Ugh...

I hate baseball/football/soccer/theatre/band parents. You know the kind - the fanatics that all think their kid is the 'next-big-thing'.

I just got off the phone with Rachel*. Apparrantely Rachel has a different coaching strategy than the one I'm employing with my kids. Here's the gist of the conversation...

247: Hello?
Rachel: Hi steeler, this is Rachel. I'm XXXX's mom.
247: How are you?
Rachel: (she doesn't answer my question and gets to the point) I wanted to ask if you are planning on making XXXX bat off the Tee everytime?
247: No. What I normally do during practice is toss the kids around 10-15 balls each. If they don't hit it, then I will get the tee as a last resort.
Rachel: I don't want my daughter hitting off a tee.

silence...

Rachel: hello?
247: I'm sorry? If they don't hit the ball when I pitch to them, then I have no choice.
Rachel: Well, she's going into slow-pitch softball next year, and she has to be ready for it.
247: Actually, I am preparing her for it. I've set up different hitting stations showing them how to hit. And...
Rachel: (cuts me off) I don't want her hitting off a tee. Only babies hit off a tee.
247: Thats not true. I've been coaching for along time. I still have the oldest kids I have hit off a tee. In fact its a really good way to see them develop the right mechanics.

silence...

247: hello?
Rachel: So you aren't gonna make her hit off a tee?
247: I'm gonna teach her to play the game the best I can. She'll come around.
Rachel. I do not want her hitting off a tee.
247: You realize in a game she is only given 5 pitches. If she misses them then she has to hit off the tee.
Rachel: Can I pitch to her then.
247: Do you remember the first day of practice when we didn't have a coach? When they gave me this team I asked if I could have another parent help out and no one was willing to help. Including yourself.
Rachel: Well I can now.
247: Great! I am going to need you to fill out an application with the league and once its approved I'd love to have you out there.

silence...

Rachel: Well. I hope you don't make her hit off a tee.
247: I hope she won't have to either. You should work with her from home. Try and...
Rachel: Some of us work steeler. (now I don't know what she's implying, but it aint good)

silence...

247: anyway, Have her at the field on Saturday morning at 8:30. We'll see you there.
Rachel: Yes you will.


She then just hangs up. WTF?!? This is why I don't like coaching kids this age. I don't mind the older kids, but the young ones always have parents that freak out or think they can do better. I called my assistant, who is a Sheriff's deputy, and he starts laughing at me. That bastid. (it was funny in hindsight) He said she won't fill out the application cause she won't pass it.

Baseball is in full swing. Wish I was Kent's coach.


*her real name. i'm not scared of her or her kind.

My fave

Thought I'd share a favorite poem of mine.


Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

- Dylan Thomas

Baseball

Sorry for not posting. Been very busy.

This year I agreed to work with my oldest son's baseball team. I love coaching the 10-11-12 yr olds. These kids are usually grounded in good fundamentals and can take to coaching better. I can be tough with them and they respond well, and the parents generally don't mind.

I've had the priviledge of working with a UT legend at my last job. Brian Cisarik helped me tons with hitting tips and such and I love incorporating his ideas now when I teach my own kids. I never knew he was such a great ball player until he was in the office one day and saw that I was coaching a team and offered to help. If you saw Brian you would not think he played baseball. He doesn't fit the typical baseball build. He's around 5'-10" and around 135lbs, and that's being generous. He used to come in the office 3x a week just to talk baseball and I loved it cause the boss couldn't tell our best client to leave.

Well I also enrolled Thomas in Coach-Pitch* baseball. When I take him to his practice, the head of the league show's up to tell me that 3 parents had backed out of coaching this team and that they were gonna probably disband our team. He then asked if I would coach them. I told him that I was already coaching and he puts this guilt trip on me in front of the parents. Bastid. I then decide I would do it. Ugh. Not that I don't like this age, but these kids don't listen. At all. I can handle my own knuckle-headed kid, but other people's knuckle-headed kids is taxing on the soul. But we will survive.

Anyway our first game is this Saturday at 11am. Our team is the Lakeway Veterinarians. That has a nice ring to it.

Not.

* a variation of T-ball where the coach soft pitches 3-5 pitches to the hitter. If no contact, the T is then brought out for the player.

Oh well...

I'm actually playing better in big MTTs lately. I feel i'm on the cusp of winning a big one, but lately I need to avoid being unlucky. I saw Deemon playing this, so I joined as well. Over 400 people to start and I busted in 59th. Of course only 45 places paid. I'll eventually get there...

