Super System

I got Super System 2 yesterday from the library. It has been over a year since reading the book and it was good to just refresh my memory on some strategies. Also when I had originally read the book I really didn't read the excellent section on Omaha 8 and actually had forgotten that it was in there until Memphis pointed it out to me. I probably should just buy it but we have such a great library here that it doesn't seem like a problem getting it. I am the type that needs to read things a few times (old age) to digest the concepts. This is still an excellent book and certainly one of my favourites.

A few weeks ago I won a whopping 70 cents playing a freeroll at Pokerstars. Yep that's life changing money. Anyways a few days after I played in their limit micro games and built it to a unbelievable 77 cents. Then I kind of forgot about it until yesterday. With no plans on playing a live game yesterday I thought why not risk a whole 40 cents of it playing limit again. I have to admit I haven't played much limit in my life. Anyways after a bit of a shaky start and going down to 23 cents (stop laughing), I caught pocket aces and won a decent pot against a guy who overplayed his pocket 10s. From then on I managed to build it up so that my bankroll is now I think $1.87. Too funny. So my plan for the next while is once a week take 40 cents of it, play until either one of 3 things happen.
I lose it
I get over $1.00 or
45 minutes passes
As I have said many times I won't invest money online but I certainly don't have a problem playing with Pokerstars money.

The hotels and resorts in Mexico must be hurting big time as our news has been full of people cancelling trips and weddings because of the swine flu outbreak. I know personally of one couple who had planned their wedding there and have now cancelled and they were interviewing people and most have changed to Hawaii or places like Phoenix. It will take months maybe years for people to regain their confidence to travel there.

The second round of the playoffs start tonight here in Vancouver. The bars will be packed province wide. Lets hope they get off to a good start. I am playing poker tonight so I will try and catch some of the action in between hands.

Vegas

I have been to Vegas a few times and went twice last year both times for a week. I have a week trip planned for September and I can't wait. Its gotten now where I really don't want to travel anywhere else. I love it there. Its not just the poker and gambling. I can get that here in BÇ casinos. Its just the vibe there. People always ask me why don't I go to Hawaii (been there), Mexico(never again) or say Cuba. Those places just don't have the thrill for me that Vegas does. I guess if you live there like the Grump or BWOP it wouldn't be the same but to me its always the best vacation. As soon as I got home from being there last August I was planning my next one. I was actually hoping to go in the spring but the better half couldn't get any vacation time in April or May so September it will be.

I read a lot of great Vegas blogs mostly poker related but one that's veers off the beaten track is Vegas Rex. He actually has two blogs which you can find here and here . He gives you a different slice of Vegas, doesn't mince words and calls it like he sees it. A very entertaining read. His pictures of different parts of Vegas are superb.

I played a live game last night and basically bombed out. I think there was just under 50 of us and fairly early on I got dealt pocket queens in the BB. I love getting high pockets in the BB. Who wouldn't?? I tend to win big pots there. They can be played and disguised well. Well not this time. A guy in middle position who was already down a bit pushed all in. Then the guy in the SB called him. Yikes. What is a guy to do? The SB I didn't worry too much about as he plays weird hands but the early guy had me concerned. After much deliberation I called. Since the SB and myself both had him covered we saw a flop of I think 953 rainbow. The SB then pushed his remaining chips in . What the?? Anyways I called as I still had him covered. He flipped over AQ. The early raiser flipped over KK. Not looking good for the main pot but when the turn and the river were blanks I at least won the side pot. It left me fairly short stacked but I managed to build it back a bit over the next orbit.

Then I got dealt A5h UTG. I am not a big fan of this hand in that position so I folded. Well every one else at the table limped in... If I had only known. The flop came Q55. Yep. Two people got a piece of it one guy having the other 5 and a lady who I think had AQ. It turned into a huge pot which would have been mine. Oh well. I still really don't like playing Ace Rag early.

I went out when getting low I pushed with Q10h and 2 hearts on the flop of 872. The chip leader at our table called me with 8,3? It was a BB special and he had bet after the flop and I thought he was just trying to steal the pot so I pushed hoping he would fold but also knowing I had lots of outs. His 8s held up and I was out.

I talked to a lot of people last night just generally asking if they played online for cash and if so at what levels. Most played but very few for cash (they felt like I do that they would rather play live). Some played the micro games. One guy told me he was watching one of the higher games online and watched a guy lose 80 grand in less than an hour. Unbelievable. Imagine sitting at a computer and blowing 80 grand staring at a screen full of cards. Not in this lifetime.

So the hockey playoffs are fully set now after last nights games so my predictions for the next round are... Detroit over Anaheim in 6, Washington over Pittsburgh in 7,
Boston over Carolina in 5 and Vancouver over Chicago in 6. First game is Thursday night here in Vancouver.

Is online poker rigged??

As I was saying yesterday I frequently read the ALL Vegas poker site. It is a fountain of information and has some great posters with lots of knowledge of the poker world and of course Vegas Poker . I love reading the threads about how to play hands which posters submit afterwords wondering if they did the right thing.

I came upon this thread and about half way down where 2 different posters questioned whether online poker was rigged. Makes a very interesting read and opens up a whole discussion on this. Who is regulating online poker at the different sites?? We all know what happened at Ultimate Bet after the series on 60 minutes. What is stopping players from collusion?? Not much although the sites claim they monitor rooms.Yea but how much monitoring?? Why does the online game seem to have so many incredible hands and people catching at the river?? Is it because more hands are played?

A couple posters defend the online game and say that the high incidents of good hands are just that there are a way more hands being played online and of course the Royal flushes and Quads are going to appear way more often.

Here are my thoughts. If you want to invest money online do so with extreme caution and do just small amounts. I personally don't. I love the live game and only use the online game to pass time and because I love playing poker and will play anytime anywhere. I would love to see the online game regulated and run out of either the U.S. or Canada. The likely hood of that happening I think is really small. Right now players are trusting the sites that everything is run above board. I worry more about collusion with players than I do about it being rigged.

I played a live game last night. I think there was just under 40 players and it was a really unremarkable night. Early on I got dealt pocket 5's in the BB and with 2 limpers in the pot decided to just call. Flop came 6,5,4 rainbow. Young guy bet 2 BB and second limper folded. Well I liked the trip 5's I had but didn't like the board that much so min raised him. He called. Chasing his straight?? Turn brought the another lovely 6 giving me a full house. He bet and I just called hoping he caught his straight on the river. The river was Q and he checked and I bet but he folded. Decent pot. After that it was basically winning the odd pot and then I became incredibly card dead and went out in 9th. Playing again tonight so hoping for a better result.

Well the match ups in one side of hockey playoffs are set now with Detroit playing Anaheim and Chicago playing our Vancouver Canucks. Should be two great series. I like the Canuck chances against Chicago if they get great goaltending like they have been. The Anaheim/Detroit series will be tough. Most experts will be picking Detroit but Anaheim sure looked good knocking off San Jose.

