Golf Stuff
Played golf today on the nicest day of 2006. It was sunny and in the high 50’s or low 60’s. Not much wind. I am still hooking the ball and will have to go to the range to work that out. I am happy with my play so far as I am making good contact with my irons but not so great with the driver and fairway woods. I am playing bogey golf for the most part with a par thrown in here and there when I have a good approach or a nice chip that leads to a one putt. I am not officially keeping score yet as it is so early and I am hitting a couple balls per hole to work on some things. After I get to the range and can play a few days in a row then I will start to officially keep score.
It is suppose to rain this week-end so I may be able to set aside some time to assemble another set of clubs to play with. I still don’t like the ball flight of the clubs I am hitting now and want to put together a new set that will have a higher trajectory. Definitely should be done by Easter week-end. Then I can go out and see how they play. I want to hit the ball higher but don’t want to lose any distance. I can use the clubs I am playing, set of heads from Tour Golf Products that I put together, now to play in the springtime when there is a lot of wind because they have a low ball flight and then use the other set in the summer when the greens are harder and the higher ball flight will have a better chance of sticking them.
I was really into clubmaking last year but have cooled off some this year. It is nice to know that I have the ability to throw together a set of clubs to play with any time I want. I can try different shafts, different heads, etc. to find out what works best for me. Plus, if I break any shafts, I can do my own repair.
I am a big fan of components and my links reflect that as

Tour Golf Products

and

Low Pro Golf

are two of the best. There are a lot of good companies out there to get good components from to make a nice set of clubs to play with.
Poker News
I am holding my own at the SitNGo games on Absolute. I got my arse kicked on the No Limit games so I went back to the SitNGos. I will keep playing them as they fit into my time schedule nicely and I can move up in Buy In amounts to attempt to make more money as well as develop my game by playing better players in the higher buy in games.

More Golf, Less Poker

More golf, less Poker
I think I will be writing more about golf than poker for the rest of the summer. My poker playing is starting to make me question my ability. I can play in low limit SitNGos and finish in the money more times than not but when I play No Limit Ring Games for .25/.10 blinds, I am getting killed. I am not sure if it is me or just a bad streak. I have lost $90 dollars in the past week on Party Poker and that is where the fish are suppose to be. I am not going to bore you with hand historys, although I have saved quite a few of my losing hands. I know partly it is me and the way I am betting and partly it is just bad luck that I am getting the good cards when other people have the good cards that are better than mine. It is very disheartening and I think I may need to cut back for a while and try to see just where I am at in my poker ability.

Golfed Sunday
I played golf Sunday and it was great. Temps were in the mid-40s with no wind so it wasn’t too bad. Ten more degrees would have been perfect, though. I shot 48 on the front and 45 on the back. Not bad for third time out and not going to the driving range. I had two bad holes on the back nine or else would have scored real well. The front nine was just bad luck with some putting and two holes that I screwed up and took high scores. I was unable to string together any pars on the front where on the back I parred 4 of the nine holes (10 and 11 and 17 and 18). No birdies yet this year. I have some work to do on my swing. I am trying to come on an inside path and I think I am accomplishing it but I am also getting a large draw, borderline hook on my fairway woods and my mid-irons. I want a draw but I want it consistent where I can trust it swing after swing. I am lining up way to the right of the target to get the ball to draw/hook into the fairway or onto the green. Again, I can work on it and try to develop it into more of a draw and less of a hook but so far I am quite pleased with my swing and my play to date.

I have 2 or 3 goals with my golf. I don’t want any 9 hole rounds in the 50’s or 18 hole rounds in the 100’s. I don’t want any snowmen on my card. And, if I can accomplish goal number one then my last goal is to score more nine hole rounds in the 30’s than I do in the 50’s. Talk about a range of scores……..from high 30’s to low 50’s. That is more than a stroke per hole over 9 holes. Some days are like that, though, when it comes to golf. You can hit the ball great and have bad results or you can 3 putt a few greens and chunk a chip so no you are flirting with 50 with two holes to play. Pressure baby!!