Seat 1: Shermy (6,235) She just got moved to my table.
Seat 2: steeler247 (4,478)
Seat 3: dcross71 (3,310)
Seat 4: whosgotwhat (4,584)
Seat 5: BillyIn4c (6,913)
Seat 6: BIMMER99 (8,961)
Seat 7: enchilada_15 (10,560)
Seat 8: stillrollin300 (14,820), is sitting out
Seat 9: Shostopa (37,673)
steeler247 posts the small blind of 200
dcross71 posts the big blind of 400
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to steeler247 [8h 7d]
whosgotwhat folds
BillyIn4c folds
BIMMER99 folds
enchilada_15 folds
stillrollin300 folds
Shostopa folds
Shermy calls 400 I don't know why she didn't raise preflop. This had me thinking...
steeler247 calls 200 I complete the discount.
dcross71 checks
*** FLOP ***
[6h 4s 5c]
steeler247 bets 400 I flop the nuts but hope to get reraised here with my small bet.
dcross71 calls 400
Shermy raises to 1,600
steeler247 calls 1,200 I thought about pushing here, but I really needed to gamble and let dcross come in too.
dcross71 calls 1,200
*** TURN *** [6h 4s 5c] [Js]
steeler247 bets 1,200
dcross71 raises to 1,260, and is all in
Shermy raises to 3,200
steeler247 calls 1,228, and is all in TD, I get all my chips in with the nuts against 2 people. I'm liking life ...
Shermy shows [6c 6s]
steeler247 shows [8h 7d]
dcross71 shows [Td 7s]
Uncalled bet of 772 returned to Shermy
*** RIVER *** [6h 4s 5c Js] [5d] shermy catches a 10 outer. Not a huge suckout, but i was more than 80% to win on the turn.
Shermy shows a full house, Sixes full of Fives
steeler247 shows a straight, Eight high












afterward I tell her good luck and she replies:

Shermy: thank you. oh, hey, are you the same steeler from FTF?

I should have said no.

even funnier... I start watching Deemon after I bust and shermy stops by her table. She tells her of her suckout and wished Deemon good luck. Just as she says this, Dee gets all her chips in with the best hand she'd seen in awhile [JJ] but runs into [KK]. Nice 54th place.

We were shermied.

Misery loves company.

-247

Virus!

I have a virus on my computer and it sucks.

I noticed it two days ago, or at least I noticed something odd when I turned on my computer yesterday morning and my Norton Anti-virus told me it has an internal error and that it needed to be removed and reloaded. I tried to run a virus scan and find that Norton 2005 is corrupted. No worries, I removed the program and got the disc and reload but when it reboots it tells me the software is corrupt. Ugh.

Then I tried to log onto AIM and the button wouldn't work. I tried right clicking it to engage the program but it told me that AIM was corrupted. So I removed it and reloaded it and It tells me that it won't reload properly. I reboot again and now several buttons won't work on several websites including this one.

So I go to Norton's homepage, where they can do a remote system check, and it tells me that ActiveX is blocking the check and it sends me to a link that I can fix this. Well I do this and the buttons now work, but when I try and reload Norton 2005 it still doesn't work. And when I'm online, it will suddenly reboot the whole computer. I think I may have to reformat the hard drive. I want to buy an external hard drive to save some personal files and all my music mp3s but i'm worried the virus will jump over there too.

I run Windows XP. Anyone have any suggestions?

Player out!

That was said last night about 4 minutes into my live Greek Bros. Tourney.

I was talking with Tommy prior to the game. Tommy runs the Farmers game and we were discussing how to get past this big field of goons. I told him I was gonna play aggressively after the flop and make em pay me off. It seemed sound enough at the time.

The dealer starts to deal for the button and viola... I get it! I joked to Ike (co-owner Farmers) that it was gonna be the only thing I won all night. Boy was I right.

I'm on the button and UTG raises to 100. Blinds at 25/50, so this is the standard raise in this game, sadly. Everyone folds to me and I just call with TT. Remember: aggressive POST flop. Both the blinds fold and its me and UTG girl.

FLOP: Qh Th 5h

Freaking TD! I set, but I'm worried about the flush draw. UTG bets 100 again, and I reraise to 500 and she just calls.

TURN: 5c

Another freaking TD! Now I want her to be on the flush. Again she bets 100 and I just call.

River: 7h

Now I'm praying she's on AhQ and made the nut flush. She bets 100 again and I think for around 15 secs or so - wondering if she'll call an all in. I push my last 1800 in the pot. She actually takes like 15 secs deciding to call while she looks back and forth at her hand and the board. She calls and shows me QQ.

gg steeler. guess I could have made a smaller reraise on the river to keep myself in the game.

