Poker and Golf

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

2008-12-19T20:35:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas Everyone

the Over/Under is 7

2008-11-03T20:00:00.000-05:00

I am placing the Over/Under for nationwide celebratory deaths when Barack Obama wins the Presidential Election tomorrow night at 7.

I figure the celebrations for the Presidential elections in the major cites, like Detroit and St. Louis and Los Angeles, along with the college campuses such as Michigan State University, University of California - Berkeley, etc. will account for approximately 7 deaths.

If McCain should win the election the over/under for suicides and/or moving out of the dreadful McCain led United States by the Hollywood movie stars or just by the left wing will be set at 10.

I'm Back!!

2008-10-29T20:35:00.000-04:00

At least for a little while. Probably post off and on and see how it goes for the next few weeks. Probably not a lot about poker and golf but a little about everything including beer and politics.

PREDICTION: If Barack Obama gets defeated on Tuesday by John McCain there will be rioting in the major U.S. cities the likes that haven't been seen since 1967-68. If
Ba rack Obama win the election on Tuesday there will still be rioting in the major cities of the U.S. but it will be like a winning the Superbowl type riot or winning the NBA Championship type riot. Either way the downtown businesses of major cities will have their windows broken and some cars will be burnt, including at least one or more police cars.

PREDICTION: If Barack Obama is elected president on Tuesday, he will get a free pass for the first two years of his presidency. No matter what happens in the first two years of his presidency they will blame it on George Bush. If there is a terrorist attach on the U.S., then George Bush should have know about it and stopped it. If the stock market plunges again it will be George Bush's fault. No matter what bad news happens to the U.S. for the next two years it will be George Bush's fault.

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I had a bottle of Shiner Black Lager from the Shiner Brewing Company of Shiner, Texas. They describe this beer as:

Bohemian Black Lager, crafted according to exactingold-world standards with imported Czech Saaz, Styrians Hops and selected roasted malts, is the darkest beer we brew. Initially added to the Shiner family as our 97 Anniversary Brew, the unique and complex flavor of this rare brew found such a following among our customers that we brought it back for good!

This was a very good dark beer and I wouldn't hesitate to get it again. This is the perfect beer for a chilly wintery night.

Holdem Manager looking good so far

2008-09-08T17:48:00.000-04:00

Holdem Manager is looking pretty good so far in just about an hours worth of play with it. Poker Tracker 3 worked pretty darn well but I am feeling pretty good about Holdem Manger. I was able to export my hands from Poker Tracker 3 and import them into Holdem Manager with no problem. Over 100,000 hands of poker. Not bad for a part time player. Now that it is getting into fall and approaching winter, my golf will be sharply curtailed and I will begin putting in a lot more hours at the tables.

I am pretty happy with may game right now. I just haven't had much time to play. The wife and I have been watching seasons 2, 3, 4 and 5 of The Wire and that has cut into my poker playing time. We will soon be doen with Season 5 and then I can start dedicating more of my time to playing some good solid poker.

Grinder School and Poker Trikz videos have really helped my and my 6 max Holdem Game. I just need some time to put the things I have learned into action. I feel really good about my game right now and know that with just some quality time at the tables I should see a big difference in my play and, hopefully, in my bankroll.

Blogger days are dieing a slow death

2008-09-04T21:58:00.001-04:00

My blogging days may be over. I don't know if I will quite entirely but my posts will probably be sporadic and may be more about beer than poker or golf. Not sure why I am not posting as much. Just seems like I am saying the same things over and over.

Speaking of beer. I bought a six pack of Estrella Damm, the Star of Barcelona, from my favorite Beer store, Horrock's.

I think this is a pretty good beer. It is described on the web site as a Pale Lager. To me this is a session beer that tastes really good on a hot summer day. I will have no trouble finishing my six pack and probably another as well. It isn't a full bodied beer and tastes more like national brews Coors and Budweiser but how often do you get to drink a beer from Spain at only $5 dollars a six pack? I'm looking forward to having the next one.