Swine Flu

By now most of us have heard of the latest flu bug to hit North America. This one is called of all names the swine flu. Does this mean I shouldn't eat pork?? It seems there are 6 confirmed cases in Canada, 2 here in B.C and 4 back in Nova Scotia. The ones that are confirmed in B. C. are both healthy males under the age of 30 and both were mild cases. All had travelled to Mexico. I think there are a few more cases that haven't been confirmed as they had a lady on the news who has been sick since coming back from Mexico and are waiting on test results to come back. Now I have to admit I am a bit of a germaphobe. Maybe not to the extent of someone like Howie Mandel (who won't shake hands with people) but I am still pretty paranoid at times. If you are sick don't come near me. I joke with my wife and kids (actually I am semi serious) that if you get a cold or flu we should have an isolation room.

I will probably never travel to Mexico again and I know this flu could have started anywhere but I still question the hygienic standards of that country. I love the Mexican people but they really need to get their act together or its going to hurt the average person. Already I am hearing of people not wanting to travel there and any decrease in tourism will hurt the little guy. Some countries have already issued travel advisories. Be interesting to see how this plays out.

Speaking of germs I was playing in a tournament three months ago and there was at least a half dozen people coughing and blowing their nose which of course made me paranoid that I was going to get something. You see all these people were handling the same cards I was. Of course a couple days later yours truly was sick.

I finally caught the televised final table of the B.C. Poker Championship which was played last fall at the River Rock Casino in Richmond, B.C.. This is 2700 dollar buy in event which stretched over 4 days. The structure is excellent and attracted Daniel Negraneau and Dennis Phillips and a few other pros. The final 3 were Daniel and 2 young guys, one from Washington State and one from Delta (a suburb of Vancouver). Even though I knew the final result it was still interesting watching Daniel control the final table as when it started he wasn't the chip leader but in the end he won it all. The 2 young guys made a couple errors but overall played really well but looked a bit in awe of playing against Negraneau. Daniel collected over 200,000 for his win and praised the tournament. I am sure with proper promoting this event will grow in size this year.

Showing Cards

I used to be a 7 card stud player for years. When NLHE became the choice of games a few years back I found the changeover from stud a bit of a tough one. The biggest change for me was trying not to become too predictable. You can play on the Internet everyday and you will always be playing different people from all over the globe. I play more live than I do electronically so I am constantly playing some of the same people over and over.

That means they can get a read on you if you do the same moves over and over. I have a reputation as a TAG. In other words if you tangle with me in a hand you better have the goods because I usually do if I am in a pot. I try to take down a pot as soon as a scary board hits. I always would rather win a small pot than lose a large one. In tournament play being too TAG usually means you will last awhile but unless the cards are flowing your way your chances of getting to the final table with sufficient chips can be tough. I was finding that if I did final table I was usually short stacked and basically committed to waiting to push and hoping to double. That's not a great way to play. You are committed to trying to win races and we all know that even going in as a favourite you are going to lose a lot. Playing too tight was not working.

I still try and cultivate that reputation as TAG and do so by showing cards occasionally when I have a great hand. I know that goes against a lot of expert opinion that you should never show your cards. That's a huge change for me as before I never showed unless I was called. This enables me to play less than great cards at times as I try in get in peoples minds that I am only playing good cards.

I remember about a month ago I was in a hand with a young guy who is a good player. This is someone who I have played with many times including once heads up at a tournament (which I won). Earlier in the night I had showed a couple winning hands but this time I had totally missed my hand but instead of betting big or checking I bet the minimum and he looked at the bet as if I had the nuts and folded. I even had another player comment that looked like a bet to get someone to contribute to the pot when I had a good hand. Yea well knowing how good a player he was that bet was to get him to think I had good cards as I never bet like that. I wouldn't try that with just anyone though or too often and of course if he had a great hand he would have raised or called. Just glad it worked that time.

To me HE is a constant learning curve. There are so many good players out there now that you constantly have to look at ways of improving. I love the AllVegas poker site as there is so much information there and if you ever need to someone's opinion on how to play a hand or how you should have played you will get lots of help.

The WPT event wrapped up yesterday and Yevgeniy Timoshenko (pictured above) won the first prize of 2.1 million. That's incredible money. Second place went to Ron Azor and he collected 1.4 million. Both will probably also get some sort of sponsorships from one of the poker sites. Looking through the list of people who cashed in this event you find the name Boris Becker. The same guy who entertained the tennis world and former Wimbledon winner. Its interesting to see some big names from the sports and entertainment world have latched on to the poker boom. People like Gabe Kaplan, Orel Hershiser,Don Cheadle to name a few. What they have that the average person doesn't have is the cash to enter these events. Its still great to see them there though and that's what makes poker special. Imagine sitting at poker tournament and having one of these guys next to you. It certainly would be fun.

The Soloist and Poker

We decided to go see the Soloist which opened today. Its a new movie with Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx. Its based on a true story of a former Julliard student who becomes homeless. Without going into too much detail about the movie lets just say its worth seeing. Great acting by both Downey and Foxx and really opens up your eyes to why some of the homeless people are out there. Good to see Downey seems to have his well publicized problems under control and in this movie shows he can certainly act.

It was basically a day off poker for me except for about an hour of Omaha I played while sitting at Starbucks. After last nights exit from the tournament I needed a break from HE today.

I guess they are down to the final table of 6 at the WPT at the Belaggio. They are going to televise it so I guess in the weeks ahead one of the stations will pick it up. The chip leader is Yevgeniy Timoshenko with almost 2 to 1 chip lead over Christian Harder in second place.

I searched the library catalogue to see if I could find any books on Omaha but so far no luck. I have read most of books they carry on poker which is quite a few. Most of course either deal with HE or are biographies. Going to do some searching online tomorrow and see what I come up with.

Olympic Ski Jumping (not all poker)

In 9 months the Winter Olympics will be here in Vancouver and the IOC with its old boys club has decided to not allow women to ski jump here in Vancouver. They have always had men ski jumping at the Olympics but their reasoning is that there aren't enough women ski jumpers of good enough caliber. What a crock. These are the same guys who wouldn't let women run the marathon or races longer than 1500 metres for years. It is so good to see that the ladies have taken this to court here in B.C and I hope they win. The IOC likes to show their muscle and really need to be put in their place.

I played a live tournament last night with 55 entrants and I swore that when I started this blog I wouldn't tell bad beat stories and so let us just say that I went out in 20th place when someone made an extremely questionable call and then got one out of the 2 cards he needed on the turn and the other on the river. Okay so that's a bad beat story. Anyways I was looking great up until that point having won a huge pot early on. I hit pocket queens and raised it 3 x BB and got 2 callers. Flop came Q XX. Love that flop. Action was on me. Normally I would check here but I decided to bet the minimum which got a look from a lady at the table who wasn't involved in the hand. I could see she was wondering about that bet. Anyways it worked as one of the original callers made a huge raise, the other caller folded and I pushed with my trip queens. I had the raiser covered by a bit and this was like the 5th hand of the night so he thought a lot and finally called. He had 2 pair and my trips held up. Too bad the rest of the night wasn't so good.

