Going On Vacation

I'm headed to where I grew up in Northern Michigan to take a nice 3 day vacation, visiting my Dad and playing golf with my brother. Won't be much poker played the next few days.

Here's where I will be playing golf on Monday.

I did win a $26 Token on Full Tilt today but bubbled in 2 table SitNGo on PokerStars when my A/10 all in ran up against A/K in the BB and GG me.

See you in a few days.

Ramblings

Its time to get your ticket to the Brittbloggerment 15 for this Sunday.

I won't be able to play as I will be on crosscountry trip to Northern Michigan to see my dad and play some golf with my brother. I am hoping to appear at this tourney on July 8th, if possible.

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No winnings the last two days in my Poker Challenge to build my bankroll on PokerStars. I am 0 for 4 in my last four SitnGos. Mostly due to not getting the cards when I needed them and some bad play, overbetting without the nuts, running second best hand into the best hand like when table leader gets Pocket Aces twice in three hands and the second time I am pushing all in with A/4. Oops...... IGHN.

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I am posting a lot lately at Raise the River poker forums. We need some more Yanks to start posting on this site to offset the British influence that is already there. Of course, 3 Brits started the site, thus the British influence. Still, you Yanks start posting on Raise the River and help make this the Premier Poker site on the web.

Critique my play?

The following hands took place very late in 2 Table SitNgo with 4 players remaining and we are all in the money. How aggressive should you be?

Poker StarsNo Limit Holdem TournamentBlinds: t300/t600(Ante: t50)4 players Converter

Stack sizes:UTG: t7790Button: t3255SB: t12515Hero: t3440

Pre-flop: (4 players) Hero is BB with UTG calls t600 (pot was t1100), Button folds, SB calls t300 (pot was t1700), Hero checks.

Flop: (t2000, 3 players)SB checks, Hero bets t1600, UTG calls t1600 (pot was t3600), SB folds.

Turn: (t5200, 2 players)Hero is all-in t1190, UTG calls t1190 (pot was t6390).

River: (t7580, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t7580)

Results:Final pot: t7580

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Another hand, same scenario, 4 players remaining, all 4 are in the money.

Poker StarsNo Limit Holdem TournamentBlinds: t300/t600(Ante: t50)4 playersConverter

Stack sizes:UTG: t5300Button: t3255SB: t11615Hero: t6830

Pre-flop: (4 players) Hero is BB with 2 folds, SB calls t300 (pot was t1100), Hero raises all-in t6780, SB folds.Uncalled bets: t6180 returned to Hero.

Results:Final pot: t1400

Challenge moving upward - Part Deux

My challenge on Poker Stars got a bit of a boost this morning when I finished 1st and 2nd in a pair of SitNGos and adds about $7 to my PokerStars bankroll. I'm up over $40 now. I am getting close to where I can move up in stakes and try to really grow my bankroll. I figure if I can get it over $50 that will give me a little more room to manoeuver.

I posted one hand at Raise the River so head over there and see what you think. Also, you should have this site bookmarked on your Blog Roll and start using it as we are hoping to make Raise the River the next big site in Poker Forums.

Week-end Wedding

Mrs. Wolverine and I went on a nice little 3 day week-end vacation to attend a wedding in Traverse City, Michigan. The weather was beautiful, the food was wonderful and the company was incredible. No poker, no internet and no internet but I did manage to win $34.50 playing black jack at the Turtle Creek Indian Casino. So I did manage to feed my gambling addiction a bit, as it were.

The wedding was held at the Ciccone Winery, owned by the father of one Madonna Ciccone. You may have heard of her. It was very nice. Outdoors under a clear, blue Northern Michigan sky. A good time was had by all and plenty of wine was drank.

Check out new Poker Site - RaiseTheRiver.com

Listen up everyone, there's a new Poker Site in town and you can get in on the ground floor and help make it the best Poker site on the web. Look out 2+2, Pocket Fives, PokerWants and any other site you can think of.

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Seriously, you have the chance to help create a poker site from the ground up. One you always wanted to be a part of. A site where you can review hand histories and not get ragged on by some 18 year old know-it-all. We have the chance to set the tone of this poker site and make it our own. A site everyone will be proud of to be a part of.

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Shuffle up and Deal!!

Katja Thater wins RAZZ even #29 at WSOP

News Flash!! Katja Thater took down the RAZZ event number 29 at the WSOP in Las Vegas. This is the second final table Katja has made in the WSOP and this is her first WSOP Bracelet.

Live by the River, Die by the River

The river has not been my friend lately. I won one very big hand when I hit a 4 outer on the river but then it turned unmercilessly against me and the rest of the day the river was not my friend.

In the Britbloggerment tournament I started off playing like a donkey trying to offset the very tight play you see during that tournament. I was semi-successful as I won some hands I shouldn't have but lost just as many so I was sitting down to $713 in chips when I was dealt Kd Kc in the Big Blind.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t30 (6 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP (t1520)
CO (t2130)
Button (t1635)
Luckbox21 (t1595)
Wolverine Fan (t713)
UTG (t2907)
Preflop: Wolverine Fan is BB with Kd, Kc.