Beer Advocate rates it just a C and most of the reviews were not too happy with this beer. Rate Beer gives it about the same rating.

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I am about done with my Poker Tracker 3 trial period and am now going to load Holdem Manager and use it until its trial period is done. After that I will decide which one I like better. Places that have rated both seem to like Holdem Manager better and the cost for low stakes play is right up my alley. It already has an edge over Poker Tracker 3.

New Challenge is a challenge

2008-08-19T18:02:00.000-04:00

My new challenge has turned out to be a real challenge. So far I am am a little ahead in my attempt to make $10 dollars a day at $25 No Limit Holdem at PokerStars and Full Tilt. I went through a stretch where variance was kicking my butt and I literally lost 4 sets over sets in 3 days. What a bummer. And these were true sets where me and the villain both had pocket pairs and completed our set with one of the cards on the board, usually on the flop. Lately variance has changed in my favor and last night I won with a set of Aces against a set of Jacks.

It seems like if I win at Full Tilt, I lose at PokerStars and vice-versa. Overall, I am slowly moving my bankroll in a positive direction but I won't be moving up to $15 and $20 dollar challenges anytime soon. I will need at least a week of good solid play to finish off the $10 dollar challenge.

I tend to win more than just $10 when I win and have been losing a little more than a buy in ($25) when I lose. This is because I am multitabling and I may have wins on several tables and then make a nice pot to clear the challenge for the day and that puts me over the $10. Most of the time I am at $20 in wins when I quit. The opposite is true when I lose a buy in. I may be down a few dollars at a couple of tables then drop a big pot and that makes me lose more than just one buy in.

My discipline has come into question, too, as I oftentimes will win a buy in after only about 15 - 30 minutes of play and I am hesitant to quit as I feel I can win even more money. One night that bit me in the butt as I continued to play and lost a buy in with one of the aforementioned Set over Set hands.

A New Challenge

2008-08-07T20:35:00.000-04:00

My PokerStars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker bankrolls took quite a hit this past week. It was just one of those weeks where variance had to rear its ugly head and make a big loser out of me. Twice I lost huge pots to set over set and I lost numerous pots to flush and straight draws.

Unlucky me.

I really like the way I was playing the past week so I am not too upset that my bankrolls took such a hit. I was getting it all in with the best hand most of the time. I was folding to 3 bets and to the large river bet after the scare card hit the board. I was raising with good hands and getting the most value out of the hands I did win. I didn't lose every hand I played, just a few of the big ones. If I had won the set over set hands I would have been up for the week instead of down 6 buy ins.

So today I am starting a new challenge on Full Tilt and PokerStars. I am going to play until I win $10 a day and then quit. If I drop one buy-in, I will quit playing that day. I am going to do this for 10 days in an attempt to win $100. $10 dollars a day for 10 days - on both sites (so it is realy $20 a day for 10 days). I am reserving the right to deviate from this challenge by playing more if I feel the tables I am at are beatable. Its my challenge so I can make the rules as I go.

My goal as a poker player was to win enough money to pay for my golf and family vacations. $10 dollars a day would achieve that goal. I have fallen short of that goal lately so now I am going to try a new strategy and see if I can't kick it up a notch and try and get to the next level of my play.

If I can complete this challenge successfully, the next step may be $15 for 7 days which would be $95 dollars. Then $20 for 5 days for another $100 dollars. I may have a final goal of winning $300 by September 1st. These are realistic goals to have and hopefully will help me get back to playing some good Tight Aggressive poker and start back on the winning track.

I'll keep you posted on how I do.

Grinder School Videos helping me restore my Bankroll

2008-08-01T20:19:00.000-04:00

I am continuing to watch the videos at Grinder School and they are helping me to restore my PokerStars bankroll that took a hit the other night. I learn something new every time I watch a training video and am trying to apply that knowledge to my game. I have been able to make back almost two of the 4 buy-ins I dropped the other night with very limited play. I just haven't had the time to sit down at the tables lately. Winter is the best time for me to put in some marathon sessions. Summers in Michigan are too precious to be sitting in front of the computer.

