Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Surprisingly, I'm going back to school

I've been having this recurring nightmare lately. In it, my old high school has been auditing their files and realize that my diploma was a mistake. Which, in turn, means my college degree is invalid, which means I lose my job, all because there was actually one math class I never took. And in the dream, I've got to go back to school -- one with teenagers and buses and tardy marks -- to finish it off, which, as an adult now, is completely humiliating!

Lo and behold: I get an email today from my erstwhile advisor over at the Harvard Extension School, wondering if I'm taking a course this semester or if I've "thrown in the towel" on finishing my master's degree.

Which is funny, because except for my thesis, I was completely sure I was done with all the course work.

So I come home, blow the dust off of the paperwork they sent me a few years ago now, and sure enough, I'm 4 credits (one class) shorter of where I thought I was.

As it turns out, I'm excited about the idea of learning something new. I don't know what I'll be taking yet, but I've been in an intellectual rut excepting work and poker (which is really just work too). Of course, I have to scrape together about 2 grand by Sunday, which is less exciting but doable.

It's kind of surreal, though. I assumed my subconscious was just making a statement about my poor math skills, but it has really been trying to tell me something more important this whole time!

I am the bubble king

I can bubble anything! Especially 27 man SnGs and especially tonight.

Meanwhile, I feel the need to post something, as my blog is finally getting some traffic.

So here is a guy on a guitar, messing up the very last note. Call it an ode to Lady Luck. Pass that bottle of gin!

If you want real hits, try a blogger I met during the WBCOOP, the legendary Gov


rozbot86 (Beck cover) -- Nitemare Hippy Girl

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Grinding out Silverstar tonight

I forgot how bad the $10 games are. LOL at this hand!

MoJo raised, I three bet, SB calls, BB shoves, MoJo calls. I contemplate a fold, but I need volume so say screw it. Then SB calls. Pot odds, I guess?


I had no problem coming back either, now I'm 11th of 17... and out 17th. Next!

Update: Happened again...


only this time the guy I originally 3bet had KK. Oops. Next!

Update: Got the Silver star. Placed 2nd in an 18 man. I broke even today $77 in, $77.22 out, but I was in zombie mode trying to get those points.


(insert graph here, stupid PT3)

Oh wait -- I cleared my first Stellar Reward, so make that a $10.22 day!

WBCOOP Main Event!

3:08 Yay, I'm in 70th!

3:09 Yay, I'm in 16th!

3:15 Still in the top 30!


3:30 Lost a big hand when the river counterfeited my pocket pair; couldn't call a shove w/ 6 high! (Norris92 claimed he only had 2-high, maybe true?) Still 158th w/ 1730 runners left.

3:41 136th! I find it ironic that the dead stack now on my right is named "TheDrunkLife." I'm picturing him right now passed out in an alley somewhere and just coming to, saying "Aw, heck, I'm missing the WBCOOP!" (found his blog)


3:48 I'm not going to let my other tournaments tilt me, but in the 3:15 $11, I got it all in w/ KQ on a JT9 board vs. 78, and villain caught the running chop :\ How do I run so bad?!

3:55 Continuing my slide I'm in 217th at the first break. We've gotten in 94 hands. I've only been called a fish once! I must be losing my touch....

4:06 Ugh, kubadeo rivers a full house on me making his 55 > my QQ. I drop to 406th. Meanwhile, Goral is getting AA every third hand and is the table leader with 11,000+.


4:10 The Drunk Life decides to finally join us!


4:20 Smoke 'em if you got em!

4:21 I just realized Goral is a Team Pokerstars Pro! Marcin Horecki from Poland. So that's why he keeps getting Aces, lol.

4:35 TDL is gone, Goral lost half his stack at some point too. Norris92 runs the table with 14,000+. I'm way down in the middle of the pack now, with about 1000 players left.

4:47 Out of the Sunday 1/4 mill 88 << 44 AIPF on a four flush board. Meanwhile, back at the WBCOOP, I've gotten AA twice on the button in a row, folded to me both times with a dead stack in BB. Got 3 bet the second time lol. 410 w/ 909 players left. I have slightly more chips than the pro now...


4:53 Goral finishes in 824th place after being taken out by yours truly. T7s >> KK on a T67 board :) gg sir!