4 folds, Luckbox21 raises to t90, Wolverine Fan raises to t150, Luckbox21 calls t60. I only minraised here because I wanted action with my Kings. I needed chips and I put Luckbox on just trying to bully the shortstack and steel my blind. I needed to double up, not just win the blinds .

Flop: (t300) 9d, Tc, Js (2 players)

Luckbox21 bets t563, Wolverine Fan calls t563 (All-In). He puts me all in here and I am happy to call as this flop is scary but I need the chips.

Turn: (t1426) Qh (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t1426) 2c (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t1426

Results:

Wolverine Fan has Kd Kc (straight, king high).

Luckbox21 has Qc 7c (one pair, queens).

Outcome: Wolverine Fan wins t1426.

The next hand is where the river saved me with a 4 outer and that put me in excellent position to finish in the money or even to take down the tournament.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t150 (5 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Button (t1869)
SB (t2235)
Mikesaban (t8799)
UTG (t2375)
Wolverine Fan (t2551)
Preflop: Wolverine Fan is MP with Jc, Kd.

1 fold, Wolverine Fan raises to t450, 2 folds, Mikesaban raises to t1200, Wolverine Fan calls t750. I raised PF here just trying to take down the blinds. I had really tightened up after playing very loose early on so now I wanted to steal the blinds. Mikesaban was just using his big stack effectively and had taken down quite a few pots after the break. I typed that he can't be getting that many good hands and said what the hell and I called his PF bet

Flop: (t2475) Qh, Ac, 5d (2 players)

Mikesaban bets t1050, Wolverine Fan raises to t1351, Mikesaban calls t301. I have no idea why I went all in here. I had fold equity. This was a real donkey move by me.

Turn: (t5177) 4c (2 players)

River: (t5177) Th (2 players) Saved by the river.

Final Pot: t5177

Results:

Mikesaban has Ad Kc (one pair, aces).

Wolverine Fan has Jc Kd (straight, ace high).

Outcome: Wolverine Fan wins t5177.

I get to the final table and down to the final 5 players with top 3 places getting paid. The river now turns against me and I lose two hands and am out of the tournament. Both beats were administered by ResdentEvil, a very good player. The first one my pocket 9s went all in vs his A/Q off and the dreaded queen came on the river. Preflop I am ahead 55% to 45%. After the flop of Jh 8h 2c I am ahead 75% to 25%. The turn is the 5 of spades and now I am sitting at 86% to win this hand when the dreaded queen hits the river.

That hurt me but I still had chips until my A/K runs up against ResdentEvil's Qh 7h (suited hand). I'm ahead 63% to 37% preflop. After a flop of Kh Jh 5s I am ahead 69% to 31%. The turn is the 5 of diamonds which puts me at 82% to win this hand when Resdentevil makes his flush on the river when the 4 of hearts hits. I had a few chips left but essentially that was the end of my tournament. Fifth place.
ResdentEvil went on to win the tournament so I feel that at least I was beat by the winner and truly contributed to his ability to win the tournament.

Oh well, that's Poker.

Poker Stuff

My blog friend Jan of 50 Outs has finished in the money in 4 WSOP tournaments so far. He has made the final table of one tournament and made the final 18 of another tournament. Needless to say he is having an excellent WSOP this year. I am really looking forward to him going deep in the big No Limit Holdem Tournament.

His fiance` Katja Thater is having a good tournament, also, with one final table (that I know of) in the Women's Only tournament where, despite not feeling well, she finished a solid 5th. Dr. Pauly reported on his blog that she was not feeling well.

Speaking of, if you want some of the best coverage of the WSOP make sure you are reading Tao of Poker and Pokernews.com.

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I worked on my Poker Challenge at PokerStars a little today. I played a 2 table SitNGo and finished 2nd and I played .25/.50 Limit Holdem Ring game and lost a buck. I was up then down and then finally crawled back to just below even.

I'll post some hands later this week.

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On hands I posted last week:

Hand 1, I folded to his bet on the turn. I was going for the backdoor flush draw at that point and when I didn't get my card I folded. I put the villain on A/K or K/Q.

Hand 2, I kept betting and raising until the cows came home as I didn't figure anyone had the jack the way the betting was going and, as it turns out, no one did and I took down a nice size pot.

Burnley Mik (UK Blogger) thanks for reading and I'll make sure on my hand histories to include type of game and amounts. This was .25/.50 Limit Holdem. I am plaing the microstakes to help build my bankroll and, hopefully, can move up in time.

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Burnley Mik (UK Blogger), my friend across the pond, is trying to get up a Blogger league. Give him a read and see if this is something you would enjoy.

They also have a great Sunday Tournament, the Britbloggerment on PokerStars. Check it out. We need a yank to win that thing soon.

Success at WSOP forJan at 50 Outs and a couple of Hand Histories to debate

Congratulations to my Blog friend Jan of 50 Outs and his fiance`
Katja Thater, a member of team PokerStars. Jan has cashed at least three times now at the WSOP, finishing 56th in the $1,500 pot limit holdem event #3, finishing ninth and 18th in two other events. Katja has cashed at least once, also.

