Wednesday Stuff

Up here in Canada we have a few lotteries one is our 649 lottery and the other is something called Lotto Max. Well this Friday the lotto Max has reached its maximum payout so there will be extra million dollar prizes awarded. You see once Lotto Max reaches 50 million dollars then some extra numbers are drawn and those tickets are each worth 1 million. Make sense?? First of all it shows you your real chances of winning if the prize has reached 50 million. In other words not much chance. Then again someone will eventually win I guess. What I would rather see is instead of one person or possibly two splitting the 50 million why not draw have 50 people split the prize. Yep draw 50 sets of numbers and make 50 people millionaires. Don't have any smaller prizes just the big ones. It would be better for the economy too. Just imagine 50 people who could go out and buy new cars, furniture , condos or whatever. Who really needs 50 million anyways?? Just a thought. Oh yea I have my ticket.

I will be playing the VERYJOSIE tonight on Fulltilt. I have been threatened with a butt kicking by Josie if I don't show up. As much as my perverted mind might kind of like that my old body might not be able to stand the pain. So I will be there. Of course Josie has a bounty on herself of an extra 5 bucks. That's worth the price of admission alone. Any time you can take money from Josie it's an extra special treat. She really hates to part with it (I know) and she will be whining afterwords for days about it that is unless she happens to win her own tourney. Now she will be hitting the bottle tonight so the likely hood of that happening is not good.. be there for all the fun and name calling.

My Monday night live game was boring and not much to report . We had 54 people show up. I went out in 19th when I was short stacked and I jammed with Qs 10s. I got called with KK. Yikes. The flop was somewhat promising as the As 6c 4d. Turn was the Ks which gave her trips but gave me a flush draw and a gut shot royal flush draw but it was not to be as the river bricked.

Online this week I have stuck to cash games and every session has been profitable. Just a nice change from tournaments. Aces held up for me twice yesterday. Once when a guy called me all the way to the river with just a pair and a lousy kicker. I love players like that. Actually I like their money better.

Coop

Aces 22/31

Flopping Quads

So I was playing a cash game online today and not doing that well. I had just lost a fairly big pot when I flopped two pair and the villain turned a flush. Anyways who pops in the room but Gary. It's always nice to play with someone you know and Gary was picking up a few pots and playing well. I was still pretty card dead although I did steal a couple blinds. Then the hand happened. I was dealt 10 10 in the BB. Gary who was in middle position bumped it to 40 cents. Everybody folded to me. I raised to 1.35. Gary called. Flop comes 10 10 6. Geez I flop quads but I hate it that it's against Gary. Well sort of. No friends at the poker table. I check as does Gary. Turn is a King. I check. Gary bets 1.10. I call. River is a 4. I try to decide how much to bet. I bet a weak 50 cents. Gary raises to 4.40. I of course shove my remaining 4.87 in and Gary requests time and finally folds. I show my flopped quads feeling somewhat bad about it. I mean I love to win money but I would have rather won it from the guy to my left who was constantly reraising me. Gary commented in the chat box I guess I am going to hear about this and of course I had to relate the story. I know the situation will be reversed sometime.

Monday

On the weekend I was following some of the action from the WSOP. The main event still going on is the 50,000 Players Challenge which had lots of notable names. While that was interesting my interest was more on Event 3 the first of the 1000 dollar buy in events. The reason that this event captured my interest is that it has the same structure as Event 34 the event I will be playing starting on June 18th. The structure is you get 3000 chips (yep not many) and blind levels start at 25/25 and go up every hour. I wanted to see how fast people were getting felted and it was unbelievable. They split event 3 into Day 1A and 1B. Day 1A had about 2700 entries while day 1B had just over 1600 for a total of 4345. Guess how many survived?? Just 481. That is crazy. There was just over 200 from both days. So 3864 players did not make it through a Day 1. That's about a 85% attrition rate. That's got me concerned. I play much better with bigger starting stacks usually so I definitely will have to make some adjustments when I get there. Now being a seniors tourney action will probably be a lot tighter than the open events as the OLD NITS tend to play like that. If anybody has some suggestions or has played one of these events with this structure I would love to hear their advice.

I played online on the weekend several times mostly in cash games and in all but one session ended up making a profit. The only SNG that I played I managed to win so generally it was a great couple days. The one negative thing that happened was my amazing win streak with Aces finally came to an end.

If I remember right I was in EP and I raised it up about 4.5 X the BB. Got 1 caller. Flop comes J 10 8. I made a just over a pot sized bet. He insta called. I didn't like that quick call. Turn was a 2 I think. Now I was going to bet again but I just had this feeling he had hit trips so I checked. River was a 7. Now that's not a great card. I checked. He made a small bet which smelt like I was beat but I called. He had pocket 9s. The river gave him his straight. Now I might have gotten him off that hand if I had bet on the turn but then again I might just have lost more. Who knows?

Heading out tonight to play live as the regular Monday game is back running. Be nice to get some live action.

Coop

Aces 20/29

Suckouts, Soup Nazi and Sex

Do you ever feel like you are mostly on the wrong side of suckouts. I do. They happen to me way more often than I do it to other players. It can get frustrating at times but that's poker I guess. So yesterday was a pleasant surprise. You see I sucked out twice playing cash games online. It sure felt nice for a change.

The first hand I was UTG +1 when I got dealt QQ. This was pretty tight table. A lot of folding preflop and usually a lot of hands were decided preflop. Anyways UTG raises 4 times the BB. HMMM. I just decide to call. Usually here I might pump it up more but this was a tight table (or so I thought) and there was still 7 players to act. 4 more players call. I am not liking this. Way too much action. Anyways the flop comes 3,9,10. The BB and UTG check. I make a pot size bet to see where I am at. Two folds and the button (lady) goes all in for just over my pot sized bet. I think she had like just 5 bucks. The BB and UTG both fold. Its only like a 1.40 or something for me to call. Not really liking it as she has been real tight I decide of course to call. She has 33 and has trips. Yuck. The turn brings a J and the river a very lovely K to make my straight. Very nice pot. I actually felt bad for her knowing what it feels like to get sucked out on like that.

The second time it happened was later at night and I felt great doing it. There was a player who had no idea how to play after the flop. His one move was just shoving just about every time he was in a hand after the flop. Of course most times he was picking up the pot as he had everybody covered by twice as much in cash. I hate those types. You see them in the tournaments too. They just close their beady little eyes and shove every time they are in a hand and hope that they scare people away. He was also raising just about every pot too. Anyways I was in the BB and he was on my immediate left. I got dealt AKc. He was first to act and sure enough he bumps it 3X the BB. Everybody folds to me. I triple his raise. Of course he immediately shoves his remaining $32.00 as he has been doing for the last hour. Figuring he has got nothing I call for my measly 12.00. He has KK. Damn. Then the flop brings my lovely ACE and I scoop a nice pot. It was sweet. Then of course he goes off on me in the chat box about calling with AK. It was pretty funny. I just said serves you right for constantly playing like that. Then I did the best thing to even piss him off more I left the room after the next hand...... You gotta love it.

My favourite sitcom has always been Seinfeld. I know I have seen every episode and most several times. Anyways of course everyone who has seen the show remembers the famous episode where they are in a restaurant run by as grumpy old soup maker who if you don't follow the rules declares NO SOUP FOR YOU and you don't get to eat. Well the actor that played that part was in Vancouver on the weekend for a food show (figures) and was on one of our local radio stations talking about it. He has a quite a story about how he got that part and how years later that's what people remember him for. He was a Broadway actor but now makes his living now mostly from doing things like guest appearances at shows and trade shows and still gets requests for pictures and autographs from Seinfeld fans and all for just that one appearance on the show. He even sells autographed soup ladles. The actors name is Larry Thomas.

So we went and saw Sex and the City 2 at the matinee yesterday. It was really packed in there and it was playing at two theatres in the multiplex. Its actually a fairly long movie at around 2 hours and 20 minutes. I enjoyed it. Yes I know its a chick flick but it kept my little mind entertained for all 2 hours and 20 minutes. That's all I expect from a movie. I won't go into the plot a lot here but if you watched the show and saw the first movie this one is set two years later. It's funny and light entertainment. I probably see around 20 movies a year at the theatre and yes some are so called chick flicks. I have never been a huge fan of the movies like Avatar. I haven't seen it and probably never will. Totally lost on me.

Coop

Aces 21/29

Pre Weekend Stuff

I watched some of the TOC online last night and it sure seemed like everyone was well aware of the prize packages because most hands were decided preflop. I railed Lightnings table for awhile and as I thought according to his blog he was really card dead. He didn't seem to be involved much. Tough break. Nice to see Keepflopping win one of the 2000.00 packages though. Hopefully he can turn that into bigger cash at Vegas.

