Four Years Later, Still Talking Poker

To say that it's been a while would certainly be a gross understatement.  It's been more than four freaking years since I last gave this blog a little love, and it is much overdue for a little poker talkin.  I was actually surprised that my Blogger account and all my old posts had been preserved, even though the domain that I had redirected this through had long expired.  Nothing was public on the actual web, so it must have seemed as if the whole thing was dead and gone, and I suppose I subconsciously believed that to be true as well.

Obviously I could go into a lot of detail about what's been going on in both my personal life and poker life over the past four years, but I think I'll spare you all the novel and go with more of an annotated timeline of what's been going on and why I decided to make this phoenix-esque return.  Here goes:

• December 2008 - Teaching.  Coaching.  No free time.  No poker.  I have a blog?

• 2009 - Mostly busy with the same things.  Squeeze in a little online poker but not much.  Meet an awesome gal in late October.  Sh*t get's real.

• 2010 - Most time spent wearing teacher, coach, or boyfriend hats.  Make a short-lived run at getting back into the online grind during the summer months.  School year starts up and poker again takes a backseat to everything else.

• April 2011 - Black Friday whaaaaaaaaat?  I want my monies!

• May 2011 - Give up on getting said monies.

• August 2011 - Tired of being awesome gal's boyfriend, make big romantic proposal and lock it up.  Sh*t gets even more real.

• September 2011 - Decide I deserve an engagement trophy of some sort as well.  Drop some dollars on fancy new poker chips and poker chip addiction official begins, many thanks to ChipTalk.net.  Also happen upon other Maryland members and discover the wonderful world of home games in my backyard.

• October 2011 - With online poker virtually dead, the new grind becomes occasional (2-3 times a month) small stakes home games, which turn out to be much more socially satisfying than sitting at a computer.  Who knew!?

• Early 2012 - Ups and downs in the home games.  Also squeeze in a trip or two to AC, as well as several stops at Delaware Park as the lucky lady and I plan out wedding things in DE.

• July 2012 - With table games in Maryland coming back into legislative discussions, I decide to use my summer vacation to take my poker enthusiasm to the web once again with my new site, Maryland Poker Connection.  The sweet smell of Maryland poker is in the air!

• August 2012 - Bachelor party in AC!

• October 2012 - Officially the luckiest man in the world.  Spectacular wedding and honeymoon with the coolest chick on the planet and all of our amazing friends.

• November 2012 - Return from honeymoon to sweat out Maryland gambling expansion on election night.  Question 7 passes!  Poker coming to Maryland!  Not to mention Greg Merson, a Marylander, takes down the WSOP Main Event!  Everything's coming up Milhouse!

• December 2012 - Still likely several months away from casino poker in state.  Still splashing around in home games when I can.  Still teaching at the same school and coaching on the side.  Still married to an awesome gal and loving every minute of it... particularly lucky in that she likes playing a little poker herself and enjoys baking sweet treats for when we host games here.  Still working on her grasp on gap theory and implied odds :)

So that's about it in a nutshell, up to the point now where I decided that just operating the one website isn't enough to quench my thirst for everything poker.  I'm hopeful that I'll be able to put more time into TPTM in the coming year and expand the blog to include other nuances of my obsession with poker.  I have plenty of things to share just from the four years that I took off, and will hopefully have many more goodies in store now that Maryland casinos will be serving up live poker action in the near future.

For now though, it is time to start getting ready for a little night on the town with the wife.  Happy New Years to all, and best of luck at the tables,

Bo

Turkey on the River

Ohhhh my gullet. So... much... food. Breathing... diff... icult. I have to say that Thanksgiving is probably one of my favorite holidays. It's a great time of year to get a little time off, and I like both of the main philosophies involved: taking time to show gratitude for friends and family... and then eating tons of food and passing out on their living room floor. So far today I only had time for a quick post-gorging nap as my little cousins played a Spiderman videogame in the background, and I was awoken by a cat sniffing my face about 20 minutes in. The tryptophan is kicking in big time right now, and I'm probably going to hit the hay in about an hour.

The other upside of the Thanksgiving weekend is having a little time off to catch up on posting here... however I don't have a whole lot to talk about. Since my last post I've been swamped with the usual teaching/coaching/night classes/moving in to new house combination of priorities. I have to admit that in the month or so that I've had this new computer, I haven't bothered to download Full Tilt onto it yet. I've been completely poker-free for a whole month now, and to be honest, it ain't so bad. I definitely miss it every once in a while, like last night when they had the WSOP rerun playing at the bar I was at with old high school friends. For the most part though, it's like anything else... if you don't bring it around you, you really don't think about it.

