This will be short and sweet since I’m at work and on my lunch break. I just wanted to let my legions of loyal readers know that I’m still alive and well. I don’t know how all you other ‘ bloggers ‘ find so much time to write, I seem to never have enough time in a day to do everything I enjoy. However, that could be in part to my inability to focus one hobby at a time. I just have way too many. A new hobby for me ususally always starts with good intentions and then its not long after that when I find something new and possibly exciting to do that distracts me from whatever it was I was doing before and then the cycle repeats.

 More recently, this change in focus has been attributed to a mild burnout and bitter taste to the world of poker. As most of you can attest to, the game can become mentally and physically draining at times. Sometimes its be because you are losing or that you simply need a break from too much play. Either way, there comes a point in any serious players life, you just need to take a break. Well I am at this point….I just need a small break.

So what are you doing instead, you ask? ….Well…… I’m playing World of Warcraft.  Now I know most of you are fermiliar with this game or know someone who plays it, but in a nutshell, it is a computer based role playing game with 100% focus on multiplayer interactivity. You create an in-game character, travel a virtual world, where everyone has a common goal of ‘leveling’ your character to its maximum abilities by completing quests and killing monsters. Most of the objectives/goals you encounter are team based and require a shared effort with other players around you. Hence its alure.

The fun thing about playing this for me is that my girlfriend is also enjoying the game.  So we are able to both logon at the same time and persue our rise to the top of the virtual food chain together. It’s been a lot of fun so far and it has been a great distraction from playing online poker. I can honestly say, if she was not playing, I probably wouldn’t be able to dedicate the time to it.  I hope to continue playing it for a while but will again, no doubt refocus my energy as our seasons shift towards spring/summer. Im really starting to forget what positive temperatures feel like. Gosh its been a long winter.

To finish,  just a brief update about our Puppy Razz. ( 18 weeks old ).

For the past few weeks she’s been having a real difficult time in controlling her pee’ing, It’s almost as if all the training has been going backwards and she just goes whever she pleases. But I noticed that her pee had a really strong smell and was inconsistent in color going from really clear, to really yellow. Then on the weekend I happened to notice she had some blood down there……oh ….oh…….. So on monday I took her in for 2nd booster shots and to find out of if what was going on with her. The shots went ok and when I asked the vet if we should be concerned about her issue, he didnt seem too concerned and said that its not that uncommon for puppies to catch infections and that some antibiotics would probably clear things up. So we will see how that goes, hopefully its not more serious.

I can’t wait to take her to the beach for the first time! Her favorite passtime is playing fetch, so that will be a blast. She’s never even smelled fresh grass yet….very excited for her first summer.

I should be updating my photo gallery soon with some new pictures of her along with a mountain of older pictures I’ve been meaning to post. Maybe I’ll get to that this weekend…..if im not busy leveling my Night Elf Hunter…..I’m such a geek.

Anyways, I should get back to work.

Till next time.

Seat 2: NoOpTx (2920 in chips)
Seat 3: PKSTAR123 (1200 in chips)
Seat 5: drawflush1 (1215 in chips)
Seat 6: micon (1645 in chips)
Seat 7: youngsizzir (4500 in chips)
Seat 8: BigSlickNYC (2020 in chips)
BigSlickNYC: posts small blind 100
NoOpTx: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to drawflush1 [Kh Ad]
PKSTAR123: raises 1000 to 1200 and is all-in
drawflush1: raises 15 to 1215 and is all-in
micon: folds
youngsizzir: folds
BigSlickNYC: folds
NoOpTx: folds
*** FLOP *** [Ah 7s Qc]
*** TURN *** [Ah 7s Qc] [Qd]
*** RIVER *** [Ah 7s Qc Qd] [Th]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PKSTAR123: shows [Qh As] (a full house, Queens full of Aces)
drawflush1: shows [Kh Ad] (two pair, Aces and Queens)
PKSTAR123 collected 2700 from pot