Worse 3 Poker Days of my short Poker Life

Might as well Quit
The last 3 days have been the worse poker days of my life. I have had pocket Aces, Kings, Jacks, Queens, Ace/King, pocket pairs and straights lose hand after hand. I try to play conservative but I think I have the best hand like the one I just lost with. I have Ace/King and get a King on the flop only to lose to Pocket Aces that gets an ace on the river to add insult to injury. I don't know if I am having an incredible string of bad luck or if I am just a bad player. And this is on Party Poker where all the "fish" are. I think I am the fish. I am closer to quitting play as I have ever been. You would think after six months I would be a better player and would start winning but my results are very bad. I suck.

MTT at the Temple Club in Lansing, MI

Live Game
I played a MTT at the Temple Club in Lansing, MI on Sunday. It was a $20 dollar buy-in and we received $300 in chips. There were about 9 tables with 9 players and each table would play down to one person and that person from each table would advance and be in the final table for the money. Top price of $500 and on down to $50 for 8th place. Michigan only allows a maximum top prize of $500 and the tournament must be sponsored by a charity that gets half of the buy-in. In this case it was the Friends of the Ingham County Animal Shelter.

My Poker Playing daughter Rachel and I went to the tournament and we both did well but neither got in the money. I eliminated two players at my table with pocket queens and pocket jacks to double my stack but my best hand did me in and it was my deal. I got Ace/Queen of clubs and bet it up pretty good. There were only three of us remaining at the table and my chip stack was second best. The chip leader called and the flop was rags but all hearts. I bet a pretty good size bet to see where my opponent was and he just called. This led me to believe that he did not have a flush yet. I put out another good size bet to try to take the pot now and not go to the turn or the river but my opponent called and the turn card was another rag but it was a heart, too. I checked and my Opponent went all in. I figured him for Ace of hearts so I folded and with it went over half of my stack. He showed me the Ace as he was raking in my chips. The worse part was I dealt that hand. I did myself in. Now I was short stacked at the table and the blinds were the maximum $250. I doubled up with 9-5 when I hit a nine on the flop but still was short stacked. The next hand I went all in with Ace/nine and was called by Queen/five and the five hit on the flop and I was done. Rachel had gone out on her table shortly before me and best we could figure is that we had made the top 25 or close to it. Most of the tables were down to less than 2 or3 people when I went out.
I don’t play much live poker so it always amazes me when live poker hands ‘emulate’ on-line poker hands. For example, my losing hand when four hearts came on the board in order. It just bothers the hell out of me when on-line players think the game is rigged because their set of Aces loses to a straight or a flush. It happens in live games, too!! In fact it seemed like we got quite a few flush draws that players were able to complete the flush and take the pot.

I am looking forward to next month’s tournament and hope I do better and can finally get into the money.

Spring has Sprung, Party Poker keeps Rocking, Absolute is Knocking….

Spring has Sprung
Today is the first full day of spring and I won’t be out golfing anytime soon. It is barely in the 30’s with a windchill in the teens. If all of the constellations fall into place and La Nina surges to the north, I may be able to get out onto the golf course by this week-end which is suppose to be in the 40’s but, with some sun, may even feel like the 50’s. We can only hope. This winter seems to be hanging on and on this year.

Party Poker Keeps Rocking
My play on Party Poker is putting a big smile on my face. I have made a profit every session I have sat down with my biggest one coming yesterday when I went all in with Aces for $20 only to be called by another player with Ace/King. No help for them from the board so I doubled up on party and ended up making a $25 dollar profit yesterday in two sessions. Looking forward to going fishing again tonight.

Absolute Keeps Knocking……
My a$$ off. For every dollar I win on Party Poker with tight aggressive play, I am losing that same amount on Absolute with the same tight aggressive play. I am not getting bad beats but am just getting beat. Case in point, I go all in with Aces after a flop of rags only to have my opponent show me his pocket fives and then he commences to make the set on the rive. My $10 dollars grew wings and flew away from my bankroll. I have dropped around $50 at Absolute while making that same amount at Party with the same type of plays. Either the players at Absolute are much better or I am just not getting the breaks from the cards I am playing like I am at Party. Time to step back and see if it is something psychologically I am doing or if it is just a downswing that will correct itself, hopefully in the near future.

