tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102156882024-03-15T02:42:34.246-04:00Golf + PokerGolf. Poker. Life.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger376125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10215688.post-22077703311153329652015-07-19T04:41:00.001-04:002020-02-27T12:57:35.257-05:00Aging GracefullyThis blog hasn't been active in a while. That's probably because I now live in a country without decent golf or poker... doh. Maybe I'll move back to Canada one day, and revive these old illnesses, but for now... not so much.<br />
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As part of my journey to lead any wayward travelers toward decent sites, a fine company has approached me and asked for a mention here, so we are to oblige.<br />
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I would like to introduce LottoFarm, a website dedicated to <a href="https://www.lottofarm.com/">lottery news</a> and blogs about crazy things that lottery winners do with their unearned riches. I'm just bitter because I'm no lottery winner myself, probably. They've also got a pretty cool free daily contest where they draw postal and zip codes for things like Amazon gift cards -- it's totally free too.<br />
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Is it sad that I still laugh at my old writings on this fine golf and poker blog? I spent SO many hours playing both games that I should have spent working to afford my baller lifestyle, but every man needs a vice. These days my vice is eating good hummus and shawarma.<br />
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Cheers, fellow travelers.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10215688.post-76809552202986694752012-03-05T09:36:00.004-05:002012-03-05T09:36:51.067-05:00I Make Myself LaughYou know, it has to be a quiet afternoon when reading my very-old blog posts is deemed my entertainment. Yes, technically I'm working right now but I just had to check on this old site to see what I'd done. The evidence is like 7 years old now, 7!<br />
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I'm actually quite a funny writer, you know that? I mean, perhaps my gramatical sense is lacking sometimes, but overall I give myself a pat myself on the back since I still laugh at myself.<br />
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If i had to do this blog over again, and one day I might, I would drop the technical talk about poker nerdery and stick to entertaining myself by making fun of others as seen in the following posts:<br />
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A 2009 <a href="http://golfandpoker.blogspot.com/2009/03/when-mood-strikes.html">trip to casino niagara</a> (almost).<br />
<a href="http://golfandpoker.blogspot.com/2008/03/and-its-pray-off.html">And it's a pray-off</a> - Jerry Yang dominates Jesus in a<i> muwti mirrion dorrar</i> donkathon.<br />
<a href="http://golfandpoker.blogspot.com/2006/08/glove-cleaning-is-tough.html">Glove Cleaning Is Tough</a> - Harry's lost guest-post on this here fine blog.<br />
<a href="http://golfandpoker.blogspot.com/2008/04/drinking-2-stellas-waiting-for-pizza.html">$2 Stellas</a> rub it in my face will you, bitches?<br />
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Anyway, no poker lately though I have a home game this week supposedly, and certainly no golf in my new homeland, sorry to make you sad. Hope you enjoyed the links :)<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10215688.post-39203500935773769882011-09-05T06:14:00.000-04:002011-09-05T06:14:48.920-04:00Change PleaseLast time I posted something related to poker was just after my January 2010 entry. I started a new blog to move this site's content to but soon after went on a nice cold streak in poker and stopped playing. I know it happens but with work and life I didn't need the stress of constantly thinking about losing at poker -- so I quit the game and cashed out most of my Full Tilt Poker money. I thought it would be just temporary. I was wrong.<br />
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Around May 2010 I received a call from a good friend in Israel who is in the online marketing business. He said come out for a week, hang out, see the place, consider coming for a year and make some money together. A week later I was on a plane to Tel Aviv. We spent a week touring, going to clubs, ziplining, riding 4x4's and eating at fine restaurants on the mediterranean sea. We also talked about business -- and business was looking up. At the end of the week I said I would move across the world for a year, and that's what I did.<br />
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Since July 2010 I have moved to Tel Aviv, sold both my houses in Canada, taken Israeli citizenship, played 2 rounds of golf, and played not one hand of poker. Not much material for this fine golf and poker blog, huh?<br />
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In the past month I started watching more online streaming poker content at <a href="http://pokercast.tv/">Pokercast.tv</a>, both High Stakes Poker and the WSOP 2010 and am currently watching WSOP 2011. Watching poker has rekindled my love of the game. I started reading 2+2 a bit again, started watching some <a href="http://www.deucescracked.com/?affiliate=Toast">Deucescracked</a> vids, and most importantly my thought process when I watch professionals play the game is now clearer and deeper.<br />
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So, in summary, it's time that I take up the challenge again and see where it takes me. I reside within a short flight of many EPT destinations if tournaments can again hold my attention ... but will they?<br />
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In the meantime I'll keep updating this fine Golf+Poker blog with primarily poker content and see where it gets me. I miss golf with my buddies in Canada, but my life is now in Israel and I can always go back.<br />
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Btw Tel Aviv is awesome. Don't listen to the bullshit on TV about how Israel is dangerous or a warzone -- it's not -- and I hope it stays this way. If you're a jewish american considering moving to Canada to play online, consider coming here instead -- it's a truly amazing place to live.<br />
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Peace.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10215688.post-25150773911557044242011-09-03T17:50:00.005-04:002011-09-03T17:57:30.334-04:00I'm Coming Out...Of RETIREMENT you jerks.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXv9H88OCC76f289K3EZGLY8ad6Zx3GXfkYI0_U9xXnkH7H6sXpygYp3To6gGBxFt_GsfIvL8bvGq1mV3_vBUQP5vmQC8bWW1mkkYY30EcA60FDPkIk7Afty2f-9xS9vbXNt1S/s1600/donkey.jpeg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 158px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXv9H88OCC76f289K3EZGLY8ad6Zx3GXfkYI0_U9xXnkH7H6sXpygYp3To6gGBxFt_GsfIvL8bvGq1mV3_vBUQP5vmQC8bWW1mkkYY30EcA60FDPkIk7Afty2f-9xS9vbXNt1S/s200/donkey.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5648255053265923906" /></a>
<br />After a long (and necessary due to life-stuff) hiatus from the internet pokers, I re-charged my PokerStars account with cash today.