Take today for instance. I worked my 12 hour shift overnight (7PM to 7AM), got home went to bed and woke up about 5 hours later. Two cups of coffe and some raisen bran and then I am off to Prairie Creek to play 9 holes of golf. I shoot a 42 for nine holes (1 over for the last 5 holes) and then I head home to play tennis with my daughter. We are using tennis to help us lose weight. My daughter doesn't like to exercise as it is boring to her but tennis is an activity that she likes to do. Niether one of us will be challening Nadal but we are outdoors, running around, sweating and burning calories so "good" is a relative term. We are much better than when we started 3 months ago and our goal of losing weight is working as we have both lost close to 10 pounds.

After Tennis I cook out on the grill and then it is back to work for another 12 hour shift. No time to play poker today because I was too busy being outdoors and enjoying a wonderful Michigan summer. There will be plenty of time to play poker when the gales of November come early.

Just Treading Water

2008-07-30T20:53:00.000-04:00

I am just treading water on the poker front. I haven't really been able to sit down for any length of time to play some good solid poker. I lost the 4 buy ins the other night and have been able to make only about one buy in back so far. I hope to remedy that tomorrow as I will have all afternoon to play some good solid poker.

Wish me luck!

I tied for my best nine holes of golf on Friday, shooting an even par 36 at Prairie Creek Golf Course in Dewitt, Michigan. I hit one bad shot in the whole round and it cost me two strokes. I was sitting at two under par after 6 holes when I came to the fairly easy par 5 seventh and hit my second shot into the water. I ended up taking a 7 on that hole. I parred out on 8 and 9 and finished up with an even 36 for the nine holes.

All of my best scores this year have come when my chipping and putting have been spot on and Friday was no difference. I was able to one or two putt every hole, including one 50 foot birdie putt that I was just trying to lag close. I made two putts to salvage par from knee knocker distance after misjudging the speed of the green by just a bit. One was a downhill putt that I managed to leave above the hole (which I never thought could happen) and was able to roll it in dead center. The other was a lag putt from quite a ways that went about 8 feet past the hole but I was able to hole the parr putt to keep my round going.

I am finally hitting my driver the way I should be hitting it. It has only taken me 3 months to figure out what I was doing wrong. If I were grading my drives I would put them at a C+ or a B now.

I have enough confidence in my game now that I feel I can play most any course at bogey golf and, hopefully, a couple of strokes under. I have fair distance off of the tees and with my irons and now that my chipping and putting are consistant I am getting some nice scores on my card.

This and That

2008-07-27T20:09:00.000-04:00

I sat down at a table on Poker Stars on Friday Night and ran into a maniac that was playing 75/60 (VP$IP/PFR) and he was winning everything. He stacked me twice. I tried to be really patient and get it in with the best hands and I did once out of the two times. This guy was playing any two cards and hitting trips, straights, two pair and bigger pairs than anyone at the table. He turned $25 to over $100 then lost back to $75 and was building it back up to over $90 when I left the table.

I was trying to be patient and was in a hand with him and one other player when he raised big and I folded only to see him turn over 5/6 off and he had hit his straight. I guess this was in my mind when I got 7/7 on the next hand and raised it big to try and isolate this nut. He reraises me and I call and he and I see a low rag flop. I push all in and he calls and turns over Pocket Kings. Now he gets the good hand and its Rebuy for me.

The next hand I get A/K off and again I raise up preflop to isolate the maniac and he reraises. The flop comes down 5, 7, K rainbow. I bet he raises and I push all in and he calls. He shows K/3 off and I have him dominated until the 3 comes on the turn and its Rebuy time again.