Jan was one of the first blogs I started to read regularly almost two years ago.
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How would you play these hands??

Wolverine Fan is MP3 with :9h :Ah UTG folds, UTG+1 calls, MP1 raises, MP2 folds, Hero calls, CO folds, Button calls, SB folds, BB calls, UTG+1 calls.

Flop: :4d :Ac :5h (1SB, 5 players)BB checks, UTG+1 checks, MP1 checks, Hero bets, Button calls, 2 folds, MP1 raises, Wolverine Fan calls, Button calls.

Turn: :Kd (0.5BB, 3 players)MP1 bets, Wolverine Fan ???
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Hand Number 2:

Pre-flop: (10 players) Wolverine Fan is SB with :Ah :As 3 folds, MP1 calls, MP2 folds, MP3 raises, CO folds, Button calls, Wolverine Fan 3-bets, BB folds, MP1 calls, MP3 raises all-in $1, Button calls, Wolverine Fan calls, MP1 calls.

Flop: :6d :Tc :Jjd (0SB, 3 players + 1 all-in - Main pot: 0SB)Wolverine Fan bets, MP1 raises, MP3 calls all-in $0.5, Button folds, Button folds, Wolverine Fan 3-bets, MP1 calls.

Turn: :Jc (4BB, 1 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: 0BB, Sidepot 1: 3BB)Wolverine Fan bets, MP1 calls.

River: :7s (6BB, 1 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: 0BB, Sidepot 1: 3BB)Wolverine Fan????.

Don't look now but some Poker content to follow!!

I played a bit of poker today. I had just about an hour before dinner so I sat down at Poker Stars and fired up a 2 table SitNGo and joined a .25/.50 Limit Table. What a wild ride I had!! In the SitnGo I lost half of my chips early when my Pocket Kings went up against the mighty A/3 offsuit only to see the river reward my opponents donkey play with an Ace and my $1500 dollars in chips were now $750 dollars. Several hands later I find myself with A/10 offsuit in middle position so I go all in right away. My previous opponent decides to call with a small pocket pair along with another chap who shows A/K off. It is 3 players to the flop and I am sucking hind teat at this point.

But a flop of A/rag/10 and another 10 on the turn guarentees me tripling up!! Whoo Hoooo!! Now I had some money to work with. In no time I was at the final table and shortly after that we were down to five handed with 4 getting into the money.

After about 30 minutes of give and take, back and forth, up and down the button bursts and we are 4 handed, in the money. In just a short while it was down to 3 handed and that is as far as I got as my Ace/9 saw a flop of a 9 high board and when I went all in my opponent turned over................................................................a slow played pair of Pocket 9's and GG me.

The .25/.50 Limit Holdem ring game was every bit as eventful. Early on, my pocket Kings hold up and I rake in a large pot. Then a little later my A/Q loses to runner/runner flush and then my second pair of pocket Kings loses to the almight 10/Q when a ten hits the flop and the rivered queen tells me to "Ship it" to the villain.

But justice was soon to be mine as I find myself with pocket 6s in middle position. After a raise and a reraise I call and see a glorious flop of 4, 10, 6 all rags! Bet! Raise! Turn! Bet! Reraise! River! Ship it! I double up my buyin against two others on that hand when my set holds up for a nice little profit.

So my challenge got refueled with a few dollars and I am back up overall, just short of the $40 dollar mark. Hopefully I will be able to build it up to around $50 in the next week or so.

What the hell is Spotted Dick??

No, its not some communicable disease you get from bedding harlots. My Brit readers are probably chuckling right now because Spotted Dick is a steamed pudding, containing dried fruits, usually currants. The dessert is especially popular in the United Kingdom, usually served either with custard or with butter and brown sugar.

My daughter spent 3 months in

St. Andrews, Scotland in her study abroad program through the University. Before then and, certainly, ever since then, we have been in love with everything British. One of our favorite shows that we watch on DVD is Midsomer Murders. It is an English crime drama series, based on books by Caroline Graham, is filmed mostly in the villages and towns of the rural counties of Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.

John Nettles plays Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby of the Causton C.I.D., a laconic, down-to-earth detective who faces many ingenious and remarkable murders (usually several in each episode) amid the eccentric denizens of Middle England. It is a wonderful show and we love it dearly.

Find out more about it here, Midsomer Murders.

"Why?", you ask am I writing about Spotted Dick and Midsomer Murders? It's because I haven't been playing much poker and don't have much to write up about my beloved game.

My challenge is floundering and I am not building my bankroll as planned. (pretty much breaking even at this point) I just haven't had the time to play any serious poker. Summer in Michigan is too valuable to stay indoors. When fall and winter come I will be hitting the tables much harder but for now golf and the glorious out-of-doors beckons.

Remember, I work nights so I can only play during daylight hours and, during the day I would rather be on the links or by the pool. I will play some more when I have my nights off but they are few for now.