updated blogroll....

still need to add several. enjoy!

i keep finishing deep...









but, can't seem to get over the hump. i rode a short stack all the way thru the bubble. picked up AA a few times late. but, only got action once. got blinded down and pushed my short stack in with A9o in EP. got called by AQo and we both missed everything.

i finished 14th of 232.

deep finish in the 50/15K

i won a $15 satellite into yesterday's 50/15k. rode an average sized stack most of the way. when we got down to two tables i pushed all in preflop with TT and got in a coin flip against AK. a King hit the flop. but, a bee-yoo-tee-full T hit the river to double me. now 5th in chips with 16 players left i ran into a tuff spot.

i'm sitting on 4ok in chips and pick up 9-9 on the button with the blinds at 800/1600, 200 ante. there's been a lot of LP stealing and we're not seeing many flops. a player in the cutoff who has 35k in chips makes a preflop raise of 4500 when it's folded to him.

including his bet, there's 8700 in the pot. if i 3x reraise him to 12k, i "feel" like i might be committed. almost a third of my stack would be invested into a 21k pot. if i bet half the pot on the flop, i'm def committed. i haven't been this deep in a large MTT in while and i'm playing for 1st. the ol' smokkee kicks in and decides to pooooooooooosh and hope for a fold.

the other guy thinks for a long time. two major factors in determining whether to push into this guy.

1) i've got him covered. he's calling off all his chips for his tournament life.
2) he folded to another players all-in when he made a LP raise in an earlier orbit. so, i know he's capable of folding to an all-in bet.

in the previous hand where he folded, another player was trying to "instigate" a call. this is terrible table etiquette IMO. especially, this late in a tournament.

he did the same thing while i was all-in and the player i pushed into decided to call with TT. the best part is, he ended up 4-flushing me and even caught another T on the river.

lovely

in the chat, i told the instigator it wasn't cool to discuss a hand in play. especially, when he's not involved. he was a total douche and basically said to hurry up and bust out.

so, now down to 5k in chips. i pick up TT later that same orbit, push and get two callers. one guy shows 77 and the other clown in the BB shows Qs4s. i think i'm gonna triple up and get back in it.

flop comes Q-Q-7 and i'm done.

i could've played the 99 a little more conservatively. but, i was playing for 1st. it didn't work out and I cashed in 16th place.

two words....

http://www.mlb.tv/

i watched a shitload of baseball this weekend. yesterday, i was flipping back and forth between the SF-NY game and the Boston-SD game. i grew up watching baseball. it will always be my favorite sport (NFL is a very close 2nd) and i LUV me sum inter-league MLB. when are u ever gonna see those matchups again?

the thing about baseball is you don't have to be 7' tall or weigh 285 and run a 40yd dash in less than 5 secs to excel at it. in other words, you don't need to be a freak of nature.

it's dedication, hard work and perseverance that makes it in baseball.

much like poker.

oh ya, i finished 32nd outta 971 in the 50/50 on FTP friday night. no big cash to report. but, i got deep in a large MTT. wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

for those of you who have no clue...

FantasySportsLive

don't forget to use bonus code:

smokkee

when u sign up using my bonus code, you get a $10 instant bonus on a $50 initial deposit, or $20 for $100, or $30 for $200. cuz you and I could use a few extra bucks to donk around with in the mOOk.

here's how it got started

check out the site. i've been goofin' around on it for the past month or so and it's very ez to use. if you dig around a little on the web u can gain a significant edge on other Fantasy Sports donkeys.

another KK goes down in flames in the 13k DS

i played two $14 token frenzys and two tier 2 sngs trying to pick up a $75 token. no luck. in a last ditch effort i played an $11 single table sng for a $75 token and took it down shortly before the 13k was about to start.

i think i barely came out ahead fighting for my $75 peep sex token thru all that.

anyway, i doubled up in the 13k DS before the first break when i flop the nut flush with Ac5c vs. some poor SOB in the BB who flopped a J-high flush.

i'm cruisin along when i get moved to some donk's table who has a MONSTER stack. he is seriously donkin it up there. he even says in the chat "i'm playing like a donkey".

i pick up KK in the cutoff and 2 players call a pot sized raise from MONSTER donk of $700 preflop. the ol' smokkee kicks in and poooooooooooshes AWWWW IIIINNNN. all three players call and we got a MONSTA POT. i'm up against monster donk's AcKc, KQo and A-x. an Ace hits the flop and monster donk drags this massive pot.

maybe i shoulda just called the pot sized bet preflop and folded on the flop. although i'm a HUGE fav going into the flop, "it's poker" and we all know what that means.

in the mOOk, i kept picking up good pocket pairs and running into monsters.