I left that table soon after that as everyone was not playing their game but were trying to stack the maniac and there would be 3 players raising big preflop and I did not see this as a profitable situation for me. In fact the rest of the night at other tables went downhill from there as I could not hit a single flop and when I did it was for second best hand.

It was a terrible night at the tables but I came back on Saturday and today to regain some of the buy-ins I had lost.
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Let me understand this. They (the prime time media) are saying that this 7 country, 10 day trip for Barack Obama is suppose to make him an expert in foreign affairs. That's like saying that if I go to the Detroit Zoo then I would be an expert in Animal Husbandry and Veterinarian Medicine. How absurb. One trip overseas does not an expert make and, arguably, doesn't even give the person a factual account of what is going on as they will be so out of touch with the situation when there are more than 40 media people in attendance, including all 3 network anchors, not to mention his own entourage. I heard there were 20 vehicles in his 'parade' when he was in Jordan or wherever.

I like how the media reports that 200,000 Germans showed up to see Barack Obama and failed to mention the free concerts prior to him speaking.

++ Pop Concert for Obama Fans ++
6:33 p.m.: The tens of thousands of Obama fans are being entertained as they await the senator. The reggae musician Patrice kicked things off, followed by the rock band Reamonn.

Not to mention campaign flyers, in German. Never heard of any of this from the American Media darlings that are in love with this man. What a bunch of shit.

Black, white, red or yellow, he is too liberal for me and has too many socialist tendancies.

Randy Pausch passed away today

2008-07-25T15:56:00.000-04:00

Today is an extremely sad day as Randy Pausch passed away. Randy Pausch found out he was dieing of pancreatic cancer so he gave his "last lecture" at Carnegie Mellon University and it was one of the most watched videos on U-tube.

If you haven't seen it I implore you to watch it and enjoy one of the best 'lectures' I have ever seen by anyone. I don't have the writing skills to describe what a tremendous person Randy Pausch is and what a valuable lesson he left our society with via his "last lecture".

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I won a buy in yesterday and gave most of it back today. I was sitting at two tables on Poker Stars that were just ripe for the picking. There were 3 players on each table that were in the 40+/10+ VP$IP/PFR category and I couldn't get a hand or hit a flop to save my life. I am a bit proud of myself for limiting my losses in the face of so much money to be had from these LAGs. If I could have hit one flop with a set or two pair I would easily have double up against these players as they had a hard time letting TP/GK go.

I hope to be back at it later today or tomorrow and get my money back plus some more.

No poker/no golf

2008-07-22T15:43:00.000-04:00

I haven't played any poker in the last two days and haven't played golf since last week. Hopefully will remedy both of those shortages soon.

I won the hand in my previous post where I had A/K off and flopped Broadway. I did raise too much on his flop bet but he got it all in with two pair and I doubled up.

That was a nice way to end my week of play.

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My daughter and I saw The Dark Knight this week-end and really enjoyed it. It was a little bit long though. They could have shortened it by 10 to 20 minutes and not lose much. Plus they really didn't set up a continuation or plot for the next movie if they have one.

If you go out to The Dark Knight site there is a game you can play with Batman on his Motorcycle type vehicle. Gotham City Street Chase

Now Christian Bale is in trouble so who knows what will happen.
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Estelle Getty of 'Golden Girls' fame dies at 84. A sad day for fans of the Golden Girls. My daughters are real fans of the show and one even said that Bea Arthur is like another grandmother to her. Sad day for hollywood.

Was my flop riase too much?

2008-07-21T11:33:00.000-04:00

I had been at this table for a bit and the villain is around 30% VP$IP/15% Pre Flop Raise. I had him as someone I wouldn't mind going up against but would treat him with respect on account of his numbers.

Did I raise too much on the flop after his bet?