Lately I have been playing mostly cash games online as I seem to be running real well at them. Last night I had pocket Aces (is this my favorite hand now??) hit trips on the flop and I had a guy (donk) betting into me on a non scary board (won a very decent pot). The very next hand I had pocket 9s which also hit trips on the flop. Much scarier board so I bet out . Got a caller and the turn brought a non scary card(so I checked) he bet and I raised and he folded. I honestly cannot remember the last time I had pocket pairs and both hit trips back to back. It has been awhile that's for sure. Aces held up for me twice yesterday and so my streak continues. Must be the talk Josie had with me. I always listen to Josie. See if you don't listen she just talks more...

The WSOP starts today. I read something on their site that said there is less than 500 people total in the whole world who have won WSOP bracelets. I was surprised at that figure. I thought there would have been more. Can you imagine winning one?? I know the prize money would be great but that bracelet is something your kids and grand kids could talk about and treasure for years. How cool is that??

The summer movie seasons starts today and the first big release is Sex and the City 2. Now I know Wolfshead will be first in line to see it. Ha Ha. Will I be going?? Okay start the abuse now. I can take it. Of course I will be going. I think I saw most episodes of the TV series so I will definitely be there sometime this weekend. Yes I know it's a chick flick but I tell you guys half the fun going is watching the audience pre show and after. The ladies will be out in full force for this movie. I don't know about you guys but that beats going to say a monster truck show and seeing a bunch of beer swilling guys salivating. I will post my thoughts afterwords. Can't wait can you?? Yea I bet.

Coop

Aces 20/28

Idol and Mookie

I played the Mookie tonight while watching Idol on TV. I taped it so I could skim through the five zillion commercials and chit chat.

Anyways The Mookie was pretty uneventful. I never got a pocket pair over 10s but I did get a lot of middle pairs which kept me going for awhile. Lightning was at the table and took a bad one when he hit trip queens but his kicker was only a king and Ddionysus had the Ace kicker. I just basically coasted along trying to stay afloat. Josie joined our table and pulled off the 2-7 bluff and won some chips but her night ended when she pushed with KQ and pocket 8s held up.

After that I went card dead for a long time getting the usual crap of 9-2 and 6-3. Finally when I was down to just over 1000 I managed to double up twice once with KQ and the other with AJ. I was up to just over 5000 when I got dealt AJ in the BB. The button raised to 1200 with blinds at 150/300. I thought he was just trying to steal so I jammed in. Uh no he wasn't . He had AK and bingo I was out just like that. I finished a scintillating 38th. BOOOOOOOOOOO.

I have now been entered in the Blogger Battle Royale and I want to thank the people responsible. Very nice and much appreciated.

Okay so I watched the Idol finale tonight. Pretty impressive lineup although Janet Jackson sounded off key to me but then again maybe I have old ears. As for the winner I really think the wrong person won. Not that Lee wasn't great because he is but that Crystal girl mark my words will make more albums than any previous Idol contestant with the possible exception of maybe Carrie Underwood. There is already talk of her being on the Lillith Fair tour. I just loved her voice and I would pay money to go listen to her perform. She was outstanding but then again I love that kind of music. She did a song tonight with Alanis Morissette and sounded just as good if not better. As for Lee he will also do really well and is very talented but in my opinion Crystal was in a league of her own.

Coop

Aces 18/26

GRRRRRR and Old People

I just finished playing a few dozen hands of 5/10 on Fulltilt. Not my usual game as I mostly play tournaments or SNGs but I do like variety (in poker). Well in other things too but I save them for dreamland.

Okay so I bought into this game for a whopping 8 bucks. I get dealt QQ in the BB. I have yes 4 limpers to my BB. I raise it to 95. Remember blinds are 5/10. Well that scares away 1 guy. Anyways the flop comes J 8 4. I bet $2.50. UTG goes all in for $2.05. The other two fold. The cards flip up and he has Q 10. I go what?? What is he calling on?? A gutshot. No flush draw. Nothing. Turn is a K. River is of course a 9 to give numbnuts from Germany or whatever his name is a straight. So I politely type in the chat box how could you call that. Never mind his donkey call preflop but after the flop. Know what he said. I was hoping?? Yes he was hoping. I hate to bring up the grassy knoll theory but this happens way too often online. Is there that many stupid players who hope or is it possible they have some program to forecast what is coming.. Yea Yea I know sounds ridiculous doesn't it. Just makes you wonder sometimes. Almost made me want to pull out my hair except there is none left to pull. Oh yea this guys avatar was the stupid donkey........ GRRRRRRRRRRRRR

I almost feel better typing that.

I watched the end of the NBC Headsup yesterday that was filmed a couple months back at Caesars. The one really noticeable thing about the final 4. They were all OLD. Well Annie isn't super old but shes 44 I think which is old enough. Nice to see the OLD people prevail once in awhile. You watch all these final tables lately and the average age is usually in their twenties.

I also saw in another blog that Mike Matusow has a bet that if 3 women win bracelets at this years WSOP he will run naked down the Strip. That might not be a pretty site. As there is a ladies only event I think that doesn't count in the 3. Should make for an interesting June and July. Theres lots of poker players that I would like to see run naked down the strip but none of them are male.

Coop

Aces 18/26

Where I live

As I have mentioned before I live on an island off the west coast of British Columbia, Canada. The island itself is called Vancouver Island but the city where I live is called Victoria. We are a 90 minute ferry boat ride away from Vancouver. Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia.

Today I went downtown to snap a few pictures of where I live. It was crazy down there as it's a long weekend and we have thousands of tourists in town. Tourism is one of our biggest industries and a lot of cruise ships stop here on the way to Alaska. Sometimes we have as many as 3 or 4 in port at once. You can imagine how many tourists this brings to town.

The pictures I have taken are of our inner harbour, the government buildings, the horse drawn carriages that go all over the down town area and the Copper Girl who poses like a statue. Hope you enjoy.

Coop

The Ultimate Slow Roll

You hear people bitching sometimes about being slow rolled. It's usually just because they are pissed off that their hand wasn't good enough and that the other player didn't turn the cards over fast enough. In most cases I just think people need to suck it up and worry about their own game and not worry about how fast someone turned over their cards.

Then something happened yesterday in of all places an online SNG. I was playing and it was a 9 person SNG. We were down to 3 (pays 3). First of all the guy who did the slow roll had been a jerk criticizing a couple players for their calls earlier. I had stayed out of it mostly until I had AJ on the button and I raised. Mooncoinstair12 (the jerk) immediately went all in. Now he has like me covered by 3 to 1 in chips. I fold. He flashes AK. I typed in the box AJ. He made some disparaging remark about my fold. I typed nice jam with AK buddy. Lucky I didn't have AA.

Anyways on to the hand which I wasn't involved in. The flop came A K K. GGChris94 (the other player) bet and Mooncoinstair12 called. Turn was a 3. Bet and call, River was a 9. GGChris94 jammed all in. Mooncoinstair12 typed in the chat box hmmmmmmm. Then he requested TIME. I thought wow does he have an Ace and wonder if his kicker is good or does he think GGChris has trip Kings?? Anyways when time is all most out he calls. What does he have?? KK . He flopped QUAD kings. The absolute nuts and he requested time. The guy was such a jerk. I went off on him in the chat box as there was no need to Hollywood that call up. He shut up after that. Wondering what GGChris94 had?? Two pair Kings and nines. Yea weird jam with that hand but whatever he didn't deserve to get that crap from Mooncoinstair12.

How did I end up?? I had As 9s. The flop came Qs Ts Qd. Just me and the jerk in the pot. I was really short stacked with blinds at 250/500 and I had just under 2000 chips. I pushed. Mooncoinstar12 called. He had AQ. Damn!!!. I had outs though. Then the turn brought the really lovely 7s to give me the nut flush. Yes. Then again you know this isn't going to have a happy ending (not that kind ). Anyways gets his Ace on the river for the boat and I am out. Too bad Karma didn't get him this time.

I see Lightning is organized a get together at the Rio on Sunday June 20th. I am going to do my absolute best to get over there if I can. As I mentioned in the comments box I have my family with me and it's fathers day. Of course if some miracle happens and I am still in my WSOP event it will be the final table that day. Now wouldn't that be awesome.. Dreams

Remember all my bitching about pocket Aces just killing me. Well they have won 11 times in a row for me lately?? Amazing isn't it?? Yea I know now I have jinxed myself for even typing that.

Coop

Aces 17/25

Mookie and more baseball

I played the Mookie last night. I started off okay but it wasn't going to be my night. I managed to get Waffles off a hand early though as my over pair to the board got him to fold. Or did I have an over pair?? Waffles was trying to guess my hand. I finally told him I had Jacks. Sorry for the little white lie Waffles. The funny thing is I used to flash my cards or tell people honestly what I had. Not anymore. I did that a couple times last night. I tell them what they want to hear. If that makes me a bad person so be it but I don't give out free information anymore. I know others do but not this guy.

