An Eventful Tuesday

I had myself an interesting little Tuesday today. First, I called up pokerroad radio and got on the air with Joe, Court, and Ali today (see link below). I'm the first caller they talk to at around the 9-minute mark. A 37-year old father of 3 making six figures a year and I somehow am awestruck by a bunch of guys on an internet poker show. I've got serious issues....

http://www.pokerroad.com/pokerroad_radio/6-10-08/

After coming home from all-star softball practice and watching the Lakers win a game in which, I have to be honest, they didn't instill a lot of confidence in me, I sat down and played a little on Full Tilt. The first thing to happen was the below-listed hand. This hand just captures what it's like to play poker for any amount of time in your life and actually depend on it as a revenue stream. Standard hand....Overshove 100xBB with A-A and get a call from K-Q and he flops top two.....tytytytyty River Gods. Heart attack narrowly avoided.

Dealt to HGJ18622 [Ac Ad]
threesixtyflip has 15 seconds left to act
threesixtyflip folds
Punkieboy folds
pastafagoul folds
HGJ18622 raises to $7
tdoughdalock calls $6
__Acehole888__ raises to $35
HGJ18622 has 15 seconds left to act
HGJ18622 raises to $257.90, and is all in
tdoughdalock folds
__Acehole888__ calls $198.75, and is all in
HGJ18622 shows [Ac Ad]
__Acehole888__ shows [Kd Qc]
Uncalled bet of $24.15 returned to HGJ18622
*** FLOP *** [5h Kc Qd]
*** TURN *** [5h Kc Qd] [6h]
*** RIVER *** [5h Kc Qd 6h] [As]
HGJ18622 shows three of a kind, Aces
__Acehole888__ shows two pair, Kings and Queens
HGJ18622 wins the pot ($471.50) with three of a kind, Aces
__Acehole888__ adds $200
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $474.50 | Rake $3
Board: [5h Kc Qd 6h As]
Seat 1: __Acehole888__ (big blind) showed [Kd Qc] and lost with two pair, Kings and Queens
Seat 2: threesixtyflip didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: Punkieboy didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: pastafagoul didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: HGJ18622 (button) showed [Ac Ad] and won ($471.50) with three of a kind, Aces
Seat 6: tdoughdalock (small blind) folded before the Flop

Standard 2-outer on the river for a $500 pot. I then signed up for the $23K on TILT which I like to consider my personal tournament. I probably play this tournament 5-6 nights a week, have won it twice over the last 18 months, and generally perform well in it. Tonight, I played very well throughout the tournament and was able to get a hold of some chips through the middle portions of the tournament which allowed me to stay active as the money bubble approached. I actually sat down tonight with the mindset that I was going to play it just like I'm going to play the WSOP $2K in a couple of weeks. Each decision I was faced with, I would ask myself "What would I do if this was the WSOP and I was sitting at the table having to face my opponents?" This mindset usually prevents me from having mindless blow-ups and it worked tonight. I got really short with about two tables left, overplayed A-Q into A-K in a SB/button confrontation that left me with less than 10BB, but battled back to make the final table 5th in chips. From there, play was tight and I just waited for a couple of others to be busted. I played a hand horrificly when I saw a flop of 6d-4d-3h with Ad-8d from the BB. I played it incredibly passive when I should have been really aggressive with the nut flush draw and two overs. I didn't let it affect me too much and I got down to three-handed when the following hand occurred.

Full Tilt Poker Game #6780492895: $23,000 KO Guarantee (50818096), Table 1 - 3000/6000 Ante 750 - No Limit Hold'em - 5:06:21 ET - 2008/06/11
Seat 1: AZNEYES (629,020)
Seat 4: TheKlutch (417,594)
Seat 7: HGJ18622 (162,386)
AZNEYES antes 750
TheKlutch antes 750
HGJ18622 antes 750
AZNEYES posts the small blind of 3,000
TheKlutch posts the big blind of 6,000
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to HGJ18622 [Ad As]
HGJ18622 raises to 18,000
AZNEYES raises to 628,270, and is all in
TheKlutch folds
HGJ18622 calls 143,636, and is all in
AZNEYES shows [6c Qc]
HGJ18622 shows [Ad As]
Uncalled bet of 466,634 returned to AZNEYES
*** FLOP *** [Qs 3d 6s]
*** TURN *** [Qs 3d 6s] [Ts]
*** RIVER *** [Qs 3d 6s Ts] [Ac]
AZNEYES shows two pair, Queens and Sixes
HGJ18622 shows three of a kind, Aces
HGJ18622 wins the pot (331,522) with three of a kind, Aces
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 331,522 | Rake 0
Board: [Qs 3d 6s Ts Ac]
Seat 1: AZNEYES (small blind) showed [6c Qc] and lost with two pair, Queens and Sixes
Seat 4: TheKlutch (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: HGJ18622 (button) showed [Ad As] and won (331,522) with three of a kind, Aces