JJ vs AA
TT vs QQ
TT vs AA
99 vs Th5h

oh wait Th5h isn't a monster. but, that's what finally took me out. i did crack NewinNov's AA with JJ. but, you can't get far in a tournament if you keep running into situations like this over and over.

still had a good time. i stuck around to watch the lucksacs battle it out. King o' Lucksacs, took it down.

obv

KK vs the World, 1-3

i won some $75 tokens thru FTP's token frenzys and a tier2 sng. in one of the frenzys, i was on the bubble with T$27 chips and somehow won back2back races to get thru the SB and antes.

pure skill

i was using my standard stall tactic when we got down to less than 10 players from the payout. but, a coupla the shortys made it thru the blinds and i was regretting my Ace-9o fold an orbit earlier.

anyway, somehow i made it thru picked up my $75 token and decided to play a coupla tier 3 tourneys. the tier 3 sngs pay outs are:

$310.50 1st
$186.30 2nd
$124.20 3rd

i've played a few of these in the past and remembered them being super tight. but this time around, it was more loose than i expected. there were two guys with shark avatars at my table. ever since SLB mentioned to me that the "sharks" are usually the worst players, i've found this to be true. these two clowns did nothing to change that perception.

after mostly folding around a bunch of orbits, winning some small pots (one with KK, no showdown) and losing a coupla players, i pick up KK in the BB. shark guy raises 3x on the button when it's folded to him, i 3x reraise him and he calls. flop comes Ten high and i push. he calls with 8-To and rivers a T. luckily i had him covered.

KK 1-1

later i pick up AdQd in the SB. a bunch of players limp including shark boy in the previous hand. flop is Ten high again with 2 diamonds. i check, he makes a 2x bet and i call. turn brings my flush. he bets, i push he calls and shows JhTh.

no diamonds just TP ok kicker. lol

later i get KK again in the BB. this time the other shark raises, i reraise he calls. flop comes Ace high. i thought about checking. but, if i did i knew he'd bet even without an Ace. so, i bet half the pot leaving me only a little over T$500 chips behind. he puts me all in. i'm already committed so i call. he flips AcTc.

KK 1-2

so, i have dinner and come back for more. i jump in another tier 3 sng and see two guys i've played with in many o' MTT's in the past. i'm very familiar with their game.

i fold my ass off for several orbits and double up with AK vs. JackAce. we get down to the bubble and i'm 3rd in chips. shorty took a bad beat against one of the MTT guys with AJ vs AT earlier. he ends up bubbling on another bad beat against the same guy. so rigged.

3 handed, we trade chips back and forth. i lose a coupla pots to preflop reraises and decide to push on the button with 77. BB calls with AJ and flops a Jack. turn brings a 7. lucky me. later i pick up KJo on the button and raise it. BB calls. flop comes J-high. i bet he pushes and i call. He's got AJ.

coolered. so, i pick up $124 for my trouble.

i decide to jump in the 13k DS tourney that runs at 11pm PST. i win a pretty big pot on the very 1st hand after i flop a set with pocket 8's. then i pick up 8c9c in the cuttoff and call a pot sized raise from a player in EP. flop comes 6-6-7 rainbow and i pick up an OESD. he makes a c-bet and i call. turn brings an Ace and i decide to bet out trying to represent the Ace. he calls.

hmmmm

a beee-yoooo-teee-full 5 hits the river and i complete my straight. he checks and i decide to monkey push. overbet for value. he thinks for a looooooong time and types in the chat "well, i guess i'm gonna make a bad call". he calls, flips 99 and goes bustoooooooooooo.

i get moved to another table and he's going off on me in the chat because i called his preflop raise with 8-9 sOOted. this clown calls two big bets on the turn and river with 99 on an Ace high board with a possible straight out there and he's calling me a donkey. i luv it.

