Curse Broken??

Now anybody who's been reading my blog, knows that this summer has been a real bad run for me... Between playing bad, making dumb decisions and just over all being a jackass, I haven't come out of a session of poker on the positive since June... Before I started playing at md-poker.com, I have a group of friends that I usually play poker with... Though they are usually pretty sound players, I've tried to get them to come out and play with me at various people's games, however, they aren't really cash game players... I mean I've gone to AC with them countless times, they are for some reason hesitant to follow me in my poker quest to find a game, no matter what day of the week it is... Even tournament play with these guys are different... Instead of getting a certain numeration of chips (say 3000 or 5000 or in some cases 10,000) and the blinds starting off at 25-50 or 50-100, they play where everybody gets FIFTY CHIPS, no matter what color the chips are, each one is worth 1 chip... And the blinds start off at 1-2 and progress in that nature: 1-2, 2-4, 4-8, 8-16 and so on and so on... Which isn't bad, I'm not complaining, but once you get to 16-32 or god forbid 32-64, the tournament turns into the last half hour of a WPT event, any two cards will do, time to GO ALL IN!!! Which basically everybody does, and it then turns into a game of chance/luck as opposed to using skill/strategy and reading abilities when playing poker...

Well anyway, this past weekend, my friend had his monthly game... Usually good for about 25 to 35 people, my wife, wanting very badly to play since she hadn't really played lately, went with me... The tournament started off with 20 people and two tables of ten... The set up is sort of a shoot out type format, where the last five from each table make it to the final table, where you chip down 4-1 and the blinds start over again at 1-2... Now to say the play here is bad is an UNDERSTATEMENT... "Some" of the (not all, there are a couple of good players) players are so horrendously terrible, they make this past World Series main event players look like Phil Ivey... No BS...

Now I've been pretty card dead lately, and hadn't been getting any decent cards, and with the way I play, I'm pretty much straight forward with my play style... Play tight/agressive till I get some chips, then the donk comes out in me... The whole first round, I kept getting Ace/rag so I was doing a lot of folding... First real hand I get, we are 2-4 blinds & two people had already been busted, so we are 8 handed... I'm the SB, and a guy in late pos, raises to 12... Button calls, I toss in 10 more chips and we see a flop 3 handed... Flop comes 7/7/10 rainbow.. I check, raisers puts in a bet of 12... Button calls, I insta-ship my stack for about 20 more... Raiser calls as does the button... Now I'm thinking WTF?? Am I drawing to one out?? Maybe someone is chasing a open ender?? At this game, ANYTHING is possible.. Turn is a 7/7/10 -- 9 of spades... I show the two people sitting to my left my hand... Raiser checks, as does the button.. So now I'm REALLY confused... River is a blank.. Goes check/check... I ask "does anybody have a boat beat??" I show 7/9... Raiser shows big slick (told you the play was bad) and the button shows J-7 suited... I guess I sucked out in a way... Had that been pops, he would have asked "you called a RAISE with that???" I just thanked the poker gods for the 9 and went about stacking my chips... Even though I was now chip leader at the table, I was still playing pretty tight... Next hand I played I busted my wife... She had gotten her Aces cracked by KQ (her favorite hand BTW, how ironic) when the guy turned two pair and then someone ran down her 10's when they went all in with K-J... So now she was short stacked and pushed with Big Slick... I had originally raised with pocket queens.. They held up and my wife was gone... Now my wife is a very sound player.. Her style of play is very tight/aggressive and doesn't play dumb shit.. This was her first time not ever making it to the final table at my friend's monthly game... I felt bad busting my wife, but I guess that's what happens when you end up at the same table.. Two hands later... a guy in early position raises to 12... Now up until Saturday I had been card DEAD... Couldn't believe when I look down and see pocket queens again... I make it 35 to go and it's folded around to the big blind, who happens to be second in chips .. He just smooth calls... Original raiser folds and we are heads up to the flop... 4-4-10, two clubs... Now there is close to over 100 chips in the pot... BB comes out with a bet of SIX CHIPS... I'm like WTF?? Did he hit a set?? Why so little?? I make it 26... Again he smooth calls... Turn is the jack of clubs... BB pauses for a moment.. Then he goes "I'll put you all in...".. I'm like huh?? Dude I got you out chipped... I try putting him on a hand I could beat... Then I asked him did he want a call... He sort of looked indifferent when I asked him that... I say there are way too many chips in the pot and I still got outs so I call... BB flips over AK unsuited with the K of clubs.. I'm like WTF?? Did he think I was bluffing??? So now I'm dodging any club, king or ace... Now I'm in such a haze from this donkey calling me all the way down and then going all in with AK, that when the queen of spades hits on the river, I don't even put up a fight when the whole table goes "STRAIGHT"!!!! I feel like I just got stomach punched... I'm just about to ship him my chips, when I realized that the board had originally paired with the fours... I yell out "BOAT!!! I GOT A BOAT!!! YES!!! YES!!!!! SHIP IT!!!" The whole table hadn't even realized that I filled up on the river and I almost lost that hand by not paying attention...