Dee's notes...

Ok. I have the opposite effect with Deemon. Yesterday I take a print screen shot of Kent to print his notes and he busts when I finish.

Dee - well she gets AA on this hand and double's up. Sweet.

Sorry Kent...

I find Kent in the 6k and I still have this funny note on him, so I thought I'd post it on here. Soon as I hit Ctrl+PrntScrn he busts.

My bad.

Welcome to Big D

Not since Lee Harvey Oswald has there been a more hated person in Dallas. And now the Dallas Cowboys can call him teammate. Yesterday, Jerry Jones proved winning means everything, and signed the most hated player in Dallas Cowboys history. What does this mean for me? Well, I grew up hating the Cowboys. I hated the America's Team mantra. I hated the damn star. I hated the blue and silver. I hated em. Hated em.

I was a huge Oilers fan. I remember as a kid I nearly cried when Bum gave his famous 'next year we are gonna kick the damn door down' speech. I remember the Oilers as 2nd tier talent and the Cowboys were always winning.

But now... I love the Cowboys. Why? Well because it gives me so much ammunition for this upcoming season. This town is filled with Dallas fans and I'm on an island as a Texan fan. Dallas fans will open their arms wide and forgive easily, their new savior.

Their hypocrisy knows no bounds.

Worst SnG ever...

I may make this a weekly thing. We'll see how it goes. For this week, this rounder, jayman00, was a true idiot. He actually gets 2 entries on worst played hand...

Seat 1: Sean1077 (1,710)
Seat 2: duecesrmynuts (2,700)
Seat 3: trucker3652 (150) Donkey made bad play and got himself short. I'm gonna raise to isolate just him and knock one out
Seat 4: jayyman00 (1,125)
Seat 5: mouse1 (1,050)
Seat 6: steeler247 (2,265) 6 hands in and i'm doing fine.
jayyman00 posts the small blind of 20
mouse1 posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to steeler247 [5c Ah] I hope these are the cards to do it.
steeler247 raises to 150
Sean1077 folds
duecesrmynuts folds
trucker3652 calls 150, and is all in Like i figured he'd call.
jayyman00 calls 130 The more the merrier. I'm hoping to check this down.
mouse1 calls 110 Mouse played every single hand so far. I'll bust him later.
*** FLOP *** [5s 2s 3d]
jayyman00 bets 40 This pissed me off. Unless he has the nuts, why bet into a dry side pot? I've had a bad run lately and this set me off...plus the guy only minimum bets all the time. i don't want to make bad players good at the table, but this is just stupid.
mouse1 calls 40 Again he calls.
steeler247: come on jay
steeler247: what the hell?
steeler247 raises to 2,115, and is all in So I have top pair and redraw to str8. and I'm pissed.
jayyman00 folds wussy
mouse1 folds
steeler247 shows [5c Ah]
trucker3652 shows [Qc Jd]
Uncalled bet of 2,075 returned to steeler247
jayyman00: wow homo and ironically he's mad at me and calls me a homosapien. well duh.
*** TURN *** [5s 2s 3d] [9c]
*** RIVER ***
[5s 2s 3d 9c] [4h]
steeler247: i woulda checked it down and i woulda.
steeler247 wins the side pot (120)
steeler247 shows a straight, Five high
trucker3652 shows Queen Jack high
steeler247 wins the main pot (600) with a straight, Five high
trucker3652 stands up
jay's mad at me and said he had KTs and thought it was the best hand and that was why he was betting with it. he'll challenge me to a heads up game later...

few hands later...