4:57 I'm 198th with 785 runners left at the second break.

5:09 Dead stacks are mostly gone. Some how I'm now 5th in chips on my table.


5:19 Yay, new people! I wonder if they'll be friends with me?


5:21 Meanwhile, on the other tourney, I dodge what looks like yet another chop. Royal flush FTW!


5:28 Flop bottom set, but get no action from only caller. Called short-stackers shove with JJ in the BB, he has Kings but I turn a Jack. Now 176th with 11,000+ chips.

5:36 Sick. Get it all in with AQ on an A7Q board. The villain, lipaonline, has A7 and turns his 2 outer. Down to 671 chips. 436 out of 437 :(


5:41 Oh well, With an M of two, any A will do. I don't mind shoving it over a 45% VPIPer, even. But, naturally, lipaonline had KK and flops a set. gg!


6:02 I'm going to continue railing Meteoric. I'm still in my 3:15 $11 game, 191 out of 740, but it doesn't bubble until we get down to 586 players. Meanwhile, I need to grind out 6 or 7 $11 SnGs by midnight to keep Silverstar next month. Real time blogging is a little addictive, I can see what the deal is with Twitter now!

7:11 Meteoric is in 19th place!!! gogogogo. Meanwhile I finished 257th in the 3:15 for a $12.22 profit. Meh!

7:15 He's moved up to 10th with a 65K stack. Just 13K behind 1st place....

7:30 Meteoric just shoved 33 into a limped AA. Trapped! Only....


So now he's in second. Can I pick runners or what?

7:43 And the bubble boy is: zwemnaar of Ardee. RDRR!

7:57 BTW, one other blogger I've read, the B.W.O.P (Black Widow of Poker) is also still in -- way down at 83rd but in there.

8:02 Meteoric declares on his blog "God I wish I hadn’t drank that bottle of win earlier." LOL. That explains everything. Please let me know where I can get my own bottle!

8:50 They are on the 2nd bubble now. Meteoric was down for most of the past hour, but has climbed back and up now to eighth place! Woot!!

9:20 BWOP and Meteoric are on the same table now. There aren't many tables left, just 6....

9:24 Three way all in  88 / AK / QQ'; AK takes down two runners and we're down to 5 tables.

9:26 Meteoric goes a little haywire with A9 after he flops an inside wheel draw and doubles up QQ :(

9:46 Next bubble. Every one except the next person to go out gets $215 in SCOOP tickets.

10:15 Now 29 runners, Meteoric is in eighth again, mowing down shorties right and left. BWOP is still bringing up the rear. Everyone's tired. I'm tired and I'm not even playing!

10:23 BWOP out in 27th place. Meteoric doubles up to 9th when he rivers a flush to crack KK.

10:30 Always have a pee bottle handy, people, I can't stress that enough. Long story short, gawdawaful is out in 23rd place.

10::32 That's it for our hero, Meteoric's AQs couldn't crack metsapull's ducks. Out 21st out of 2062 original entrants. That's not too shabby!

10:35 emitoaz who was on my left on my first table (the guy who called me a fish!) is still in this thing. There's also someone named sprocket66 -- wasn't I just saying how much I like Sprocket?

10:40 ErickRiveraD stacks TheUKShark AIPF with KJ vs QT when he hits quad Kings! 19 left

10:44 Down to two tables!


10:55 Here are the standings at the eighth (!!) break


11:08 There's at least one other person live blogging this thing! cparsley. I've offered a chop!

11:17 Priitk, who I'm told was last years runner up, got in a blind battle from the SB with KQo. Too bad lostsoul311 in the BB had AA; Priitk is out in 13th place!

11:19 Blinds are 3200/6400 with 800 antes. Yikes!

11:24 emitoaz shoves AJs, and is called  by EricKRiveraD's TT. It's Spain v. Mexico. Emit flops the nut flush draw, but he can't get there. Who's the fish now, emit! Oh, OK, it's still me: nice work on 12th place!

11:29 timprov_mn shoves KQs from the CO. luvrhino -- their horns are aphrodisiacs -- wakes up with AA and we're down to 10. Bubble time again!

11:31 That was quick! lordTasse's JJ falls to KQ, and so I present our final table!