Poker Stars, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com -
Hand History Converter

Hero (MP): $18.15
CO: $22.75
BTN: $5.95
SB: $1.05
BB: $27.60
UTG: $27.15

Pre-Flop: dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $1, CO calls $1, 2 folds, BB calls $0.75

Flop: ($3.10) (3 Players)
BB bets $1.75, Hero raises to $9, CO folds, BB calls $7.25

I'm not sure if I hit the pot button on my raise or if I just was too fast in making a raise. I have a bad habit of acting too fast and not thinking things through enough and that was the case here. If I had to do it overagain I think I would have minraised him or maybe just a $5 dollar raise. If I had not raised so much I may have kept the Cut Off in this hand as I really had flopped the nuts and maybe could extract more money from two players instead of just one.

Warming up to Poker Tracker 3

2008-07-18T16:27:00.001-04:00

I am warming up to Poker Tracker 3. I am using it more and more and it is starting to work properly on both Full Tilt and Poker Stars. It has helped me make a couple of decisions during play already so I am starting to get the feeling it is going to be worth the investment. I have 52 days remaining on my trail period and I am going to use up almost all of them before I make a decision. I will be loading Poker Manager soon so that I can determine which one works best and will purchase accordingly.
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I am drinking Harpoon Hibernian Ale right now. It is on sale at my most favorite Beer Store and I have purchased one six pack and soon hope to be buying another one or two. This beer is brewed in New England at Harpoon Breweries with two locations in Boston, Mass and Windsor, Vermont. Their tag line is "New England's Craft Brewery".

They describe their Harpoon Hibernian Ale as:

HISTORY OF THE STYLE
Harpoon Hibernian is an Irish red ale. In its first year of production, it was available only on tap in the Greater Boston area. This was Harpoon’s salute to and the celebration of St Patrick. The following year it became Harpoon’s official spring seasonal beer. “Hibernian” comes from the name Hibernia, which is Latin for “winter”. This name was given to by the Romans who were unaccustomed to the land’s cold weather.

CHARACTER
Harpoon Hibernian Ale features a deep amber color. The flavor is malty and complex. Hibernian Ale has a moderate hop finish that, along with the generous amounts of malt, makes for a medium bodied, smooth, rich beer. Try serving Hibernian with a hearty stew… the beer’s robust character will compliment the bold flavors.

The overall character is a complex maltiness with a deep amber color.

Beer Advocate rates this beer a solid B with comments like, "Not a bad Irish red, a nice seasonal" and "Overall a good beer, and a standard example of the style".

I really enjoy this beer as it is a nice tasting session type brew. It has a good flavor and goes down very smoothly. The price I am getting it per six pack makes it as good a buy as Killian's Irish Ale.

A sign of the Apocalypse?

2008-07-15T17:54:00.000-04:00

InBev, the world's leading brewer, just got bigger. Headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, InBev employs almost 89,000 people worldwide. With sales in over 130 countries and now they are adding Anheuser-Busch the makers of Budweiser, Michelob, and many, many others.

InBev and Anheuser-Busch Agree to Combine, Creating the Global Leader in Beer with Budweiser as its Flagship Brand. Combination Will Create One of the World’s Five Largest Consumer Products Companies Company to be Named Anheuser-Busch InBev.

The combination of Anheuser-Busch and InBev will create the global leader in the beer industry and one of the world’s top five consumer products companies. On a pro-forma basis for 2007, the combined company would have generated global volumes of 460 million hectoliters, revenues of $36.4 billion (€26.6 billion) and EBITDA of $10.7 billion (€7.8 billion).

Anheuser-Busch and InBev together believe that this transaction is in the best interests of both companies’ shareholders, consumers, employees, wholesalers, business partners and the communities they serve. Budweiser, together with Stella Artois and Beck’s, will become the combined company’s leading global brands, leveraging InBev’s expansive international footprint.

InBev's most famous brews are Beck's Beer and Stella Artois and a host of other brews you probably have never heard of like Leffe, a Belgium brand of Abbey Beer or Brahma, a Brazilian Beer.