NIT does not mean ‘Not In Tournament” for the Wolverines
My daughter and I went to Ann Arbor to watch the Michigan Wolverine Basketball team play Notre Dame in the second round of the NIT. It was our first time at Crisler arena and we really picked a good one to go to. Double Overtime and the home team won!!! BooooYaaa

Bring on Miami of Florida, our next opponent on Wednesday. We had beaten Notre Dame during the regular season and, also, beat Miami already this year. They will be out for revenge as the first game wasn’t even close. Michigan won the NIT two years ago which you would think would set them up for some NCAA runs but because of injuries and poor play they are back in the NIT. Hopefully, a good run here will set them up for better things next year although they lose three of their top players. Only time will tell.

Poker, Golf and Basketball

Party Poker rocks!
My Poker playing has been on hiatus for much of this week. Work and family obligations have curtailed the time I can put into playing. I did venture out to Party Poker early on Wednesday morning and with literally just one good hand, Ace/King from the BB, I was able to make a $12 dollar profit. I played for a little over an hour and did not get any big pocket pairs or A/K, A/Q, A/J, etc. that would help to take down pots. I did get dealt a pair of sixes that I had to fold after the flop came out with two overcards and were bet up pretty good. I was able to win a couple of hands by stealing the blinds after being patient for over 45 minutes and projecting the image that I was a tight player and if I was betting I must have something good.

My one big win was due as much to luck as to any good card playing by me. I was playing .25/.10 No Limit and on about the fourth hand I was dealt Ace/King in the Big Blind. There were about 3 limpers, including one from early position, one from late position and the small blind. I raised my A/K and everyone called. The flop was Jack Seven Ten rainbow. Now I was on a straight draw but it was an inside straight. I checked and EP led off with a $2 bet, LP called and the SB folded. I decided to see just one more card as I figured him for a pair with either the Jack or the Ten and if I get my Ace, King or the Queen, I would probably have the best hand. So, with 10 outs, I called the bet and the beautiful Queen came on the river. Now I had the nut straight. I bet $3 and EP folded but LP called. The river was a 7 that was no help to anyone as there was no chance of a flush draw. I bet $5 and LP called but mucked their losing hand so I am not sure what they had. Nice little $12 dollar profit. I found out via chat that EP had flopped two pair, the J/10, but when the queen came up and I bet, he figured me for A/K and folded. Good fold by him as two pair, J/10 would be hard to lay down. The rest of the time I stayed patient and, although I didn’t get many cards to play, the table was a nice table with nice amicable chat from about 4 of the players so things were never boring. Now I can’t wait to get back to Party and see how I do if I actually get some good cards to play.

Too Cold to Golf
It is still too cold to golf here in southern Michigan. Our temperatures are running around 10 degrees below normal. It is dry but cold. If we were getting temps in the 50’s I would be out on that course in a NY minute. Instead we are barely able to make 40 and, although, sunny, that is just too cold to go out and try to chase that white ball. It has been a colder March than normal which is making this winter seem longer and longer. Hopefully things will break by next week-end and I will be able to hit the links.

Michigan vs. Notre Dame
My daughter and I are going to go see Michigan play Notre Dame in the second round of the NIT tournament at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor. My daughter, Rachel, graduated from U of M’s satellite campus in Flint. I have never been to Crisler or watched the U of M basketball team so I am really looking forward to going. I am taking Monday off work as I am working all week-end at the Grand River plant. In another week I will be going to second shift so my card playing will be during the morning hours. It will be interesting to see who is online and playing at that time. Aussies? Brits? Unemployed Yanks? I’ll let you know.