As with many amateurs/pro’s alike, one of their ultimate poker goals is to be able to play in the 10,000$ No Limit Hold’em main event in Las Vegas which is hosted once a year and boasts one of the biggest paydays in poker every year. For even more, is a dream that appears within reach. This is one of my dreams. A few days ago many of the poker sites started hosting their qualifiers. One of these qualifiers is the Pokerstars 6 step program. For as little as $ 7.50 or 500 player points one can take their chances at battling it out in a 6 round sit and go style ladder where the top 2 players advance to the next round. Once at step 6…well, the winner completes the task of earning a seat into the 2008 main event. So today at work in a moment of inspiration I sent a instant message to one of my fellow coworkers/poker buddies and offered him a mild prop bet of 20.00$ that I could win this seat,any means neccessary. He gladly accepted…….

So here I am trying to fufill this challenge. Over the next few weeks/months I will attempt to win a seat. I hope to document most of them.

Attempt # 1

I decided to play the Step 1  $ 7.50 9 player on PokerStars and things were going well. We were at the 4th blind level and I was quite comfortable with slightly more then double my starting stack….then a hand which is almost impossible to get away from in this format happened….

Table ‘79811563 1′ 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 2: drawflush1 (3135 in chips)
Seat 4: Khnom (2945 in chips)
Seat 6: BluBeretta (1320 in chips)
Seat 7: BJLTNYK (1015 in chips)
Seat 8: patricia703 (5085 in chips)
patricia703: posts small blind 50
drawflush1: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to drawflush1 [9h Jh]
Khnom: raises 200 to 300
BluBeretta: folds
BJLTNYK: folds
patricia703: folds
drawflush1: calls 200
*** FLOP *** [9d 3c 9s]
drawflush1: checks
Khnom: checks
*** TURN *** [9d 3c 9s] [4h]
drawflush1: bets 400
Khnom: raises 700 to 1100
drawflush1: raises 1735 to 2835 and is all-in
Khnom: calls 1545 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [9d 3c 9s 4h] [Ks]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
drawflush1: shows [9h Jh] (three of a kind, Nines)
Khnom: shows [9c Kd] (a full house, Nines full of Kings)
Khnom collected 5940 from pot
drawflush1 said, “uhg”

Well, lets keep trying folks….I have no intentions of giving Shane my $ 20.00.

This hand was by no means a big risk as the player had nothing more behind him except his 11$ all in. But it serves the purpose of the point I’m going to make.

One of the first levels of becoming a good poker player is learning how to value your hands, playing tight and being extremely patient. Another ability, which I feel only comes from playing thousands of hands and being very observant, is the ability to understand and pick up on player tendencies. Quite often these things are observed only by making these blunders yourself countless times and learning from it.  Let’s look at the following micro limit hand.
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to drawflush1 [6c 5c]
ATB-Fan86: calls $0.50
drawflush1: calls $0.50
( For me, this is a standard call at this level, the game has been very soft and its been easy to see cheap flops )
( With a marginal hand such as this, you are looking to hit the flop hard or land a big draw )
zzyx1579: calls $0.50
rene1708: folds
Dane10: calls $0.25
Kad469: checks
*** FLOP *** [2d 6h 4h]
( This is decent flop for me with top pair and a gutterball straight draw )
( There was no pre-flop action, so im going to assume my hand is good at this point )
Dane10: checks
Kad469: checks
ATB-Fan86: checks
drawflush1: bets $2
( 2$ pot size, standard bet )
zzyx1579: raises $9.55 to $11.55 and is all-in
( Now here is the move that just reeks of weakness )
( he insta-jammed as soon as I bet, with 2 hearts on board I instinctively put him on the flush draw )
Dane10: folds
Kad469: folds
ATB-Fan86: folds
drawflush1: calls $9.55
( Since he has no other money behind him, this is an easy call for me )
*** TURN *** [2d 6h 4h] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [2d 6h 4h 6s] [7c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
drawflush1: shows [6c 5c] (three of a kind, Sixes)
( nice 6 for me, but didnt like the river, he could of been on a str8 draw as well )
zzyx1579: mucks hand
drawflush1 collected $24.35 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $25.60 | Rake $1.25
Board [2d 6h 4h 6s 7c]
Seat 1: zzyx1579 mucked [Qh Jh]
( As I originally predicted, the flushdraw )