Speaking of the WSOP, I completely missed all the live "November Nine" business, though from what I've read and heard it doesn't seem like it made the splash the were hoping for. It seems that each year it gets less and less popular. Things have certainly changed since the Moneymaker golden age of poker popularity, but I guess I can't really say much since I've become too busy to really pay attention anymore... or at least until the summer when school is out.

Another little blip of poker news that I recently scanned is the ongoing low-key battle over the UIGEA, with the longshot potential for a poker carve-out on the positive side, and increased pressure on banks and money transaction businesses on the negative side. Not 100% sure what's really going on, so I don't want to misinform you all. Hopefully we'll see some good news in the near future though.

That's about all I got for now. Going to get back to cleaning and piecing together the new house for now.

Happy Thanksgiving, and best of luck at the tables. - B

Checking In

So it's been quite a while, but I figured I'd at least put something up for October to show that I am still alive and well.

Basically teaching + coaching + classes + a small attempt at a social life = no time whatsoever for poker and posting. I seriously don't think I've ever been this consistently busy in my life at all... but I guess that's why we get summers off. On top of all this madness, I also managed to become an official homeowner, signing all the closing documents and handing over the biggest check I've ever written earlier today. Unfortunately the seller has been a little slow to get things moved out, and is going to be renting back for the next two weeks. That gives me a little time to keep searching for a kickass sectional couch for my new living room.

I will admit that I have squeezed a little poker in... but only because I wanted to try out Full Tilt's new Matrix tourney. I gave it 2 or 3 whirls in play money mode in between grading and lesson planning, and found it enjoyable, but not overly exciting.

Oh yeah... can't believe I forgot this given it's sitting right in front of me now. Last weekend my 7-8 year old computer got hit really hard by something vicious... virus, spyware, backdoor whatever... a whole bunch of fun stuff. Nothing was really lost or corrupted, but it's just not going away and it won't let me run any anti-virus/spyware programs to take care of it. The main file that kept reappearing was something called brastk.exe... don't know how I got it but watch out for it. Last thing I remember I was downloading music (yes, it was seriously music... not porn) on isohunt.com and through utorrent... the former of which seems pretty sketch, and now that I think of it has given me smaller issues in the past. Anyways, the end result is that I went out and got a brand new compy... an HP with more than enough of what I need, and a sweet new 19" monitor. I'm really liking Vista too... I don't see what all the complaining is about.

A friend of mine is coming this weekend to help me remove the extra hard drive in the old compy with everything I need and do a clean install of XP on it. Hopefully that'll clean it up and I'll have 2 to play with... as if I have that kind of time.

Alright, time for a dinner celebration for the new house. I'll check in again real soon.

Best of luck. - B

Runner Runner Runner Runner

Messing around a little last night while scraping together some lesson plans, and couldn't help but laugh at these. The KK cracking came on the first hand of donkest #1, then after starting up a new one immediately I got the really bad QQ cracking... that's a bonafide bad beat for sure. Check this out...


Full Tilt Poker, $2 + $0.25 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 15/30 Blinds, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

SB: 1,500
BB: 1,500
UTG: 1,500
Hero (MP): 1,500
CO: 1,500
BTN: 1,500

Pre-Flop: (45) Ks Kd dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG raises to 60, Hero raises to 180, CO calls 180, 2 folds, BB calls 150, UTG calls 120
Flop: (735) 6d Th Jd (4 Players)
BB checks, UTG bets 1,320 and is All-In, Hero calls 1,320 and is All-In, CO calls 1,320 and is All-In, BB folds
Turn: (4,695) Qc (3 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (4,695) Qh (3 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: 4,695 Pot
UTG showed 4d Ac (a pair of Queens) and LOST (-1,500 NET)
Hero showed Ks Kd (two pair, Kings and Queens) and LOST (-1,500 NET)
CO showed Ad Qd (three of a kind, Queens) and WON 4,695 (+3,195 NET)


Full Tilt Poker, $2 + $0.25 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 40/80 Blinds, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (CO): 885
BTN: 3,740
SB: 890
BB: 2,480
UTG: 1,005

Pre-Flop: (120) Qc Qh dealt to Hero (CO)
UTG folds, Hero raises to 160, BTN folds, SB raises to 890 and is All-In, BB folds, Hero calls 725 and is All-In
Flop: (1,850) 7d 7c 2s (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (1,850) Jd (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (1,850) Jh (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: 1,850 Pot
Hero showed Qc Qh (two pair, Queens and Jacks) and LOST (-885 NET)
SB showed Js Qd (a full house, Jacks full of Sevens) and WON 1,850 (+965 NET)



99% on the flop. Just sick.