Seat 1: Sean1077 (1,770)
Seat 2: duecesrmynuts (2,740)
Seat 4: jayyman00 (855)
Seat 5: mouse1 (800)
Seat 6: steeler247 (2,835)
duecesrmynuts posts the small blind of 20
jayyman00 posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to steeler247 [Td 9d]
mouse1 calls 40
steeler247 calls 40
Sean1077 folds
duecesrmynuts calls 20
jayyman00: lets go into a bigger pot, then we will see Here's his internet challenge
jayyman00 checks with 22
*** FLOP *** [Th 2d Js]
steeler247: haha
duecesrmynuts checks
jayyman00 bets 40 He flops the set and decides to keep 2 people in the hand with his minimum bet and the possibility of straight draws.
steeler247: lemme guess...$1000?
mouse1 calls 40
jayyman00: if thats all you got then fine
steeler247 calls 40 I call with middle pair.
duecesrmynuts folds
*** TURN ***
[Th 2d Js] [6d]
jayyman00 bets 80 Now he gets aggressive and makes it 2 bets to go. I now have middle pair and a flush draw. I'm not going anywhere.
mouse1 folds
steeler247 calls 80 i call.
*** RIVER ***
[Th 2d Js 6d] [5d] I make my flush
jayyman00 bets 280 Now that he can be beat, he decides to become aggressive. What a tool.
steeler247: gg jay
steeler247: you played well I'm talking shit now.
steeler247 raises to 2,675, and is all in
jayyman00 has 15 seconds left to act
jayyman00: i guess i let you get me out Duh!
jayyman00 calls 415, and is all in
Uncalled bet of 1,980 returned to steeler247
*** SHOW DOWN ***
steeler247 shows [Td 9d] (a flush, Ten high)
jayyman00 shows [2h 2c] (three of a kind, Twos)

He still insists i sucked out, which i did and that he played the hand correctly. We have an open $1000 HU match "anytime I'm ready for it."


For the record, I won this SnG. Mouse was out on the next hand when I busted him with QQ v A2. And I actually won a huge pot against duecesrmynuts later when he called a bet on the river with Q high. Yes. Q high.

-s247

If i were president...

Gas prices just went up to $2.50 a gallon. There should be no reason why gas is that high in Texas. No reason. Three weeks ago we were finally seeing some relief at $2.00. I can't help but think, with all the record profits by the big oil companies, that there isn't some type of cronyism going on. But hell if I were president, would I do anything different? Pry not.

Here's my cabinet:

Vice President - Kent Hrbek. We need at least one Ivy Leaguer in the White House and this guy would be the perfect Dick to my Dubya. Now that sounded far worse than what I really meant, but I'll leave it up for the mere shock value of it.

Secretary of Defense - Khanwoman. Even the boogie man is scared of her. She pulls no punches and we'd be nuking Mexico if they decided to raise prices on fake rolex's and pinatas. I'd have to agree with her.

Secretary of Agriculture - SlySelea. This guy knows crops. His pick on corn futures made rao an overnight millionaire.

Secretary of Interior - Tough one. Everyone I know on the forum seldom goes outside so we may have to leave this one blank. Managing parks and such isn't the strong suit of any forumer and we may have to outsource this one. Pry get Chuck Norris.

Secretary of Labor - I don't think anyone on the forum is qualified for this. Most of us are unemployed. Then again, being Labor Secretary would mean one less person unemployed! Tell me my policies don't work and I'll call you a liar! My vote is for allenray4. He just started working and is pry the most qualified.

Secretary of State - Topanga14. She's the most level headed person I know and wouldn't take crap from Checkrayzikstan. Plus she would look hot in those business suits. And I'd love to see her work out videos ala Condy Rice.

Secretary of Transportation - Deemon. She's always traveling and has more frequent flier miles than anyone on the forum. Her office would be located in the Wynn - High rollers suite. If she doesn't want this job, she can always be Director of NASA. She's the only one who would understand all that math. Or the only one who actually cared for all that math.

Secretary of Homeland Security - TomFornelli. He's Italian. No one messes with Italians. Something tells me Big Pussy and Tony Soprano would be on speed dial. That can't be a bad thing.

Secretary of Veteran Affairs - Who's the oldest on the forum?

If i didn't name you as a cabinet position never fear, there are tons of non-Cabinet, yet equally cool positions on the Supreme Court, FEMA, NSA or CIA. Lemme know what works best for you.

- s247

Poker sucks, at times.

Thursday was the worst run of cards I'd seen in some time. I played (4) 4 seaters and (3) 6 seaters and did not make the money in any of them. Then I got my final divorce papers yesterday which was icing on the cake. I was talking with IlliniFan and decided that the bad run was all in my head and I would play the Tier 3 using my $75 token.

I knew right away it was going to be tough. Not because of the level of play in this high buyin, but because all these people qualified as donkeys in smaller satellites to get there. Very first hand the UTG raises to 100. Button reraises to 400 straight indicating he had a monster. Blinds all fold but the UTG was not phased and smooth called with his monster. The flop came 10 7 3 with 2 spades. UTG checks to button and button pauses, then pushes all in. UTG calls immediately. UTG had K8s in spades and button had AA. Of course the spade fell on the river and the action started. I really hate/love these type of players. For the record no one at the table thought there was anything wrong with the way this guy played this hand. Very next hand the K8 guy was back to 1500 chips when he got in a raising war with someone preflop and pushed all in with pocket 3s to KK with the KK holding up. K8 guy was the first to be busted out.