HOW SICK IS THAT? Twice, within hours, I get it in with A-A against two under cards, they flop top two pair, and I river a two-outer Ace. The 3-handed play lasted for an incredibly long time and they were both really good players. I finally CRAI on the flop with an OESD and "AZNEYES" made a good call with 2nd pair which somehow held up. With 4 KO's, the score turned out to be $2,705 which isn't too shabby. I made over $350 at $1/$2 NL 6-max in about 30 minutes so it was a nice $3K evening.

Unfortunately, the evening ended at 2:45 a.m. and I am now stone-dead in my office at work. I plan on playing the $535 150-seat guarantee on TILT this Sunday in an attempt to win a ME package. 15 MORE DAYS UNTIL THE WSOP!!!!!

Thanks for reading,

W2D

Here's a quick one...

Man....I played 3 more MTT's last night and cashed in all three. I've become a cashing machine but for anyone that knows anything about tournament poker, just cashing will usually be a losing proposition long-term. I need to FINAL TABLE something. I came in 17th out of 351 in a STARS $20 MTT after my Q-Q lost A-K with two tables left. I finished 40th out of 393 in the TILT $23K and 82nd out of 1393 in the TILT Midnight Madness. All of this moderate success makes me want to start putting in more quantity as I feel my game is really in tune right now. I need to make some minor adjustments to start building stacks late so I'm not always caught in shove/fold territory late but I know it's coming. The only real thing you can do is continue to put yourself in position late and sometimes cards and luck take over.

On another note, I wired $12,000 to Harrah's yesterday so I'm registered for Event #48 ($2,000 NLHE) and Event #54 ($10,000 Main Event). BRING IT ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for reading,

W2D

I'm still alive...

I am still alive although you wouldn't know it from this blog. I just returned from 4days of golfing in Palm Springs and am trying to actually put some hours in at work. All-star softball for my daughter is pretty much dominating my life right now and I have had very little time to play poker.

As always, I am obsessed with WSOP coverage and spend a lot of my days and/or nights reading updates and watching video blogs of the professionals. I CAN'T WAIT for the 26th. I neeeeeeeeeed to be at the RIO ASAP!!!!!!!

Just to give you an idea of how good I'm playing lately but how little I actually am...here has been my last week of poker. On May 29th, I played in exactly 3 MTT's. I took 11th out of 278 entrants in the TILT $17.5K, 39th out of 1500 entrants in the Midnight Madness, and 23rd out of 435 entrants in the $23K. I was close to $10K in paydays and ended up with three nominal cashes.......I next played on June 1st. I played in 3 MTT's as well. No cashes in the first two but won a $535 seat in a $50 satty for another profitable evening.....I played in one $11 18-man SNG last night and took 3rd. My quantity is horrible but my quality is good lately. I'm just gearing up for the WSOP.

May was my first losing month of the year so I will not attain my goal of 12 straight profitable months this year. I chalk that up to simply lack of playing time and a failure to obtain any level of continuity.

I love Gus Hansen's new book "Every Hand Revealed." It's unlike any of the other 5 million books I've read which is rare because there isn't too much innovative stuff out there anymore. I highly recommend it to all levels of players.

I'll check back soon...

Thanks for reading,

W2D

P.S. I threw in a random Matusow and me picture from the 2006 WSOP.

Mid-May Update

So many things are going on in my life that I don't know where to start. I wish I had a ton of poker content but that would probably call for me to be actually playing poker which I don't seem to do much of lately. I just returned on Monday from a 3-day cruise to Mexico for one of my best friend's 40th birthdays. We spent about 6 hours at Papas and Beers Cantina in Ensenada and managed to dispose of 12 buckets (10 bottles in each) of beer in that short time. It was an excellent time and great memories for my friends. I did manage to get in a little poker on the cruise ship as they have two of the PokerPro automated tables. They really aren't too bad to play poker on but the rake is un-fucking-believable. I sat down and played heads-up with a guy for about an hour. I had $300 behind me and he had $100 playing at $1/$2 NLHE. We played for 30 minutes and I had $250 and he had $50. $100 IN RAKE FOR 30 MINUTES!!!! They raked 10% of every single pot. If those tables actually ever caught on, the company that makes them would be a goldmine. I also entered a $150 SNG with 9 players that pretty much played like the super-turbos on FTP right before the Sunday $750K. I played exactly TWO pots the entire tournament and both times I moved all-in. I stole a couple of limpers the first time and lost J-J v. A-Q the 2nd time to be eliminated 5th out of 9. Whatever.....

