because no one was Jo. We got to the Emergency Room and were told that she was alert and talking (whew!). Until that point, no one knew how she was. Apparently, at the accident site, she had some pretty bad head trauma and lost a lot of blood.

We still couldn’t go see her because they were doing Cat scans, tests, etc. So, we waited, and waited, and waited……

Finally, Jo’s parents show up (It is a 2 hour drive for them to get to the Hospital so that should give you an indication as to how long we had to wait). Right when Jo’s parents show up, they come out and say that she can be seen. Of course, since her Mom and Dad were there, they went back to see her. The wife and I waited (we were getting good at it).

Jo’s parents saw her for a while then came out and said she was being moved to ICU (Intensive Care Unit). So, we waited again for her to get moved.

The wife and I finally got to see her at 11:30 p.m. (about 6 hours from first getting there).

I was expecting something pretty bad but I was pleasantly suprised (She was still very hurt but not as bad as I initially thought). She has cuts and abrasions (we call it road rash here). She has some small fractures in her cheekbones and her left eye is swollen shut. the only broken bone is her elbow which will be operated on tomorrow. The main concern is her eye so they are monitoring that closely. We talked to her a little, but she was pretty uncomfortable so we left her with her Mom and Dad and the nursing staff. We got home at about 1:00 a.m.

That took care of Jo but my wife was still very worried about her brother Mike because the information wasn’t to accurate ( to many cell phone chain calls. Someone tells someone, who tells someone and by the time you get the story it could be totally wrong).

So, first thing this morning we headed down to the Hospital to see Mike. Mike has his own road rash too. Mikes major injuries are 27 stitches in his head from a big cut and 7 broken ribs (2 of which are broken in 2 places). He was alert and talking but broken ribs can be quite painful.

So, it looks like they will both be ok after some time. Mike’s ribs will proably take the longest to heal. They are still at different Hospitals but maybe they can change that after Jo’s operation tomorrow.

It may be a long couple of weeks for us shuttling back and forth until they get released. Our house is about half way between the 2 hospitals and everyone else lives farther away.

I will try to pop in once and a while (I may need a break) and play a little or just talk a little.

I am kind of wore out right now so I am going to watch a little TV, have a cocktail or two, and zone out.

See ya all soon. If ya read through this whole thing God Bless ya…lol

Got some points last night

I played live last night.

Out of about 60 people, I got 10th. Not too bad. Got some points but I need more to make the finals.

I played pretty good. All the hands I won were because I went in with the best and didn’t get sucked out.

There were 2 hands I made a lot of chips from.

In one hand I had pocket A’s. A guy in front of me raises the pot $2,500 when the blinds were still $300/$600. I put him on a high pocket pair so when it came to me, I went all-in knowing he would call. He did. He flips over pocket K’s. My A’s hold up and I double up.

In another hand I was in the BB with 10 8 off. Flop comes 10 8 rag with 2 hearts. I didn’t bet cause I wanted to catch someone goofing around but it checked around. River comes up, another 8. So now I have the FH. Someone bet a medium size bet and I just called cause I wasn’t in trouble and I wanted to see if someone would hit. The river is a heart.

Three hearts on the board…yee haw. Well, I was right. Someone was chasing the flush. He bet about 5k. I raised and just doubled his bet. Any more and I don’t think he would call. He calls and he flips over his cards like he got me. I flip mine over and he had to look twice to see the FH. He never saw it coming…I love that!

After that, I went card dead for a long time. I made it to the final table and in my last hand I had PP 9’s. I was in middle position so I raised pretty big. The big stack calls.

Flop comes 10 rag rag. I didn’t put him on a 10 so I go all-in. He calls and flips over A J.

Well, the turn shows a A and, just to rub salt in it, the river shows a A. I understand the initial bet call but the all-in after the flop call was pretty donkyish. He didn’t put me on a A K, A Q, or pocket pair?

He was one of those guys that was having a good night. I don’t know if you have seen them before but on some nights you get that one person who just can’t do anything wrong. They are very lucky and take out a lot of players.

All in all it was fun.

Hopefully, I will be around one or two nights this week. I am scheduled to play in the SNG challenge on Thursday. I may however need to make a trip to Iowa for a machine repair. I will know better tomorrow.

See ya all later…….

Comments welcome

It’s about getting the chips, isn’t it?

I was watching a league game the other day and saw something happening that I thought I would comment on.

I think beginners tend to focus more on winning a hand instead of getting as many chips as possible from their opponent. Extracting as many chips as possible from your opponent is critical to winning. Winning a hand and just stealing the blinds or first round callers may feel good but did you get the maximum value for your hand? 

There are some “tricks” you can use to get the most chips possible from an opponent.

This can be a very slippery slope and you have to be careful. You have to be VERY aware of the type of players your against and I wouldn’t suggest doing it until you have gained some experience.

For example: How many times have you been in a hand with a less experienced player and the following happens. You call with K J off. 3 clubs come on the flop. (you don’t have a club but you hit top pair). The beginner goes all-in (you fold of course) and the beginner shows they had the nut flush. So, the beginner won the hand but did they get maximum value for it? I may have called a small bet considering I had top pair. The beginners hand wasn’t in danger because the board wasn’t paired. So, why go all-in? Why not try to get some more chips? A check would have worked well in this case. I may have tried a “information bet” with top pair. This would have got the beginner more chips with a check raise and my eventual fold.

You must be careful that you don’t get yourself into trouble and end up losing the hand because you let someone “catch up” so evaluating the type of hand that can beat you, being aware of your opponents playing style, and your table presence should be considered before you do this.