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<br />We'll see if I can find time to play the pokers a bit, and post about it here obv. :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10215688.post-27152494399040064322010-01-31T20:38:00.006-05:002010-01-31T21:33:11.776-05:00Toast Talking Turkey: January 2010I'm going to discuss monetary details in this post since I think it helps motivate people -- it certainly motivates me.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">December Results</span><br /><br />Last month I never really recapped the poker results but I will say that I had a major leak that was affecting my non-showdown winnings quite a bit. It's best described in poker results graphs with a highly negative red line. Middle to late December I fixed that leak and pulled out of my breakeven stretch, eventually finishing $885 to the good plus $500+ in rakeback. I did have my best single day of cards ever, winning over $1k during the session right at the end of the month. I celebrated the next morning at work by pounding LL Cool J's Mama Said Knock U Out over and over through my headphones. "Don't call it a comeback..."<br /><br />Total Poker Profit: +$885<br />Total Rakeback: +$530<br /><br />Total Profit: +$1415<br />Hourly Rate: $17.80 (beat's a McD's job!)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgebaESHxfVbZSkQztr7szr04LKNkyT8WG17QOv9YEd75WaW5F0J-dtmQKYC2NClFiJFxJzxDxaTGTneJDQ38ipzq8OVhAVUlHFgqSwFFci4UT7tWQyZte9rBKd9IJL-WaSxY7p/s1600-h/results-dec-09.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 209px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgebaESHxfVbZSkQztr7szr04LKNkyT8WG17QOv9YEd75WaW5F0J-dtmQKYC2NClFiJFxJzxDxaTGTneJDQ38ipzq8OVhAVUlHFgqSwFFci4UT7tWQyZte9rBKd9IJL-WaSxY7p/s320/results-dec-09.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433091982585296850" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">January Results</span><br /><br />I started the month by taking a shot at 200NL (moving up), and ran pretty badly. I lost my largest pot ever here and then moved back down and lost a lot more. About 5 days into the month I was stuck $1500+, which, considering I had a bankroll of $500 a year ago is quite a bit of money to my bankroll.<br /><br />Eventually, I crawled forth from the hole at 100NL and some 200NL, and finished the month a small winner (+$443). I want to stress again, if you don't have rakeback, you are an idiot! I, like so many breakeven poker players, made more money at rakeback than the tables this month (little over $500). Email me for a referral. I also got a nice $225 bonus from Full Tilt for last year's Ironman play.<br /><br />This last week I didn't really play much at all, got turned off by a bad session of RUSH and generally felt burnt on the game -- haven't taken up the obsession again yet either but I'm sure I will.<br /><br />So, poker made me ~$1185 in January for 66 hours of play, or, about $18 per hour which is far better than McDonalds pays. <br /><br />Total Poker Profit: +$443<br />Total Rakeback: +$517<br />Total Bonuses: +$225<br /><br />Total Profit: +$1185<br />Hourly Rate: $17.95 (beat's a McD's job again!)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQBDqKFDSRun6E0C1omMvTq4VgKPzwHGGKYNF8aYUKwSCOAIwSDUQMhyphenhyphenH_OFB0kInmgcVwV3o-I-ctwHQrJNa_V1dZuAGrPQAj8liSwOqXej01c3Ys7XydPc1kO34s5YqcXg7Y/s1600-h/results-jan-10.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 209px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQBDqKFDSRun6E0C1omMvTq4VgKPzwHGGKYNF8aYUKwSCOAIwSDUQMhyphenhyphenH_OFB0kInmgcVwV3o-I-ctwHQrJNa_V1dZuAGrPQAj8liSwOqXej01c3Ys7XydPc1kO34s5YqcXg7Y/s320/results-jan-10.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433090431201831074" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">WBCOOP</span><br /><br />In my last post, I mentioned that I was planning to play the WBCOOP. Pokerstars put up a bunch of entries to the world cup of online poker (WCOOP) to winners of various events, and it was a freeroll. Unfortunately, I only made it to play in ONE event, and it wasn't the main event. <br /><br />I busted when I 3-bet queens pre, two donkeys called. Flop was 56J rainbow, I get checkraised all in by 78 and he binks his card. Oh well! Did I mentioned I hate tournaments? I have to admit they have tonnes of bad players though.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">RUSH Poker</span><br /><br />Obviously a lot of talk in the poker world this past week or two has been RUSH poker, full tilt's sick new game that automatically moves you to new tables after every fold. It's an evil, evil game that isn't REALLY poker but it certainly is gambling and that should appeal to tonnes of the fish. It's having a serious effect on the Small Stakes No-Limit games so far, but we'll see what happens long term. I think you'll see a lot of nittery take over so it won't be really fun after a while.<br /><br />But, if you don't have a full tilt account, you should really try it -- it's like nothing i've ever played before. I actually tilted this month playing rush after a few bad suckouts/coolers -- that's rare for me. The session only cost me $500 and the tilt actually won me money (AJ > QQ preflop) but the money moves super-fast. I think overall I'm a winner at rush but it won't be my game of choice.<br /><br /><center><a href="http://www.fulltiltpoker.com?key=MDAwMDMxRjAwMDAwNzdEQTIwRDI0MDI0MDAwMDAwMDA-" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/images/com/en/content/affiliates/banners-sizes/rush-poker/240x60.gif " alt="Play Online Poker" width="240" height="60" border="0" ></a></center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10215688.post-48032025179372415342010-01-22T10:51:00.001-05:002010-01-22T10:53:11.328-05:00PokerStars Blog Tournament Thingy<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; "><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; ">So, I've decided I might give this a shot, just for fun obv.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; "><br /></span></div><div style="height:125px;width:100%;"><a href="http://www.pokerstars.com/blog_tournament/"><img src="http://www.pokerstars.com/images/wbcoop/125x125.gif" alt="Online Poker" align="left" style="margin-right:10px;" border="0" /></a><p>I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! The WBCOOP is a free online <a href="http://www.pokerstars.com/">Poker</a> tournament open to all Bloggers, so register on <a href="http://www.pokerstars.com/blog_tournament/">WBCOOP</a> to play.</p><p>Registration code: 459449 </p></div></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10215688.post-30116485379417996102010-01-11T12:47:00.003-05:002010-01-11T13:41:51.632-05:00Another Month, Another DownswingLong ago I played a variance free form of cards called Texas Hold-Them at a site operated by an Indian man named Dikshit. That site was called PartyPoker, and a fun party was had by some. The players were awful, and even though I myself wasn't that great, I could still beat them and win I did. There were never huge swings, just a constant generation of small amounts of money at small stakes poker. Play under 20% of your hands, keep betting until they push back, and win money. <div><br /></div><div>Now, the problem is, only playing against donks will only make you good enough to beat donks. Good or even decent players, just avoid them</div><div><br /></div><div>"Holy crap, that player just 3-bet preflop, he must have aces or kings!"</div><div><br /></div><div>Today, in a post UIGEA (US trade illegal bullshit anti-gambling online act) world, there are less fish but they're not by any means gone at SSNL. Gone however are the days where a 6-max table had 4 fish and 2 decent players, now at my full tilt tables it's hopefully a fish on a table, a couple nits and a bad loose aggressive. I sometimes get a few fish, but it's rare. Often I get no fish, and that's when the variance kicks in.