I am currently down around $700 for the month of May in which I have probably played the least amount of poker in a month that I can remember in the last three years. I am going to have to get my ass in gear if I want to stick with one of my goals of having 12 profitable months this year. I am looking forward to next week as I will be in Palm Springs for my work's annual golf tournament. We will be in a very nice hotel and will finish up golf at about noon each day. You know what that means....Some SERIOUS action on Full Tilt awaits me. I plan to buy-in to the $1K WSOP Sat. on Thursday to see if I can't grab a Main Event package. I have a $500 buy-in to the 150-seat guarantee on Full Tilt but it is being played on Father's Day and I don't know if that's going to work. I might unregister for it and use the $T to enter the $1K.

The WSOP is fast approaching. As you can see from the ticking clock above, it's less than two weeks away. Listening to all of the poker series that are being played in Vegas during June and July in conjunction with the WSOP makes me realize that the poker world really revolves around these 45 days each year. If you consider yourself any level of serious poker player, there is no way you can skip being in Vegas sometime during this period. I've got my two trips planned and I hope it turns into more with having to keep coming back for Days 2, 3, 4, etc. of the Main Event.

I've been wanting to really write and insightful post about juggling fatherhood, work, and poker but the ironic thing is that I haven't had the time (I guess that makes sense). If I get a chance in Palm Springs, check back and I will try to provide some perspective about a 37-year old's view of poker and the poker landscape. I know there are enough blogs about jetsetters and 21-year olds crushing the live and online circuits. Maybe it's time for someone to give a different perspective on the "everyman's" look at life and poker.

Thanks for reading,

W2D

Where the hell have I been?

Almost 25 days between blog posts.....that's pathetic. My life has been a whirlwind lately and only a small fraction of it has been poker-related. I'm going to write this post in bulletpoint format only because I have a lot of minor thoughts I want to get across:

-I just got back from an 8-day trip to Disneyworld with my wife and 3 kids. It was pretty much the perfect vacation for us with absolutely no issues with planes, hotels, tickets, etc. There is a very serene type of satisfaction for a man when he can give his family everything they want in life. It does a lot more for your inner ego than anything I've ever found in poker.

-I was able to play some late-night poker in the hotel room in Orlando which allowed me to attain the "IRON" status on Full Tilt Poker. As I have said before, I'm not sure why I did that but it was a personal goal and I reached it. I usually got my 200FTP points each night by playing a ton of turbo SNG's. I would estimate that this "goal" of mine cost me about $1500-2000 for the month of April. I'm done with trying to play a set amount of poker each day.

-If I hadn't mentioned this earlier, Full Tilt finally set me up with rakeback!!! I got about $350 back for the month of April so I anticipate about an extra $500 per month. Not bad.....it adds up.

-Lately, I have really been feeling the problems that come with being a dad, husband, coach, police officer, and wanting to be a semi-professional poker player. My daughter recently made all-stars in softball and I am the third-base coach for the team so my weekends are pretty much swamped for the next two months. It's difficult to get into any type of rhythym with your game when you're playing one tournament every three days.

-The WSOP is less than 4 weeks away!!!! My plane and hotel reservations are set for June 26-29th at the RIO and July 5-7th at the Gold Coast. I'll be playing a $2,000 event on 6/27 and the Main Event Day 1D on July 6th.

-I was able to somehow end April as a profitable month meaning I have had four straight profitable months to begin 2008 (I was up a little more than $300 in April so it's nothing to write home about...)

-I've got two big weeks coming up where I will play an insane amount of poker and try to win a Main event package. May 27-30th I will be in Palm Springs for a golf tournament (that I run) and will be in a hotel every night. On June 16th, my wife and kids are flying to Montana for a week and I'll be home alone so you can count on some major rounding that week.

That's all for now. I'll try to have some more poker content in coming posts.

Thanks for reading,

W2D

Such Sundays! (<----Ship the $2K WSOP Package)

Yesterday was a great day for a variety of reasons. My wonderful and beautiful wife handled the the troops so I could put in a big Sunday of "work" in the poker room so for that I am always grateful to her. When she does that, it always gives me added incentive to make her sacrifices worthwhile. I actually only played in five MTT's yesterday but I made the most of them...