Anyways soon after I got moved to a new table and I had Wolfshead on my immediate left and Gary on my immediate right. I felt like meat in a sandwich. Now if it was two great looking ladies well that's a different matter but I was stuck between these two guys. First Gary took some of my chips when he hit trip 6's. Then Wolfshead took as whole bunch more when he had AQ and I had A 8 on a board of A K 7 4 2. Yea I know Ace Rag.

Then Lightning joined the table and he was even shorter stacked than me. I was in the BB with J 2. Two limpers to me including Lightning. The flop comes J 2 4. I make a pot sized bet with my two pair. Wolf folds and Lightning goes all in for 655. I of course call. Lightning has K J and of course catches his K on the turn to give him a higher two pair. The river is a blank and Lightning take my chips. I stick out my tongue at Lightning.

I few hands later I go all in with JJ and meet Maggie0 who has KK and she proceeds to flop a K too to add insult. I do manage to river a Jack but its not enough and I am out in 60th. Congrats to Memphis who managed to come in 4th for a decent cash.

Yesterday I was ranting about the state of baseball. I didn't deliberately pick on the Red Sox (okay I did a bit but only because I wanted to see how long it took Josie to fire a mad comment) but anyways it's not just the Red Sox and Yankees. Somebody needs to come in and really clean up the game and make it so that the poor teams have a legitimate shot at winning. I love the game and with all what's happened over the past few years with steroids and over paying players they need a strong individual to come in and tell the owners and the players union this is the way its going to be. Will it Happen?? Very doubtful.

Random Wednesday Thoughts

Some Random Thoughts

1. The guy that won our main local poker tournament on Sunday finished in 91st spot during our regular season and only started with 3500 in chips (the minimum). Where as the top 5 players started with 10000. Interesting isn't it? Oh and this continues the trend of nobody in the top 5 every winning. The lady that finished second was way down in about 45th or so. Chips are good but you still need to get some card luck and play well. I started with 7500.

2. Is it just me or is anybody else really tired of watching the rich teams in baseball like the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and Mets buy their teams. I am sorry but baseball needs a salary cap. I am sure the fans of some of these teams don't think so but really is that rewarding to watch your team buy itself a World Series. Are you listening Red Sox fans?? All other sports have salary caps and it's time baseball did the same. Look at the parity in the NFL now and the NHL. I personally find it sickening to watch the money thrown around to ball players. Teams should be building threw the draft and trades and not who has the most money to hand out. I played ball from the time I was 6 until just 3 years ago. Yet this year I have not sat down and watched one game. I love baseball but what's the use. Very discouraging to see teams that haven't the loot finish way down in the standings year after year.

3. 4 weeks today I will be leaving for Vegas. Even though I have been several times I still get excited like a little kid about going. This year of course there is even more excitement as I am going to play a WSOP event. There also is a lot of great other tournaments going on there as I see from BWOP's blog (one of my favourites) Binions is running there own series. I have never stayed downtown but plan to one of these days.

4. Aces just keep winning for me as you notice from my recent updates.

Coop

Aces 15/23

My Sunday

On Sunday I played in my league tournament with a WSOP seat up for grabs and unfortunately I didn't win it. We had 101 entrants. Here's the good and bad.

The Good
1. I started with 7500 in chips and by the first break (3 levels) I had managed to chip up to 13000 this after losing the very first hand.
2. I folded JJ preflop to a raise and reraise and then after I folded an all in and rather strange call. They had KK and 10 10. Go figure eh. Whats the 10 10 thinking?? Anyways they both hit on the flop so it sure was a good fold.
3. I had KK, AA and QQ which all held up or won pots outright.
4. I showed my AA and for awhile all my raises got respect.
5. Felt great then got moved to my 3rd table. Then the bad started.

The Bad
1. Pretty card dead at the new table.

2. Folded an open ended straight draw after the flop and of course it hit on the turn and I would have won a huge pots as the guy who won had the other end.

2. Short stack pushed all in with about 2500. I was in the BB for 800 already and called with KQh. He had 55. It held up. Kind of a loose call. Bonehead play 1.

3. Started getting a little short and had a loose very aggressive young guy on my left who I have played against a lot. I got dealt K9h in the SB. It's folded around to me. I know if I limp he might raise with anything. He does that a lot. I decide to limp. Bonehead play 2. He raises 1500. Now the brilliant thing to do here would be to fold . I still had around 6000 chips and could pick a much better spot. So what do I do? I jam all in trying to get him to fold thinking he has nothing. Bone head play 3. He snap calls. What does he have?? AQ. Seems that hand is a bone of contention for Waffles and Lighning today. Anyways I hit my K on the flop and two hearts J 6. Looking great. Turn brings a 2 or something. River brings?? A stupid 10. Not hearts either. I was so mad at myself. I guessed wrong but in hindsight I should have given him a walk and waited for a better spot. That was my day. I was out in 25th spot which means I out lasted 76 players but that is no consolation. It was almost like I went brain dead at my new table.

My son who also played finished in 11th spot and he was disappointed too as the final table where the money and prizes was so close. I congratulated him and stayed and cheered him on until he lost.


Oh yes and I watched the Survivor final when I got home and as I pedicted that Russell guy didn't get a vote. Parvati should have won but seing Sandra win was almost as good. It seems Wolfshead doesn't like Survivor. Not sure why not but any show that has pretty girls on a beach beats watching golf, tennis or my least favourite car racing.

Coop

Aces 13/21

Getting ready for Sunday

I play in a poker league where on Sunday we will be battling for a WSOP seat and 500.00 spending cash. There will around 120 players total playing. You have to play and do well during the season and finish in the top 100 in our region and the top 20 in the north island region to be able to play. In our region alone we have around 250 players. I currently sit in 10th spot and chips at the final tournament are given out as to where you finish during the regular season. I will start with 7500 chips while somebody who finished 85th say will only have 3500 to start. The players that finished in the top 5 start with 10000 chips so you can see the advantages at first anyways of finishing high up in the standings. The one thing though is that nobody in the top 5 has ever won the final tournament. Isn't that an interesting stat?

The last 2 main event winners in our league have both been ladies and they will both be there on Sunday. Two seasons ago I was the runner up and am hoping to better that this Sunday but as we all know lots can happen. My son will also be playing and it would be great if he could take it down. I would love to play another event at the WSOP. The prize is for the NLHE event that starts on June 5th. As you know I will be playing the seniors event on June 18th

Last night was our final tournament before Sunday and we had just under 70 players come out. I managed to final table and came in 4th. I started off real slow. I was getting basic junk hands until I got dealt AKd UTG. I raised it. Got 2 callers and an Ace hit on the flop. I decided then to push all in as any bet was less than the pot anyways. Surprisingly they both called. I thought Oh Oh. One had A6 the other other A 9. Still shocked they originally called with Ace rags and then called again on my shove but whatever. My AK held up and I had a huge triple up. A lot of players were gambling last night with marginal hands as they wanted to move up in the standings. It made for a very loose game last night.

The only other big hand I can remember I was dealt AA in second position. Yes my favourite hand. Blinds were 2000/4000 by this time. My stack was around 25000. UTG limps in. I decided to shove figuring that would win it right there. I got two callers and the UTG folded. One had KQ the other KJ. Yep pretty loose calls. Not sure what they were thinking although the blinds were getting high. Drum roll please Yes my aces held up. Have I told you how much I love Aces lately??? That took me to the final table.

At the final table nothing remarkable happened. I finally got taken out in 4th when a guy rivered a straight on me. Hopefully Sunday will bring some good cards and for some poker luck.

I watched Survivor this morning after taping it last night while I was out. I love the show and as I have said before I think I have seen every episode of every year. The guy that makes me laugh is Russell. Does he really think anybody would vote to give him a million bucks? He is a great strategist but you can't alienate everybody else and still expect to win. Not going to happen. He might make a good poker player though.

I am not sure who will win but it would not surprise me to see Parvatti win another million. Great player and she looks incredible just wandering around in her bikini. Even OLD guys like me notice that.

Coop

Aces 12/20

Last night

I played The Mookie on Fulltilt last night and I started off great. A few hands in I was dealt A 7s one off the button. Blinds 15/30. Yea I know Ace Rag. I had only played one hand in so far and won and was feeling adventurous. I raised to 105. Donkeypuncher on the button calls and the blinds fold . Flop comes Js 3s 2s. Yep I flopped the nuts. I check as does the donkey. Damn. Turn 5h. I check again. Donkeypuncher bets 175. I call. Turn is a Qd. I ponder and decide to check hoping he bets. Nope he checks and I win a pot of 605.