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm having some huge swings in my terms. I remember playing PartyPoker back in the day and lost $400 at $100NL one day in a few hours and was just tilted off my rocker. Now I consider 5 buyins to be "stuck" and almost the norm. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's not the same game it used to be when a man named Dikshit dealt the cards.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10215688.post-55851133993614251512010-01-01T12:52:00.004-05:002010-01-02T17:16:35.871-05:002009 Golf And Poker Recap & A Look Ahead<div>2009 was a productive one on the greens and the green felt. I'll make it short and sweet, since really, who the hell cares what I did but me. :)</div><br /><span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;">The Golf</span></b></span><br /><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b>2009 Recap</b></span></div><div><br />I've already recapped my <a href="http://golfandpoker.blogspot.com/2009/10/2009-golf-season-recap.html">2009 golf season</a> but here's the short and sweet version in point form.<br /><ul><li>Got a new Nike Driver - Fujikura shaft - <span style="font-style:italic;">works way better</span></li><li>Played awful on <a href="http://www.niagaramenstour.com/">Niagara Mens Tour</a> - probably not playing it next season</li><li>Placed 5th in the Club Championship - not bad after T2 last year</li><li>Won my 2nd Langley Cup in 3 years beating both Matt and Harry (woot) - low handicap match play championship</li><li>Yet again did not play Niagara Cup events for the golf club, got asked to play one day but couldn't. Guess I'm not really very good at match play. :)</li><li>Did not improve my golf game much overall, buying new irons next year is the plan.</li><li>Made my 1st hole in one at a local "executive" municipal course. 162 yards, one bounce, little roll, straight in. -- <span style="font-style:italic;">forgot this in my recap somehow?</span></li></ul><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Goals for 2010 Golf Season</span></span><br /><br /><ul><li>Fundamentally improve golf swing & focus while playing.</li><li>Run deep for the Langley Cup -- some luck involved for sure.</li><li>Final group of Club Championship -- have a shot at it.</li><li>Play St. Thomas when it doesn't rain (wishful thinking)</li><li>Play <a href="http://nowonthetee.blogspot.com/2009/08/sagebrush-golf-sporting-club-part-one.html">Sagebrush</a></li><li>Consider Ontario Better Ball Qualifier</li></ul><div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;"><b>The Poker</b></span><br /><br /></div><div>At the beginning of 2009, I had just cashed out (yet again) to focus my time on things I don't like anywhere near as much as poker. It was a recurring event for yours truly, cash out, start over. If I had kept playing poker back in 2005 I believe I would be considerably wealthier at this point. </div><div><br /></div><div>I admit it now, I like playing cards. I'm also a bit of a weirdo when it comes to money, in real life I'll drive across town to save $20 on a shirt but at the poker table I'll shovel hundreds of dollars into a pot if I think it will win me the most money on average. I'll explain bankroll management at some point in a future blog post -- woo exciting.</div><div><br /></div><div>At the beginning of 2009, here's what I <a href="http://golfandpoker.blogspot.com/2009/01/candy-tastes-like-ass.html">said</a>:<br /><blockquote>Then, the last two nights I did the unthinkable. I 4-tabled for a bit over an hour for each. I'm playing down at Matty's level to try and start winning again to build up some steam, but I'm still running horribly so losing. I'm losing a tonne on overpairs and making it up with good play otherwise... either I'm running bad or it's no longer profitable to get it in post-flop with an overpair with 100BB against guys at this limit. I can't imagine the overall play has improved THAT much down here? Blah. Anyway, down 3BI in the last 2 days through about 1300 hands. Sigh.<br /><br />God forbid I actually ever put my own money into online poker to play real limits -- totally taboo for me. I started with 2 $50 deposits back in the day, and I'm still playing on it after cashing out year after year. Fortunately, I still have 38 buyins for this level in my 'roll, so I can afford the candy even if it tastes like ass currently.</blockquote>Well, I never did put my own money back into online poker -- I just did it the old fashioned way and played and got lucky. Here's what happened:</div><div><br /></div><div>Starting at <b>$950</b> my account as of December 31 was <b>$6905</b>, and in April I cashed out $1k as well. So overall I would say I had a good year. Playing limits of 25NL, 50NL, 100NL and a small shot at 200NL including the all important (seriously) rakeback and bonuses I collected just south of <b>$7k</b> for the year. Lots of guys playing 100NL win that in 2 months, but I have a JOB and am not in school, so im pretty happy with it. </div><div><br /></div><div>More importantly, I am *NOT* planning on the usual cashout this year, and will be playing 100NL/200NL and moving up as my bankroll grows this year. I guess a good goal to shoot for would be to be deep into mid-stakes games if I can keep playing and work/life doesn't get in the way too much.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's to a happy, healthy 2010 for those who read this blog.</div><div><blockquote><i>May you avoid the yips and drag the chips</i></blockquote></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10215688.post-22153284776659932892009-12-13T18:09:00.004-05:002009-12-13T18:32:39.552-05:00A Sketchy Start To DecemberI've put in some moderate volume so far this month, and it's been fairly negative in terms of results. Currently playing 95% 100NL, 1% 200NL, and 4% 50NL I'm behind by about $500 cash, but I'm running $950 behind expected value.<br /><br />What's Expected Value? EV in poker terms is how much of the pot equity is yours if luck didn't factor in. For example, if you're flipping a fair coin for $100 per flip, the EV of heads and tails is equal -- $50 per flip. Half the time you should win, half the time you should lose. SHOULD. It doesn't mean the coin can't flip heads 20 times in a row, just that it's pretty unlikely to happen.<br /><br />Anyway, I'm not complaining about the EV, it sucks but things tend to even themselves out eventually -- I'm really only behind on my current database in EV by a little bit overall -- meaning I won more than my share for a time.<br /><br />Let's talk about poker tournaments. Today around 1pm I decided to play the Mini FTOPS event at Full Tilt. It was a $24+2 buy-in but I just burnt some full tilt points because I frankly can't see what else to use them for in the store that I give a poop about. <br /><br />Obviously I play Small Stakes NL cash games most of my time. Honestly, the opponents for the most part are NOT monkeys anymore. This Mini FTOPS event... can't say the same. Lots of fish without a fold button meaning you have to play for showdowns and can't c-bet and bluff them at all. God how I wish they'd come play at my tables at cash. Last time I played at PartyPoker it was the same thing. The fish may be dying at cash but they're alive and well in tournaments.<br /><br />I actually ran fairly deep in the FTOPS, and here were my notable arr-ins and stack movement:<br /><br />66 < A4 preflop for $16k pot with blinds at 200/400<br />AA > KK for $35k pot on a monotone (my suit) flop at 300/600<br />QQ > JJ preflop for $32k pot at 300/600/50<br /><br />Down to 20k after doubling a shortstack with 1k/2k/250 blinds<br />push/fold pre with a good run of cards, took some opens with 3-bets with moderate hands<br />Up to 64k at 1200/2400/300<br />Up to 79k at 1200/2400/300<br />up to 96k at 1200/2400/300 (running over the opponents) -- avg stack 90k with 800ish to go<br />KK < AA preflop, and I'm TOAST. Shit. I somehow knew he had AA and obviously can't fold KK preflop.