I get to the final table as a dominating chip leader... Doesn't help that I also go on a run of cards that I hadn't have happen in forever... After the the first round the start of the second round we are down to 7 players... First 15 hands of the second round I get AJ, AJ, A10, A9, JJ, then aces back to back... After that run, we go from 7 players to 4... Just by playing big stack I just push around the small stacks till we get three handed, and I end up doubling up a guy who had my ace outkicked... we end up chopping first and second... for a $40 buy in I end up with $240... My first positive poker outing in months...

We end up playing a second game, this time the buy in is $30 and I'm losing my mind because I'm sitting to the right of this woman who would NOT SHUT THE FUCK UP.... I had my ipod BLASTING out music... As loud as my ears could take it and I COULD STILL HEAR THIS WOMAN... So we are 10 handed and I had just taken down a pot when I reraised all in with pocket queens... The blinds are 2-4 and the short stack in early position goes allin for about 10 chips... a guy in middle position goes in over the top all in for about 24 chips... One woman calls, the person to the right of me, on the button calls... I'm SB, I look down at my hand and I'm like "ooooooohhhwweeeee!!!!!" I stand up... I look at everybody's chip stack, I count all the chips already in the pot. I start figuring out what I should do, after about 30 seconds, I call... Flop comes J/3/9 two clubs.... I ship the rest of my chips in the pot, I'm all in for about 30 more chips... The original woman caller folds, the button, thinking that I was probably going to check it all the way down, goes on tilt and says "fuck it, I call"... I stand up and say I flopped top two and flip over J-9 suited... The table goes into hysterics... YOU CALLED WITH THAT?!?! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!?!? (Now mind you about 4 months ago, I had busted out the button's girlfriend at another game with the same hand... I was huge chip leader in that game also, raised in early position, she smooth called with pocket tens, I flopped a 9 on a board of 9/8/7 rainbow, turned two pair when a jack came, giving her a straight and then I rivered a boat when another jack came on the river... I was betting the hand the whole way and she was calling me down and when the river fell I went all in and she insta called.. When I flipped over J-9, she got upset and threw her chips in the pot...) Anyways, the short stack flipped over AK of hearts and the second guy didn't show his hand and mucked, the button had pocket sixes... Needless to say my two pair held and I busted two people... Everybody was in an uproar for how bad I played... It took me biting my tongue to keep from giggling... I kept saying that there were too many chips in the pot and with no threat of a re-raise, I decided to gamble... LOL... Oh well see what md-poker has done to me?!?!?!

Back in the saddle....

Hadn't really been playing poker lately... Just got too much going on with my kids starting school again and getting back to helping them with their homework, making dinner and making sure they are in bed early...

Decided to play in Steve's $50 tourney last night... Was hoping I could possibly do well in that, so I could play in the cash game... Started out playing real, REAL tight, and pops, who happened to be at my table, took full advantage... I limp under the gun, gets around to Pops, who's on the button and he raises 800... I call and we see a flop of K/7/3 all diamonds... I'm like shit... Auto check, Pops doesn't even slow down and puts out a continuation bet of 1000, I check my cards and flip over the 6 of diamonds and say I had a good flush draw... then I flip over my other 6... Pops goes "you had sixes?? You were WAYYY good" and flips over Q-6 of hearts... GRRRRRRRR... Nice hand pops...

I caught absolutely NO HANDS... the one hand I did have; queens, I played like a donkey and went all in, which was a huge over bet consider there was only one caller...

I doubled up once when I flopped two pair, and that was about it... Got blinded off till I only had 4 times the big blind and went all in with 10's... Got called by the big blind (who I appropriately named "baby Hoyt") who called me with a baby ace and hit one on the flop... Good night haga, no cash game for you...

A Perfect Weekend....