As for me, I picked up chips early and was making a nice run. Three people were out early and I was sitting with around 1600 chips and in 2nd. I was playing aggressively when I had hands and letting go mediocre's to start. Folded AT twice in early position. Then the hand that did me in. I was dealt KK in the BB. The table folds to the SB who raises to 120. I decide to reraise in this instance and made it 420 to go. The SB was the chip leader by 40 chips or so and I wanted to let him know that it was not wise to tango with me right now. However the SB just calls the bet. The flop came 49T and the SB pushes all in for all his chips. I immediately call and he shows AJo. He had no flush draw or straight draw and was down to catching any of the 3 remaining aces or running straight or running flush. Catching the Ace would be too easy. This guy caught runner runner for the straight and knocked me out in 6th.

Nice read idiot.

















I decided that I was done with poker for the night, but instead signed up for Tom's game. I was short stack for the longest time before making a few nice double ups late (thank you Freaky) to get back in it. When Freaky was chip leader he would raise the exact amount of chips I had left. That guy is a tool. Most think he's a good player, but I see him as wild. He's challenged me more than once to million dollar heads up play. Always funny. In the end we get 3 handed and I felt that I was playing against a team. The were avoiding playing each other and seemed to be gunning for me. No problem. In the end I pushed all in with A5s and Freaky called with KJ and caught his Jack and knocked me out in 3rd.

Tough ending to a shitty day.

-steeler

March Madness cont.

If you want to sign up for the $5 NCAA Bracket its still not too late. The group name is Full Tilt Freaks and the pw is pokerpros.

I'm thinking this year's winner is coming from the Big 12. Pry a homer pick since UT is in the conference, but I don't have UT as my pick. In fact, I went another way: Kansas.

Ok thats not easy to say. In fact I think Texas will make it to the Elite 8 but have a hard game against Duke. They lost big to Duke early in the season and I think Texas still feels that they (UT) are a top team, but not one of the elites, and this may play a factor in this game.

Atlanta region:

Texas A&M over Syracuse: Aggies are coming off a huge high by beating their rivals UT and they are posed to make a good run. I think this 5 v 12 seed matchup is poised for an upset. Syracuse had a good run in their tourney to get in the tourney, but their play prior to this was less than stellar. Should be a good game.

Texas over W. Virginia: A classic Sweet 16 matchup. WVU comes off an Elite 8 from last year so they've been there. Plus they have a guy named Pittsnoggle on their team. That has to count for something. Texas has too many weapons against WVU and beats them handidly.

Duke over LSU: Another great Sweet 16 matchup. LSU is one of those sleeper picks that could go all the way. They have a nice win against WVU this year but lost some very close games against Ohio State and UConn. Then again, who didn't. Winner of this game makes it to the Final Four. Duke is always loaded and they've been there. Anything less than a Title game and their season is a major disappointment.

My pick: Duke
bubbles: UT, LSU
sleeper: WVU

Oakland Region:

Kansas over Pittsburgh. This is one of the key matchups on this side of the bracket if not the whole tournament. Kansas is young but they play D and I'm partial to Big 12 teams since that's what I see all year. Pittsburgh started the season en fuego* but have cooled of late. In the end I think Kansas outruns em.

Kansas over Memphis: This should be a shootout of major proportions. Memphis can't keep up with the Kansas backcourt and become the first #1 seed to fall in this year's tourney.

Gonzaga over UCLA: I think this is the year the Zags have a legit shot at a Final Four appearance. They've done well as low seeds in the past, but when the committee gives them higher seeds they tend to flounder. Adam Morrison has a porno stache. That goes a long way in my book.

My pick: Kansas
bubbles: Gonzaga, UCLA, Memphis
sleeper: Pittsburgh

Washington D.C Region:

The only cut and dried region where I think every higher seed wins their matchup. Some key games...

Illinois over Washington: Illinois made it to the final game last year so its hard to root against them until someone beats em but this could be the game that does it. Washington has a stud in Brandon Roy and he could very well beat the Illini himself.

North Carolina over Tennessee: I'm sold on NC but i'm on the fence with Tennessee. Tenn has some huge wins this year against some tough teams (Texas, Florida) and haven't lost to a team not in the tournament. This could be an upset in the making.

My pick: UConn
bubble: UNC, Illini
sleeper: Tennessee, Michigan State

Minneapolis Region:

Villanova's Region to lose. The best team on this side of the bracket.