Speaking of bad beats I see Jennifer Harmon went out in 11th place in the WPT World Championship. She was all in preflop with AA and got called by Yevgeniy Timoshenko with 10h2h???. Anyways he hit 2 pair on the turn and she was out in 11th. She got just over 81,000 for 11th. They are down to 10 as of this morning and Scotty Nguyen is the chip leader.

The Family

When I started this blog I decided to basically do it without telling anyone. Even the name of the blog is nowhere near my real name. It is my name on Fulltilt and Pokerstars though. I didn't even tell my wife and kids. I especially didn't tell any of the people I play poker against. Now its really hard keeping that kind of secret from someone you are married to but I wanted to give it at least a few weeks before I spilled the beans. I usually do all my posts at a local coffee shop where I go every morning so my wife had no idea. Anyways last night I finally told her and I think she was pretty surprised. Hopefully I can use her great command of the English language to correct my terrible grammar in the future.

My youngest son plays a lot of poker online and goes with me to tournaments sometimes too. He is only 20 but here in British Columbia, Canada the legal age is 19 so he is able to play poker and he is hoping next year to come to Las Vegas with me so he can play there when he turns 21. Its great having him so interested in poker as we discuss hands and how to play certain hands in certain spots.He is becoming a pretty good player. Hopefully we don't drive my wife too crazy with all our poker talk. I still haven't told him about the blog and probably won't for awhile.

I see they are down to 24 at the WPT World Championship at the Bellagio. Two names who were in the top 10 yesterday, Phil Ivey and Nenad Medic both hit the rail but did cash. The chip leader going into today is someone named Eugene Katchalov with Justin Young in 4th and the very colorful Scotty Nguyen in 6th. Jennifer Harmon is in 19th with 24 still in.

I didn't play too much poker yesterday just about an hour and all that I was playing Omaha high. Its a game which I am trying to improve my skills at. I think I have improved some but certainly not at a level where I would go and play live for money. When I go in a casino and play NLHE I feel fairly confident in my play and that if I play smart I can turn a profitable session (of course that doesn't always happen) but with Omaha I know I would feel like a fish and a big one at that. I don't know a lot of people that play Omaha and that hasn't helped. I am someone who reads a lot so currently I am looking for any books that I can devour that deal with Omaha strategy.

Royal Flush

The Royal Flush. The Holy Grail of Poker. Us poker players look at a Royal Flush like golfers do to a hole in one, or crib players to the magic 29 hand (something after a lifetime of playing crib I have never had). You get those suited face cards in a hand and 2 more come on the flop. You wonder will this be the time I get that magic hand that we all dream about. Actually my dream is that it happens at the final table of a major tournament. Sadly to say I have never had a Royal Flush playing Texas Holdem. Never live and never online. The one Royal Flush I have had was in 1976 playing 7 card stud (the popular game back then) in Reno, Nevada. I was 21 years old barely legal to get in a casino and on my honeymoon. My wife (still my wife today) was only 20 and couldn't gamble. We had travelled through California and decided to take a a side trip to Reno. She knew I really wanted to play in a casino. Anyways I went down to the casino in the hotel we were staying and found the poker room. I got seated and looked around . Wow I was the youngest by at least 15 years and really nervous. I played a few hands and was down some money when the old guy next to me whispered in my ear that I should be careful these guys would take me for all my money.I said thanks, told him I was nervous and I really didn't doubt that for a minute. I had played poker in home games since I was a kid but I was totally out of my element here.

The exact details of how the hand played out I have forgotten but the RF was in diamonds and I ended up winning between 100 and 200 dollars on the pot and the respect of the players at my table who all congratulated me. Yea like I really knew what I was doing. Ha Ha. Anyways I remember playing a few more hands and then heading back up to the room and showing my wife the winnings. We were so excited we decided to stay another day and I of course gave all my winnings and more back.
It also of course gave me the poker bug which to this day I still have.

Last night I was playing in a live tournament with someone who has had 2 Royal Flushes. That's unusual but he had them in the same night playing in a live game. Now the odds of doing that have to be out of this world. With the online game being so popular the people who have had a royal flush (including my son) is growing. Personally I wouldn't be that excited about getting one online as I am one of those people who thinks the online game seems to deal a much higher proportion of good hands. I wait for the day when that magical hand appears in live tournament or cash game.

My tournament last night was dull. I was totally card dead and only stayed alive as long as I did by stealing a couple blinds. Best hand of the night for me was AQ suited and I totally whiffed on the flop. I think I went out in 20th out of 46 in the tournament. That was okay though as they had the hockey game on and the Canucks pulled off an overtime win and a sweep of the Blues and they now get a rest until the other series are over.

I just realized that they ran the Boston Marathon on Monday. They still get incredible numbers of people who qualify for that race. I qualified a couple times when I was younger but never made the trip to run Boston. A lot of my running friends have ran the race but I had young kids and I couldn't justify the expense (for one race) and to me back then just qualifying was self satisfying. Now that I am older I kind of wish I had done the race. I still run but not the distances needed to get to the level I would need to qualify today.

The WPT World Championship is still going on at the Bellagio. They are down to 62 players and big names in the top 10 are Nenad Medic in 4th and Phil Ivey in 7th. In 11th spot is my favourite Jennifer Harmon.

Big Slick

I played a live tournament last night and was dealt Big Slick 3 times. Now generally you like getting dealt these cards but I always struggle on playing and calling someones all in with these cards. I will regress a bit as last night was another one of those nights where I was getting dealt premium cards and hitting flops. I got dealt KK which took down a huge pot QQ JJ and AQ all which won for me. The JJ actually completed a straight when I had a scary flop and play continued to the river. The AQ actually hit trip queens on the flop but my one caller from my original raise just flopped air and even though I checked it to the river in hope she caught something it wasn't a huge pot. Then I got AK and the flop cam AK7. My one caller hit his king I think but when the turn brought a J. I bet and he folded. Didn't want to see him hit his straight if he had K10.

The second time I got dealt AK was when we were down to 2 tables. I was the second largest stack at our table and before the action got to me we had 2 short stacks all in. To call for me made sense so I did but still 2 players to act and the chip leader then went all in himself. Action back on me. Now I was in a bind. To call his all in was going to cost me all my chips. I like my hand but analyzing what others pushed with scared me. I figured the first guy had either an A or K (turned out KQ suited). The second guy usually plays premium cards and although shorter stacked he wouldn't have pushed unless he had a good pocket pair (turned out he had pocket 10's). The guy who worried me was the chip leader. Very loose player who could have anything (turned out AJ). Anyways after some deep thought (well deep for me anyways) I folded. Of course an A came on the flop and then a flush on the river which would have won me a huge pot. The chip leader won with his AJ as his J was clubs. That was okay as I was still sitting with a decent stack but it played on my mind. A couple players thought I made the right decision to fold even though it turned out I would have won. What was playing on my mind was last week calling an all in with AK and coming up against pocket Aces and that crippled me.