The Latest

So it's been a little while. Just wanted to throw a quick post up and let ya'll know what I've been up to, other than not posting very much.

In no particular order...

- New teaching job = new lesson plans, new assignments to grade every weekend, new parents to call and delicately phrase what a jackass their child is, and of course new coworkers to hang out with on the weekends.

- House shopping and potentially moving in the very near future. Found a great townhouse with a great location, and might possibly be putting an offer in this coming week. Already eyeing up space for a poker table and the compy setup.

- Broke up with the ladyfriend, but it was definitely for the best for both of us, and we're remaining good friends. I'm more accustomed to the good-old cut-and-run from psychotic ex-gf's, so it was a very refreshing breakup.

- Forcing myself to actually attend my classes Monday and Wednesday nights to finish up my dual teaching certification. Both are horrendously long, incredibly boring, and completely unrelated of course to what I'll be teaching... but are nonetheless required for the whole being "highly qualified" thing under No Child Left Behind. Thanks again, Bush.

- Poker-wise, I've just been dicking around at the micro limits while I multitask with grading papers and whatnot. It has been profitable, but not really worth logging into the bankroll.

So that about sums it up. Really not a whole lot of time for either poker playing or posting other than just the occasional donkfest. Sad, I know. I might be around to resurrect my Sloppy Deuce reign of terror tomorrow, but no promises.

Best of luck for now. - B

How to Crack Three Overpairs

Another Sunday donkfest at the micro-stakes while I do some lesson-planning and grading. Just couldn't resist posting this gem though. I really don't know what any of these idiots were thinking... a great example of how not to play premium pairs in a variety of positions.

Full Tilt Poker, $2 + $0.25 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 20/40 Blinds, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

UTG: 2,640
CO: 1,525
BTN: 2,410
Hero (SB): 860
BB: 1,565

Pre-Flop: (60) 8c 9d dealt to Hero (SB)
UTG folds, CO calls 40, BTN calls 40, Hero calls 20, BB checks
Flop: (160) Tc Js 7d (4 Players)
Hero checks, BB bets 40, CO raises to 80, BTN raises to 440, Hero calls 440, BB calls 400, CO raises to 1,485 and is All-In, BTN raises to 2,370 and is All-In, Hero calls 380 and is All-In, BB calls 1,085 and is All-In
Turn: (5,515) 3d (4 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (5,515) 8s (4 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: 5,515 Pot
CO showed Qc Qd (a pair of Queens) and LOST (-1,525 NET)
BTN showed Ts Th (three of a kind, Tens) and WON 2,075 (+510 NET)
Hero showed 8c 9d (a straight, Jack high) and WON 3,440 (+2,580 NET)
BB showed Kc Ks (a pair of Kings) and LOST (-1,565 NET)


I was 11.76% before the flop, in case you were wondering :-D Ship it!

Hilarious Phil Hellmuth Wannabe Encounter

Been donking around this weekend, playing some short micro tourneys while grading and lesson planning just to stimulate the poker part of my brain a little... this has got to be the funniest table talk I've ever experienced in my online poker days. Be sure to notice, as our friend here clearly did not, that I'm in the BB and seeing a free flop...

Full Tilt Poker, $2 + $0.25 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 20/40 Blinds, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

BTN: 1,185
SB: 1,005
Hero (BB): 1,710
UTG: 3,885
CO: 1,215

Pre-Flop: (60) 7d 3h dealt to Hero (BB)
BTN calls 40, Hero checks
Flop: (100) 3s 7s 3c (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets 200, Hero calls 200
Turn: (500) 4c (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets 945 and is All-In, Hero calls 945
River: (2,390) Jh (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: 2,390 Pot
BTN showed 6h 6d (two pair, Sixes and Threes) and LOST (-1,185 NET)
Hero showed 7d 3h (a full house, Threes full of Sevens) and WON 2,390 (+1,205 NET)

... and here's his take on my terrible play...

BTN (Observer): sick...plays crap...sucksout on crap
BTN (Observer): !$&#ing 2 dolla calling station whore

I love it :-D

Poker Life Drawing Dead

Hate to say it, but the "real job" is taking over. Not that it's a bad thing, as I do really enjoy teaching, but this was the first week back for staff members and it's been absolutely crazy. There's always just a ton of crap that needs to get done and not enough time to do it with all the additional staff meetings going on, and now it even looks like I'll be going in for a few hours on Sunday, unfortunately missing the Sloppy Deuce.

Sucks, but I gotta do what I gotta do, and hopefully things will settle down after the first week or two, leaving me the occasional hour of free time to squeeze a weekly tournament in. I'm also attempting two night classes during the week though, so that could be tough.