<br /><br />lol donkaments. 4 hours for $65 in profit or some shit, got 2 knockout bounties for $4 each woo. Would I do it again on a quiet sunday? Hell yes. The competition is really soft and 1st place in this tourney was $46k.<br /><br />I really thought I was going to run deep there... was thinking how awesome it would be to win $46k for zero entry fee... *sigh*.<br /><br />Anyway, that's about it... hope I run better the rest of december to close the year on a high note. :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10215688.post-83001997551725677132009-12-04T11:02:00.002-05:002009-12-04T11:03:48.014-05:00Hitler Rant on Bad BeatsIf you follow online poker at all, watch this, it's worth it. If you don't, you won't get the joke so save the 4 minutes.<br /><br /><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/c6O4ITRNfC8&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/c6O4ITRNfC8&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10215688.post-751567529441441062009-12-01T21:47:00.004-05:002009-12-01T22:09:47.101-05:00November Online Poker ResultsIt's that time of the month again fellers. November was an odd one. I put in high volume for the first few days of the month, then had life get in the way for most of the month, and finished with more volume. <br /><br />Results wise I started strong, lost it back quickly then hobbled to basically break even running a few hundred behind my expected value -- short sample though of course. Below is the graph from the month including my all-in EV, showdown/nonshowdown winnings and rakeback.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO3si0I26imQ7UcW-swdCbA3Q15Bi4puIFh5sOETL4Fq3Z2hBPc-dVLbjxiozHm_mdI3bGyedQB7Vk-86iieqfyACGhwMe4VdCephAPbOHhwm4kHIlFftIhZaT7kno07uNTOyc/s1600-h/toast-nov09.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO3si0I26imQ7UcW-swdCbA3Q15Bi4puIFh5sOETL4Fq3Z2hBPc-dVLbjxiozHm_mdI3bGyedQB7Vk-86iieqfyACGhwMe4VdCephAPbOHhwm4kHIlFftIhZaT7kno07uNTOyc/s400/toast-nov09.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410470371607347138" /></a><br /><br />Notably my "red line" is very negative this month, which could be explained by my playing a few thousand 50 NLHE Heads Up hands. I'm not winning as much as I should be without showdown, which means I'm getting run over probably. Ugly ugly line this month.<br /><br />As you can see, I made a massive $117 for the month, and about $450 including rakeback. Waste O' time considering the daily swings were $500 on a few days but that's the game.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10215688.post-54445805358137144632009-11-04T09:32:00.005-05:002009-11-04T09:56:02.562-05:00Let's Talk About October's Results and Full TiltIn poker season, it's customary to discuss results and what happened. I haven't done this for a few years now, but I think its a good time to bring the realities of online poker back to G+P.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.fulltiltpoker.com?key=MDAwMDMxRjAwMDAwNzdEQTIwNTA4MDIyMDAwMDAwMDA-" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/images/com/en/content/affiliates/banners-sizes/aggressive-ivey-hansen/120x60.gif" alt="Play Online Poker" width="120" height="60" border="0" align="right"></a>First, a brief discussion on the games. I play currently at Full Tilt. <br /><br />As a challenge to myself, after I cashed out last time (few months ago -- june was it?) I left myself just $500 in the site to play 25NL. Since then I beat on one really bad player at 25NL for $500+, and made about a grand in rakeback, but otherwise the winnings are all poker. No, Full Tilt isn't the partypoker of old, but it's still very beatable even for an old guy like me who can just play in the evenings here and there.<br /><br />So last month I moved up to 100NL full time and took a few shots at 200NL. The results were good, as I won a little over $2100 at 100NL and was down $400 at 200NL (ran bad, bankroll couldn't take a prolonged downswing there). I also made just under $300 in rakeback. It nets me out around $2000 for the month which is a fair amount for my little hobby.<br /><br />A couple of firsts for me in October: lost $500+ in one hour, won $750+ in one evening.<br /><br />Mostly I play 4 tables at a time, which seems like a lot if you're a newbie but isn't really. Last night I decided to crank that up a bit and played 8 tables -- and played pretty well. I might keep trying that out but I'm going to have to buy a bigger monitor though if I go any higher (8 tables on one 24" monitor tiled look pretty small).Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10215688.post-73161813989727570432009-10-28T16:13:00.006-04:002009-10-28T16:41:48.021-04:00Farts and Deep HolesYeah, it's not smart to post about results before the month ends for a reason! I know variance is lurking. I know it's coming to get me. I know my staying tilt-free work will eventually be tested... and I thought it was last night...<br /><br />So I open 4 tables as usual, 2 of 200NL and 2 of 100NL. I win some, I lose some but generally I'm pretty close to even for the night. The tables seem good, I'm running below expectation sadly but I still keep playing... <br /><br />Then the girlfriend comes in and starts talking to me. I'm in poker mode and it's damn hard to concentrate on both as I know well so I'm half listening and then notice the topic is about girls farting as they run. Obviously I don't want to hear about this, I especially don't want to talk about it while I'm playing some relatively serious stakes related to my bankroll. I say "I don't want to hear about it, you know better than to talk to me as I'm playing. Go! I'll chat with you when I take a break". <br /><br />I knew she cursed my session with talking of girl farts... there was nothing I could do at this point but hold on for the stinky smell of variance. I got coolered by the donk on my left... he played QTo for 15BB preflop against my JJ and obviously the board ran out QQ2Qx ... shit. I 4-bet/folded a few times... uh oh... is that tilt? SHIT! Girls farting while they ran... WHY DO I WANT TO HEAR ABOUT THAT WHILE PLAYING POKER?<br /><br />I drop a buy-in in a coinflip preflop, I drop another.... I'm stuck $400. I take a break to avoid tilt. Then I come back feeling good... oh, I lose another flip at 200NL, I'm stuck over $600 now. <br /><br />I drop my bad 100NL games and open a few more 200NL deep ante tables. These are action tables, and If I'm going to lose $600 it might as well be something easier to say like $1k... c'mon, buckle down and dig out... Let's salvage October's awesome month!<br /><br />I cooler a guy at 200NL with AK on a KKx board -- he had K8. So now I'm sitting deep too. I win some more small ($50-100ish) pots... I'm only $300 behind now... and then this hand happens.<br /><br />200NL, I've got $430ish on the Button, BB covers me <br />EP limps, I open A2 diamonds to $8, SB (fish) calls, BB calls, EP Limper Calls.<br /><br />Pot is $32<br />Flop: 5d 2d Qh (I have a gutshot straight flush draw)<br />SB checks, BB leads for $22, EP folds, I call<br /><br />Pot is $76<br />Turn is a Kh<br />BB leads for $56, I call<br /><br />Pot is $188<br />River is a beautiful 3c -- I have the wheel.<br />BB leads for $140, I push for $200 more, he tanks and calls.<br /><br />BB had a set... I have luck. Woot.<br /><br />I win the $870 pot, my biggest one so far. This also serves to get me completely unstuck so I quit the game at 2am and go pour myself a glass of wine to relax.