This post was no intention to brag about any hand reading abilities, as I’m often wrong more then I’d like to admit , but I wanted to exemplify the need to go with your instincts in a lot of situations like this. To some, they might say, you called with a top pair and no kicker?…., but you need to consider the many factors of the situation. Ask yourself questions like…What happened preflop? Did anyone show strength or weakness? Based on the texture of the board, would your opponent have similar holdings? If you were in their situations what might you do? ( Sometimes you need think like a beginner and dumb yourself down a bit…..) How has this person been playing? Aggressive? Tight? Loose? Passive? …..You need to have a keen poker sense to take advantages of these marginal situations, this game we play is about extracting as much value as you can out of small windows of opportunity. You need to be observant of your play and avoid being on ‘cruise control ‘. Once you know how to play YOUR cards, you then need to learn how to play the cards of your opponent!

Use all your senses, pay attention…turn off your music, turn off your tv, watch what others are doing, learn from your own mistakes and then take advantage of others when they make them. Online poker does not give you the ability to read peoples physical tells, so you need to use whatever other information you can get. Player tendencies are key to online success……and on the real felt.

Now, let me go work on what im preaching……

You can’t beat me with Queens! Its my new favorite Hand!

Dealer: blackhathacker posts Small Blind $0.25
Dealer: bu1ke posts Big Blind $0.50
Dealer: Dealing cards
Dealer: Your cards 9d 9s
Dealer: stophitting2outers raises $1.75
Dealer: DrawFlush calls $1.75
Dealer: donfilip folds
Dealer: blackhathacker folds
Dealer: bu1ke folds
Dealer: Dealing Flop
Qd 4h Td
Dealer: stophitting2outers checks
Dealer: DrawFlush bets $3.50
Dealer: stophitting2outers goes All-in $0 due to disconnection.
Dealer: Dealing Turn
Qd 4h Td 9c
Dealer: Dealing River
Qd 4h Td 9c Th
Dealer: stophitting2outers shows Full house
Qc Qs
Dealer: DrawFlush shows Full house
9d 9s
Dealer: DrawFlush wins with Full house
9d 9s 9c Td Th $3.50
Dealer: DrawFlush wins with Full house
9d 9s 9c Td Th $3.50
Dealer: $3.50 returned to DrawFlush
Dealer: $3.50 returned to DrawFlush
Dealer: stophitting2outers wins with Full house
Td Th Qd Qs Qc $4.05
Dealer: stophitting2outers wins with Full house
Td Th Qd Qs Qc $4.05

PokerStars Game #15423538192:  Hold’em No Limit ($0.25/$0.50) - 2008/02/20 - 14:14:22 (ET)
Table ‘Crocus’ 6-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: Mr Masefield ($11.20 in chips)
Seat 2: drawflush1 ($52.25 in chips)
Seat 3: ortonimous ($23.45 in chips)
Seat 4: manclos ($49.50 in chips)
Seat 5: PokerUwe_de ($64.75 in chips)
Seat 6: LordTerm ($18.75 in chips)
manclos: posts small blind $0.25
PokerUwe_de: posts big blind $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to drawflush1 [Jc Ts]
LordTerm: folds
Mr Masefield: raises $1 to $1.50
drawflush1: calls $1.50
ortonimous: calls $1.50
manclos: folds
PokerUwe_de: calls $1
*** FLOP *** [Qh 9c 8h] ——- ( Mmmm,…Salty nuts! )
PokerUwe_de: checks
Mr Masefield: checks
drawflush1: bets $3 ——( flop str8, not slow playing )
Nortonimous: calls $3
PokerUwe_de: calls $3
Mr Masefield: folds
*** TURN *** [Qh 9c 8h] [6c]—–( Safe card …)
PokerUwe_de: checks
drawflush1: bets $9 —
Nortonimous: raises $9.95 to $18.95 and is all-in
PokerUwe_de: raises $41.30 to $60.25 and is all-in —– ( What the……. )
drawflush1: calls $38.75 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [Qh 9c 8h 6c] [8s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PokerUwe_de: shows [7h Kh] (a pair of Eights)
drawflush1: shows [Jc Ts] (a straight, Eight to Queen)
drawflush1 collected $57.60 from side pot
ortonimous: mucks hand
drawflush1 collected $69.10 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $129.70 Main pot $69.10. Side pot $57.60. | Rake $3
Board [Qh 9c 8h 6c 8s]
Seat 1: Mr Masefield folded on the Flop
Seat 2: drawflush1 showed [Jc Ts] and won ($126.70) with a straight, Eight to Queen
Seat 3: ortonimous (button) mucked [Qs 6s]
Seat 4: manclos (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: PokerUwe_de (big blind) showed [7h Kh] and lost with a pair of Eights
Seat 6: LordTerm folded before Flop (didn’t bet)