We got down to the final table and I managed to win a few pots and when we were down to 3 I was second in chips but just a bit behind the chip leader. The other player was really short stacked. Anyways action was on him and he pushed (he would have been blinded out after the next hand). Action to me and I look down to AK. I just called (cost me very little). Then the chip leader made a huge re raise which to me put him on a pocket pair. I could have folded but I decided to push with Big Slick and he insta called. He had pocket 9's and the original guy had 3,6. Anyways 3,6 hit a full house and I completely whiffed and was out in 3rd. A pretty decent result but still disappointing. I replayed that hand in my head while in bed last night and still question my call. I hate putting my tournament on the line when going into a race I know that I am an underdog even though just a small one with AK against 9's.

Heading out to play another tournament tonight even though its game 4 of the Canuck Blue hockey playoffs.

Table Bully

Last night I decided to play the Canada freeroll which I usually do on a Sunday Night. This Sunday I was multi tasking as the Canucks (they won) were on the tube at the same time. Anyways I was having a pretty good night winning my share of pots and playing pretty decent. I had pocket kings twice and magically both held up even when an Ace came on the flop the first time. I certainly wasn't in the top 10 in chip stacks but was sitting about average when I got moved and had the chip leader at my table. Okay so this guy (I won't name him but his handle was another card game) had an enormous stack. I had around 11,000 and was the 3rd chip stack at our table. He had 85000. Yep. So I figured wow he must be playing well. Nope. He had one method of play and that was all in on 2 out of 3 hands. The thing was as I watched the occasional call it wasn't even premium cards but he was lucking (or sucking out) out. I was just folding hand after hand realizing that there wasn't any point in even raising as he was going all in on most hands and unless I had a high pocket pair. A couple people started questioning why he was doing this including me. We didn't get a reasonable answer. Now I understand using your chip stack to bully but what he was doing (well certainly legal) was dumb poker. Anyways after a half hour of watching and getting bored I got A10c and decided to push. Of course this was the time he had AQ and I was eliminated. I guess I could have waited him out and hoped on a table move but it was becoming a waste of time. I have never understood why people play like that but it certainly seemed to be working for him as the time. I know eventually of course he is going to lose. You would think that once you get a stack like that you would play smart and build that way but obviously that wasn't how he played. I decided to check the results this morning and this guy ended up finishing 2nd so I guessed it worked for him.

They are heading into day 2 at the World Poker Championship event at the Bellagio. Big names that were eliminated yesterday were Clonie Gowan and Allen Cunningham. Other big names in the top 10 are Johnny Chan(2nd) and Shaun Deeb(4th). Incredible field of pros. I was looking at the seat assignments for today and Johnny Chan and Mike Matusow will be at the same table.

They televised the opening brackets of the NBC Headsup Championship yesterday which was filmed a few weeks back. Even though I know who won its always interesting watching the play. One of the feature matches had Annie Duke against actor Brad Garrett. He had me laughing. He was hilarious and he managed to beat Annie. She took it so well and a big thumbs up to her for being so classy.

Taking Responsibility

Here in Canada most of the casinos are controlled by a lottery corporation. The same folks that run our 649 lottery etc. The casinos themselves are run by different corporations but ultimately they report and pay some profits to the Lottery Corporation. That's the way it is here in B.C. and it is the same in Ontario. Well it seems that a guy in Ontario couldn't control his gambling so he signed one of these no entrance passes which means that he is not allowed to go into casinos. Your picture is taken and if you are recognized you are immediately asked to leave. Well to me it sounds like an almost impossible thing to control. Unless you ask each and every person coming into the casino for photo ID. So evidently this guy continued to go into different casinos for the next 3 years only getting the boot once. Now he has decided to sue the Lottery Corporation because they allowed him to continue gambling. HMMM. In my opinion does he not have to take some responsibility for his gambling. I realize that gambling to some is an addiction but wouldn't this be like an alcoholic suing a liquor store because they sold him booze. It sure will be interesting to see how this plays out in Ontario as whatever the court decides will reflect on casinos across the country. Will they need to ask everyone for ID?? Get facial recognition software for their cameras?? Its really opening a can of worms.

I see the WPT World Championship event has started yesterday at the Belaggio in Las Vegas. It is a week long event with a 25,000 dollar buy in. Yesterday was day 1A and today day 1B. They have split the event in half and will join both halves tomorrow. Most of the big names are there. Johnny Chan is sitting in second place after day 1A with a lot of big names behind him. Looking through the list I saw Jennifer Harmon (pictured above),Vanessa Rousso,Andy Bloch to name a few. The biggest name to drop on day 1A was Phil Hellmouth. Most of the big names are playing. Should be an interesting week.

Went and saw that movie 17 Again last night.... Mathew Perry and Zak Efron are in it. What can I say but if you are going to want to see at least wait for video. I actually did laugh a couple times but it was pretty predictable. Not terrible but certainly not worth spending theatre prices for it.

Hockey Playoffs (not all poker)

Okay so last night was game 2 of the first round of the playoffs. The Canucks at home to St Louis. My better half suggested we go catch the game at one of our local pubs. We have like 3 pubs within walking distance. She's not a big hockey fan but I think she needed a couple drinks after a bad week at work. Anyways we decide to sit at the bar as all the seats in front of the big screen were gone. Thats okay as they have a tv behind the bar that we can watch. I am now into month 4 of my alcohol free bit> its not that I had a problem but I drank too much New Years eve and I just said that's it for awhile. Anyways there is this guy sitting next to me at the bar. I think he was Australian. I made a comment to the bartender that I would like to see the Canucks play the Flames(her team) in the second round. She thought that would be good but the guy next to me said that the Canucks wouldn't even get to the second round. I laughed thinking this guy was a St Louis fan. Which would have been great. Its always fun to have someone cheering for the other team too. That wasn't the case. This guy just didn't like hockey so he decided to cut down the Canucks. He was trying to draw me in and also the guy next to him. He was getting on both our nerves. He was making comments like if he was at home hockey would put him to sleep. That's fine but you are in a bar filled with Canadian hockey fans. Really just drink your beer and watch the game or talk about something else or flirt with the cute bartenders. It would be like me going to Australia and ragging on whatever sport they play down there (Aussie Rules Football) Anyways after 2 periods of listening to him ramble we left and watched the 3rd period at home. The good guys won 3-0. It kind of wrecked our night a bit.