I also would not advise doing this at the beginning of a tourny. The Monkeys are still in so you should keep with the tight aggressive play (I may start a discussion with that comment. Some people think at the beginning of a tourny loose aggressive is better. I am of the other opinion.)

When you flop the Nuts, sometimes a check will gain you more chips than a bet. (this works especially well in heads up).

Flopping trips with a rainbow board and no str8 draw, especially if the trips are middle and a A is on the board is a great way to build a stack. A small bet (especially if you are out of position) should get a caller or two and maybe even a raise. It is a lovely thing when you have the Nuts (or an extremely powerfull hand) and someone bets into you.

So, the object is not only to win the hand but in the process take as many chips away from your opponent as possible. This can be done by using a check, betting small, or just calling their bet. Then on the turn or the river…let em have it! Get all the chips you can.

Of course, NEVER try this against me! I have special glasses I wear when playing and I will see right through ya….lol.

Hopefully, this will help some of you to not only win but gain a bigger stack along the way.

Good Luck!

Comments welcome….

Played live last night

I went and played at my live tourny last night. I hadn’t played in a couple of weeks so I thought I would go and see what happens.

My table was playing a little wierd. Normally, a 3X the BB raise would thin the field and narrow the hand down. Last night, players were raising 5X the BB and getting three and sometimes four callers. Of course, it was early so the Monkeys were still in. They were

 

calling big raises with hands like A 5 off and K 3 suited. Sometimes their stupid plays would get them chips but it didn’t last long.

I made it through the first hour. I think I only played a couple of hands during the first hour put I got enough chips to stay alive.

I was pretty card dead during the second hour and my stack was getting whittled away.

Finally, I got PP K’s UTG and went all in. I got called by A Q off and (guess what) he spiked the A on the river and took me out. Oh well, I wasn’t too upset about it. I would do it the same way every-time with that hand and I would win most of em.

Also, I had a couple of “extra” beers which I normally wouldn’t have had so it was a good thing I wasn’t going to play for a couple of more hours. 

So, I came home at about 9:00p.m. and went to see who was on line.

Blagger, Dog, and Ash were on.

They were all in the middle of games so I watched them for a while.

Dog got a new headset and is sounding a lot better. I could almost hear him hit the wall…lol. So, Dog signed off and Blagger and I went and played a $6 sng. Blagger won and I came in second. I don’t remember too much about how I played (refer to the comment above about the “extra” beers) so hopefully I wasn’t too much of a Donk.

Ash was off in his own little world. Every now and then, he would make a comment but usually we didn’t even know he was there.

All in all, I played in the live tourny (I didn’t play like a Donk), drank too much beer, saw my Bud’s on line, and won 2nd place at a sng. Not too bad of an evening.

I need to get back to posting more poker stuff. I have some ideas started and hopefully I will finish them soon for comments/suggestions.

See ya all later…….

SNG Challenge Game 5/2/07

It was almost one week to the day since I played poker last. I left last Thursday for my conference and did not play any poker until Wednesday this week.

Wednesday night was a Skype crew night. I played with Dog and Blagger and had a good time. I had a few beers while I was playing so I am not real clear on all of the details. I ended up with a small profit. I think I only played a couple of sng’s. Mainly, I was there to say Hi to everyone who I haven’t “seen” in a while.

Last night, I played for my team (Twisted Logic) in the SNG Challenge game put on by my league . I was kind of excited to play. I had been gone for a while and league games can be challenging. There are a very limited number of Monkeys in the league so I normally don’t worry about having to dodge them.

The one “bad” thing about the league games is that the games tend to be VERY tight. Most of us have played each other before so we have indications as to how each other plays. I say “bad” because since it is so tight, the games take longer than normal which also means the blinds get really high.

I started out not getting cards so I thought it was going to be “one of those nights” were the deck is very cold. But, I did get a few hands later and managed to build up some chips. I don’t remember any of the specifics on the hands. (I could get the hand history but I don’t feel like it..lol). I think I sucked out on a couple of hands but I also got sucked out on a couple so that part ended up even.

I ended up second and Jimplay ended up winning. When we were heads up, the blinds were so high it just ended up with who got the cards.

I was pretty impressed with Jimplay. He was down to the felt earlier in the tourny and he came back to win it. At one point, I think he doubled up 3 hands in a row.

After the league game, I went trolling for a sng with the Skype crew. I played a Omaha H/L pot limit sng and ended up 2nd and won $5.40. I also played in a $6 no limit sng and won. Made $27.00 on that one.

So, all in all, I won money in every game I played in last night. As a matter of fact, since I have been back, I have made money in every sng I have played in except one.

I don’t know if I will be around tonight (Friday) to play. I have some stuff to do and I should take a little detox break (too much drinking while I play…lol). You never know though…..I may end up on line later in the evening…….

See ya all later………

I’m back

Just a quick post to let you know I am back from my conference.

I was going to try to get on and play last weekend but I went to see my sister in Florida and I was too busy fishing, drinking beer, and having fun.

Also, we were at their cabin on a river and they didn’t have Internet access so I wouldn’t have been able to get on if I wanted too.

I had a great time and I will post a couple of pics later.

I won’t be on tonight either (5/1/07) to support the SNG League. Today is my 25th wedding anniversary so I think I would get in a little trouble if I spent it on line playing poker.

So, hopefully I will be able to get in touch with the Skype crew on Wed. or Thurs. to get filled in on all of the fun I have missed.

See ya all later!