Wow, I just can’t get over some of the ridiculousness that happens at this level of play, I had been playing with both of these players for 3+ hours and I had been showing down nothing but premium hands the entire time. Guess he felt like gambling…………

Set Mining 101

Full Tilt Poker Game #5055471104: Table Lendrum (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold’em - 15:06:51 ET - 2008/01/30
Seat 1: mikec7809 ($102.85)
Seat 2: drawflush1 ($53.20)
Seat 3: pokergirl1982 ($100)
Seat 4: pfrancin ($104.35)
Seat 5: ShoesRDurrty ($187.90)
Seat 6: BongoLaw ($51.15)
BongoLaw posts the small blind of $0.50
mikec7809 posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to drawflush1 [9s 9c]
drawflush1 calls $1          - ( No need to get crazy out of position, even 6-handed,  by calling it keeps it a suprise if i hit on a cheap flop )
pokergirl1982 folds
pfrancin calls $1
ShoesRDurrty folds
BongoLaw folds
mikec7809 checks
*** FLOP *** [Qs 9h Ah]     - ( Bingo ! Just what I wanted )
mikec7809 checks
drawflush1 checks           - ( I take a chance with the flush draw hoping the position caught a piece and stabs )
pfrancin checks
*** TURN *** [Qs 9h Ah] [4h]
mikec7809 checks
drawflush1 bets $3          - ( Not what I wanted to see, But I have to bet at this point to see where I am )
pfrancin calls $3        - ( You definately don’t have a flush….thank you sir…I put him on Ace weak kicker…Maybe AJ with a heart at best. )
mikec7809 folds
*** RIVER *** [Qs 9h Ah 4h] [Jd]
drawflush1 bets $7        - ( I hope you do have AJ….lets find out )
pfrancin calls $7
*** SHOW DOWN ***
drawflush1 shows [9s 9c] three of a kind, Nines
pfrancin mucks
drawflush1 wins the pot ($22.35) with three of a kind, Nines
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $23.50 | Rake $1.15
Board: [Qs 9h Ah 4h Jd]
Seat 1: mikec7809 (big blind) folded on the Turn

Board: [Qs 9h Ah 4h Jd]
Seat 1: mikec7809 (big blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 2: drawflush1 showed [9s 9c] and won ($22.35) with three of a kind, Nines
Seat 3: pokergirl1982 didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 4: pfrancin mucked [2s Ad] - a pair of Aces    - ( At this level, calling off chips like this just seems stupid to me, keep it up pfrancin!)
Seat 5: ShoesRDurrty (button) didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 6: BongoLaw (small blind) folded before the Flop

I just wanted to post this to re-iterate to myself why set mining is so valuable. Had this player of had 2 pair, Id be sure to stack him. I also do not see the value in raising hands like this when you are way out of position and your table is hyper-aggressive. Let them do your bidding and try and hit your set.

My thoughts on playing pocket pairs preflop online: 

9’s to A’s  I will raise out of position at 6 handed play 85-95% of the time , any pair from 8’s to 2’s , I typically call.

If Im playing full ring ( 9 or 10 player ), I’ll wait for J’s or higher to open raise in an early position, varying from a 4x to 6x raise, almost 100% of the time.

Playing live is different, I’ll be more inclined to raise more often with lower pair.

Im such a man….