Florida over Ohio State: I just don't like Ohio State for insisting everyone call the THE Ohio State University, plus Florida is solid.

Nevada over Boston College: Not a big stretch here but I think Nevada could be the sleeper pick of the whole tourney. Always some team who makes it further than they should and why not Nevada. They got the talent.

My pick: Villanova
bubbles: Florida
sleeper: Nevada, Oklahoma

My pick for 2006 National Champion is Kansas. Its a homer pick (Big 12) but I think they play a very close game against UConn.

I'm sure I'm 100% wrong on all my points.

* en fuego - on fire

The $5 4 seaters pwn

I own these things. I've won 4 in a row and 6 of my last 7.

I really need to dump some cash on Pokerstars to play their $20 128 person HU tournies. Those rocked when I was on Pstars.

I need to figure out how many of these $5 I've played this week and find my winning %. Guess I can check my hand history.

Deemon Pwns

Dee kicked arse the entire time! She knows when to hold em, and when to fold em.

Nice job Deemon. I'm glad I decided to accept 51% of all your winnings. Nice payday too, ma'am.

someone is smitten...

Kent has a new girl...

New game at Greeks

There's a weekly tournament in El Campo that Tommy and Ike told me about. The game is at Greek Brother's, so you can expect good food/entertainment. The tournament is "free" but the food is $10. The tournament is a weekly point accumulation that gets the Top 20 players for the month into their end of the month freeroll. The first 60 players to sign up play. The 20 player 'freeroll' pays $1k to 1st place.

I sat at a really weak table where, prior to the break, I was the only one to ever raise a pot preflop. After one orbit I was sitting with nearly 5k in chips. I was seeing flops for cheap with connectors and 2 paint and when I hit I would raise and they would fold. Prior to the break I limped with QTo and flopped the nut straight and had 3 callers to the river. Break time and I was sitting at 8k in chips. Not bad, but the blinds now double.

Also, there is some side-action going on. I entered a $10 last longer prop bet. Everyone in the room was in it as well. They pay the top 5 players who entered, so I figured I'd give it a try. My friend Ty also started a $100 last longer bet. I was leary about this one and passed but he still had around 12 takers.

After the break the blinds were raised to 200/400 with 50 ante. I was running good until I ran into KK with my QQ. The KK guy was a really old guy and he limped UTG. I raised to 1200 and he just called. Flop was Jack high and he bets minimum. I raised to 1600 and he calls. Turn was a Ten and he checks. I push him all in for his last 700 and he takes 5 minutes debating. He finally calls and beats me. I couldn't believe how passive he played that and I thought I was good the whole way. I finally became a victim to the blinds and pushed with KJ only to run into AQ and I was out in 20th out of 60. Not too bad for my first time at this game. I'll make adjustments next time. I really want to get in the top 20 in point total for the freeroll.

Tommy and Ike, who run the Farmer's game, have been talking about having a tournament to send a player to the main event at this year's World Series of Poker. We actually started working out the details last night. Seems like sometime in the summer we'll have a $500 buyin tournament with the winner getting $12000 and dividing up the remaining $$ to the 2nd and 3rd place finishers. We've talked to several people and we have solid committments from 30 players so far, so this is more than feasible.

Ike asked me how I would set it up and I told him the only way I would play is if it were a deep stack (10,000 chips) to start and a slower progressive blind structure (45 mins per blind) similar to the WSOP. He agreed and we'll have it on some Saturday in the summer starting around Noon. I'm thinking we can have 50 players. We are even talking about having satellites to the $500 game. Even better.

While we were talking, WildBill shows up. We tell him what we are talking about and he asked if I was going to play in the tournament. I told him I was considering it. He said he would pay half my entry if I split with him. SUH-FREAKING-SWEET! Bill thinks I'm the best thing to tournament poker since sliced bread since he's staked me 3x and I've been in the money all 3 times. I have him fooled. He doesn't know of my bubble record in big MTTs online. And he doesn't need to.

So now I'm going to play in the tournament with only half the entry with the premise that I split any future WSOP winnings (if i make it) with Bill. No problemo.

I'm playing Poker way too much.

don't be jealous.

Omaha 101

I noticed this guy sitting at a $5 HU Omaha game for awhile. I decided to play. This was really the first time I can remember playing Omaha HU. I am now officially retired. The game is too easy.

