Change of pace and scenary

I have been away for awhile as far as poker comes so I guess I should fill you in on what has been going on. The poker league finished season 1 a couple weeks ago. We had 2 games to finish everything up on Tuesday, May 6th. It ended up coming down to the final game and literally, the final hand as to who won. There was a 3 way tie going into 3 handed action during the final game. The winner of game 2 went on to win the points and the big money. $80 paid out to the points winner with 2nd and 3rd place money being added together and split evenly to pay out the tie for 2nd place.

All in all it was a good time. There are many things that are going to be changed for the next season and that will include rules, chip stacks, blinds, and the introduction of antes. I think having the antes added in will create more pots and will get players to see more flops instead of just folding around until they get AA in the hole. Afterall, after the 5th level, it's going to cost you $100 just to see that AA in the hole. So we will see. I will start posting the points on this page so everyone can see them and the players involved will not be breathing over my shoulder and bugging me every Monday when the points get updated.

What else....I took a break from poker for a bit after the May 6th game. I was having a bad streak online and just not feeling well about my game. I took this time to catch on some Grand Theft Auto, baseball, and some reading. As I mentioned before, I read Kid Poker's book and now I am on the finishing pages of Gus Hansen's newest book "Every Hand Revealved". It's a great look into the Aussie Millions in which Gus took home the $1.5 Million prize.

Reading this book has helped me to understand playing the player and not the cards a little better. I am also learning more when it comes to pot odds and implied odds, such as, though you are getting 4 to 1 to call a bet, are you getting 4 to 1 to hit the card you need. So if it is $500 to call into a $2000 pot and the only card out there for you to hit is the only 5 left in the deck, do you call?

Anyways, I have just got back into playing online again and I played a live game the other night here with my family. I am back in Indiana for now so playing here is a lot different then playing in Minnesota. I know how these players play more often, very predictable. I took 3rd in the game we played Saturday night. I was in control going into 3 handed, but doubled up Kalvin on a race. All in all, a good game and I was VERY satisfied with my play.

Hopefully the end of May and a new month will bring some more ups. See you then.

Daniel Negreanu

I just finished and I mean just finished Daniel Negreanu's book, Hold 'Em Wisdom for All Players. It is his 50 best tips for any poker player. He talks a lot of bankroll management, certain cards to play and when to play them. He also dives into certain hands he has played, how to setup a home game and how the WSOP has grown.

One of the items he talked about was Poker on TV. As you know there is the WSOP on ESPN, the WPT on Travel Channel and GSN, and the High Stakes Poker on GSN. He states that High Stakes Poker is the best poker to watch on TV because they take 24 hours of footage and break it up into 13 weeks of shows. So do the math, you are seeing more hands played. The good thing there though is that you see the hands where the cut-off 3 bets and everyone folds around because they have crap or they fear the player. You don't just see the hands where you can deem them the "Degree All-In moment". I have learned a lot from watching High Stakes Poker, more than when I watch a WPT or WSOP event.

Anyways, the book has a lot of good information in it that I have begun using online and in some of my live cash games. Some of the information has helped, some I need to read again to get a better grasp of what he is really saying. The next book I have is Super System 2. I don't think it will take me a week to read this one, but I will start it tomorrow.

Tonight is the last game for Season 1 of the poker league. It doesn't have a name yet and I think it should have one. Mathematically, I can still finish in a tie for 2nd but I can't go any higher. Unfortunately, the top 4 get points and only players are playing. I have 3 people in front of me in the points so...you do the math there.

Anyhow, I will post who the winner is sometime this week. Then there will be a break in the action before Season 2 but hopefully there will still be some cash games and other SnG style games throughout the summer. I love playing poker so nothing is going to really get me to stop unless I lose all of my jobs and have no source of income.

That's all for now, see you at the tables.....

Going, going, gone!

No this is not about my bankroll so do not worry.  

My home tournament is coming to a close.  May 18th will be the last game.  It will be good to finally end a tournament that started in mid January and has been played about 2 weeks a month.  Having 2 games every time we play had taken a toll on me but it has been fun.  It will be interesting to see who will win the big prize.  It is a tight race for sure.  The top 3 are separated by only 3 points.  I will keep you posted. 

On another note, the swings are starting to swing up for me again.  I'm working on getting my Full Tilt account back up and my brother convinced me to join Ultimate Bet Poker which has been fun.  However, they have Blackjack on the site and that seems to be my downfall.  I need to stop.  I will.  

With joining Ultimate Bet, I used a site called "Rake the Rake", which gives me a percentage of every hand I play in's rake.  I haven't received any of my rake back yet, but when I do I will let you know if it is worth it.  

So that's it for now, nothing too excited, been taking it slow this week.  I'm sure there will be more updates and better stories soon.  

Cheers