World Series of Poker Final Table is Set

2008-07-15T17:43:00.000-04:00

The 2008 WSOP $10,000 NLHE World Championship Final Table:
Dennis Phillips 53, St. Louis, Missouri, 26,295,000
Ivan Demidov, 27, Moscow, Russia, 24,400,000
Scott Montgomery, 26, Perth, Ontario, Canada, 19,690,000
Peter Eastgate, 22, Odense, Denmark, 18,375,000
Ylon Schwartz, 38, Brooklyn, New York, 12,525,000
Darus Suharto, 39, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 12,520,000
David Rheem, 28, Los Angeles, California, 10,230,000
Craig Marquis, 23, Arlington, Texas, 10,210,000
Kelly Kim, 31, Whittier, California, 2,620,000

I'm pulling for the old guy, Dennis Phillips. I just turned 53 the other day so if Mr. Phillips can win this tourney at the age of 53 then there is hope for me some day soon. Or maybe just to keep my senility at bay and make enough money to pay for my golf and vacations. That would be sufficient.

A bit discouraged

2008-07-14T17:27:00.000-04:00

I am a bit discouraged with Poker Tracker 3. I am having a difficult time to get it to work correctly and, from reading the forums, I guess I am not alone in this. I wonder if it is better to purchase it and get Poker Tracker 2 and Poker Ace Heads up Display and use them instead of Poker Tracker 3?

Any ideas, suggestions out there?

Most of the problems are getting the Heads Up Display to work correctly. I have had some sucess for a few games and then I have had some real bustos with it where I wasn't working at all or giving me stats for players that weren't even at my table.

It's almost like getting a Christmas or Birthday present and opening the box only to find that all of the pieces aren't there and you have to return it to the store. Can't play with it right away and all of your excitement is lost and turns to depression.

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I started reading about Holdem Manager and now am wondering if this is the direction I should head. Many people on 2+2 forums like Holdem Manager over Poker Tracker 3.

Happy Birthday to Me

2008-07-09T20:52:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday to me,

Happy birthday to me

Happy birthday dear Wolverine Fan......

Happy Birthday to me.

Today is my *%(@#) birthday. I am as old as dirt.

On the day I was being welped by my wonderful mum so was Jimmy Smits, American actor, Willie Wilson, American baseball player and Steve Coppell, English football player and manager.

While my mom was straining to push me out of the womb (where I was very comfortable) the song "Rock Around Clock" hits #1 on Top 100 chart on this day and was playing in the background.

Now for the big news. My family is giving me Poker Tracker III for my birthday. Is that a great family or what??!! Look out. Now I will have statistics, heads up display and tons of data on all the donkeys I'll be stacking as well as infinite data on my own game that will help me hone my skills so that anyone I play will be pwned!

Look out American, Wolverine Fan has just been handed the ultimate weapon of destruction to all On Line Poker Rooms.

I have met the enemy and it is me

2008-07-07T23:03:00.000-04:00

I sat down at Full Tilt today to play a short session while I waited for the downpour outside to stop and lost a buy in to the biggest Donkey move that anyone could make. I WAS THE DONKEY!! I MADE THE STUPIDEST MOVE EVER!! I had pocket Kings and managed to lose to trip jacks. On the flop. After a raise and reraise. The donkey move was I wouldn't let those damn Kings go. I knew I was beat and I just reacted too fast to the all in and dropped a buy in.

I'll never get to be a really good player until I can stop myself from making donkey moves like that. I know the game better than that. I know the game enough to know that Kings aren't the nuts. I know the game enough to know that these are the type of decisions that mean the difference between being a winning player and a losing player.

I can watch all of the videos in the world and if this is how I continue to play I will never get any better. And I mean to get better!! Maybe this was just the thing I needed to wake me up and sit back and take stock of my game and how I am playing it. Not very well if this is any indication. Maybe this is just what the doctor ordered.