Full Tilt Poker Game #5055374061: Table Lendrum (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold’em - 14:57:18 ET - 2008/01/30
Seat 1: flowyflow ($27.50)
Seat 2: drawflush1 ($46.50)
Seat 3: pokergirl1982 ($100.50)
Seat 4: HILARIUS_HIIRI ($161.45)
Seat 5: ShoesRDurrty ($101.50)
Seat 6: BongoLaw ($122.20)
pokergirl1982 posts the small blind of $0.50
HILARIUS_HIIRI posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to drawflush1 [7s 2c]
ShoesRDurrty folds
BongoLaw folds
flowyflow folds
drawflush1 raises to $3 -  ( Position Raise, Been playing tight for past hour )
pokergirl1982 folds
HILARIUS_HIIRI calls $2 - ( Range is open right now, he is seeing a lot of flops  )
*** FLOP *** [Jc Th 3h]
HILARIUS_HIIRI checks
drawflush1 checks
*** TURN *** [Jc Th 3h] [Ah]
HILARIUS_HIIRI bets $4   - ( Like clockwork, if he’s in a pot, he fires on the flop…..)
drawflush1 raises to $16 - ( I raised pre-flop,..I have a monster..duh )
HILARIUS_HIIRI has 15 seconds left to act
HILARIUS_HIIRI folds
Uncalled bet of $12 returned to drawflush1
drawflush1 mucks
drawflush1 wins the pot ($13.80) - ( Im a blogger! )
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $14.50 | Rake $0.70
Board: [Jc Th 3h Ah]
Seat 1: flowyflow didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 2: drawflush1 (button) collected ($13.80), mucked
Seat 3: pokergirl1982 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: HILARIUS_HIIRI (big blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 5: ShoesRDurrty didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 6: BongoLaw didn’t bet (folded)

I don’t see the point in betting out of position here. Especially when im playing less then 18% of my hands, anyways, …point is, when you exude strength and your image is tight, sometimes you need to represent even when you don’t hit

Yet again, another guy that just finished stacking off his chips 3 times. I knew my hand was good the whole way……….. Guess I recovered some of my loss to the straight flush earlier……….I feel justified a bit.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2019036

PokerStars Game #14923447910:  Hold’em No Limit ($0.25/$0.50) - 2008/01/29 - 22:32:08 (ET)
Table ‘Losaka III’ 6-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: drawflush1 ($39.25 in chips)
Seat 2: penguinjones ($82.25 in chips)
Seat 4: maw68 ($48.25 in chips)
Seat 5: getsumnow ($134.85 in chips)
Seat 6: TillDatField ($38.35 in chips) ( Victim who just recently rebought )
maw68: posts small blind $0.25
getsumnow: posts big blind $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to drawflush1 [9d 9s]
TillDatField: raises $3 to $3.50
drawflush1: calls $3.50  ———( standard call )
penguinjones: folds
maw68: calls $3.25
getsumnow: folds
*** FLOP *** [6c 4h 4c]

maw68: checks
TillDatField: bets $10
drawflush1: calls $10 –-( steaming for the past 30 minutes, he’s on a 3rd full buy-in, so I make an easy call here putting him on 2 unpaired overs )
maw68: calls $10
*** TURN *** [6c 4h 4c] [5s]
maw68: checks
TillDatField: bets $24.85 and is all-in
drawflush1: calls $24.85             –( If my read is right, Im not folding now…….I think this is pretty straight forward call )
maw68: folds
*** RIVER *** [6c 4h 4c 5s] [8c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
TillDatField: shows [2d 5d] (two pair, Fives and Fours)
drawflush1: shows [9d 9s] (two pair, Nines and Fours)
drawflush1 collected $88.70 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $90.70 | Rake $2
Board [6c 4h 4c 5s 8c]
Seat 1: drawflush1 showed [9d 9s] and won ($88.70) with two pair, Nines and Fours
Seat 2: penguinjones (button) folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 4: maw68 (small blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 5: getsumnow (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: TillDatField showed [2d 5d] and lost with two pair, Fives and Fours

What in the heck??? 5d2d? LOL……The game I love and hate at the same time……make note of this joker.