After the game Party Poker had coverage of the UK open on for a bit. Phil Hellmouth was doing the play by play. I didn't recognize any of the players but Phil was being Phil. Not liking the way anybody played. One really funny thing happened . One of the players caught AA and immediately went all in. Phil ragged on him for doing that saying nobody was going to call him and he wasted good cards. He should have played them slower Well he did get one caller who had A10. So what happened?? A 10 came on the flop and another on the river. Phil was stunned and I was rolling on the sofa laughing . Too funny.

I played a bit of Razz and Omaha online last night and had a really friendly couple of tables. Its nice when people are congratulating each other and talking online. It makes playing online more enjoyable. I like to talk and that's why I really prefer the live game. I love the interaction at the table and if you are playing online a lot of times nobody talks. Gets boring.

I was reading Cardgirls blog this morning as she is in Las Vegas for a few days. I just started following her a few months back and really enjoy her writing. I admire her for what she is attempting to do play for a living. It takes great courage and I wish her well. Seems she is going through a bit of a bad spell right now. Hope she plays her way out of it.

Checking it down

This comes up at at least once a week at the tournaments I play in and always involves a lively discussion. That is when someone goes all in and gets called by more than one player before the flop. Lets use the scenario Player A went all in for 2000 chips got called by player B and player C. Should B and C then check the play down all the way to the river?? I have very mixed feelings on this. I can see in major tournaments when there is a money bubble but early on why would you do this. The reasoning given by many is that its a DRY POT so why not check it down. I know players have got upset when players don't check it down but its usually someone with a marginal hand who has called and is hoping with the free cards to catch. I know a couple weeks ago I got the nut flush when checking down a hand and probably should have bet but didn't. I won a hug pot but I could have probably won a few more chips if I had bet a small amount and managed to get the other lady who had also called to call me for the side pot. There are many that say you should always check down but to me that is giving free cards to players. So I am clearly on the fence with this.

I played a live tournament last night . I think there was about 60 players and I was basically card dead and when I did get something , I missed the flop and others hit. Even a few continuation bets did not help. One of those nights. I think I went out in like 35th or something. Not good but I did have a pretty good week so not unexpected.

I was playing Razz online this morning for a bit at Full Tilt and enjoyed the change of pace.

I caught that tape bit of that older English lady Susan Boyle (pictured above) singing on a British talent show. It was incredible. When she began to sing it sent chills down my spine. That doesn't happen often. Just an awesome voice. A real feel good story. I heard a rumour this morning that they are trying to get her to appear on the grand finale of American Idol. With all the doom and gloom on the news these days it sure was nice to see something positive and uplifting. I hope she does well.

A bunch of Stuff

I am not a big fan of TV but while waiting to watch the hockey playoffs I turned on American Idol last night (I was also playing the Canada freeroll on Fulltilt). Seems this year they have something called the judges save. They used it last night to save one of the male singers. After listening to him sing I thought he was pretty good. Seems like the quality of singers has gone up. I remember a couple years ago someone named Taylor Hicks won and although he was a nice guy and entertaining he was not the quality of any of the people on the show this year. Nothing against Taylor but there are a couple on this year that have real star potential. Not great on names but that Adam kid was really good.

I did okay in the freeroll finished in 192nd or something out of 2700 but should have been much higher except an aggressive player (more aggressive than me) tried to push me off my 2 high pair on the board and then rivered his flush. Yep we all know what that feels like. I used to stare in amazement at calls people make but not anymore . Its just the online game.

I was checking the results of the tournaments they are running at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas and didn't find any recognizable names so far. They seem to be getting decent turnouts though.

I was talking with a neighbours sister who was up visiting and lives in Las Vegas. She confirmed all the news that some of the hotels are really hurting. Seems the papers down there are full of the problems MGM is having. I sure they hope they manage to turn things around. I know it seems like twice a week I am getting offers from the folks at Harrahs to come down. Great rates. I have already booked one week in September and am very tempted to go before then.

Good to see the Mariners off to a great start in baseball as are the Bluejays. I managed to catch a bit of the Bluejays game while watching the Canucks win at hockey too. Great night when all my 3 teams win.

One of those nights

I played another live tournament last night. This one had I think 47 of us so a pretty good field. It was one of those nights that we all dream about (well the first half anyways). You know those nights when you get good playable cards in position AND you also hit flops. I had pocket queens very early and picked up a small pot. Two hands later I look down and pocket queens again. Hmm. Someone had preflopped raised so I just called. Flop came Q22. Could it get any better?? Not much. The pre flop raiser bumped it up . I just called. Turn was a blank and she bet again. I pushed all in. She had me covered but was drawing dead as she had KQ for 2 pair. Nice pot.

Next hand I pick up KQ and I min raised. Got 2 callers. Flop came KQ6. I am liking this but I just checked. Guy to my immediate left pushed all in (he was short stacked) and got immediately called. I also called. Then the 2 of us checked to the river. The guy that pushed had Q6 and the other guy had KQ also so we chopped that pot. Hands were just coming my way . I got moved to another table and 3rd hand in I get pocket 9's. There was a pre flop raise so I just called. Flop came J95. Trip 9's Turns out the guy who raised had pocket 8's so I won another pot.

A couple hands later I got dealt A5 in the big blind. What happens yep you guessed it Flop comes 655. I won another decent pot. At the break I was definately the chip leader and things were looking good. That is until disaster struck. We were down to about 16 and I got deat AKd in early position. I bumped it 3xBB (big mistake) and the lady next to me thought for a minute and pushed all in. Yikes and she had a decent chip stack. She is a pretty good player too. Anyways everyone else folded and it came around to me. Big decision. If I called her and lost I would lose about 3/4 of my chips> if I won I would be the chip leader by a lot. I thought she might have queens or jacks. Anyways I called and she flipped over Aces. Not what I wanted to see. The flop gave me a few more outs when it came Q106 but only one diamond. Needed a J for a straight but it was not to be. That crippled me and I ended up going out in 11th spot a few hands later. Still a decent showing but disappointing considering the cards I had earlier.

Hockey playoffs start tonight. We have never won the Stanley cup here (well except when there was a team called the Vancouver Millionaires in the olden days) but that doesn't count. If the stars align and they play like they can and Roberto Luongo plays like the goalie we all know he is they have a chance. Should be fun watching and the bars love it as they will all be packed. I see Daniel Negraneau in his blog
thinks Vancouver is his sleeper choice to go all the way. Hope your right Daniel.

I posted a pic of the soldier who was killed yesterday in Afghanistan. Her name was Karine Blais and she was only 21 (got the age wrong yesterday). Brave lady. My thoughts are with your family.