i have over T$6700 chips after that hand and decide to fire up a tier 1 18-player turbo sng as well. i find Bayne on my left at my starting table. we get down to the bubble in the tier 1 and Bayne pushes his short stack in with QJo. two guys call, including the other shorty. Bayne flops a gutshot straight draw and hits it on the turn. other than, maybe Lucko i really haven't seen anyone luckier than Bayne.

anyway, back to the 13k DS. i lose some pots to reraises /whiffed flops and get down to T$4300 chips after the 1st break. with about half the field left, i pick up KK on the button. with the blinds at 100/200, a BUNCH of donks limp in. with over T$1000 in the pot i decide to open shove. especially, the way KK has been treating me lately. one of the EP limpers insta-calls with QQ. flop Q, river Q. DQB ! i'm bustoooooooooooo.

KK 1-3

i decide to play one last $11 turbo before i hit the sack. to my surprise, Big_Bobo is at the table. when i play sngs with other bloggers i usually try to play around them. there are a few out there i enjoy busting. but, only in blogger tourneys not in sngs.

well, Big_B wasn't having it.

we get thru the bubble and i pick up pocket 8's in the BB. Big_B pushes all in from the button, i call and win a coin flip. i folded to one of his all-in's earlier with KJo. turns out he had 3-3. he rebuilds his stack stealing blinds and a few orbits later i pick up Ad9d. he shoves yet again, i call and he flips 77. i flop an Ace and he's bustoooooooooooooo.

i get heads up with the other guy. this clown has been minbetting the flop in LP the entire time. i knew if i got him heads up, i'd take advantage of it. he starts minbetting the flop after limping from the button and i reraise or jam him a few times. he folds everytime. i even told him " you luv to minbet the flop". so, he 2x bets it and I jam the flop again with J9o on a whiffed board, he folds and i show him.

a few hands later i pick up K2o and raise it. he thinks for a few seconds and pushes. now, normally K2 would be an insta-fold in this situation. but, i figured he was getting annoyed with all the aggression and could be pushing with ATC. i call and he flips QJo.

flop comes A-T-X, turn blank, river K

don't ya luv poker. now he's got a 2-1 chip advantage. i open shove the very next hand with 7h8h, he calls with K9o and rivers a K. i finish it out in 2nd for a $30 payout.

good times

sumthin good's gonna happen soon...

i can feel it. yesterday, i won a coupla token frenzys and a satellite into the 50/50. i also got thru 2/3rd's of the field in the Hoy blonkament. i'm starting to win sum races and hands are holding up when i need them to.

one thing i've been doing is playing hands like QQ/JJ/TT more conservatively when i have a decent stack.

for instance, in the MATH i pick up QQ in the cutoff. blinds are 100/200 and i'm sitting on 4k in chips. NewinNov minraises UTG. this usually screams monster. but, in blonkaments u just never know. i call, BB calls. flop comes Ace high and all hell breaks lose. obv, i fold. Nov had AQsooted and i woulda lost a bunch of chips. although, i had him dominated preflop i know he woulda called or pushed a reraise. he had around 2k in chips behind and my stack woulda taken a serious dent.

this is one adjustment i've made since running bad. in previous month's, all my chips woulda gone in there preflop.

i feel like i'm playing well. maybe a bit on the conservative side sometimes. until i catch a break or two, that's probably gonna continue.

btw- is there a better team in baseball right now? i don't think so.

K-9 is THA NUTZ on FTP!

the play at FTP this weekend was horrendous. i lost so many races getting it all-in as a 3-1 fav, it was rediculous. K-9 was my nemesis. at least 4x i got all in as a 3-1 fav against K-9 only to get outdrawn and sent to the rail.

i got so frustrated in one of my sng's taking hits by sooted donks that i broke out the sooted donk playbook myself only to bubble. :P

i even saw Crackn' lose to a 1 outer in a token frenzy. raise, reraise, all-in. KK vs QQ vs AQ.