New Look Coming to Blog

New Look to Blog may be Coming
My newborn blog may soon have a new look. I have asked DuggleBogey from goberude.blogspot.com to create a new banner for me. I have seen his work and it is spectacular. He is very creative and writes a very entertaining blog. I encourage everyone who reads this to go read DuggleBogey and make his blog one of your favorites. I will be getting links onto this blog as soon as my daughter can help me put them on. I will also be posting an add for Absolute Poker Blogger Tournament coming in May on this site as soon as my daughter can help. If anyone out there has any suggestions or can steer me towards how to make my blog more visibly enjoyable, please don’t hesitate to step up and help me.
Poker last night was interesting. I played a $2 Multi Table Tournament and while in that played .25/.10 No Limit game. I was up $12 at one point during the ring game but slowly leaked it all away until I finally ended the night up $2. I figured I may as well play the ring game as long as I was in the tournament. I finished 45th in the tournament for a profit of .64 cents. Gotta love it. J. Wife and daughter were watching American Idol so I was playing Poker. I watch very little TV except for some sports, i.e. Detroit Redwings and Michigan Wolverine Football, and two reality shows, Survivor and The Amazing Race. Instead I would rather waste my time with Poker and Golf. Thus the name of my Blog. My bankroll may not be growing very fast and my profits aren’t very big yet but I am a much better poker player now than when I first started out. I have really grown and know that I have more room to grow but look forward to the long and winding road that will lead me to poker riches.

Golf on Hold for now
Winter came back to Michigan so the next time I golf will probably be in a couple of weeks. In the meantime I am swinging my weighted club and trying to stay in 'golf' shape.

Fixing my Leak in Poker and my Hook in Golf

Changing Games and trying to fix my biggest Leak
I have had a bit of success this past week-end with playing No Limit Ring Games with .25/.10 blinds. I find that one of my biggest assets is my patience. I am able to sit and wait for the good hand and then be aggressive when I get it. I am going to continue to play this game for the rest of the week and see how I do. I think it will be more lucrative then my SitNGos.

My biggest leak is becoming overly in love with my hand and not trying to project what hand my opponent has. Case in point. I am playing a SitNGo and I limp in with Queen/Jack offsuit from the Big Blind. The flop adds the King and Ten so I have a straight draw with no Flush possibilities. I make a medium size bet. The turn is another Ten and I make another medium size bet. I only have one caller at this time. The river is the Ace I need to complete my straight and the boards is still a rainbow so I’m not worried about the flush. I lead out with a good size bet and get raised. I reraise all in only to fine my opponent calls and hold the Ace/Ten, making his boat and sending me home short of the river. What did I put him on, a set of tens at the most or maybe a set of any of the cards showing. My rookie mistake is that I did not figure the boat as even a possibility. I was even suspect of a set as he never raised my earlier calls and figured at the very most he had two pair. I just jumped in as fast as I could get my mouse to click on pushing my stack all in. I know this has been my biggest problem so now I am fixing it. I am playing with a large note on my monitor telling me to “Slow Down” and asking “What is my Opponent holding??”. I am making it a point to think back over the hand and how did the betting go?: Am I being slow played? Was my opponent on a draw and did he get his flush make his straight? I realize that I must fix this fast and come up with the correct answers a majority of the time or I will not be very successful as a Poker player.

Two Days of Golf
I played golf both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was warmer and sunnier but the course was wetter than on Sunday. Sunday was cooler and cloudier but it is amazing how much dryer the course was in only one day. Don’t get me wrong, it was still quite wet but significantly better than on Saturday. I played 18 holes and shot 43/46 for a total of 89. Not bad for first time out with wet course and wet greens. I am very excited about my golf this year. Looking forward to playing a lot as I purchased membership on Sunday to Briar Ridge Golf Course, here in Montrose. I believe I can say that swinging my weighted club the last month really made a difference. I was hitting my short irons almost a club length longer than normal. It has to be from swinging the weighted club and working on getting my hips into the downswing. I was making crisp contact with the ball and the shots were just rocketing off my PW, 9, 8, and 7 irons. I was hooking my fairway wood and my driver so I will have to work on them. I think I am doing something with my wrists, causing the hook. I will work that out at the driving range in the next couple of weeks.

Golfed on Saturday!!