I have a load of post ideas jotted down right now, and will definitely get to them when time allows. But for now, it's 9:00 PM and I'm honestly tired as all hell, so I'm peacing out. Sleeping in is the nuts!

Best of luck out there. - B

WSOP Event 20 on ESPN

Last night I planned on only watching the first half of Tuesday night poker on ESPN in hopes of getting a little work done before going to bed, but after the first hour of $50k HORSE dramatics I was drawn in like a... like a... like a something, I don't freaking know... I just kept watching.

For the most part it just looked plain awkward, particularly with the three remaining players. The newcomer to the table, though certainly a player that has proved to be a tournament threat, Michael DeMichele (pronounced Deemikelly... I think), got things started with a little showboating for his friends... an honest newcomer mistake when at a table ripe with seasoned pros, and certainly nothing we've never seen on televised poker before. Erick Lindgren was a true class act as always, and handled the situation in a polite manner by taking a light jab at DeMichele and implying that he should cool it a bit, but all in good fun.

By the time Scotty Nguyen flew off the handle at DeMichele after losing a good-sized pot, it was pretty clear that the kid had gotten the message and was by no means acting inappropriate... though you can never tell with all the ESPN editing that goes on. DeMichele defended himself and even alled Scotty out on being hypocritical and a poor ambassador of the game. A "socially lubricated" Scotty continued to drink, showboat, drops F-bombs, play sloppy, and ridicule DeMichele up until he knocked him out, after which they awkwardly shook hands and pretended to be good sports.

I gotta hand it to Lindgren for staying classy throughout the game, and to Norman Chad as well for pretty much being spot on with the play-by-play poker drama. DeMichele had been a little out of line earlier on, but Scotty, the veteran player that should know better, really stepped over the line in attacking DeMichele, who had every right to fight back.

I think my favorite part of the whole mess though was the equally un-classy Layne Flack and his drunken shenanigans from the rail, followed by Chad's golden comment:

Flack: "Nut-nut, baaaaaaaaby!" (stumbling around and slurring his words)
Norman Chad: "That's a bit unfortunate."

Of course the sad truth of this whole mess was that the whole night was laid out to pay homage to legendary player Chip Reese, who recently passed away. The $50k HORSE tournament could arguably be the toughest of WSOP tournaments, with a field full of pros, and the winner often clearly being a player of far-reaching skills and discipline. Scotty Nguyen may be a solid poker player, but he by no means exhibited the table traits that make men such as Chip Reese and Doyle Brunson true icons of the game.

The Reign Continues

I finally got back to even for the month this weekend, playing 2 $10 SNG's last night, busting in 5th on the first with a AKs resteal attempt resulting in a coinflip with the big stack's 99. Dude had seriously called like 3 AK pushes (including mine) preflop with middle pairs and had everyone outchipped by like 5-1. The second one I was able to take down though, which put me up to $912 after starting the month at $909 and going on that craptastic downswing that sunk me to $833 within the first week of August. I've managed to have a small upswing over the past 6 games in particular, with 1 1st, 1 2nd, 2 3rds, and 2 5th's on AK flips. I've been thinking about some AK hands that I busted out on and whether or not I've got an AK leak in my game (i.e. is AK in the blinds always a good resteal? should you always make a continuation bet with one caller when you've missed the flop and are out of position?). Perhaps I'm thinking so just because I went out on them, but I'll post more about that later.

More importantly now, this weekend was good because I continued my streak of being the only Sloppy Deuce champion in the history of the Sloppy Deuce tournament (an epic 3 weeks now). Earlier today I took Deuce #3 down in a sloptastic game of four, featuring one newcomer, two veterans, and yours truly of course. Final results were:

1st - MrBo1011 ($8)
2nd - pokerpro320
3rd - trainofbutter
4th - craigulator19

There were a few fun hands but nothing I really feel like digging up right now to post. The best hand for me was the final J9 vs. 98 showdown that allowed me to close things out and get to the movies right on time for the 4:05 showing of Pineapple Express. A quality movie with solid laughs... two thumbs up from this amateur movie critic.

Anyways, I have to get some sleep for now. Yeah I know the sun barely just set, but I'll be rising around 5:00 AM tomorrow for the first day back to work. This week is staff week, then the kids return next week, so I really gotta get things set up in the room and make sure I have something to say on Day 1 besides "uhhh... so... you kids like to play cards?" That would probably not go over so well.

I'll do my best to keep the posts coming through all this madness. Hope to see you in the next Sloppy Deuce - next Sunday at 2:00 PM EST... also your next chance to qualify for that $50 freeroll.

Best of luck for now. Peace. - B