Dealer: Hand #485491085
Dealer: steeler247 is feeling angry Putting on my game face
Dealer: You have been dealt [Kc Ts Ad 6s]
steeler247: my first time playing omaha heads up sng
steeler247: lol
Dealer: steeler247 calls 10
Dealer: dtby raises to 60
Dealer: steeler247 calls 40
Dealer: The flop is [Qc 4s Jd] OESD. Yummy.
dtby: you might be in trouble.. I haven't lost one of these yet
Dealer: dtby bets 120
Dealer: steeler247 calls 120
Dealer: The turn is [8c]
Dealer: dtby checks
Dealer: steeler247 checks
Dealer: The river is [Ah]
Dealer: dtby bets 360
Dealer: steeler247 raises to 1,320, and is all in
Dealer: dtby calls 960, and is all in
Dealer: steeler247 shows a straight, Ace high
Dealer: dtby mucks
steeler247: oh well
Dealer: steeler247 wins the pot (3,000) with a straight, Ace high
steeler247: :)
dtby: Now I have!
Dealer: dtby stands up
Dealer: steeler247 stands up


game face

Poker today

I've been running well in the 6 seater SnGs. This was a commentary from a guy who talked noise all game. He finally busted me later for 4th and let me know that I sucked.

Dealer: btclark posts the small blind of 30
Dealer: steeler247 posts the big blind of 60
Dealer: You have been dealt [6d 4d] Not a bad hand.
Dealer: Uncle Coffee folds
Dealer: HMM162 raises to 120
Dealer: btclark calls 90
Dealer: steeler247 calls 60 El Discounto
Dealer: The flop is [Ah 6s 4c] I flop 2 pair. I'm gonna check raise this tool.
Dealer: btclark checks
Dealer: steeler247 checks
Dealer: HMM162 bets 360
Dealer: btclark folds
Dealer: steeler247 raises to 2,430, and is all in
Dealer: HMM162 calls 670, and is all in
Dealer: steeler247 shows [6d 4d]
Dealer: HMM162 shows [Ac 7s]
Dealer: Uncalled bet of 1,400 returned to steeler247
Dealer: The turn is [7d] He sucks out the better 2 pair. Oh well, it happens.
Dealer: The river is [3c]
Dealer: steeler247 shows two pair, Sixes and Fours
Dealer: HMM162 shows two pair, Aces and Sevens
Dealer: HMM162 wins the pot (2,420) with two pair, Aces and Sevens
steeler247: nh I meant it. I'm trying to be nice now at the tables...
steeler247: boo

so what does the guy say????

HMM162: Use real cards next time

I asked him when A7o became real cards and he said, of course, "they won didn't they?"

How can you question this logic?

The Office

I found this blog for the Dunden-Mifflin Paper Co. aka The Office. I'm hooked on this show. Hope you likey.

March Madness

The best time of the year is upon us: March Madness. In my opinion there is no more exciting sporting event then the NCAA Basketball tourney. I started a bracket signup at ESPN.com. I was thinking $5 per entry and we'd pay 3 spots. You can enter up to 5x, I think. However each entry will cost you $5.

Saturday Game report

Played in the Saturday night Farmer's Tourney. Buy-in is $200+20+20. The extra $20 is a bounty chip, which is a cool idea. I really don't want to buyin full for this and I was glad I got a phone call from WildBill who asked if he could stake me half for this tourney. Well duh!

So I find Bill on Saturday and he gives me a hunny*. Its all about the Benjamins**.

The tourney had 32 entrants and 5 places pay. We start with 5000 chips. A few hands of note:

1st hand

I was playing conservatively early. I had actually decided to play a little more loose early but the cards wouldn't cooperate. First hand of note, I was dealt AKs in the SB. The table was playing very tight and there was 2 limpers. I raised to 200 (4x BB) and only one limper calls. Two of us to the flop...

AA5 rainbow. I knew the guy to play any ace and I was hoping he had the case***. I decided to play the set fast and bet 300. He immediately states his raise and pushes in 1300. Now I knew he had the case Ace. How to play? I think for a few minutes and decided to just call. The turn brought a 4 and a possible flush draw so I pushed all in. Now he thinks about it for awhile. He counts it out and I have him covered by a few chips. He calls and shows AT and I bust him and double up. I was the chip leader after 10 hands or so.

2nd Hand

Blinds at 50/100. I get AJs UTG and raise to 350. I get one caller. The flop...

A73 with 2 hearts.

I bet 400 chips and Lenny raises me 400 more. I think for a minute and reraise 3000 more and the guy just calls. WTF?!? The turn card was a 9. I push all in and Lenny calls me immediately. I remember saying 'if you called me this quickly, I'm beat', but he shows me A5o and I bust him. What a bad play by him. I now have around 17k.

