Poker Observations

Hi all! No, I haven't died, I just haven't felt like blogging lately. Blame the second job, blame the first job, blame the fact that I watch a lot of TV in the evenings, blame the fact that it's hockey season and my Sharks aren't off to the best start, or you can just blame me for being one of the laziest people on the planet. Moving on....here's some observations I've made over the past week or so. I may expand on one or two in a future blog post but for now I'm just throwing them out there.

• Just because you can call an all-in doesn't mean you should. I don't know how many times I've watched some moron double up a short stack by calling with absolute crap.
• On the other hand, if I'm in the blind for $800 and it's only going to cost me another $170 to call your all-in, I'll do it every time. I hope telling me I'm "a moron for calling" after I rivered you made you feel better because all it did for me (and Pauly) was cause lots of laughter. Oh, and you losing on the river was irony at it's finest.
• However, I am a moron for not paying close attention during the Blogger Championship and calling a $7,000 all-in when I thought I was just calling a minimum raise. That was the beginning of the end.
• Someday I hope to be healthy during a blogger tournament. Last Sunday was not that day, I'm shooting for perfect health in Vegas in December (or at least a good hangover).
• Using the note feature to call bad players things like "fucking moron" and "total dipshit" can be therapeutic. Plus you can get a good laugh when you come across the player at a later date and read what you wrote.
• The play at Poker Stars really is tighter than other sites. It took me going back to Full Tilt to fully realize how true that really is. I would now like to thank the players at Full Tilt for the Vegas bankroll they are going to provide me.
• Continuation bets can be very profitable at a passive table.
• No matter how many times I show down premium hands, there will always be one person at the table who will believe that I'm bluffing when I raise on every street. Thanks for making chip accumulation so easy!

That's it for now. I'm sure I'll think of some others as soon as I hit "publish" but I'll just have to use them in my next post.

Until next time......what's an observation you've made at the poker tables in the past week?

Diamond’s Really Are A Girl’s Best Friend!

I just finished 7th in the first WWdN: Where’s My Burrito? Invitational over on Poker Stars. That finish was good enough for a nice little profit but that wasn’t the best part of the tourney. The best part was when I got my

FIRST EVER ROYAL FLUSH!!!!

If you haven’t guessed from the title of this post, it was a diamond royal flush. I even managed to double up on it. I was just trying to bet enough to get a call so I could show it but I ended up all-in when the other player tried to bluff at the pot. Since I suck at screen shots, I offer the following hand history as proof:

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to April98 [Ad Jd]
cfinnn: folds
Joanne1111: folds
Bugsy 99: raises 200 to 400
striker_dj: folds
Maudie: folds
AcesFull2221: calls 400
Beck2Knaves: folds
April98: calls 300
Decker711: calls 200
*** FLOP *** [Kh Qd Td]
April98: bets 400
Decker711: folds
Bugsy 99: folds
AcesFull2221: calls 400
*** TURN *** [Kh Qd Td] [Kd]
April98: bets 400
AcesFull2221: calls 400
*** RIVER *** [Kh Qd Td Kd] [4d]
April98: bets 800
AcesFull2221: raises 4568 to 5368 and is all-in
April98: calls 2815 and is all-in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
AcesFull2221: shows [Jc Qs] (two pair, Kings and Queens)
April98: shows [Ad Jd] (a Royal Flush)
April98 collected 10655 from pot
AcesFull2221 said, "nh"
DuggleBogey [observer] said, "holy crap!"
Beck2Knaves said, "holy ****"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 10655 Rake 0
Seat 5: April98 (small blind) showed [Ad Jd] and won (10655) with a Royal Flush

Seriously, I thought I was toast at the start of the tourney when I found myself seated at a table with Joanne, Jaxia, and tournament host Wil. Later, I was seated with Joanne, Maudie, and Derek. I’m still not sure how I survived to the final table as, according to my stats, I only played 20 hands. I guess it was the quality of the hands not quantity.

Anyway, Wil plans to run a tourney every Friday, as his schedule allows, and I can guarantee that I’ll be playing in the future.

Until next time……Royal Flushes for everyone!

Pajama Bottoms And A Helmet Cam

Last night Maura and I made another stop on the April and Maura concert tour to see the men who proved that hell can indeed freeze over. That's right, the Eagles were in town and we had 3rd row, upper bowl seats, at the side of the stage. We were also in a relatively mellow section so I didn't get to experience any of my normal concert going pet peeves. No one was standing in front of us dancing or in back of us talking through the whole show and, best of all, no one was singing every song in a horribly out-of-tune voice. Seriously, if you want to do any of that, stay at home and pop a CD into the player and sing, dance, and talk till your heart's content. I paid money to hear the band, not you and your drunk ass friends.

For the next 3 and a half hours (minus the late start and the "we're getting old and need to rest" intermission) we heard beautiful harmonies and awesome guitar playing, as if they hadn't aged a day. For old men, they still have what it takes to put on one hell of a show. They started with some of their early hits, moved on to some solo stuff, took their break and came back to hit some of their ballads as well as a new song that seemed familiar though I've never heard it before. It wasn't too long before they started to rock and we got to hear a bit more of their solo work. Luckily Don Henley sang "Boys of Summer" before the break so the worst part of the show was over before things had really gotten started (no I don't like the Alien Ant Farm re-make either). The other good part was that Glen Frey stayed away from his "Miami Vice" days (again, not a fan of that song).

Finally we arrived at the first of 3 encores and I finally figured out why bands save their biggest hit for last, it's to reward those who stay until the very end. I just don't get people who pay fifty or more dollars for concert tickets only to leave before it's over. Those who left early last night missed "Hotel California" and "Desparado" as well as an awesome Joe Walsh spotlight moment when they performed "Rocky Mountain Way". Is getting out of the parking lot first really worth missing that?

One thing I was paying attention to as the show moved along was the crowd reaction when certain band members sang or had an instrumental solo. It was obvious that some people have a favorite Eagle and I must admit I fall into that group. Don't get me wrong, I love everyone in the band and I want to be listening to their music as I drift off on my death bed (a long, long time from now) but there is only one person who can make wearing pajama bottoms and a helmet cam on stage look cool. If you've ever seen the Eagles perform you'll know who I'm talking about and, if not, well there must be something seriously wrong with you.

For me the show rated a 100 on a scale of 1 to 10. If I had any money I'd see them again at their second show on Friday night but, instead, I'll settle for playing their CD in my car for the rest of the week (if I can actually find it).

Until next time.....tell me whose music you would want to have playing in the background as you take your
final breaths?