Reading the Board

I was playing in a live tournament last night and I ran into something that pops up occasionally is people not reading the board correctly. I can't remember the cards exactly as this happened the second hand of the night but there was just the two of us in the pot and I had 2 pair of the highest cards on the board. He made a rather large bet on the river and I studied the board and not seeing any flush or straight possibilities I kind of figured my 2 pair were good unless he had a pocket pair and I just couldn't put him on that. I called his bet and he flipped his cards over and said he had a straight. I was stunned until I looked at his cards and realized his straight was only 4 cards. HMMM. I and a couple other players pointed this out to him and unless he was a great actor was stunned. He thought he had a straight. He was generally embarrassed and now without a lot of his chips. I mean if he was bluffing that's one thing but he really did read the board wrong. I have seen it several times were people thought they had flushes but 4 card flushes wins you a spot on the sidelines in a tournament.

Players need to take that extra few seconds when they are looking at their cards. You see it all the time when three same suit cards hit the flop . A lot of players are checking their cards. Its a great way to see who is chasing flushes after the betting. The good start did me well and I managed to stay above average for awhile until there was 10 of us left and my pocket 9s held up to K10. I ended up at the final table but was the short stack. I managed to survive and went out in 5th spot. A pretty good result considering the cards I had all night. Not great but not bad. I went out when I went in with K10 as the blinds were killing me and somebody hit trip queens. I should have pushed a hand earlier as I was dealt K8. Not a hand that I love but the flop came KK9. That would have been nice.

I have started playing a little Omaha online just for a change. I was always a 7 card stud player for years before the Holdem craze and its always great to play other games. I find there is definitely a lot more thinking involved and playing it can only help your holdem game.

I watched that Jim Carrey movie Yes man or something on Sunday night. I laughed twice I think. I mean I like Jim Carrey but the writing was horrible. Glad I didn't pay to see it in a theatre.

I just heard another soldier was killed last night in Afghanistan. I believe that's 117 now. I know compared to what the US has lost its not a lot but its 117 too many for my liking. This soldier was female and the second female to be killed. She had only been over there 2 weeks and she was 22 years old. Why are we there???

WSOP circuit events at Caesars Palace Las Vegas

I see the 18 day 22 event WSOP circuit event started yesterday at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. These events have for the most part a great structure to them. They range in buy in amounts from 340 bucks to 5150 for the championship event. It would be nice to be down in Vegas to take in one or several of these events. They are running satellites every day from 9AM to 3PM. They have a ladies event on the second last event and a 6 handed on Day 4. They also have a heads up event with a maximum of 64 entrants and a buy in of 1050. Be interesting to see how many of the top pros take in these events. All the events are no rebuys or add ons.

Well I had a cash last night in the Juno freeroll I entered at Pokerstars. I was actually getting decent cards. I actually got dealt pocket Aces twice in 3 hands. The both held up to with some aggressive betting. The top 198 got paid. I managed to last to 144th and got a whopping 70 cents added to my account. No laughing!!! I just missed the bubble as from 145th to 198th got 60 cents. The winner actually got in the 70 dollar range so decent amount for Pokerstars to put on. I got taken out when my AJd met AK after an A and 2 diamonds flopped. I couldn't catch a Jack or diamond and I was gone. Still nice to cash though and I will probably try and play 1 or all 3 of the freerolls they offer today. Then my plan is to take my 70 cents to the micro games they offer at PS. One and two cent blinds. I have always said I would never invest my money online but I will gladly play with the prize money.

I actually watched The Changeling with Angelina Jolie last night while playing the freeroll. It was another one that I had planned on seeing at the theatres but just never got there. Decent movie and it was based on a true story. I know a lot of guys (and ladies) are hot for Angelina and in this movie she was made to look pretty plain but she showed some decent acting skills.

Still Slugging at the Freerolls

Well I played a freeroll at Pokerstars this morning again. I am not sure how they have set these up but was talking to a friend and it seems only certain accounts were invited. Not sure why mine was and a buddies wasn't. We are both Canadian, neither have invested cash at Pokerstars so go figure but I am not complaining. Anyways I was pretty card dead. I managed to trip up jacks while holding J10 and took a decent pot but from the on it was like blank. Getting the old 9,2 and 3,8 type pocket cards. Just garbage.

I am a real patient guy so finally we are down to about 460 players and 340 cash so it was getting close. I have AK in the big blind. Just me and one player who bumped it up before the flop. Just a min raise. So I called of course. Flop comes A 93 rainbow. So I figured time to push. He called and had pocket 5's. Not sure why he called with 2 over cards on the board but I love it. The turn brings a K
Looking good. Then of course he catches his 5 on the river and I am done. Yep that's all over. Hopefully I can catch one more of these this weekend.

My Dumb Play

I played my usual Thursday night tournament last night. Having not made a final table in my other 2 live tournaments this week I figured I was due after making final tables all last week. Anyways my very first hand I look down at pocket Aces. I honestly couldn't believe. I hadn't seen these babies in so long that I forgot what they looked like together. Anyways I bet it 3.5 x the big blind . Got one caller. Flop was Q 63. I bet and she folded. I was off to the races. I kept getting decent hands and was very slowly building up my chip stack.

I got moved to a new table and about the fifth hand in I got AhJd. Someone had already raised so I just called. I think there was 3 of us in the pot. Anyways flop came QhJh7h. Pretty good flop for me second pair and a flush draw. The original raiser bet and I just called. The other person folded. Turn brought the lovely Kh. Gee I have the nut flush. It also gave the original raiser his flush (he had the 10). So he bet and I went all in. He called right away (had me covered) and of course was upset to see my Ace. River didn't matter and I picked up a huge pot.

That gave me the chip lead and it was looking good until we got down to two tables and 5 people at each. I picked up KQc. Someone in early position raised. I called. Flop came J96 rainbow. He bet out of turn so I just checked which forced him to check too. Turn gave me the Q. He bet and I just called. Thought maybe he had hit his Q or was he betting on the J??. River brought another J. I thought I was good so I bet. He raised me. Okay here is where I should have folded. I still thought I was good or at least a chop. I called (dumb move) and he had AJ. That crippled me. Dumb me should have realized he hit his J on the flop. A few hands later I was out.
If I had folded I would have made the final table as just after I went out 2 players at the other table were eliminated.

Checked out the Pokerstars freerolls they are offering all weekend. Pretty good payouts as the one I entered paid like top 350 and first prize was 70 bucks. Not bad. Of course 350th paid like 35 cents but hey its still free money. I think I was like 500 something so just missed the cash. Might check out another this weekend sometime.

I am not much of a tv watcher (other than certain sports and of course poker) but love to go to movies. This being a 4 day weekend for a lot of people I thought I might catch a movie. Uh. Nope. Not one single thing that was worth paying to see. Whats with the crappy movies this time of year??

Freerolls and Trail Running

I got an email from Pokerstars this morning saying they are having 3 freerolls a day for the next 4 days with prizes of 500.00 in each. That sounds really generous so I hopped on the site and the maximum entrants in each tournament looks like 10,000. Now that is a incredible amount of people to get through to win some cash but I still plan on checking out one or 2 this weekend. They haven't announced the breakdown of the prize structure so it will be interesting to see how deep it goes.