Q on the rvr.

i tried no less than 5x to satellite into the 100 seat guarantee thru their $69+6 sats. what a waste of 5 tier 2 tokens.

btw, stop by and congratulate these donkeys on a superb weekend.

i luv poker

"but, it was sOOted..."

so, we get over to donkey palace (aka MGM) and I get my name on the board for the 1/2 NL game. meanwhile, we get some drinks and see a lot of familiar faces from last year. we also come across some new ones. it's always interesting to meet a blonkey you played against in one of the weekly blonkaments for the 1st time.

i think to myself "so, that's what a sooted donkey looks like."

i also stumbled across a new way to lose money with AA preflop.

...and i know what someone looks like who plays QJo out of the BB like it's AA.

all kidding aside, i really enjoyed meeting everyone who chose to take time away from their families and outta their busy lives to have some fun with us in the desert this summer.

after one or two orbits at BrainMc's table, i move over to an open seat at the "Big Game" with Don, Hoy, Iak, tighty mctight and Chad. this game is rediculously tough. that must be why i can't get enuf of it. if you can hold your own here, you must be a pretty damn good player. it's not ez to get past the flop at this table. this game is -EV to the extreme. before the trip, i decided i wouldn't play more than a buy-in with these guys. if i lose that, i'm heading to the bar or finding a new table.

and well, that's exactly what happened. i played a coupla hrs and just bled chips mostly. finally, i find what i thought was a good time to get all my chips in.

some donk limps in LP and another one comes along. i look down at 7h8h and push my last $35 into the pot. neither one of these clowns showed any strength. so, i fully expected to just take it down right there.

they both CALL.

ok, so now you get an idea of how u can bleed off a bunch of chips in this game. these guys both limp, showing no strength at all. then, insta-call a 17x raise preflop.

flop comes all hearts. i flop a monster 118-1 shot and i'm about to triple up to get back in the game.

both players check. i'm just hoping another heart doesn't hit the board. the turn brings a blank and Iak fires out a weakish looking bet. Chad folds.

Iak flips up Ah2h and takes it down. i luv poker.

i round up Tina and we head back to the room to rest up for Saturday's blogger pushfest at the Orleans.

Q9o is THA NUTZ!

we arrive in vegas at around 1:30pm via the desert highway in about 4hrs. after we check into the Stratosphere, we unpack and knock out for a couple hrs resting up for a long night of drinking and blonkerific good times.

we head over to Rio around 5pm looking for the area where day two of the 6-max event is running and find a few tables left with JC Tran sitting on a MONSTROUS stack at his table. Apparently, he bitch slapped his table for 3hrs on the bubble. butt raping the rest of the players at will building his tower of power.

just ask Hoy. he'll be happy to elaborate.

soon after, we get a page from Hoy that he's donking around with some other blonkeys at a 500 NL cash game. Harrah's is no longer running a 200NL game at the Rio during the WSOP.

so lame.

Hoy, Iak, Don and Weak_Player are at a table together. we only see one big pot that Iak got involved in. the board brought two Queens on the turn after some preflop/postflop betting. then, there was a bet from a player in MP. Iak reraised $100 more and the other player just smooth calls. the river brings a King and the other guy pushes all-in instantly. Iak thinks about it for a while and mucks. later, we found out he folded Q-9. good fold IMO.

i decide to check out the single table satellite area and see a short line. so, i register for a $125 sng that pays out $1000 in tourney lammers and $120 cash to the winner. you get T$1000 starting chips with the blind levels at 15 min starting with 25/50 blinds.

some clown is playing every hand and picks up a lot of chips after hitting a nut flush with Ace-sooted and flops a boat with Q-9o. he continues to play alot of hands and builds the biggest stack at the table when i get into a confrontation with him.

i pick up 8-8 and limp in EP with 2 other limpers including, BIG stack. flop comes 7-high and i push with about 800 chips behind. other limpers fold and he thinks for a while. obv, he can't fold TP lame kicker. so, he calls with 6-7o and doesn't improve. i double up on him.

some guys start getting short and really only have one move preflop. i pick up QQ UTG and limp. two guys call along with a shorty in the BB. flop comes J-high with two diamonds. shorty insta-pushes. i don't have a diamond. but, figure he's on a draw and push over the top to isolate him. he flips Qd-8d and doesn't improve.

now i'm sitting on one of the bigger stacks at the table. the other guy who was playing every other hand and got lucky a coupla times goes out shortly after. the blinds go up to 100/200 and some guy starts pushing all in every hand.