I am going to pledge here and now that I will learn from this mistake and I will not repeat it and I will become a better player and I will be a winning player. Period. Full Stop.
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Yesterday I was raving about the HBO show The Wire and I said it had several episodes. I meant Seasons. I think it has been on for 5 or 6 seasons and just concluded this past spring. We have watched seasons one and two and should be starting up with Season 3 this week.

Andre Royo plays a character in The Wire called Bubbles. He is a Criminal Informant (CI) and a junkie. This man deserves and Emmy award for his acting. Bubbles is perfection personified as a junkie that will go to any extremes to get a fix or to get money for a fix. He steals coppper and resells it and he even goes into an ambulance to try to steal drug paraphanalia.

Michael K. Williams is another actor from The Wire that deserves and Emmy, too. He plays Omar who steals from other drug dealers. He plays this character to perfection. It is acting like this that makes The Wire so good. I don't know how The Sopranos got to be so critically aclaimed and I barely heard of The Wire.

I loved The Sopranos and thought it was a really good show but I like The Wire a lot better. I think I like The Wire better because the good guys sometimes win whereas The Sopranos was mostly about bad guys and how they would screw people over. I think this is going to be one of those series that when it's over I will be really bummed and there will be a big void to fill for good stories, good acting and just good television.

mmmmm, Beer

2008-07-07T02:50:00.000-04:00

Not much to report on the Poker front. I am just treading water the last few days, playing break even poker. I guess I may have won a few dollars but not enough to really mention. I will be taking a short break from playing which may help rekindle my game. We are only talking a day or two away from the tables. I will keep watching videos from Grinder School and Poker Trikz which should help my game improve.

I bought a couple of sixpacks on sale at my favorite beer store, Horrock's. The one I am drinking now is Leinenkugel's Northwoods Lager.

The Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company is reintroducing Northwoods Lager to Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and select distributors in Michigan and Illinois beginning February 4th for a limited time. After a two-year hiatus, the award-winning brew will re-join the Leinenkugel’s family of premium craft brews on retailer shelves.

Northwoods Lager, which was first introduced in 1986 as a fall seasonal and quickly became a year-round favorite in 1990, is a handcrafted blend of select barley malts and aromatic, bittering hops. Brewed in small, high-quality batches at Leinenkugel’s brewery in Chippewa Falls, Wis, Leinenkugel’s Northwoods Lager features a deep golden color and a smooth, robust flavor.

This is a really good session beer. It is amber color and goes down smoothly. This may be one of my most favorite beers to sit down with at home and partake in 3 or 4 at a sitting.

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My wife and I have discovered The Wire, an HBO show. It has been on for 5 or 6 episodes but since we don't get HBO we weren't all that aware of it. Now that it is out on DVDs we have been devouring it and have already watched Seasons one and two.

What a great show. Excellent story lines, excellent acting and more action than the Sopranos. I like this show way more than I liked The Sopranos.

We hope to start watchig Season 3 by the end of this week.

Happy Birthday America!!

2008-07-03T17:36:00.001-04:00

Grinder School subscription paying for itself

2008-06-28T01:39:00.000-04:00

My Subscription to Grinder School is already paying for itself. I have learned so much by watching the microstakes videos and have been able to apply that knowledge to the tables.

Spenda (Cullen) and Jyms (Jim) have such an excellent way of teaching. They explain their plays extremely well and use the timer button to give them more time to really go in depth on why they are calling/folding/raising the hand.

Microstakes could possibly be the hardest levels to beat because you have such erratic play from a variety of players. You have players limping with Aces/Kings/Queens, playing any two cards at any time, buying in really short and leaving the tables after just a few hands. You have players that are really bad and some players that are really good but are playing this level due to bankroll limitations or other reasons. The combination of these things makes it extremely difficult to make the plays that gives you the best chance to win.

Spenda (Cullen) and Jyms (Jim) show you that by playing solid ABC poker you can win at these levels and build a bankroll that will help you move up to the next level. Do you win every session? No but you will win more than you will lose if you watch the videos and really, really work on your game using the techniques they are teaching.