I satellited into the $750K on TILT and ended up cashing in that one which is always nice to cash in a major. I open-shoved J-J for 12+BB about 75 people into the cash and got snap-called by a guy for 50% of his stack with K-Q. King on the flop and that was it. I think I was out in like 480th place for a nominal $280 cash.

The big news of the day was my triumphant return to the WSOP bracelet race winner's circle!!! I took three of these down last year but hadn't had the opportunity to play in many this year. I played in the $75 buy-in with 70 players which awarded two $2,000 WSOP packages. I played steady most of the tournament....stepped on the gas with 2 tables left....then punished the final table enroute to the victory. I love winning WSOP packages and I know this is one of many to come over the next two months.

The other big news was my buddy Daniel's (Rubbarose/Spreadicus) performance in the late night MTT's. He was on my rail supporting me throughout the day and IM'd me saying "I just want to cash." Boy.....did he ever?!??! In a 2-hour span, he proceeded to make the final 3 tables of the TILT 50-50 and the turbo Fiddy. Those were good for over $350 in cashes. But his real damage was on STARS...He made simultaneous final tables in the $33 freezeout and $11-rebuy. He ended up taking 4th in both of them (virtually at the same time) for over $5K in scores. GREAT JOB, RUBBA!!!

While I was sitting there rooting him on from the rail in both of those FT's, I sat at $2/$4 NL 6-max on TILT and proceeded to book a $750 profit session on one table in 90 minutes. Nice win rate, eh?

So....it was a good Sunday. I've got a busy week of work ahead of me but will be heading to Vegas on Friday to run in a law enforcement race on Sunday. My leg is only six miles so in spite of my lack of training, I should be able to whip that one out pretty smoothly. I also plan on heading over to the Bellagio on Saturday to "stalk" Day-1 of the WPT Championship. It's a tradition for me...

Thanks for reading,

W2D

EDIT: I forgot to mention a couple of things. I have 200 FTP points every day in the month of April so far (13 days). I should have no problem achieving Iron status this month. There is absolutely no rhyme or reason to this quest and it's purely just for fun and nothing else.

Also...I will be in Vegas June 26-29th to play in a couple WSOP events and then will return on July 4th to play the Main Event. I'll be there without the wife so anyone that wants to hook up for drinking and degenerate money wasting, please give me a holler.

Steamrolling April...

Here are some random thoughts from the last few days:

-My MTT game seems to have turned around and I'm really feeling good about my play. The 3rd place finish on Sunday was solid and I followed that up with a 13th place finish in the $23K last night and I also won a $535 seat to the 150-seat WSOP tournament in June. I got K-Q in against A-J on a flop of A-J-10 in the $23K. Turn-10....River-10. OUCH!!!!!!

-Another Pro Bounty and T-shirt

Hello HGJ18622,
Congratulations! You busted Michael Craig in the following tournament:
$23,000 KO Guarantee (44235721)
We have credited your Full Tilt Poker account with a bounty prize of $70.00.
In recognition of your achievement, we would like to send you a special T-Shirt.

-Three weeks from tomorrow we leave for an 8-day trip to Disneyworld. I'm really looking forward to treating the wife and kids like royalty. I've got limos driving us to and from here in L.A. and in Orlando. Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!

-One of my goals for the year was to have 12 profitable months. I was stuck $1800 on March 30th for the month of March before that $2900 score so that allowed me to escape. January and February were good months so I'm up five figures so far for the year. If I don't win a WSOP ME seat, I just plan on winning enough cash to pay my entry. :):):0

-My daughter, Hannah, is crushing in softball this year. She leads the league in homeruns with 2 and is a force everytime she gets up to the plate. Monday's shot was a grand slam...

-Rubba and I are committed to crushing in April and we're well on our way. He has won a $216, $535, and $1060 seat in satellites the last 3 nights.

-I plan on attaining "IRON" iron-man status on Full Tilt this month. For no reason other than just a goal to acheive. I need 24 days of at least 200 FTP points. I have 200 for the first 4 days so far.

-I have my room booked at the RIO for the WSOP June 26-29th. I'll be playing in the $2k buy-in on the 27th and pretty much gambling on anything that moves the rest of the weekend. I have tons of work and online friends coming out that weekend so it should be fun.

-I'm playing the main event no matter what....

That's all for now.

Thanks for reading,

W2D