i pick up AcAs in the BB. he pushes, i insta-call and he shows K-3o. flop brings a K with two spades. the turn is the Ks. he starts celebrating the suckout and i'm not feeling real good about my chances now. but, the poker gods come through and deliver another spade on the river and i take him out.

we get down to 3 handed after the blinds go to 300/600 and we trade some pots for that level. then, the blinds go up to 500/1000 and none of us have over 5x the BB. so, it's turns into pushmonkey time. after, we trade a coupla pots. someone brings up the idea of a chop. we're pretty even in chips and i'm all for it. but, some guy decides he wants to play it out.

fine with me buddy

unfortunately, i get unlucky a coupla times and get short stacked. Q9 was the nutz at this table. i lost a big chunk of chips with A-Jo vs Q9 and A-To vs Q9. both times all-in preflop. on the ATo hand, i flop 2p with a Queen. but, a Queen hits the river.

i look at Tina who happens to be sitting closeby and just shake my head. she can't believe what's happening. i go from chip leader to the shorty in 2 hands.

luckily, i pick up A5o and double. then pick up AJ and dubble again. we bring up the idea of a chop again and everyone agrees. we sell the tourney lammers and split the cash for over a $250 profit after about 90min of "work".

that's right kids, " I cashed at the WSOP". unfortunately, it turned out to be my biggest cashout of the weekend.

we leave the Rio and head back to the Stratosphere to change and meet the rest of the blonkeys at MGM.

back from vegas....

I got home late yesterday afternoon, sleep deprived, hungover, hungry and about $800 lighter.

good times

I met a lot of new blonkeys, threw back several cold ones and donked it up with a bunch o' lucksacs we met last summer. trip report comin later.

off to Vegas......




















tentative itinerary:

Friday:
check in and get to the Rio around 2pm PST
play a single table sat if there isn't a horrendous line. otherwise, 200 NL cash games.
9pm head to MGM's poker room drink it up with the blonkeys. maybe play sum 200 NL.

Sat:
wake up with a pounding headache. take some aleve chased down with a bloody mary.
head to Orleans for the Blonkey tourney @ 2pm. take that mutha down.
head back 2 Rio for more drunken goodtimes at the hooker bar

Sun:
wake up with a pounding headache. take some aleve chased down with a bloody mary.
figure it out from there. possibly brunch at the Wynn. head to a sports book to watch the NBA Finals.

Mon:
wake up with a pounding headache. take some aleve chased down with some red bull.
have some breakfast and head back across the desert with a stack of cash.

GL at the tables all!

the *new* Hockeytown !

we got our fake tits and our fake tans. but, it's a done deal. thx for comin' out!

i can't get enuf of the WSOP reporting coming outta Pokernews

here's a sample from the 1k NL rebuy event

Tue Jun 05 2007 22:01 PST
Round: 8 Blinds: 400/800 Ante: 100
8 minutes ago Posted by Reporter

Josh Arieh is Gone
Arieh's A-8 fails to hold up in a pre-flop all in versus another player's A-Jo.

Chad Brown is eliminated when his A-3 doesn't hold up against A-A.


wtf ??


..and when i read that, i'm thinking the same thing. how the fuck does that guy's AA hold up? AJo ??? how many big pots do u take down with that shit hand?

obv, from the tone of this post, i'm still unable to get much going. i'm spending more time on Cardrunners and Pokernews than i am at the virtual tables lately.

getting geared up for Vegas. hopefully, i can do something positive there. we head off thru the desert Friday morning.

we're one game away from hoisting it up!















...and what was with their captain drilling Niedermayer with the puck just as the clock was ready to expire at the end of the 2nd period? i hope that clown gets suspended for game 5.

meanwhile, the Halos are shelling the Twinkies at Angel Stadium. it's 16-1 after the 8th. i couldn't watch it anymore. there should be a mercy rule. that's just embarassing.

poor little twinkies.

if it weren't for bad luck, i wouldn't have any

this is how i got knocked out of the $50+5 Satellite to the 400k


















all i've done this weekend is bleed off most of what i have on Full Tilt. most of it's due to stoopid crap like this.

sorry for the steam post. but, i'm very discouraged with poker right now.

hmmm maybe things could be turning around.....

i stumbled into this HU in one of my sng's tonight.