<br /><br />I'm sure winning or losing $400+ in a single hand will eventually be no big deal to me... but I needed this one.<br /><br />Girl farts, who the hell talks about girl farts? They don't even exist as far as I'm concerned -- and I'm keeping it that way.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10215688.post-87395779216761209472009-10-26T12:49:00.003-04:002009-10-26T13:24:40.314-04:00Running Good In OctoberI'll be the first to admit I'm running well in October. In not a lot of hours I am up over $2k this month playing 100NL in not a lot of hours. I sincerely hope it continues as I'm truly crushing games right now (and running 300'ish over all-in EV) but I'm a realist. I'm having a good streak and that somewhat balances the 50k hands of bad play/variance I had in late summer -- not that the past reflects the future in poker or anything obviously.<br /><br />Anyway, yesterday I came across a couple of seemingly good deep+ante 200NL games and decided to take a shot. You know, it's a strange feeling for a micro/small stakes player to be playing in a game where there are stacks greater than my monthly mortgage payment. No, I don't think 200NL is a lot of money to be playing for but if I could beat this level consistently (and taking into account that winnings are tax free + rakeback) I would be making nearly the money in my spare time that I do at my full time job/business. No, I'm not planning to play poker for a living ... no freaking way. <br /><br />So, wish me luck in continuing to run well as I make the jump to 200NL. I'll post an october graph when the month finishes :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10215688.post-26176610817336813342009-10-19T10:09:00.003-04:002009-10-19T10:44:03.398-04:00Poker Season 09 - It BeginsWell, as you know I'm pretty much hooped in the golf department due to crap weather -- might squeeze in a round though still who knows? So it's officially poker season for me. I haven't really set goals for poker in the last couple years but I might set some financial goals this season... unsure.<br /><br />My Poker History Revisited<br /><br />I've gone over this before, but I've never deposited more than my first $100 into online poker. Maybe I ran well at first but after running $50 into $250 and then to $0 I bought Small Stakes Hold'em and beat the game on my next $50 ever since. Yes, I took advantage of various site bonuses and rake back deals where possible -- you'd be stupid not to. I don't have accurate cashout records but my best guess is I've cashed out somewhere near $10,000 at the game. Obviously I play low stakes and obviously I keep cashing out what I win after it builds again.<br /><br />My last two cashouts were in December 08 and April 09 and those were $3000 total. I left myself a whopping $500 in the account on April 30th to goof around with since I needed to focus on some other things. Since then I've had a major break even stretch (50k+ hands), ran bad, played bad, ran good, played good. It's been a trip. The only benefit to playing break-even poker is rake back still pays out. When your bankroll is starting at $500 again, it makes a HUGE difference.<br /><br />From May to September (5 months) I've received $750 in rake back. If you want a rakeback deal at your normal site, email me at justtoast -at- gmail -dot- com and I'll hook you up with a reputable source. Don't sign up without it.<br /><br />Anyway, since that point I've run the roll up through 0.10/0.25NL, 0.25/0.5NL (briefly) and now play at 0.50/1 NL again and am nearly playing $1/$2 (all 6-max). Again, I'm not sure how far I'll go with this before I cash some out again, but I feel a lot more confident that I'm playing well these days.<br /><br />I don't PLAN on playing tournaments but once in a while it seems like a good deal. I still hate poker tournaments for the most part, but I guess winning a big one would change my mind on that. I think theres still a tonne of bad players there versus the 6-max games which are noticeably tougher except for Friday/Saturdays (which I'm rarely around to play anyway).<br /><br />Im not really certain if I should post actual bankroll info here, as some people actually know who I am. I guess if I were playing high stakes I might get some envy/bullshit in real life but I doubt most people I know care about a few thousand bucks. So, I suppose I'll show the graphs at some point. If I ever play $200/$400 they'll know I made it anyway since I'll stop driving my 10 year old car before I put that sort of glimmer in play haha (not happening).<br /><br />Back when I have something interesting to post about :) Perhaps more archery?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10215688.post-77459290837468665122009-10-16T12:52:00.004-04:002009-10-16T13:15:07.029-04:002009 Golf Season RecapLooks like my 2009 summer of golf is in the books. This year was... different. Replacing my driver (which caved) with my new Nike Dymo w/ Fujikura X shaft definitely improved my driving but I felt less efficient with the irons all year. I putted reasonably well and chipping was off and on. I think I'll replace the irons in the next season -- I'll go to something a bit easier to hit than my beautiful blades. We'll see.<br /><br />My handicap hovered between 3 and 4 all season... not great compared to my past streaks.<br /><br />I was truly awful on the niagara golf tour this year. I barely made the thing in qualifying, and only really had two OK rounds, one at St. Catharines G&CC and one at Lockness Links -- I believe it was 78 both rounds or something like that. The rest of the time I played like it didn't matter. I guess I didn't really feel the competitive nature of the golf on that tour... seemed like I didn't care all that much? Not sure why that is but I just wasn't into it. I didn't like the slow rounds (actually I ran good in the luck dept there compared to others) and the events taking up entire Sundays to play. I also don't like that speeding up play at all costs (including booting players who are slow) isn't #1 priority. I will not commit to it for next season yet.<br /><br />At the club I placed 5th (I think) in the Club Championship and that's not too bad. It's not a replication of my fine T2 finish last year but c'est la vie. <br /><br />I did win my 2nd Langley Cup beating a crew of tough bastards -- not sure how I pulled that one off. Grinding... I made two putts that stood out to represent my Langley tourney this year. One against Matt where I had a bad #5 (played the 9's reversed I believe) and still grinded out a 12 footer for bogey and the one against Harry where I made an uphill 10 footer for par on #18 to send the match into overtime. It's nice to know that when the times get tough I can make it happen.<br /><br />Overall, I improved my game in some ways and in doing so hurt other parts of the game. I guess that's the nature of golf, perfection being nearly unattainable.<br /><br />If I do get out (aside from Orlando for a biz trip/golf in November) it will be purely for fun and exercise since the greens are punched and sand covered now. <br /><br />And so G+P switches gears for another season back to primarily Poker games... I'll start putting up some information on that shortly. <br /><br />Stay classy, Interwebs.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10215688.post-60011234322357057332009-09-28T11:13:00.003-04:002009-09-28T11:23:35.910-04:00TWGP - September SomethingorotherSo, yes I've been playing golf a bit still. After I limped over the finish line in the Langley Cup to get some new crystal I bought a new house, moved into the house, and rented the old house. That's a lot of stuff to do for someone as lazy as I am in a short timespan.