Poker starting to come around

Poker is still a roller coaster ride of ups and downs this week-end but I am finishing in the money more than I had a few days ago so things seem to be coming around on my SitNGos. I did play No Limit ring game with .25/.10 blinds on Party Poker on Saturday. The $25 dollar buy in netted my a nice $20 dollar profit after about a hour of play. Now I have to ask myself, “Why haven’t I been playing there all along?” Good question. Mostly it is because I don’t like Party visually. I don’t like the fact that the same ‘people’ are at the table all of the time. I find it hard to get a read on anyone. Will definitely have to play there more, though. I talked to my daughter about opening an account on Full Tilt. Absolute is great for SitNGos but not for ring games. Mostly just Six Max and the people come and go way to fast for my liking. You will have six people at table and in two hands be down to just 3 than another comes and another goes and so on and so on………. it just sucks.

First outing of the year!!

Golfed yesterday at our local course, Briar Ridge Golf and Country Club. It was very wet but playable. If the wind keeps blowing and we don’t get too much rain, it will be real nice by next week-end. I played pretty good for not hitting a golf ball at all this year. Swinging my weight club really helped as I was able to hit the ball good. No birdies, a few bogeys, and quite a few pars. I thought I played really well and putted well on slow greens. Kept my head down, got my hips into the swing and generally hit the ball well. Short game was good as was able to chip close and drop a couple of putts to save par. It looks like it is going to be a good golfing year for me.

The Roller Coaster Ride that is Poker

Roller Coaster Ride
Poker is such a roller coaster ride of highs and lows, summits and depressions, peaks and valleys. Two days ago I am winning or finishing in the money on almost every SitNGo I play in and thinking that my game has really come around and I am ready to move to the next level. Flush draw? No problem, the card I need will be there on the river. Straight Draw? No problem, the cards I need will be there on the river. Top pair, sets, you name it and I was hitting them and finishing in the money time and again. Now the worm turns and the roller coaster has reached its peak and is plummeting down that first steep grade and I am screaming bloody murder, holding on for dear life. Everything that was going right has turned around and has come crashing down. If I am dealt suited high cards the flop comes with single digit rags or all the wrong color. If I am holding suited Ace/Queen, Ace/King, Ace/Ten, etc. and I am able to flop two more cards of the same suit and am drawing for a flush that never appears. In fact my opponents seem to be getting every flush draw, every set, every TPTK, you name it.
I was finally able to break through into the money last night after losing about six straight SitNGos. That may not sound like much to many of you but that is quite a losing streak for me, especially lately. And its not like I am going out 8th or 9th. Many of the games I have been eliminated in 4th place, on the bubble, one spot out of the money. That seems to hurt worse.
What to do? Don’t panic, don’t tilt. Just continue to play good cards and make the right bets. Maybe tighten up a little bit and before you know it the tide should turn and I should be back winning again. That is so much easier said than done. It is hard not to tilt and try to wish that card to appear when you need it most and when I doesn’t, bet it up anyway hoping your bluff pulls you through. Or you figure in the pot odds after raising 4 times the BB and you continue to raise after the flop and turn to finally get the Ace you needed on the river only to be called by someone that went in with suited 3/5 and find out (after another big raise to keep anyone from getting the correct pot odds) that they hit their straight with that Ace that gave you top pair. There goes more than half your stack and now you are the short stack at the table with six people remaining and the blinds are $150/$75.

Bitter…………..I’m not bitter. HAH!!

Hopefully Poker is character building and I am able to pass the test it is giving me. If I fail miserably then I better reevaluate my play and figure out what I am doing wrong or maybe even give up playing online poker altogether. That will be a last resort, though.

Warming up. Going to the Range this week-end
The weather in southern Michigan is warming up and as long as we don’t get too much rain we may be golfing and a week or two. I am going to the driving range this week-end (probably Saturday) and hit a small bucket of balls. I’ll probably just hit my irons for now, a 7 iron and my pitching wedge and maybe hit about 10 balls with the driver just to get a feel as to where I am at with my swing at this point. I am still swinging my weighted club every day and working on starting my downswing with my hips and coming from the inside. I’ll let you know how it goes at the range.