A couple hands later and second to act I get AJ. I raise to 90. Astin raises me to 180. I call. Everybody else folds. Flop comes J 10 10. I check and Astin bets 290. I call. Turn is a 7. I check and surprisingly Astin checks behind. River brings another J giving me the boat. Now I know I should have bet here but I checked and so did Astin. When he showed he had 88 so I don't think he would have called anything anyways.

Then I got moved to Josie's table. Of course others might think otherwise but she is certainly the most chatty at that table. I slowly built up my stack to just over 6500.Then I got dealt 2 7 one off the button. Everybody folds to me. I raise as Josie is the BB. I know just to bug her. They all fold and I flash Josie my 2,7. She flashes me a finger or something I am sure. Good thing Boston is a long ways from me.

Later on I get dealt AA. Yes my nemesis. Keepflopping who is second to act pushes all in for around 1300 chips. I reraise and everybody else folds. Flopping has 33 and amazingly doesn't spike a 3 and my Aces hold up. I know standing ovation please.

I also have Aces later UTG and with a raise everybody folded. Geez 2/2. Gotta like it. I lost a lot of chips when two hands in a row with AK I got reraised huge and both times I mucked and was told that I was up against AA once and KK another. That's if you can believe poker players but whatever.

The hand that ended my night I was dealt J 10 in the SB. Everybody folded to me. I was going to raise but Mrs Scary in the BB had a huge stack and I am not talking about her boobs. I just called. Flop comes J 6 6. Now for some reason that I am still pissed about I decide to jam all in. I don't know if I was worried about her chips but definitely I should have just made a pot sized bet. She snap called me. She had Q 6. Yep she had trips. So I am looking for a Jack on the turn or river but it was not to be. I am out in 28th out of 93. Congrats to Tripjax who won and as usual it was fun playing. Sure beats playing tournaments where you don't know anybody. LuckiDuck even stopped by to wish us well. Thanks for that. He did get to witness my Aces holding up.

Coop

Aces 11/19

Blog ads

When I started this blog about 14 months ago I decided to use Google Adsense and put a few ads down one side of the blog. I am not sure why. It just seemed like a decent idea and I might make a bit of cash. Well as you all know unless people are continually clicking on your ads or you get like 1000 visitors per day you make almost nothing. It's not really worth it. I had thought a few times of taking them down but never really got around to it. Then today I get an email from them saying I have to remove the Battle of the Bloggers 5 badge as it infringes on their policy that their ads and gambling ads can't be on the same page. I guess nobody has told Google Adsense that poker isn't gambling. Of course we all know that they don't have that same opinion. So what did I do?? I removed the Google ads. That was easy.

There exact quote was this:

(As stated in our program policies, AdSense publishers are not permitted to
place Google ads on sites with content related to gambling or casinos.
This policy includes driving traffic to online gambling sites through
links or advertisements).

I guess I will have to find other ways to supplement my income...............

Coop

Aces 9/17

Wednesday Thoughts

Last night I watched the final table of the NAPT stop at the Mohegan Sun casino. Even though I knew than Vanessas Selbst had won I still like to see how the hands played out. The hands they showed certainly showed the aggressiveness of Vanessa and how she was constantly putting people to the test by putting them all in. Congratulations to her. I remember the last time Vanessa was on TV I was less than impressed with her attitude there . This time she seemed much more pleasant and that was a good thing. Hopefully she saw her last appearance on TV and learned from it.

I do have one other comment though. When she won there was no celebration and this is not a comment against her but I notice it more and more in major tournaments. Are we all so worried about being politically correct that we can't celebrate with a huge smile, a fist pump or something. Are we that worried about hurting the losers feelings that celebration is not allowed or frowned on. Cmon folks. If I somehow miraculously win a major tournament I am going to be celebrating. If people think it's in bad taste well so be it. I mean she won like $750,000. If I could do cartwheels at my advanced age I would. Let's not put poker down the path of complete boredom by barely cracking a smile when we win. Sure the other player is going to feel bad when they lose but like in all other sports (yes I classify poker as a sport) there are winners and losers. The losers have to learn to accept it. Too bad if they can't.

I am planning to play THE MOOKIE tonight on Full Tilt all being well. No last longer bets and no hockey game for distraction. There goes all my excuses.


Some thoughts on the Chicago/Vancouver series. A huge disappointment as I really thought there was only 1 good game. The others were lopsided one way or the other. The Hawks managed to stay healthy and the Canucks were seriously hurting on defense. Last night Salo was like at 40%. You could see the pain and then Edler got hit and was out before the end of the first period on a somewhat questionable hit. Of course Mitchell and Rome never played due to injury. That left there defense really suspect to Chicago's speedy forwards. Luongo didn't have a great series either. Of course the hand wringing starts now as how to be better for next year. Should be an interesting off season. I think Demitra will be gone for sure. I will be cheering for the Hawks over the Sharks as Chicago has a lot of Vancouver born on their team.

Aces 9/17

Monday

I watched the hockey game last night most of it before my poker game started and I have to say this series has had the most brutal refereeing I think I have ever seen. Not just against the Canucks but against both teams. I don't usually complain about them but oh my they were horrible last night. The most blatant of course was the non call for the high stick that cut O'Brien. How could they miss that?? There was several calls that weren't made against both teams. Now I know its playoff hockey but if you are going to let things go lets be consistent. One game you are calling everything and other games nothing. It was hard to watch. Chicago looked incredibly flat last night and Luongo finally came up and played like he should be. So it's on to game 6. My prediction?? Who knows? Which Chicago team is going to show up and which Vancouver team?

I had noticed that in both my live play and online play I had been bubbling a LOT. Way too much. Someone else noticed that also. Anyways with a few adjustments and advice things have been going great online. I have noticed and cashed in every (3) tournaments online since the changes. I thank the person for the suggestions. I always figure if you can't take advice then your game will get stagnant. A different set of eyes always helps.

So then came my regular Sunday night live game. Very first hand in with blinds at 100/200 I am dealt QQ. I am one off the dealer. Two limpers to me. I bump it to 1200.I know the early limpers love those weak aces. The button instantly shoves all in. Okay remember this is the first hand.. The blinds fold as do the two limpers. Back to me. Only two hands beat me. Now the guy that shoved is a horrible player. He really does not have a clue. He could have anything. He's the guy that is usually out first or he lucks out and gets some ships and then donks them away. So I start quizzing him. Finally he says I will show regardless. Perfect clue as the I know in this case having played him many times he has Kings or Aces. I fold face up. Everybody goes wow and then he flips over the Kings so it was a good fold. We only start with 5000 chips so that put a bit of a dint in my stack. I managed after that to steal a couple blinds with aggression but I was really card dead for most of the night.

We got down to 20 players when with my stack at around 3600 and blinds at 400/800 with 100 anti and I get deal 77 on the button. 1 limper to me who is a really passive player as far as I can tell having not played him before other than tonight. The blinds are both good players but I know if I shove unless they wake up with a hand they are folding. So I shove. The blinds fold as hoped. The limper calls and flips over KK. Yep he limped with that.........My night was over as the board did not help. I know 77 is a not great hand but I needed to be aggressive and pick up chips as my stack really never got going last night. Who linps with KK?? I guess he does. That's Poker.

Twice on the weekend had Aces and both times they held up.

Coop
Aces 8/16

Sunglasses

In the poker league I play in sunglasses are banned. You can't wear them. Simple as that. In one of his latest blog postings Daniel Negraneau says he would like to see them banned from poker completely. I agree with him. What is with people hiding behind the glasses? Do you have a nervous twitch when you bluff? Do you look guilty when you fire that continuation bet when you hit air on the flop? I just think they look goofy inside and you notice its more of the young crowd that seems to favour them but not all. Daniel say he would like at the start to get them banned from televised tournaments. I say right on. If you can't learn to play poker without hiding behind shades then in my opinion your in the wrong game but that's just me or you should just stay on the internet and play. Daniel has a lot of pull and respect in the poker world so we will see if anything transpires. Not sure if it will though as too many of the young pros hide behind them. Even older guys like Greg Raymer use them although his are quite funny. My poker playing son asked me if when I am playing in the WSOP if I would don a pair. I said no. I have played in Vegas before and never felt the need to. Why change now?

That was a horrendous hockey game last night. Luongo was horrible, the defence was non existent and Chicago dominated from the first drop of the puck. I think there are 5 Blackhawks that live and were born in and around Vancouver so it's like a homecoming for them. I know the series isn't over but it will take a monumental comeback to recover from this defeat. I will still be cheering but I don't have a lot of hope. It's amazing how things change so fast. Canucks won game 1 easy and were dominating the opening in game 2 and then it was like they lost their confidence and also the one position where they should be more dominant in goal they haven't. I am a big Luongo fan but he has not been great. That's the difference. The Chicago goalie has been great for the most part. Great goal tending wins Cups.