<br /><br />Since I've either been working on the house (still moving crap in or putting crap away or throwing crap out) I've had very little time for the card playing but when I have played it has gone well. My 'roll is respectable again and I'm playing 100NL or 50 when a particularly good game is on. That's not shabby. <br /><br />On the golf course I've shot 77 for my last 3 rounds in a row. I start off bad, get it back to OK and finish at 77 like its my job to. Yesterday I was 5 over after 5 including one par and one double (3-putt). Tilted I told Matt and Terry that I'm done after 9 if I don't make one birdie in the next 4 or finish the 9 at +5. Naturally I parred thru 9, kept playing, made two birdies and two bogeys on the back and shot yet another 77. <br /><br />77's do not do wonders for my handicap. I'm a solid solid 4 right now and its just hovering there. No way I'll be a two by year end, not that it was my goal but it's always nice to play well to finish the season... like Matt's doing. He goes from shooting 80's and 90 to a 73 yesterday in about 3 weeks. That's gross.<br /><br />Anyway, sorry for the rambling post but I'm just too busy with business and the house stuff... hope you can stick around and maybe i'll post more archery pictures if I can't come up with something smart to say :PUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10215688.post-63978083516964112542009-09-16T21:53:00.002-04:002009-09-16T21:55:59.049-04:00ArcherySo, I'm looking at getting into archery... Golf + Poker + Archery? :)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgurplZOlOaxi4sTTJXlOQAThYuA4Z5TJ2RJo3QkAeR5RvnrWKxqMG0ctT1vgKT-58iod219KFJrfeIWrceuVYxYLQVJuwogPSSNDWn2DJ8oO8h8K4m5AT-45SqYIWtkJjas7xM/s1600-h/LoMtf.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgurplZOlOaxi4sTTJXlOQAThYuA4Z5TJ2RJo3QkAeR5RvnrWKxqMG0ctT1vgKT-58iod219KFJrfeIWrceuVYxYLQVJuwogPSSNDWn2DJ8oO8h8K4m5AT-45SqYIWtkJjas7xM/s400/LoMtf.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382248892584221186" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10215688.post-40175072452107864342009-09-08T09:40:00.004-04:002009-09-08T10:06:50.795-04:00Langley Cup Returns HomeAfter watching the Canadian Tour pros tear up my home course (which held up nicely mind you -- 11 under ain't bad) we got to play it in tour conditions with long rough and fast greens yesterday. Harry had been bugging me to play the Langley Cup final match which I had been delaying for a combination of reasons (I wasn't playing well for a big one) but was well within the time frame allowed. Fortunately with a stellar +2 on my first round at Westmount this week I thought my game was reasonable enough to give it a go. Plus, I wanted him to stop bugging me about it :)<br /><br />I do love the match play tourneys, they fit me better than stroke tourneys it seems. I'm not a "naturally good" golfer -- particularly this year, ugh -- but my mental game is pretty good and I think that's where I make up a lot of the holes in match play.<br /><br />That said, Harry and I decided to play an epic Langley Cup final on the course in its top condition. Without getting into the *snooze* level of detail that some others might, the match went like this:<br /><br />Front 9: 1 Up, 1 Up, All Square, 1 Down, All Square, 1 Up, 2 Up, 1 Up, All Square<br />Back 9: 1 Up, All Square, 1 Up, 1 Up, All Square, All Square, 1 Down<br /><br />So here I am on 17 one down. I miss my par putt after my chip from deep rough, Harry makes his bogey and I have a 3 footer to keep the match going. Fortunately that goes in.<br /><br />18 I hit a drive right down the bunkerline right and end up with a tough lie, Harry punches from trees up right of the green and I hack it out to 5 yards short of the green. I chip to 8 feet, he chips to 12ish and just misses his putt to win. I make my 8 footer and we're Square thru 18.<br /><br />So we decide to walk back to 18 and play it again. I hit my drive left over the trees onto #1 and ends up in the rough. Harry's in perfect position. I hit a sick shot out of the rough, over trees, over the bunker and it finishes like 8 feet away. Truly a magic shot. Harry then hits his right beside mine -- I give him credit he was grinding like mad. I lip out my putt and he does the same... was really crazy.<br /><br />After walking back to 18 again we're told to use 1 instead. I hit driver as usual down the middle and Harry hits an iron. He hits the 2nd to the middle of the green about 25 feet away and I try and go for the kill with a 60 degree wedge. Unfortunately I leave mine in the long rough short sided with little green to work with. Harry's away and hits his putt 3-4 feet past the hole. My chip lands perfectly, rolls perfectly and I prepare my tiger fist pump but alas no, it lips out. We're laughing about that as it would have been a sick way to win and Harry lines up his uphill put -- and pushes it. I obviously take advantage and make my 2 footer to win my 2nd Langley Cup.<br /><br />That's sort of a messed up way to win it -- would have been way nicer to drain the chip or my putt on 18 #2, but still it was a great and final-worthy round. This Langley Cup was undoubtedly the toughest field I've had to play through and I'm pretty happy to eek out the win. <br /><br />Nice job Harry, hell of a tournament. You surprised a lot of people this season.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10215688.post-40388701648191898432009-08-27T11:42:00.005-04:002009-08-27T12:01:55.559-04:00The Definition of a FishAs I mentioned in a post previously, Matt and I for a time spent our poker time taking money from a certain truly awful fish. The fish played like 95% of hands, 2% for a raise and if he bet big post flop he had 2 pair or better but otherwise would call down with air and fold the river unimproved. We knew this guy was awful, and he contributed greatly to our bankroll building -- better than rakeback!<br /><br />Today I looked up the guy's overall stats. What I saw truly is awe-inspiring. <br /><br />Here, without giving up the fish's alias since he is oh so profitable (particularly for Matt who refuses to play if the fish isn't -- I moved up thankfully) is the chart of his donations.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhueMmgs9P6RTXFbb0Pzk-tWpKT87s_ZEhNL2eDuG35UDbbpJBSI1zx5hL9-v2cykugB3oqHlGj0g3GmUKXAggcoqlGmzEDDjDDB_cbRUQZLdswkreHq95ZsmQiEJD6IBmlYWey/s1600-h/donkalicious.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 79px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhueMmgs9P6RTXFbb0Pzk-tWpKT87s_ZEhNL2eDuG35UDbbpJBSI1zx5hL9-v2cykugB3oqHlGj0g3GmUKXAggcoqlGmzEDDjDDB_cbRUQZLdswkreHq95ZsmQiEJD6IBmlYWey/s400/donkalicious.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374670523972370738" /></a><br /><br />Now losing $15k is not in itself a big deal in poker. Lots of players lose that a lot faster than this guy. What makes this particular bad player amazing is his dedication to his bad-poker craft. That's 15k of real dollars over 5 months in 41k hands at micro limit poker.<br /><br />If you're a crafty little micro player, you'll figure out who this guy is but he's already got a list of regs who chase him (obviously) so get in line. <br /><br />The funny thing is I don't think he's a compulsive gambler since he never moved up to chase losses or played higher, he's just bad at the game and doesn't seem to mind dumping money into the poker economy. We need more fish like this guy these days. I'm so sick of the reg's.<br /><br />I'm guessing the fish in question is old, fairly well off, retired (thus bored) and crabby about his bad luck to anyone who will listen. What do you think?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10215688.post-792941621714738232009-08-18T09:59:00.004-04:002009-08-18T10:30:50.001-04:00I Win, I Win, I LoseThis weekend was fairly typical of my summer G&P ones. I played poker on Friday night, played a golf match Saturday and a tournament on Sunday.