After this I was a pretty big chip leader. I was gonna cruise to the final table. Ty, who is a very good player, was at my right. He just started playing in our Friday night game and I knew he would be a force. At one point he flopped the nuts and had 3 people all in before it got to him. It was a 20k pot and he and I were the chip leaders at the break. So what do we do at the break? We basically decide not to get in each other's way until the final table and lean on the others, which of course we did. By the time we got to 2 tables I had knocked out 4 people and so had he. I had 20k in chips and he was sitting at 22k. This was turning out nicely.

When we get to 2 tables, I couldn't get any hands. I picked up the blinds a few times and made a nice pot with AK but nothing real big. The tourney finally gets to 10 players and we consolidate to one table. I was sitting with 21k and Ty had around 18k. I was currently 2nd in chips and Ty was 3rd. The blinds were now 1000/2000.

First hand at the final table I get TT UTG and raise to 5000 chips. A very old lady to my left pushes all in for 6100. Everyone folds to me and I call. She has A9o and the flop comes A97. That sucked.

A few hands later I get AQs in the BB and everyone folds to the SB who pushes his last 5k in the pot and I call. He has A7 and catches a 7 on the turn. Now this is really sucking. I'm down to 10k or so in chips and cursing my luck when Ty catches the worst luck I've seen in awhile. I was dealt 99 in the BB. Ty was 2 to my left and raised 6000 chips. Another guy goes all in for 12k in chips and another guy calls. Now I'm sitting with 9s and muck. Ty immediately pushes all in and the 2nd caller calls his last 4k or so. Ty has KK vs. QQ and AK. The flop comes with a Q and Ty loses a huge pot. He has around 10k in chips and he's a little pissed. Two hands later, he's dealt AA and pushes all in and gets one caller with, of course, QQ. This time the Q comes on the river and he's busted in 8th.

We finally get to 6 players and I'm sitting in 5th with around 12k in chips. Blinds at 2000/4000 and I'm in 'all in or fold' mold. I get weak aces and push and I get the blinds to keep me afloat. We decide to pay 6th place $200 by taking $100 off of 1st and 2nd. With only 10k in chips I get ATs and push all in. I get called by Qs again by the same guy who busted Ty. I spike an ace on the flop and just like Hollywood, the Q comes on the river and I'm busted in 6th. Boo. When the table gets 4 handed they decided to do a 4-way chop! $1000 apiece and play it out for the remaining $200 or so.

For the night I made $20. That averages to around $6 an hour.

I may go pro.


*gangsta speak for One Hundred Dollar Bill and 00/100.
** more gangsta speak. Kent needs a translation.
*** case- the last card of its kind in the deck.

New games on FTP

I really like the Heads up SNGs on FTP, so when they came up with the new 4 player shootouts*, I figured this was right up my alley.

I'm 2 for 2. Not bad.

* shootouts - tourney's were you don't advanced till everyone at the table is eliminated. HU shootouts are winner takes all.

What a waste...

I went to High School with this guy. I remember him as one of the most talented baseball players I have ever met. There were some good players on our HS varsity team and he was the best player on our team as a freshman. I was a sophomore playing shortstop, when Ray, as a freshman, took my spot and moved me over to 2nd. I didn't get back my spot until I was a senior and Ray couldn't pass his classes. Needless to say, I don't think he graduated from HS.

Ray was also a pitcher and could bring it. I grew up playing ball with this guy but I never really considered him a friend. He was just too pushy and I remember him being a bully and taunting other kids all the time.

What a shame. He should get quite an education in the pen.

Online poker

Haven't played online since the Suckout on Leukemia tourney. Don't miss it at all. I never keep alot of money on the site anyway. I'm usually depositing $50 or so and when I get that to $100 I take out my initial investment and freeroll on the rest. So after the tourney I had $70 or so on FTP and took it all off. Its floating in firepay now. And with all the responses I recieved on FTF on the AK laydown i'm not sure I want to put money online anymore. The laydown makes me feel like i'm not a very good player for folding.

Boo.

Ash Wednesday

Today marks the start of the Lenten season. Catholics all over the world are flocking to church to get ashes placed on their foreheads. The ashes are a visible sign that we are repenting for prior sins. Lent also marks the time Jesus fasted for 40 days. During the next 40 days leading up to Easter, it's expected of Catholics to give up something as a sign of faith.

I'm not a very good Catholic. Can't remember the last time I gave up something for lent. I also didn't go to church to get the ashes on my forehead.

Not exactly proud of that.