11:38 lostsoul311 just doubled through metsapull when mets flush draw couldn't get there

11:40 mets rivers Jacks full taking a bite out of hanktankus's stack

11:45 cparsley adds his first pic to his live blog. *cough* I've had pics since 3:15! Judges? :-P

11:50 Will this end well??


Yep, hank had the straight at the river with JT, but BelaLany and Lostsoul chop with AJ. Not much changes! Crazy hand!

11:53 AKs >> KK for Hanktankus, and I believe we now have our first 7 digit stack! luvrhino on the short stack with 33K.

11:57 Ninth break! Nine people left! Nine nine nine!!!


12:02 luvrhino, gonzo!

12:05 BelaLany's AKs UTG cracks EricRiveraD's KK UTG+1 AIPF when the river brings in the flush. Bye Mexico! gg!!

12:09 25NL sparring partner of mine metsapull's JJ falls to BelaLany's Q9s

12:10 Cardinal23's flopped set of JJ is no good on a 9JT flop, when tall stack hank flopped the K high straight! We're down to 5!

12:17 I'm adding lostsoul311 to my blogroll.

12:22 kalamiis is definitely asleep. Hank is now up to 2 million in chips


12:30 Not sure when it happened, but Kal is awake! Disconnected... but awake!!


12:36 We now know Hank's icon is a creature known as Brutus the Buckeye.


Lost Soul's icon is himself. Bela's is Da Vinci. Sprocket's is Henson. Kal doesn't have one that I can see....

12:42 A true railbird has arrived, and is begging for a penny...

12:47 lostsoul311 is gone!! Flops the nut flush draw, but couldn't get there versus BelaLany's top pair with the J high flush draw. gg!!

12:49 Sprocket is all in!!! kal is disconnected, Bela folds the BB. Next hand snap shot:


12:56 Tenth break!


1:14 Hank rivers a better 2 pair against Bela!

1:24 Sprocket66 doubles thru Bela with AQs vs 66. Now everyone but disconnected kalamiis has ~1.2 million chips so it's an even game!

1:42 Mods don't care that Kal is timing out every hand while disconnected. I'm sleepy.

1:45 My favorite muppet, Sprocket66 loses with KT when Bela turns 2 pair w/ K7. Rwar rwar!!!

1:53 We are now HU


1:56 Eleventh break. Two left.


2:01 Bela rivers a straight. 4:1 chip lead

2:08 Just 2:1. USA USA USA

2:16 chop when both have the Doyle!


2:23 That's all she wrote. BelaLany is the champion!!!

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Out 163rd in the Daily 80 Grand

Brutal, the guy who took me out was playing 40% of his hands, and I hadn't so much as stolen a blind in 3 or 4 orbits. So much for fold equity.

Poker Stars, $50 + $5 NL Hold'em Tournament, 1,000/2,000 Blinds, 200 Ante, 9 Players

LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
CO: 72,822
BTN: 57,621
Hero (SB): 17,963
BB: 61,914
UTG: 37,881
UTG+1: 39,044
UTG+2: 67,865
MP1: 109,302
MP2: 33,399


Pre-Flop: (3,000) K T dealt to Hero (SB)

3 folds, MP1 raises to 4,800, 3 folds, Hero raises to 17,763, BB folds, MP1 calls 12,963

Flop: (37,526) J 5 4 (2 Players)

Turn: (37,526) J 5 4 [ K ] (2 Players)

River: (37,526) J 5 4 K [ 6 ] (2 Players)

Results: 37,526 Pot

Hero showed K T and LOST (-16,763 NET)

MP1 showed 5 5 and WON 39,326 (+21,563 NET)

Good enough for a hundred dollar profit though. Weekly graph:

WBCOOP next to last tourney under way!

Only about 500 non-dead stacks showed up by my estimation. I lost a big flip earlier, but I'm hanging in there. Down to 4K at the 2nd break. 249 out of 284 but I'm feeling lucky!


Update: Hat tip to Meteoric who reminded me there's still one more event tomorrow. I'm 77th with 187 left now....

Update:
Dear Conan776,

You finished the tournament in 153rd place.

You have won an admission ticket to 'SCOOP - $11 Entry'

weeeeeeeeeee! Just inside the prize bubble, shoved ATo from the CO and SB woke up with KK. gg!