<br /><br />Friday night's poker session was fairly typical, lots of grinding out small wins only to lose a cooler or whatever. It seems like I get coolered a lot lately or something.<br /><br />Anyway, favorite hand of the night goes like this...<br /><br />50NL 6-handed, I have $50 the others cover me. <br /><br />Cutoff posts a blind, I open to $2.25 with pocket 5's under the gun, the next guy in middle position calls, and the big blind calls.<br /><br />$7.50 in the pot, flop is J 5 J (Yahtzee!) with two cards to a flush<br /><br />Big blind checks, I bet $4, MP calls, BB check raises to $14 (YAY!), I call, and MP calls<br /><br />$49.50 in the pot, turn is 8 making the flush come in (YAY!).<br /><br />BB checks, I check, MP checks (BOO!)<br /><br />River is the last 5 in the deck (YAY!)<br /><br />BB leads for $21.50, I push my $33.75 all-in, MP RAISES to $43, BB Pushes, MP calls it off<br /><br />I win the main pot $150 with my quads<br />BB wins the side pot with J9 offsuit (top full house)<br />MP wins the donkey of the year award with the Ace high flush<br /><br />So, yeah, poker's going OK for me.<br /><br />Saturday morning I played the semi-final Langley Cup match against Gary. This must be the worst draw in the history of the game, because playing Andy, then Matt, then Gary is BRUTAL as they're all REALLY GOOD match players. Anyway, I lipped a 2 footer to bogey (and lose) the first hole but parred my way around the rest of the course until Gary was toast 5&4. I didn't play exceptionally well just kept the ball in play. Naturally I went double-bogey-double to finish and shoot 78 but I got my win which is what mattered.<br /><br />Sunday at Lochness Links for the Mens Tour event... ugh, it was unbelievably hot on Sunday afternoon. I sweated my bag off but walked anyway (I don't like playing from a cart) and the wind kept it somewhat reasonable. I continued the decent ball striking from Saturday but didn't do much around the greens. Shot a 78 leaving a few shots on the course, but I felt that was a pretty good score. Little did I know every other hacker in the tour would have a good day as well plus they did some funky thing with the numbers so I actually fell a few spots in the standings somehow which was lame. Last event is in 2 weeks at Whirlpool which is a good course, we'll see if I can pull myself up a bit. It really doesn't matter to me though since I've played like ass on the tour this year.<br /><br />Harry reports in that he beat the living daylights out of Brian B in the Langley on his side of the draw yesterday, so it should be a fun match.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10215688.post-43228309133533637942009-08-10T14:07:00.004-04:002009-08-10T14:28:24.420-04:00Back In Business, BabyAfter running bad and playing bad for about a month I seem to have sorted stuff out mainly in the poker department. That's positive for now but we'll see if it lasts. It seems to be forever since I had an 'easy' session but I'll run good eventually, damnit.<br /><br />4years over at <a href="http://thegreatchillout.blogspot.com" target="_blank">The Great Chillout</a> whipped up a solid remix of Poker Face for all you card-nerds out there. He's a guy who cashed his 401k for a bankroll and has successfully left the day job to pursue poker as a living in So-Cal. Pretty sick.<br /><br /><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=8,0,18,0" width="325" height="28" id="divmp3"><param name="movie" value="http://www.divshare.com/flash/playlist?myId=8140910-ee0" /><embed src="http://www.divshare.com/flash/playlist?myId=8140910-ee0" width="325" height="28" name="divmp3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed></object><br /><br />Golf this weekend was pretty uninteresting. Shot an "easy" 75 on Saturday at the usual club, but Sunday was a 'corporate' tournament with a client at Peninsula Lakes. Now, I don't mind Pen Lakes as a course, it's pretty good and well manicured but I never ever score well. The round was slow with hackers abounding and I was something like 6 over when the horn blew on the 16th hole due to a monster storm coming in. I got out of there just in time to avoid getting drenched and was happy to be 'done' my shortened round :)<br /><br />Matt continues to complain via twitter posts about his BC trip. So far it's been too cold, Royal Colwood was mediocre and it's cold and drizzling at Bear Mountain. In other reports, it's very pretty and the food is good. He also looks forward to meeting Dick Zokol and playing his ultra-private course.<br /><br />I'm thrilled to see what he complains about next.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10215688.post-32347894297582518942009-08-04T09:25:00.003-04:002009-08-04T10:08:12.465-04:00The Club Championship, 2009I haven't exactly been playing that well this year. I'm about a solid 4 handicap right now so I shoot something between 75-82 on a pretty consistent basis.<br /><br />At our club, the Championship is a pretty cool event. They naturally have flights of golfers like all clubs do and we the lower handicappers have the 'open' flight in which to do battle. We also have a few really good players in Open Flight so it's nearly always competitive. That said, the same guy has won it the last 3 years (I think) and he's awfully good and consistent. Mike is a level above in terms of his play, truly. So effectively one of us 'low' handicappers has to play his ass off to beat this guy.<br /><br />We play the Championship as a 3-round event over a long weekend, and we get lots of players out to play typically. It's a great event, very well supported and very fun. It's not often hackers like myself have people watching us play but people do follow the open flight in this tourney and coming in to the 18th on the final day in front of what seemed like 100+ people is certainly an experience.<br /><br />Round 1 I started off badly getting to +4 thru 5 but held on to finish 40, then had an OK back nine to shoot 38 total 78. This had me in T2 position -- it was a tough day for the field except for Mike of course who shot 72. The pins were sick today, absolutely tough and it proved to be a struggle to get down in 2 putts most of the day.<br /><br />Round 2 I played with Matty and Mike, again starting off badly on the front shooting a 42 but got it back a bit with a 37 back nine for a 79. This left me in T4th, way behind Mike but within 5 of second and 1 ahead of Matt :) We got poured on for at least half the round, totally soaked. <br /><br />Round 3 I again played with Matt and Jamie K. in the 2nd to last group of the event. I AGAIN struggled on the front nine with a 43 (UGH!) and could only manage a 39 on the back to shoot 82. The pins were pretty tough and the wind was insanely tough. It seemed like every hole was playing directly into a 2-club wind or 2-club cross wind. Insane!<br /><br />All in all, I played my usual lackluster (this year) game, made very few birdies, fewer putts and struck the ball OK. It was quite unimpressive but good enough for 5th spot alone for the Championship.<br /><br />As for our usual crew, Matt finished one back of me and Harry shot a very respectable 77 on his final day -- he JUST squeezed inside the cut to make the last day as well which is pretty cool. It's good to have the three of us all making the cut for once. Harry was 3rd lowest score on the final day which is very solid considering the caliber of other players and conditions.<br /><br />Well that's about it. Again I just beat the other 2 amigos in the clubs but none of us challenged to win it this year. This really is a special golf tournament. I really hope one year I can pull it all together and win it -- it would mean a lot to put my name up on the board with 100+ years of other champions.