I actually only played once online yesterday and just briefly. I just needed a break and did other things. Good for the mind to give yourself a break and I know I will be playing a live tournament tonight.

Most of my running is done on trails near my home. We have a fabulous trail system and it makes running so enjoyable. I am lucky to be able to just take off and run and not worry about my safety because I am a guy. Isn't that sad?? The female half of our species doesn't have that luxury. It was brought home again with clarity with the recent murder of a lady runner from a prominent family who was murdered while running on trails last weekend. When I run the only thing I might have to worry about is the very unlikely hood of meeting a bear while females have much more to worry about with the 2 legged predators. I can't imagine not having the freedom that I have. Several years ago I was running in Kelowna on trails and came back to my car after finishing and there was 2 ladies there who had also just finished their run. I asked them if they had a good run and they both said it was awesome then one said to me how lucky I was that I could run by myself and not have to always find a partner to run with for safety reasons. Boy did that hit home.

I hope they find this predator that killed this lady but the sad fact is there are probably 10 more like him out there.

Poker after Dark

I caught a little bit of Poker After Dark last night before I headed out to play a live tournament. This one has Gavin Smith, Mike the Mouth, Phil Laak, Gavin Smith, Phil Hellmouth and Clonie Gowan. Now that's a lively bunch. Anyways I watched one hand and Clonie got dealt Q10 and Gavin QJ. Gavin managed to get her off the hand but it was her reaction after which was hilarious. She tried to tell Gavin that she had tossed A9. The flop had come A rag rag. It was hilarious as Clonie knew that Gavin would watch the show after and see she certainly didn't have A9. Too funny.
Now poker players aren't always telling the truth(no kidding) when they tell you what they had but for Clonie to do this knowing she had the big cameras on her was priceless. I am sure Gavin would be shaking his head later wondering her motivation.

I know if I am playing and someone folds to my hand and asks what I had I will in most cases say great lay down. Even if I had nothing. The rare exception would be if it was a total jerk at the tables and then I might try and get into his/her head by saying something different. In most cases I have a reputation of playing premium hands and I try and cultivate that. People that I play almost never see me bluff so I can get away with it when I rarely do. You gotta love Clonie for doing that on camera. Telling him something totally different that what she had.

I though Clonie looked great last night. She was wearing the school teacher glasses. Then again she always looks good. Phil Hellmouth looked so different last night without his trademark ball cap. Almost didn't recognize him.

I was totally card dead last night in my tournament except for one hand. Got big slick once. Raised it up. Got one caller Flop came 10,9,8 rainbow. The caller then bumped it up and looking at basically nothing I folded. The rest of the evening I basically got blinded away. The only other hand of note I had Q3 in the big blind. flop came Q79. Not bad . Not great. Anyways I bet got one caller. Turn was a 5. I checked and so did she . River brought a 8. I put her on Q something so I just checked . So did she. Turns out she had 10,6 and got her straight on the river. Boy did I play that bad. Got knocked out when I pushed with KJ suited in the SB and the BB called (he was priced in) with 10,2 and of course he caught his 2.

I see Vancouver now has the reputation of the gang capital of Canada. There have been 42 shootings and 20 people killed in the past few months as the battle goes on. With the Olympics coming in 10 months I don't think this is a great image for our city. I know they are spending a tremendous amount of police resources trying to clean it up and there was a huge arrest last week. Let's hope that these arrests will slow down the gun battle but I somehow doubt it.

Playing Strange Hands

Played a live tournament last night and really was card dead. I mean I didn't get a pocket pair all night. I had Ace Rag a couple times but both times in a raised pot and bad position for me. It finally got to a point I was looking for a decent pocket cards to push when I looked down and had AQ. I pushed. Two callers who both had me covered. Saw the nice Q on the flop turn was a blank and the river brought an A. I managed to triple up but cards just weren't coming my way.

The blinds and now antis were killing me when I got KJ. Not a great hand but as short chipped as I was getting it was good enough. I pushed. Got one caller. He had K5. HMM Strange call. Good for me. Well it was until the flop brought 10,4,6. The turn was a 7 and you guessed it the river brought an 8. He got his straight and I was left wondering about his call the rest of the night as he had me covered.

Decided to stay around and watch the action for awhile. Another interesting hand developed. The guy I was watching picked up pocket Jacks (call him T) First guy to act went all in as he was pretty short stacked. Action came around to T who called as he had him covered by a lot. The big blind also called. Flop came QQ6. T just checked as did BB. The turn was an 3 I think. T bet 4000 and the BB called. River was an A. T checked BB went all in and T called. T turned over his Jacks and Queens on the board. BB turned over A8 for two pair Aces and Queens. They both beat the original guy in the pot. What bewildered me is how could the BB call the original all in and also call the 4000 bet on the turn with nothing. He just sucked out on his Ace on the river. Strange hands.

Went for a great run this morning. Did about 45 minutes and felt back to my old self. Great spring day and I ran on trails which I always love. It's nice to be feeling decent again. Plan on playing a live tournament again tonight.

Grumpy People (not all poker)

We are all grumpy sometimes but I take issue with people that are perpetually sour. I mean what in your life has been so bad that you can't at least smile once in awhile or say hello to a neighbour or co worker. You see these people at the poker tables too. I mean did you just lose your best friend. Like everyday. I know life can be a bitch at times but geez would it hurt you to smile once in awhile.

I know at times I have been moody or down but I still manage to acknowledge people and say hi. It doesn't take a lot of effort to do that. I really notice it when I am out running. I always greet most people I pass by saying good morning. I smile and at least look like I am enjoying myself. A lot of people just look at you like why are you saying hi to me. I have a couple neighbours (both guys) who are just miserable. One guy I have tried to say hi to several times but he won't even respond. The other makes it look like its a real effort to respond. So whatever.

I remember that Seinfeld episode where Jerry (I think it was Jerry)started off saying hi to someone which eventually just became a smile, then a nod and then they didn't even do that. That's me from now on to these neighbours. If you can't be bothered to say hi. Neither can I. That's my Monday Rant........ Boy do I feel better.

Played the Canada freeroll last night while watching Slumdog Millionaire on video. I was going to see it at the theatres when it was playing but at the time there was a lot of other good movies playing (like The Wrestler and Milk) and I just never got there. Good movie. I can see why it was nominated. The actress who played the female lead was beautiful and a great story line.

As for the freeroll I managed to finish somewhere in the top 500. Yea big deal. As usual got my chips in with the best hand and got sucked out on the river. That's all you can do.