Good Poker Week-end

Good Week-end of Poker
I had a good week-end of poker. I primarily played the $2.40 SitNGos at Absolute and was quite successful. I feel that I am every bit as good as the people playing them and probably better. I just had to prove to myself that I was ready to move up. I had taken a stab at the $2.40 game before with mixed results but felt if I was unable to really dominate the $1.20 and .60 Cent games, how could I justify moving up to the higher limits with better players. Well, I began to do well on the lower limit games and felt it was time to move up and I am glad I did. I have found that, for the most part, the players on the $2.40 SitNGo are just a bit tighter than the lower limits. With 9 players in all, two are still pretty loose and go out early and three play fair but still see too many flops, and then there are about four players that are tight aggressive and are the ones to beat. So far I have had a pretty good record. I just stay patient until I have what I feel is the best hand and then bet it up pretty good. My patience is what is my biggest asset as quite a few of the players will play too many hands and will find themselves shortstacked to myself and the tighter players. By not playing as many hands and getting the image of a tight player, when I do play I can win sometimes with less than the best hand as they think I would only be betting when I have the nuts. It also allows me to steal some blinds which helps build up my chip stack.
I’m going to keep at the $2.40 games for another couple of weeks to see if my success continues at the rate it is now. If it does I may stick my toes in the water of the $5.50 games and see how I do there.
I’ll keep you posted.

Golf is just over the horizon!
It looks like we may be golfing in another few weeks here in Michigan. Weather is suppose to get into the mid-50s all this week-end and if that hold and the ground thaws, we should be able to hit the links by early April. I am swinging my weighted club almost every day now and working on a full shoulder turn, starting the downswing with my hips, and bringing the club down on an inside path. I am really going to try to draw the ball this year but failing that, will just settle for hitting it straight.
If the weather warms up this week-end I will probably start assembling a new set of clubs to play with this year. I have some Calloway Acer iron heads and some nice rappaport shafts to put them on. I’ll add the grips and will be out on the links with some new clubs. I am hoping to get a higher ball flight with these clubs than what I am playing now. These clubs should play like Calloway X-16’s where the clubs I am playing now are like the Ping G3’s.

Does the Size of the Bankroll Effect Performance?

Does the Size of the Bankroll Effect Performance?
No poker for two days and maybe three. Family and work obligations have cut into my poker playing time. I hope to play a SitNGo or two tonight. Going to move up to the $2.40 game and see how effective I am.

I know my title is a play on words but here is what I am facing. I started playing on Absolute Poker with a $200 deposit with chance to double it via 100% promotion. I have had it as high as $150 and as low as $8 in the last five months. Right now it stands at $125. This is my poker bankroll at this time. Can I add to it?? Yes, but not without subtracting from another area, i.e. taking my golf membership money and applying it to poker. Will I do that? Maybe. I would only do it knowing that I had the potential of really growing my bankroll because I could play in ring games, MTT’s, or SitNGos with higher buy-ins and, thus, the chance to earn higher payouts. Conversely, I realize that my golfing days may be over if I lose my higher bankroll. Right now my goal is to play with my bankroll as it stands and attempt to grow it via good, strong play and then as my bankroll grows, move up in games. I am already at the point where I have graduated from 60 cent and $1.20 SitNGos to $2.40 and have moved up from .05/.10 ring games to .25/.50 games. If my bankroll starts to take a hit I will just move back down and try to rebuild it.

I have a friend at work that is always asking me about my poker playing and her asked the questions, “Does your bankroll effect your play?” I told him that I try not to let it effect my play but to be totally honest, yes, it does. In my mind, that is the wrong answer. I should be playing good solid poker, whether on a .60 cent SitNGo or a $100 dollar SitNGo. I should be bringing my best game no matter the buy-in. Do I do that every time? Probably no, but I sure try to. I do find myself in the late stages of a SitNGo playing not to lose instead of playing to win. I will get really, really tight in an attempt to make the final three and get into the money. I should be just as aggressive and trying to take down the pot and if I lose to a better hand, so be it, but if I am playing good, strong, aggressive poker, I should come out ahead in the majority of those situations and get into the money with a bigger bankroll to give me a better chance at winning instead of just making it into the money.

I’ll keep you updated on how I am doing with my bankroll and how my game is progressing.