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10215688.post-10121032650475487752009-07-31T10:13:00.002-04:002009-07-31T10:36:30.357-04:00Poker Player In TrainingIt's funny, I've played poker now for a long time -- have read every well reviewed book, I read the forums, I read everything when it comes to poker. For reasons discussed a few times over the years in my blog, I've never moved up into mid stakes but always keep cashing out and staying at the low limits.<br /><br />Obviously the game has become more difficult to beat since UIGEA came in. I've still beaten it handily but these ain't the days of Party Poker's glory anymore. The opponents were starting to get better even at the lower stakes, lots of TAG's (though bad still, they were tight). You know, it's kind hard to switch gears between playing a pot with a monkey and one who is actually thinking about the game. I'm finding it difficult to give the 'right' amount of credit to people's thinking at these limits.<br /><br />For example, if I raise AQ OOP and the flop is Q72, against an awful calling station I'll try and extract 3 streets of value with my TPTK. However, if a reasonably thinking player calls my flop c-bet, i have to give him SOME credit for having a hand, and have to wonder if betting the next two streets has value for me since what will he call with that I beat? Weaker queen... what else?<br /><br />Anyway, enough of the bs strategy stuff, the point is I'm having some trouble these days and a lot of it is, in my opinion, a form of tilt. Yes, I'm stacking the bad players like crazy as normal, yes I'm stealing from the TAG's a bit, but about 3 times a session I do something really, really stupid. Usually it costs me a stack.<br /><br />This month I've broke even... to make up for my stupid plays I've had to focus on really extracting value from good/great hands when I have the opportunity and as such I believe I'm improving THAT aspect of my game. I'm improving but my 'leaks' are costing me all of that profit. <br /><br />So, I consider myself in training now. Breaking even / losing is a pretty HUGE thing for me at this game and has motivated me to really work harder at it. It's frustrating to know what not to do and do it anyway.<br /><br />In one of my next posts, I'll be reviewing my month of July poker results and what I'm doing in order to improve them. It's been a long, rough month.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10215688.post-4419802336491968102009-07-27T08:34:00.004-04:002009-07-27T09:04:48.592-04:00Chinese Poker, New Golf Shoes & Langley Cup ActionThe week before last I taught Matt how to play Chinese over lunch. Chinese is a pretty simple very luck-prone game where you split 13 cards into 3 poker hands, 5 in the back, 5 in the middle and 3 to the front. It's a game played for points and not chips which is nice over lunch naturally. There's also zero bluffing. Anyway, we've played two sessions of Chinese and I can honestly say it's a really fun game. I'm slightly ahead on the overall but we play for peanuts anyway. :) I did have Matt on tilt on Friday though as I cleaned his clock, he was ranting and I was laughing hysterically. The other 19th hole regulars who play a bastardized version of Gin would have thought us crazy, had they been in their usual seats.<br /><br />Saturday I went to the golf course hoping to play OK and figure out whatever is wrong with my game in time for my Langley Cup match vs. Matt. I shot a 79, it wasn't pretty and I made almost no putts at all. That's not good.<br /><br />The funniest part about this round happened on the 15th hole (it was just Harry and I and we played the back 9 first). I hit my drive as usual and start walking down the fairway when I hear flapping and something feels odd with my right foot. I look down and lo and behold the sole of my old golf shoes has started to come right off. It didn't take long for that to come all the way off and so there I am walking around in just the leather/plastic boot of the shoes with no sole and only a stub of sole on my heel from a few spikes that decided to stay attached. It was... messed up. See, my 'new' golf shoes are in for replacement by Nike due to them leaking already (1 year old, 2 year warranty). I don't know when I'm getting those back so I was using my old shoes... well, not anymore I guess.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI7nr20rClFWVDSDmVKu8v0fqLeCpOWLOt8hLnyIcj3bxverWri3jIVqap4WXRL2HEpUzeRjrX3tX9aYpJ9zTM9Bx8Hcr_vUnCR6c-ss332O3Zsx_u_iY_HLvzXAhbVZPAa0EO/s1600-h/nike-tiger-woods-air-zoom-tw-2009.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 234px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI7nr20rClFWVDSDmVKu8v0fqLeCpOWLOt8hLnyIcj3bxverWri3jIVqap4WXRL2HEpUzeRjrX3tX9aYpJ9zTM9Bx8Hcr_vUnCR6c-ss332O3Zsx_u_iY_HLvzXAhbVZPAa0EO/s320/nike-tiger-woods-air-zoom-tw-2009.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363120974992566946" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I ended up purchasing a pair of these (above), the new Nike TW 2009's for a nice discount -- love me a discount :)<br /><br />So Sunday I'm to play Matt for the Langley Cup 2nd round. That's a crap draw for both of us as we're usually pretty competitive in this tournament but whatever, luck is luck. <br /><br />So off we go (back nine first) and early on I get myself two down -- neither of us are playing especially well though! I got back to even eventually and held it by making a ridiculous pitch shot on #17 from on top of the hill, crappy lie, under some trees and over a bunker -- the shot actually checked, imagine that. Eventually I get to 1 up after 9. <br /><br />I dropped a shot on 1 after heroically punching a shot thru and under large trees and skipping it over the green 150 yards away then failing to make my putt after a great pitch shot. We basically traded bad holes for the rest of the round -- poo flinging. I birdie #6 to go 2 up and #7 I missed the green to the left left and my chip came up short. My par putt missed as well leaving me 3 feet uphill but Matt's birdie putt came up 3+ feet short as well. He missed his par putt and said "pick it up" in a moment of, well... probably tilt. I picked that coin up fast as fast could be and took a 2 up dormie lead to #8 where I get a stroke -- the match is basically history given #8 is easy. <br /><br />Well, I seem to have a knack of making easy things hard. My 3rd shot on #8 is just a wedge from 100yds to a front pin. My wedge dug right under that damn ball and I took a lot more turf than ball on that stroke. It came up just into the fairway on the far side of the creek. My pitch came up on the fringe of the green and I miss the par putt. Meanwhile Matt hits his 2nd over near the green and hits a great pitch shot about 12 feet past. Naturally he makes that so the match is STILL going.<br /><br />I hit my drive long up the middle on #9 and hit a 4i to 15 feet from 195, nice swings both of them. Matt got into some trouble on the left and had 250 in with a tree near his follow thru. He couldn't squeeze out a birdie and I took the match. <br /><br />All in all, it was some ugly golf. It's too bad neither of us played well, but such is golf. Here's a graphic created to visually describe how our match went:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP9NUNV49q5MS4sQ3DuHid5Y_8bAu7UGyjpR6y9I-wZmOvhLVi5S7Hyhulwkf8H0_Qj5cavDvnGra7RKU5lkoxXf0Ka993uvpfgVdfGUQwEtzTSckBHhkm-JViRSE9quoUBJ67/s1600-h/Monkey_Poo_for_you_pt1_by_Jays_Dood.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 206px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP9NUNV49q5MS4sQ3DuHid5Y_8bAu7UGyjpR6y9I-wZmOvhLVi5S7Hyhulwkf8H0_Qj5cavDvnGra7RKU5lkoxXf0Ka993uvpfgVdfGUQwEtzTSckBHhkm-JViRSE9quoUBJ67/s320/Monkey_Poo_for_you_pt1_by_Jays_Dood.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363124833951453298" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3