I don't even know where to start... I guess maybe I should start from where I got an email Thursday afternoon, inviting me and my wife to a cookout to celebrate two of my friends birthdays(the same two guys I usually go to AC with to celebrate our birthdays) with a cookout... I say to myself "that's cool, sounds like fun"... Till I realize which freaking day they wanted to have it... SATURDAY... No, not like NEXT Saturday, I'm talking THIS SATURDAY, like two days notice Saturday... So now I'm in a quandry... Do I say fuck no and stay the hell home and offend my friends, or do I suck it up an go??

Now let me explain... This past Saturday was HUGE, HUGE, HUGE day for anybody who follows college football... 7 games where the opponents were ranked in the top 25, plus the fact Michigan was playing Notre Dame AT Notre Dame, which had me nervously stalking around my house, smoking cigs like Morton Downey Jr.... Michigan hadn't won their first road game in 7 years, hadn't beaten Notre Dame at home in 12 years and had lost the previous two in a row to them too boot... So I was a little nervous (apoplectic was more like it...)

So I talked to my wife.. And decided that I would watch the first half at my house (so I could scream, cuss and run around in the privacy of my own home) and then we would head over at half time...

Well my worries were soon alleved... Quite quickly I might add.. Michigan scored on a interception return for a touchdown on the 3rd play from scrimmage and never looked back.. They drilled Notre Dame 47-21, and it wasn't even THAT close... It was a woodshed asswhooping...

With that having me on cloud nine, I looked forward to Sunday... I had already stated that I had been waiting for Sunday for over 3 months... And it was finally here... FAMILY VALUES TOUR 06!!!!!

I can't even begin to put into words the experience was... After watching 10 Years, Direngrey (their lead singer was a little bizarre, and their fan base was rabid) Flyleaf and Stonesour, I was AMPED for Deftones and Korn... When they finally took the stage, it was bananas... All I know is, I was dead smack in the middle of the mosh pit 3 different times and I swear I had to have been the smallest guy in there by at least 50-60 pounds... I didn't give a shit... When Deftones played "My Own Summer (shove it)" it was a wrap... I was bouncing around everywhere... Every other song I would get out to take a break (or after the second time, to recoup from getting elbowed in the stomach) but then Deftones would play another top notch song, and I would hop my ass right back in there... I am STILL PISSED they only got to play a 50 minute set... But I guess beggars can't be choosy...

Now I had stated previously that I was basically going to see Deftones and Korn was just icing on the cake... I was curious to see how they would sound since Head had left the band a while back... Well when Korn came out... I didn't think I could get more fired up, after just watching Deftones, but I was WRONG... They started out with playing "Right Now" and before I had even realized what I was doing, I was running around, hopping off people and going beserk... My wife was like WTF??? LOL.. Oh well.. Korn tore the house down... They were insane... Jonathan Davis twice pulled out this huge fire hose and doused the whole pit PLUS some of the fans sitting back in the seated section... Completely crazy...

Like I said a perfect weekend.. I wish I could have framed it....

Christmas in September.....

Every September for the last couple of years, me and a couple of buddies would head off to AC, one because all of our birthdays were in Sept and it was sort of a birthday gift to ourselves and, two because we would try and qualify for the WPT tournament at the Borgata... Now I've never been lucky OR good enough to have actually satellited my way in (closest I ever got was 80th when the top 30 would win seats) But all in all it would be a good trip, would play some cash games, some Taj daily tournaments and some all in all tomfoolery when guys go out...

Well this year I'm not going... As much as it pains me to not go (my boys are still a little pissed about it) I will not be heading to AC when the WPT comes to Jersey, because of my own little X-mas present I bought for myself and my wife back in June.....

FAMILY VALUES TOUR 2006!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been waiting for this concert event all fucking summer... Actually as soon as I found out they were coming to town, I think I debated on going to AC and missing this concert or buying tickets for about ONE MILLISECOND... It wasn't even close... Deftones AND Korn?!?!?!?! At the same venue, on the same day?!?!?! I basically shitted on myself when I realized Deftones were playing, Korn being there is just icing on a VERY DELICIOUS piece of cake... I don't know how I'm going to sleep the night before.. I am going to be bouncing off the WALLS...

If you've never seen Deftones in concert, and you like hard rock, you don't know what your missing...


This year I've been blessed to have already seen Deftones (YES!!!), NIN (Thank you SO much Stormy!!) and Hurt...

But Christmas will DEFINITELY be on September 17th this year!!!!!

(Tell Santa to leave the Lexus in my driveway...)

I'm baaaacckkk

Well after numerous requests after I had deleted my old blog, I am bringing back my blog... So you'll get to laugh at my continuous bad poker play, my daily rants about Michigan and all things football, maybe even a joke or two... (Don't hold your breath..)

It feels good to be back!!!!