OH yea I was playing online yesterday. Just played one SNG. Anyways we were down to 8 players and I get AA in the SB. A guy in middle position raises 4 times the BB. Gets to me I reraised him double. Gets back to him and he jamms. He has me covered . Of course I call. He has KK. Perfect. Yea well then he hits his King on the flop and that's how my Aces went yesterday. Some wise Lady suggested that I count wins with my Aces even if I don't get a caller. As of now I will start doing that.


Coop
Aces 6/14

Feeling Young

I was playing my usual Thursday night game last night and there was a 92 year old lady playing at my table. She is the sweetest thing. She still can shuffle the cards and deal but when she deals we all look at the ceiling (a lot of ladies have lots of practice looking at ceilings) as she flashes cards. Anyways last night she was hitting cards . She never raises just calls or folds. We have to explain each time what her options are. She had pocket tens one hand and hit a full boat on the river to knock out a guy who also hit a lower boat. She had a huge stack. I was two players over from her. I was always telling her her options as I really like her. As soon as I sat down and realized she was at our table I just thought oh well tonight just play for fun. We had close to 60 players and I finally busted in 18th when my AKd came up against pocket Kings and the board woofed on us. That was okay though. It was still fun although I did have a headache from all the explaining. I hope if I live that long I can still play. Of course if I do I will have all though old ladies chasing me around the rest home as the women to guy ratio is like 8-1. You see Josie there are older poker players than Memphis. LuckyDuck and me.

I did play one SNG online yesterday. Just a 5 buck one. Managed to win and yes oh yes Pocket Aces held up... A certain someone is teaching me about Aces... Thats okay when I am 90 she can come and feed me. I like lots of deserts.

Game 4 tonight. Heading over to the local pub to watch it. Go Canucks go. Get in their goalies face.

COOP

Aces 6/13

Bad to Worse

I Played the Very Josie tournament tonight instead of the Dank/Mookie. I started off well and was up to just over 4000 chips early when I got dealt pocket Aces on the button. With blinds at 30/60 I raised to 140 hoping to get 1 caller. SB folded. BB called (Prettcat although she wasn't so pretty after this hand). Flop comes JJK. I bet 310(pot). Prettycat called (thought she had a King). Turn was a Q. I bet 930(pot). She raised all in. I thought KQ perfect. I called . She had J9. Damn. To put the icing on the cake she hit another Jack on the river. Quad Jacks beat my Jacks over damn aces.. Okay I played that okay I thought until she raised all in . What was I thinking?? She had to have a Jack. Why did I call?? You see what Aces do. Then to top it all of I asked if she would give my chips back and she wouldn't. So I told Memphis to get them and he did later. Congrats Memphis on your win. Us old guys got to stick together. Oh yea and then someone who shall not get a hyperlink commented from the peanut gallery its because I don't know how to play Aces. After that comment good luck at getting hyperlinks. Ha Ha

That didn't end my night but I was out soon after when my pocket deuces got called by 6-4 and High on Poker hit his 4. Figures a lawyer calls with 6-4. Must not have enough billable hours this month and needed my 2.00 bounty. Okay yea I would have called too as my shove wasn't huge.

Then as I type this the Canucks were down 2-0 but now its 3-2 Hawks at the end of the second. It ends 5-2. Credit the goalie of Chicago for keeping them in it in the first again. Also give the refs a star for not calling goalie interference on two of the Chicago goals but having said that Chicago was the better team last night but the series isn't over yet.

The only positive thing yesterday was I did win the two SNGs I played before the very Josie tournament. Probably because I didn't get Aces in either.

COOP

Aces 5/12

Hockey, Mookie or Dank

Game 3 tonight. Starts at 6.30 my time which is 830 for you Chicago fans. The crowd should be wild although it's going to be tough to beat the noise level they had at Chicago on Monday night. Go Canucks Go...

That presents a problem. I was going to play the Mookie/Dank tonight because I would really love to win that TOC seat but as you all now us guys aren't great at multitasking. We have to concentrate on one thing at a time. So it will be a last minute decision as to whether I play. Basically I will see how the first period is going. I love the competition though and as the WSOP gets closer I really have to play more so we will see.

I was also going to play that OTHER tournament (note no hyperlink) but as I was told there was only 2 words for me (and they weren't love you) I think my presence won't be missed. That's okay as playing that and the Mookie/Dank and watching hockey would be way too much for this old brain although it's very tempting.

I have been so tired this week that I didn't go play my usual live Monday and Tuesday night games. I played some online yesterday and I was 0/4 in cashing. 3 bubbles and a horrible QQ beat. That's poker though. Looking back the last few weeks I have bubbled way too often and a lot it is because of getting involved in big pots and making dumb decisions. I seem to make a lot of dumb decisions and not just at poker.

I did play one SNG this morning and managed a win which was good for my morale. Oh had Aces yesterday and amazingly they held up against pocket 9s.

COOP

Aces 5/11

Too Much Information

Modern technology has improved how we access things and in general it has made our lives a lot easier. But has it? Most people have cellphones most people have computers and of course we all have TV's.

I used to have a cellphone but then people (including my family) would phone me and ask me where I was. Why I would ask. Oh we just wondered. It's not that I was trying to hide things. I just liked never being that available. I gave up my cellphone. I love it.

Every time we do something someone knows what we have done. You go to the store and rent a movie. There's a record. You charge groceries. Everybody knows what you eat. We are constantly being tracked as to our buying habits and of course if you have a cellphone you can be tracked to exactly where you are. Then people use twitter to tell other people what and where they are and what they are thinking. Why?? Are we all desperately seeking attention?

Then you go on the internet and we have Facebook and other sites that track schoolmates. Some people put their whole lives on Facebook. I know I used it a lot. Not anymore. I don't want to be that out there. I have deleted my Facebook account and am in the process of deleting anything else out there that lets people know who I really am although I have been told Facebook stores your info. I know a lot of friends will wonder where my Facebook account has gone. That's okay.

I constantly get phoned with surveys on the telephone. I politely tell them I don't give out information. Why would you? I never fill out contest entry forms as I have found most contests sell your information to telemarketers etc. Then you get inundated for months with phone calls.

I have deleted the pictures I posted of myself on here and in future any pictures will not include my face. A year ago I wrote a post about my daughter who has some problems. At the end I named her. The post is still there but her name is gone.

Why write a blog then if I am so paranoid about privacy? I guess because for the most part I enjoy it. I also enjoy the anonymity of it. I can say what I want and nobody knows who I am. My kids don't even know about this blog.

I really enjoy other peoples blogs and read several every day. Some poker related some not. Some make me laugh, some make me sad. I learn from some posts and disagree with others. That's okay. I don't know these people other than what they write. I hope they keep writing.

To some this post may not make a lot of sense. That's okay it makes sense to me.


Not much on the poker front. Played a live tournament last night and came in 18th out of 40. Played a 4 SNGs yesterday online and only cashed in 1 (2nd). Got my aces cracked with a flopped two pair.

COOP

Aces 4/10

Heads Up Thoughts

Just finished watching the round of 32 of the NBC Heads Up at Caesars Palace. Even though I know the eventual winner I always love watching this event as most of us don't get enough Heads Up practice unless you do it online as I have done a few times.

My thoughts.

1. Annette Obrestad schooled Hellmuth and I loved her calling the clock on him. She just sat back and watched him squirm. What was with his last call anyways? She got in Phil's head right from the first hand where she hit trip 3's and Phil just didn't play well. Phil's non stop dialogue was pretty funny.

2. Loved the trips over trips in the Ivey and Scotty Nguyen match. Scotty was down to 2400 in chips at one point and came back to defeat Ivey.

3. I love Phil Laak. This guy is entertaining and great for poker. Not to mention he is with Jennifer Tilly who is from the island where I live. Of course he did a have a big suck out on the end to eliminate Phil Gordon.

4. What's with David Williams ripping up a card when he realizes that he is all in with A 6 against pocket Aces? Are we in elementary school or what?? You are on TV. Bet he doesn't get invited back.

Round of 16 is on next Sunday

Aces 4/9

Easy to Assemble

Those 3 words scare me. Yep easy to assemble. What they really mean is if you have incredible patience, superior assembly skills you might be able to put the thing together. If not you are driven to drink. I personally think that some of the reason I have no hair is because of those words (having kids was another but that's a whole different post).

When they were passing out the skills on putting things together I must have somehow missed the assembly line because I really have none. Zip , Zero, Zilch. I can screw a lightbulb in but even some of those new ones cause me sleepless nights.