Premium Hands

Last night while thinking about my live play last week I realized in the 3 tournaments I had played in not once did I get one of the top four premium hands dealt to me. By the top four I mean Jacks, Queens, Kings or Aces. That's pretty amazing when you think about it. I did get tens dealt to me (and lost) and big slick a couple times but that's it. Yet I somehow managed to final table in all 3 tournaments. That got me thinking. Am I over playing the premium hands?? Most times depending on table position I bump it up 3-4 times the big blind with those hands. That's pretty standard. Yet I can't remember a week where I managed the success I had last week. Certainly something to think about.

Played the Canada freeroll last night while watching a rerun of the ER season finale which I had missed on Thursday night. ER was a bit disappointing as was what happened in the freeroll. I had done pretty well to start and built up a decent chip stack when I got deal pocket kings(that premium hand). I bumped it up 4 times the big blind and got a caller. The chip leader at our table. Flop came JdJs4d. Interesting flop and unless he was holding a Jack I thought my hand was good. Fired another big bet (the amount escapes me). He called. HMM. Was he slowplaying the third Jack??
Anyways the turn was a blank. Another bet another call. The river was a 6d. I checked and he bet a small amount. Thought he was trying to steal so I pushed all in. He insta called and had his flush. He had 7d10d. What the?? Go figure. He stays in with 7-10 after my pre flop bet. Oh well that's freerolls for you.

Watched the Canucks lose to Edmonton in Edmonton. It was a good game and with the playoffs already assured no biggie.

Rebuys and Addons

Yesterday was the start of the online spring poker championships that Pokerstars is running. The series is called SCOOP. They seem to have something for everyone with the first event yesterday a $5.50 buy in NLHE event. I decided to check out the entrants and watch a few of the tables for awhile just to see the level of play. When I checked they had over 27,000 entries in this first event. That is incredible and I congratulate Pokerstars on that. That's where my congratulations stops.

This was a rebuy and add on event. You could rebuy 5000 chips anytime before the first break as long as you were below the original 5000 starting point. You could also add on if you liked. So watching a few rooms and you were getting horrible poker playing and players just going all in with nothing. When I last looked they had like over 30,000 rebuys. I mean thats a joke. That's not poker thats just playing anything and hoping to you double or triple up and if not rebuy. The only thing rebuy does is build the prize pool, I know when I looked it was over 325,000 dollars.

I have never understand the logic of poker sites and casinos to offer these events. They only help people with deep pockets who can dump as much as they want on an event especially if its unlimited rebuys as it was yesterday. A much better way to run the event is leave it at 5.50 buy in but once you are out thats it. Of course you are still going to get the players that figure hey its only 5.50 so I will go all in with my K2 off suit but there would be lot less of that.

I had heard that the WSOP is considering not having any rebuys at this years events. I heard a lot of the pros have been lobbying for this. I am not sure if has been resolved yet but lets hope so.


I played another live tournament last night with 45 entrants and managed another final table going out in 8th. Very satisfying making it but extremely disappointing also as I figured with my chip stack to go much further. I was probably 3rd or 4th best stack when the big blind came to me. I looked and had pocket 10's. The 3rd player to act went all in and having played him before I just knew I had the best hand. It folded around to the SB who asked for a chip count and then folded. He had me covered and I was pretty sure I had the best hand so I called sure enough he sighs and says I was trying to steal the blinds and antis and flips over A3. I was looking good but of course the A came on the flop and I was done. I almost folded as I hate to put my tournament life on the line on odds just better than a coin flip.

Looking forward to the start of baseball season on Sunday. I know a lot of people find watching baseball extremely boring but its a sport you can watch and do other things while doing it.

Rainy Days

Yesterday was one of those West coast days where you just want to curl up with a good book or play poker online all day. It literally poured from morning until night with just a couple brief stops during the day. Growing up in Vancouver I am used to them as it does happen. I actually don't really mind them as long as they aren't a week long which has happened sometimes too. Still nursing this dumb cold and cough so staying inside most of the day was okay. I think my dog felt kind of ripped off though as his walks were brutally short. He kept giving me that look like he lets go out. Um no. He is a golden retriever so water to him is fun.

I haven't ran in almost a week so feeling like a slug. Going to give this cold a couple more days and plan on running on Saturday at the latest.

Played a couple freerolls yesterday and a couple SNG's. Did well at the SNG's but bombed at the freerolls. Had to contact Fulltilt again yesterday as now when I try to register for the Canada freerolls it says that I have to be a resident of Canada??
Um yea. Okay. I have to tell you though that emailing Fulltilt always gets a quick response. They registered me manually and said they were having technical issues with the country specific ones.

Had someone ask me yesterday why I bother with the freerolls as the prize is only 15 bucks if you manage to out play and out luck 2699 other players. I mean I could certainly deposit that but as I have said before I prefer to play live and to me the online game is just a way to practice. Now if I manage to cash well then I will use it in the micro cash games they offer and try to build it up.

April Fools Day 2009

I played a live tournament last night and it was another night where I never picked up a high pocket pair. High meaning pocket 10's and above but I did get dealt pocket 9's in an interesting hand. The player to my right bumped it 4x big blind. I put him on a low pocket pair so I immediately reraised him double. Everyone else folded and when it got to him he pushed. Oh Oh. I had him covered but was really concerned that he had a higher pocket pair now but having played with him I thought a call was still a good move. I called and he flipped over AK. I made the right call but the old river gave him a K and I was pretty crippled.

It became a wait to get a semi premium hand and push and fortunately AK popped up and I pushed and doubled up. I managed to maintain for awhile but but got extremely card dead and the blinds were eating me up. I looked down at the monster hand (joke) of Q2. I figured it at least a face card but was mentally thinking I was dead. Well of course I flopped a full house with 2 callers and tripled up. Very wild and aggressive table I was at last night. Saw a lot of great hands and a lot of one outer suckouts. Anyways somehow with 41 players I managed to make the final table and finished 6th. Good for the confidence 2 final tables in 2 days.

Managed to catch a bit of the BC Poker Championships which were held at the River Rock Casino In Richmond (suburb of Vancouver) in the fall but finally made it to local TV last night. Hope they replay it as it was hard to watch and play at the sametime. It was good to see Daniel Negraneau come back to Canada and play the event. He won it.

The hockey regular season is winding down and it looks like the beloved Canucks are peaking at the right time. They won another last night in Minnesota 2-1 in overtime. Could this be their year?? Only time will tell. Sure like to see them win the cup sometime in my lifetime.

I just read and didn't realize that we have had 2 Olympics, Montreal Summer games in 1976 and Calgary Winter Games in 1988 and we as hosts have never won an Olympic gold in our home Olympics. That's mind boggling and I got to say a little embarrassing as a country. I know they have put a lot of money and time into the training for our winter athletes as they prepare for the Olympics next February here in Vancouver. The goal of course is to break that jinx. Looking at current results from all the different sports it looks good that one of our athletes will get gold. It could very lucrative (sponsorship wise) for the first athlete from our country to stand on the top podium and hear Oh Canada being played.