Do you want to be a winning poker player starting at the microstakes level? I suggest you get your subscription to Grinder School, start watching the videos and participating in the forums and then apply what you have learned at the tables. I guarantee you will win at the microstakes level on a consistent basis.

I'm Back

2008-06-27T00:34:00.000-04:00

I'm back from a week's vacation and another few days off of work. I was ready to give up this blog but decided I would just type away when I felt like it and about what I felt like typing about. I have always tried to keep it poker related but now will be putting in some posts about non-poker stuff.

This past Saturday may have been my one worse day at the tables ever. And I didn't even realize it. What a dweeb!!

I was playing on Full Tilt and I was multi-tabling the microstakes and I was being so arrogant and felt like I should be dominating these players that I forgot where my fold button was and only could find the raise/all in button. The culmination was when I raised PF w/ K/10 suited from the button as mostly a blind steal only to get called by the Small Blind and the Big Blind. The flop was a beautiful 9/J/Q with two hearts. I had flopped the straight.

Both blinds check and I raise and then the Small blind reraises, the Big Blind folds and I push all in. The Small Blind turns over A/Q of hearts and has a flush draw. The Turn was nothing but the river was the 7 of hearts and IGHN. That was when I closed down the tables and realized that I had just lost over $100 dollars playing microstakes.

Since then I have turned things around and have won back 2/3s of what I had lost. I just started to play smarter, found my fold button and waited for my chances where I had a better chance of winning than just a race. And it has worked.

Last night there were a ton of players buying in as short stacks then trying to go all in with any ace/rag or pocket pair. It was like shooting fish in a barrel. Just be patient and pick your times to call and lo and behold you find out they have nada and you have them dominated. The only time I called a shortstack all in with less than prime cards was when I had K/4 suited and went up against A/6. The villain flopped and Ace and a 6 but there was a 3 and a 5 and a 7 came to give me the straight and send them packing. By all accounts I should have folded and should have lost but I didn't and after that I went back to only calling with premium cards.
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I was given a 10 pack of Summer Ales from World Market and I drank the Stoudts American Pale Ale from Stoudts Brewery in Adamstown, Pennsylvania. This is their Flagship Beer and has been their number one selling beer ten years running.

Beer Advocate rates it a sold beer and most everyone had very nice things to say about it. I can sum it up by saying this is a Classic American Pale Ale.

I really enjoyed this beer and would really like to have a few more of them but, alas, my 10 pack has only the one so I will be trying another different one tomorrow.

Them's Quad Beaches!!

2008-06-15T13:23:00.000-04:00

Comeback Kid

2008-06-12T16:32:00.000-04:00

I have continued watching Grinder School videos and it must be helping as I have had 3 winning sessions in a row. Today's winnings would have even been higher if I hadn't run my full house into quads. The villain commented, "I had a good hand." My comment back was, "Ya think?"

Grinder School has been everything I hoped it would be and more. I know I won't have winning sessions every time out and I know that variance will slap me up side of my head again but the videos are helping me to make the right decisions when I play and that should lead to more winning sessions overall.

I know that I will be reupping at Grinder School when my current subscription runs out.
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I watched a bit of the U.S. Open today. Tiger was being Tiger. Missing fairways but scrambling to make his pars. He was at 1 under par when I was watching. Phil had taken his driver out of his bag and was hitting a 3 wood off of the tee and he wasn't even getting that into play. He was at 3 over when I had to stop watching to go to work.

Well things turned around for both players. Tiger had two double bogeys on the back nine to end up at 1 over par and Phil must have straightened out his 3 wood as he was 3 under on the back nine to finish up at even par.

Phil will never achieve the status of Tiger but he could help his reputation immensely if he can beat Tiger heads up in this Tournament. The first two days they will be paired together then after that it depends on scores. If he can beat Tiger on Thursday and Friday and then go on to win the tournament, it will really be a big deal for him.