So today with spring coming we needed new patio chairs. Of course they don't come assembled. You have to it all yourself. What happened to the day when you could just see it, buy it and take it home. Now you need a degree in engineering to do anything. Of course this box had those famous words on it. I could feel the stress coming. The box is opened and everything is numbered. Well sort of. It actually only took about an hour to put the 2 chairs together. Stop laughing. If you ever need a handyman don't call me. I am of no use. I guess when all other guys were doing construction I was too busy playing sports. When somebody suggests we go to Ikea to me that's like going to the dentist. Its scary as hell as at Ikea you assemble everything. I am so glad there isn't one on the island. I am sure my life span would be shortened.

Not muck poker yesterday although I did play one of those 90 player bounty things that my son had been playing. I did manage to cash and came in 8th. Took 2 bounties. Top 9 pay and I was pretty short stacked at the final table and with just me and the BB I pushed with A8. He called. What did he have? A 8 of spades. We both turned a straight and he rivered a flush. Figures.

The only other hand of note was I was dealt AA in the BB. I think we were down to about 40 then. The UTG raised. Next guy to him reraised him. I am sitting in the BB liking this. Everybody folds to me and I throw in a another reraise. UTG folds and the next guy jams all in. I of course call. What does he have?? AA. Yep we both had the pocket rockets. The board blanks with no flushes and we chopped. I count that as a win with Aces.

Game 1 tonight at 5PM . Go Canucks Go

Aces 4/9

Meetings and the NAPT

Well Thursday night I always go and play a live poker game but last night I had a SSM (stupid strata meeting). If you don't know what a strata is (a certain Boston gal didn't). Its basically the owners of a condo who get together and form all the rules of the building and pass a budget. You hire a management company to do all the bookkeeping but you still need an executive. It is a thankless job. You gotta listen to all the moaning and complaining and you don't get paid for it. Anyways I went to the meeting expecting the worst. A couple people had already asked me if I would be on the executive. I was very non committal (in other words no WAY). Anyways to my shock and horror we had 7 people volunteer to do it. I just about fell off my chair. That never happens. Usually you have to beg people to be on strata. Then it's usually the really old people who do it (yes older than me Josie). Last night 4 of the 7 were under 35. One lady in her twenties. Of course this is a brand new building and a new strata. These people have no idea what they are in for. Hopefully everyone will get along and live side by side without complaining. Somehow that's not likely.

I watched the final table of the NAPT at the Venetian yesterday. Was it only me but some of the calls were really bad?? My son and I were watching and my son kept saying? Why is he still in the hand?? Good question? It even almost made Norman Chad speechless (that's not likely). The eventual winner was the deserving winner from the hands I watched. Really nice to see more poker on TV. The latest thing I hear is the NAPT is trying to get a Canadian stop possibly at the River Rock in Richmond which is a suburb of Vancouver and where I have played a few times. That would be great.

Speaking of my son. Now that he has his account back up he has twice played the 90 people 3 buck bounty tournament on Fulltilt and cashed both times. He was 4th and yesterday he won 72 bucks for the victory. He plays under the name tjmax3. If you ever encounter him say hi. I think he could give me some lessons.

I just played once yesterday in a 9 player SNG and cashed in 3rd place. I did get AA again but my min raise couldn't get a call when we were down to 3. Groan. So it doesn't change the current stats.

Hockey forecasts
Detroit in 7
Pittsburgh in 5
Boston in 7
Canucks in.......7

Aces 3/8

The Aftermath

It was another great night last night playing the Mookie. I started off well first hand dealt A 10h. Flop came with two hears. Pot sized bet and I got some chips.

First big hand for me was I was dealt KK. I raised to 120. DeepchitNJ reraised me to 240. I reraised to 780. Deepchit called. Flop comes Ks 6c Jc. Great flop but two clubs. I decided to check. Deepchit bet 680. Should I just smooth call. Nope. Pot is big enough. Don't get greedy. I raise to 1360. Deepchit folds. Said they had pocket Queens. Wish I had known. Might have got more.

A few hands later I got dealt pocket Jacks. Before it even got to me there was a raise. I decided to just call. Then there was a reraise after me and another reraise. Umm these Jacks aren't looking good . I folded. Not sure if it was a good fold or not but not going to go out with just Jacks. The last reraiser took it down. Never showed.

Then I got shifted to Josie's table. Just a few hands in there I got dealt pocket Aces. Blinds were 50/100. Morning Thunder raised to 300. I reraised her to 700. She called. Flop comes A 10 4. Great flop. She checked. I decided to check (note to self stop being greedy) Turn was a J. She goes all in for 1065. Does she really have KQ. I call. Yes she does... I am wounded. I see Morning thunder used my chips to a good cause she cashed. Damn her!! lol

Then Josie starts raising my BB every time. She finally flashes a pair of Jacks. Not the flash I wanted.

I then get moved to Gary's table. We are both short stacks. I keep getting hands when I am the SB and Gary the BB and I keep raising him. We are both waiting for the big hand. Finally I get AA again. I triple the blinds hoping for 1 caller. Oh no its Gary that calls and he has less chips than me. I wanted to get somebody elses. He has A9 suited. An Ace and a 9 come on the flop and Gary is out.

I am still on life support and with blinds at 150/300 and 25 anti I get pocket 4's in middle position. I bet about half my stack hoping everybody goes away. The BB raises. Should I call?? I decide to. Decent call he has AK. I am the favourite. The flop is all low cards. Turn is another low card. Yes. River is a Ace. Damn. I am out in 32nd.

Congrats to Josie who finished 21st, lightning36 who finished 14th and fmarra who cashed in 3rd, I also briefly was in the room with Maniac. The poker playing was excellent. Fun night. Josie also got her chat privileges taken away for 1 minute. Sure was quiet then.

Pocket aces also killed me yesterday online when someone flopped trip 9s on me. I bubbled in that tournament although I did win a 9 player SNG yesterday so not bad 1 win 1 bubble out of 2 entered.

Aces 3/8

Happy Birthday T (no poker content)

As I am getting ready to play The Mookie I am writing this.

You see It's T's birthday today. She is Two. I have never met T although I do have a couple pictures. T also has an older sister named T who is soon going to be 9 and a wonderful kid. I talk to the older T all the time and her pic is my screen saver on this laptop. I hope someday that she will meet her sister. I also hope someday she will meet me and her grandmother and her two uncles my sons. T is now living with her mom. Her name is C. C is my daughter. If this makes no sense to you you need to read this post here . I had hopes for awhile that C was coming around . We were talking and she sounded better but she seems to have slipped back. I really hope she is taking good care of you T. I know her other daughter T really misses her mom. We all do. I hope someday you will read this T. So happy birthday T.

The Mookie tonight on FullTilt

I am planning on playing The Mookie tonight again. Hopefully the result will be better than my showing last week where I finished in the 70s out of 120. No hockey game to distract me tonight(damn there goes my excuse).

So everything with my son's account has be totally cleared up with FullTilt. His account was unfrozen yesterday and he received an email from Full Tilt explaining that and also one from the Debit Company saying he could make deposits again. He learned a good lesson I think. It was a honest mistake on his part as he really didn't understand transit numbers. A good lecture from yours truly has educated him on the fact. In his first tournament back he played a 90 player 3.00 bounty thing and managed 5th for a 24.75 cash. I was happy for him. Of course I will be monitoring his account..(yea I know he's 21 but you gotta keep tabs on them)

I am just glad the whole situation is done with and we can get back to playing the occasional online tournament at Fulltilt.

I played a live game again last night with 50 people. Not great results. I did start off great when I won the second hand of the night with pocket queens.

The hand that killed me was with blinds at 200/400. I had J 10c in the SB. There was 2 limpers to me so I called as did the BB. Flop comes Q J 9 rainbow. Okay I have second pair and an open ended straight draw. There was 3 of us in the pot after the flop betting(can't remember how it went). Turn brought another Q. I checked BB bet and the button and I both called. River was a K. Great card or you would think. The BB is a really loose player and could have anything. I made a bet and he immediately went all in. The button folded. Now I had the BB covered by around 2000 chips. Like I said before the BB is a really loose(actually he's really bad) and usually one of the first out. Okay I figured he's got a 10 but not likely A 10. Wouldn't he have maybe raised preflop with that with limpers to him. I made the call. Of course he had A 10. Figures.

I was now in survival mode. An orbit later I got dealt J 5 in the BB. I just called with 2 others. Flop comes K 5 5 rainbow. I check as did an older lady. Another very aggressive, loves to bluff player bet 500 figuring we were weak. I took my time calling. I could have pushed but I thought that would scare him away. The older lady folded. Turn was a 8. No flush or straight possibilities. I checked again and so did he. Damn. The river was an Ace. Okay what to do. I know I am good. Bet or Check?? I decide to check looking like I have given up on the hand. He asks what I have left. I have 1100 left. He says I will put you all in. I snap called and doubled up.

After that my AK ran into a turned full house and I was out.

See you tonight at The Mookie

Aces 2/5

Live game

Last night I went out to my usual Monday night game. We had about 55 people show up. Very first hand in I get dealt A7c. Middle position. Blinds are 100/200 so not loving the Ace rag but it was cheap I called. I think we had 5 limpers. Flop comes down A 8 6 rainbow. Two checks to me and I was going to bet but I have a really good aggressive player on my left. I checked really quickly. He bet out 600. Everybody folded back to me. I reraised to 1400. Well he wasn't expecting that. He said I didn't like the way you checked so fast. What do you have pocket 6's. I sat there watching the big screen TV that had the hockey playoffs on. He finally folded. He said he had a good Ace. I just said got fold. Good for me as I didn't love my 7 kicker.

I was pretty quiet for awhile until I got dealt pocket Aces. Older lady to my immediate right was down to about 1300 chips and pushed. Now by this time the blinds were 300/600. We already had 1 limper in the pot. I immediately raised to 2600. I wanted just me and the all in. I don't want this multi person pot. It worked everybody folded and my Aces held up.

With blinds at 400/800 and 100 anti. My chip stack was at 5500. Not great but not in survival mode yet. I was the BB. I look down AKh. Everybody folds to the SB. Now the SB is another older lady. Really good player. Loves to raise blinds. So she immediately bumped it up to 1600. I thought she's trying to steal. That was my read. Wrong read. I shoved the rest in. She snap called. Pocket 10's. Oh Oh. Still I am about 45%. The cards didn't come in fact not a card over an 8 and I was out.

My account with Fulltilt has been reactivated but they said until the other situation (my son's account) has cleared up I can play but I can't withdraw or deposit (although they were a bit vague on the deposit part). I guess it can take up to 10-14 business days. Of course I am giving my son a hard time now.. ha ha Anyways it's good to have it cleared up. I like playing on Fulltilt (well as much as I like online poker but it is my favourite site). Someone commented if I had just sent the ID in when they requested it I would have been up and running faster. This person didn't seem to understand was that I was getting no reason or response to my emails. I was shocked when I got the original email that my account was suspended. When I finally got an explanation I was okay with it and I was assured by Fulltilt of my respect for security and privacy. I also didn't have a scanner (to copy the documents) as I work off my laptop but I do have a decent digital camera which actually worked really well. I will say this for Fulltilt after the security department got my 3rd email they were very good about explaining why. It was the original cashier dept which wasn't responding to my emails and they were the ones who suspended it. I am just glad it's over (hopefully).

Looks like the Canucks will be playing Chicago Blackhawks next round. Should be a great series. I think the bookies will be favouring the Hawks. The Canucks have the definite advantage in goal if Luongo plays like he can. The Hawks have the advantage on defence. They have some great young players. Forwards I would say it's pretty even. They have Kane and Hossa. We have the Sedins and Kesler and Samuelson. They won in 6 last year against us. The season series this year was 2 wins each. Pretty even teams. They have home ice advantage.

Aces 2/5

Full Tilt Response

I finally got an answer back re my last email. As you can see its vague beyond belief. Why am I being asked to provide this ID when thousands of others aren't. I I have edited this post at the bottom.

Their response I copied and pasted below: I blanked out my real name.





Hello

Thank you contacting Full Tilt Poker Support.

We understand your concerns with sending us your identification documents. However, we need to verify your identity for security reasons before we can reopen your Full Tilt Poker account.

Your privacy is important to us and we have procedures in place to safeguard and secure all documentation we receive. We realize the sensitivity of your information and our security measures will ensure your information is always kept confidential.

Please understand that requesting proof of identity is by no means an accusation of any prohibited activity. We often request ID to verify the identity of account holders and ownership of payment processor accounts. These account verification policies are necessary to ensure the validity of transactions, confirm registered account information and protect our players, and we cannot make any exceptions.

As soon as we receive and verify your documents, we will update you on the status of your account.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Regards,

Terry B
Security
Full Tilt Poker


( Edited)

I have since received another email which explained exactly why this is required in certain circumstances. As you know my son (21) had problems with his Fulltilt account when he signed up for his initial deposit and because his account and mine come from the same address that is what precipated all this. My deposit of course was fine his but because he entered the wrong transit number and was rejected after a week it raised red flags I guess. He has since sent in the paperwork to the Debit Company to correct. He entered the transit number of the bank he pays his bills at which is a branch of his bank but not where his account originated so I guess because we came from the same address they decided to suspend my account too. Make sense??? Sort of. If they had explained that originally then I would have accepted it but just to suspend and not explain why left me perplexed and a little angry. Anyways I have taken a digital photo of my passport and internet bill and sent it to them. I will post their reply when I get it.

FullTilt Saga Continues

As you are aware my account at Fulltilt was suspended yesterday. I have now sent them 3 emails regarding the account. I copied the latest below.


TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN!!!

I seem to be getting no response to my emails regarding my account. I got a snippy email from someone named Emma who said my account was suspended until I proved who I was by sending in copies of my drivers license etc. THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!!!

I will go through what happened again for you. I opened a real money account near the first of April. I used the Insta Debit option. The money cleared my bank account on April 5th. I have proof of this. I used the 30.00 to play in some low level tournaments including THE MOOKIE and also a bit of Rush Poker. My account had dropped to about 18.00 so I thought I would top up my account by putting in another 15.00. I tried using INSTADEBIT again and got a response that it didn't go through. I tried two more times and then contacted customer service. I then got a real snippy letter from someone named EMMA who said I had to prove who I was. Why was I sent this email?? Like I said in the previous paragraph I am NOT sending copies of my drivers license and bills. With identity theft being very prevalent today there is no way I am going to do that. I am 55, a father and grandfather . I am who I say I am. If that is not good enough for FullTILT Poker then I ask that my account be closed and the 20.00 I now have in my account be mailed to me at the address I have on file. If someone in customer service really cares about providing customer Service then my account will be reopened immediately. If not then it really shows a lack of really caring about your customers. I have provided a phone number below where you can contact me. Oh and if you are wondering how my account got to just over 20.00 from just under 18.00. It was because I was still logged in playing a 9 person SNG that I came 3rd. I await your response.

Please be aware that I am posting this on my Poker Blog detailing what has happened
The link is below
http://dbcooperspokerlife.blogspot.com/

I can be contacted at MY phone number

dbcooper53.


I await their response/ As you all know I am not a huge fan of the online game and this is a prime example of why. I have now sent them 3 emails with no response. The only reason I opened a real money account with them was so I could play THE MOOKIE and the VeryJosie tournaments. Their lack of customer response is appalling in my estimation. It has now been almost 24 hours since this happened and not a peep out of them. What does that say?? It says they really don't care about the low level player. Now if I had hundreds of dollars on account I am sure that FULLTILT would have provided a response by now. i guess they really don't care about low level players like myself

Full Tilt Account Suspended

This afternoon I tried making another deposit on Fulltilt using the same method I had used before. I had originally deposited 30.00 and my online account was down to about 18.00 bucks to I thought I would deposit 15.00 just to bring it up to 30.00 with the intent of playing the MOOKIE this week and a few others. Anyways it said my deposit had failed so I sent an email to FullTILT asking why. I got a really nasty email back saying my account had been suspended. Of course I was shocked. My original deposit had cleared long ago in fact I had already earned some of the bonus you get for first deposits. Yes a whopping 3 bucks. Anyways I will Copy and paste the email I got from Full Tilt below. I AM NOT IMPRESSED!!! The email is below.
HI
Thank you for your email..

Your Full Tilt Poker account has been temporarily suspended pending verification of your identity.

Please send scanned, clear copies of the following documents to security@fulltiltpoker.com:
1) Photo ID:
One of the following: valid driver's license, passport, or other government-issued ID that clearly shows your birth date and the date of issue or expiry.

2) Proof of Address (less than 3 months old):
One of the following: bank or credit card statement, utility bill, cell phone bill, home or auto insurance papers.

Before sending copies of your documents, please ensure the following requirements are met:

* The copies are clear and legible (96 to 150 DPI or higher recommended for scanned copies).
* The copies include the full document (bill/pay stubs, folded papers and partial sections are not accepted).
* Email attachments do not exceed 3 MB and are in JPEG (.jpg) format.

If you do not have access to a scanner, we will accept digital photos of the documents providing they meet the requirements above. If your camera has a macro feature (appears as a tulip icon), please enable it and take the photo within a 12 to 18-inch distance. If your camera does not have this option, please take the photo within a 24-inch distance.

Please note that your Full Tilt Poker account will remain suspended until we receive and verify legible copies of all requested documents.

Once we process your documentation we will contact you with an update on the status of your account.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Regards,
Emma
Cashier
FullTILT Poker

I have sent them a nasty email and I am awaiting there response!!!


EDIT.. After I posted this I was still logged into Fulltilt so I tried to enter a SITNGO and it let me . I finished 3rd for a cash. I then logged out of FullTILT and sure enough it wouldn't let me log in again. Now they have just over 20.00 of my money and you wonder why I am critical of these offshore poker sites. I am still awaiting a response.

The Back Up Plan

It was raining here yesterday afternoon so with little else to do I decided to check out the new movie called The Back Up Plan.

Having seen the trailers for it I wasn't expecting a lot and it really didn't deliver a lot. The movie stars Jennifer Lopez as a 30 something pet store owner who decides to get artificially inseminated so she can have a kid. She is at the point in her life with not a decent man in site and decides that she wants a kid. Now first of all you have to get your head around the fact that Jennifer doesn't have a guy( and anybody who looks like her that's a bit of a stretch) although she isn't really my type. Anyways she gets inseminated (don't you love that word) and out of the blue she meets this great guy. Only problem is she's now pregnant and has to tell her new love the fact. I won't go into a lot of detail and spoil the flick but there are some funny scenes in it. Her dog is hilarious and there is a great scene of child birth in a kiddies pool that was really funny. Other than that it's pretty well what you expect from a JLO film. Its cutesy but not deep. The movie is quite short in length too just over 1 hour 30. This is the kind of movie we used to see when back a few years ago they had the Movie of the week on network TV. That's about what you can expect from this. It certainly was better than Date Night.

Speaking of Date Night I just saw a friend of mine who put on Facebook that they loved the movie and laughed all the way through. I was shocked. Was this the same movie that I saw and was horrible?? Shows you everybody is different.

Game 6 tonight at 6PM PST.... I will be glued to the tube watching it.

Credit cards, Canucks. Poker

First the Canucks. They played incredible last night. They trampled LA Kings 7-2. Game 6 on Sunday. Hopefully they can keep it up.

Credit cards. We all have them or most of us anyways. They are convenient to use. They make buying things easier. No more cash to carry around. Of course they are only good if you pay them off every month. I am one of those people. I have never paid a cent in interest to a credit card company. Never in all my ancient years. In fact my one of my two cards pays me 1.00 for every 100.00 bucks I spend. They actually send me a check at the end of the year. The other gives me points which I can reimburse for gift cards. I think I have related this before. What got me on this subject again was a little experiment I have been doing recently with them.

When after making a purchase you of course sign the slip. Then the clerk checks the signature or NOT. Well I have been signing my name completely different than is on the back of the card. On the card its my whole name and I have been signing just using my first initial and then my last name and even the last name looks nothing like my real signature. Why am I doing this it?? Old age senility?? Actually I just wanted to see if any clerk really looks at the signature. So far not one has asked me for ID. I could be anyone. Now I know the credit cards are changing and some already have a PIN number or your picture on the card but don't you think someone would check signatures?? Some clerks don't even look. Is it because I have a honest face?? So did Ted Bundy. If it was my company or business I sure would. When the first clerk asks me for ID I am going to thank them and if their manager is near by I will stop and give them praise for doing it. I am still waiting for that to happen.

What actually got me thinking about this was my son (the poker playing one) had decided to start playing very low stakes online (with my approval). He entered his bank info on Full Tilt using the Direct Debit option. Well he didn't wait for good old dad to check it and entered the wrong transit number. They still gave him the cash though and away he went playing 2 buck tournaments until about a week later they realized it was the wrong info. They suspended his account and he got emails from FT and the debit company explaining the error. He had to fax them the correct info and is still waiting for his account to be reactivated. You would think that before anybody got real money accounts in poker they would validate everything before letting them play but I guess not. Is there any point to all this?? Not really but in our current credit crisis you think more checks would be in order when people buy things. I guess not....

I was invited to a home poker game last night but with the Canucks on TV later I instead went out for a early dinner ,drank 3 glasses of red wine and came home played 2 online sitngoes (Bubbled 4th in both) while I watched the game.

If I play online I prefer FullTilt over PS but I really hate the Fulltilt Avatars. Come on folks can't you get better avatars or be like that other company called PKR which lets you design your own. You pick hair color, eyes, nose etc. Now that would be really fun. Just think what you could create. With all the money Fulltilt brings in you think they would have improved them.

Aces 1/4

Survivor and Poker

Okay yes I watch Survivor. I think I have seen every episode of every season. I had to PVR the one last night as I had a poker game (more on that later) to go to. It was a great episode. I know if you hate TV or aren't a Survivor fan this doesn't mean much but I love the deviousness and strategy involved. I loved watching the faces of the so called Heroes as Parvati got them good. Of course I also like watching Parvati, Amanda and Candace in their bikinis. I am old but oh my. I could watch that for hours.

I see BWOP posted on her blog the dates that some of us are coming to Las Vegas and I thank her for doing that. I have never met her but I always love reading her blog. I remember one post talking about women only events that was just a fabulous read.

Lat night I played my regular Thursday night live game. 72 people came out. Incredible turnout. I ended up 20th. Not spectacular but I didn't get a lot of cards last night.

With blinds at 300/600 I got dealt AQh UTG. Tough cards UTG. I decided to limp. Two limpers after me then an older guy (yes older than me) raises to 3200. Now this guy the hand before lost with QQ when a lady had slow played her Aces and taken a lot of his chips. Normally to that huge a raise my AQ is probably going in the muck. I just had a read on this guy so I shoved. The two limpers folded. I watched his eyes as I shoved and I knew I had him. He did call though. He had K9. The board comes 888. Turn is a lovely Ace and the river I think was a 6. Nice double up.

After that I lost a fairly decent pot to a over pair to the board. I still had decent chips though when this hand came up. I was dealt A9d. 3 of us in the pot. Blinds were 400/800 with 100 anti. The flop comes Kd Jd 10c. Same guy bets out 1200. Both of us come along. Turn is a 6 of clubs. Same guy bets out 3600. The other guy folds. I am really undecided. I have the nut flush draw. Gut shot straight draw. I don't put him on AQ as he didn't raise preflop but who knows with him. To call it would take 3/4 of my chips. Pot size including his 3600 is around 9000. I took forever well not really but it seemed long. I finally folded.. Still questioning that fold.

After that with blinds at 500/1000 (my chips were 4600) I ended up shoving with A8s. Not great but I had the blinds hitting me in two hands. Lady to my left also shoved. She had about 2500 so I had her covered. The same guy who won those two pots earlier said oh this is a really loose call but he did. He had K6 off suit (scratch my head on that one). The lady had KJ. Of course the guy hit his 6 and took us both out. The one nice thing is my youngest son was there and he ended up second. So I was happy for him. No cash involved though. This is just points for our main tournament coming up in 3 weeks. Top prize a WSOP seat at an event in Las Vegas plus cash.

I did play a couple online tournaments yesterday. I won one with Josie rail birding and then she talked me into playing another with her. I guess she was hoping to re COOP her winnings with a side bet. No side bets. Good thing as I had QQ cracked by JJ. JJ got his third J on the turn. I hear she did go onto win though as Gary and I watched in amazement (just kidding she played well)

The Good and the Bad

Lets start with the Bad

I played terrible last night in the Mookie. I started off okay second hand in I got JJ and with just the small blind completing I bumped it 90. Gotta win something.She called. I think it was Mrsalcanthang. The flop was Kd 9h 7s. The Mrs bet 180. I raised to 360 hoping she would go away and she did. Really didn't like that King.

After that I just basically maintained around starting chip level. I went up a bit and down. The last hand was a disaster. I had A6 in the SB and decided to raise the BB. He reraised me and I stubbornly reaised him. Then he put me all in. Of course like an idiot I called. He had A 9. Yep almost as bad as mine. I just checked the hand history and he rivered a straight it seems which I didn't earlier recall. I was too miffed at my stupidity. Oh well still fun to play. I was 74th out of 119. I see Waffles and Schaubs both did better than myself.

I also played 4 other tournaments online yesterday and really sucked in those too. No where near cashing... The one good thing is I did have pocket Aces and they won a hand post flop.

The Good

My Canucks won last night. What great back and forth game. It almost made losing at poker not so bad.. Game 5 is Friday I think back in Vancouver.

I see GM has repaid its loans to the U.S and Canadian governments. That is really good news. I really thought when we loaned them the billions that it was money gone. That we would never see it again. Looks like they are back on their feet. I own a GM vehicle and love it. I would get another anytime.

I managed to outlast a certain other (Josie) definately female blogger. I was watching her table while playing my own and look like she went out on an open ended straight draw that missed and someone had pocket kings and hit a King on the board too. She kindly transferred 5.00 American dollars to me. Thank you Josie