One of those times

Where you feel completely happy. Just one point in your life where you know everything is complete. I feel I have come to this point in my life. No, Im not married yet, I have no family of my own, no house, etc. But I feel great. And let me explain why.

Everyone says that "things" happen for a reason. I never believed it and never felt that thats the way it worked. My life has had its ups and downs. Ive down a lot of stuff, experienced a lot of stuff, and traveled to many places already in my young life. I believe it was my dad who quoted me the "everything happens for a reason". For a small amount of time, I wanted to tell him he was full of shit. Until very shortly I realized he was right. I cant say that I have been any happier in my life than I am right now. And let me tell you why.

I like to believe that your life is half mapped out/half created by yourself. And I believe the mapped out part was a huge reason why I am so happy right now. It started when I turned 16. I got my license, insurance, gas, etc. I needed a job and had very little saved up. Well, living in shitty Tamaqua and no jobs open, destiny had it that I would end up working in Lehighton at Long John Silvers. I was nervous as I met new people and what not. I quickly opened up to a lot of people. And the same day they hired me, McDonalds in my town had called me for an interview. Too bad that Long John Silvers had already hired me and gave me my uniform and what not. I turned McDonalds down. So I began working, and after about a year or so, met a girl from Arbys side. Arbys/LJS were connected. I had an ass of a relationship at the time, and slowly thought this girl was cute/fun to hang with. My ass relationship ended terribly, and my dad gave me that "shitty" advice. Well I went on a drunken binge that summer near the end and ended up talking with this girl throughout August. We hung out and ended up eventually dating. Her parents intially gave me some crap because in my opinion I believed they were testing me. To see if I really wanted to be with her or not. And we came past this point and almost 2 years later here we are.

So what am I saying. I am saying that I love my life and couldnt be happier. I dont make any money at my job and work hard/long hours. I have a few good friends, rather than a lot of fake friends, but I would go to war with them. I love my family and I am starting to see how important they are/how much they influence me. I love my girlfriend and her family and feel like they are family of my own. I would go to war with them as well. I feel like I am so close to my friends, girlfriend, family, and girlfriends family. I really dont care that I dont make the most money and cant afford a house now because I know one day working this job it will pay off. And a lot of people ask why I dont make more money. I think he is trying to work me from the bottom so I dont get a big head, but one day it will all pay off. And I dont care what people think or where other people are in their career, because I will be there one day.

So I am really saying that my life is taking a new beginning. We will see where I am in a few years, but I know I will be living better and having a better life that most of the people that have doubted me in the past. My life is exactly where I want it to be right now, and I couldnt be happier

Pet Peeve - ATM Assholes

Ok, so a pet peeve of mine is atm assholes. You know what they are. When you are sitting in your car respecting the person at the ATM and some smuck comes up and creates their own line in front of you. Or you are at the ATM and some dickwad is standing right behind you basically staring at your card number. I hate these assholes and would like to beat the shit out of these people. Young or old, male or female. Obviously, I cant hit a female, but my hatred towards these people is great. Fuckfaces

Hands + Videos

Played a small number of hands today and had a crappy session. Only one real bad hand, that I cant find right now, but I can remember it.

I had AA in EP. One EP before me min raised and I 3 bet to 0.75. Got a button caller and original raiser to call me. Now I raised it 5.5X the BB from what he originally did. Flop comes 9 J K. Not a great flop for me because there are so many SD and two pair combo draws out there, not to mention there was a flush draw out there. So I pot it and the original raiser calls. Turn comes a J. Now I committed about half my stack already and I can tell this is a bad situation for me. I couldnt imagine him calling me with just a Jack here on the flop, and was hoping he had a king. He insta shoves into me. I know in the back of my head its a bad call, but I feel I need to call here. He ends up flipping over QJ. Normally I tilt here but didnt, and just kept my anger to myself. Not sure if I made a crazy bad play here or if he was in the wrong for even being in the pot in the first place, especially being OOP. O well, here are a few decent hands from today. Nothing good



On this hand I decide to raise it 5.5XX the BB from the button here, and unfortunately I get 3 callers. The flop comes pretty low, but a flush draw out there. I decide to overbet here because I would rather just take it down on the flop, and if I happened to get checkraised by any of my 3 opponents I pretty much have to shut down here. I hate playing a big hand like this against this many opponents. I only get one caller so I want to put him on something like A10, 88/99 here, or the FD. The turn brings a horrible card. Now I already posted this in forums and got responses, and watched a video where a hand like this was played. I should be checking here hoping that maybe he fires away a small bet on the river and I can just call. But there are more scare cards and I just dont want to give him some, so I fire away and I am committed if he shoves, but luckily I win here. But anymore I should be checking and hoping that they fire small and pot control this hand for the river, or that by me checking I induce a bluff and have to call if I take that line.



This hand I believe I butchered up, but couldnt really put anyone on a hand other than two paint cards going into the flop. Obviously I believe I should be folding this OOP especially against a raise and reraise. And especially since there is a SS after me to call the raise, if he shoves and people call I just wasted money. But the flop comes all low to my pocket pair and I decide to stab/find out where I am with a bet. I will call the SS if he shoves and no one else calls, but thankfully I took this down. Probably a crazy way to play this hand in a multiway pot OOP.



I decide here to raise jacks from EP 4X the BB. Get two callers to the flop. After a flop call here from my one opponent again I can go with a hand like A10 or 88/99, something like that and he may just be checking me out and trying to see a turn card here. A scary turn for me and I bet small, leaving him room to see this as weakness and fire big, but he doesnt and thankfully he folds. Good or bad??

Anyways, like I said I am going to be watching videos more and hopefully they can help me out more than just posting hand histories. That way I get a concept of actual in game analysis and what not. So I got a few from 2+2 and hopefully I can get through them, apply the concepts, and watch them over and over to keep jamming information/knowledge in my head.

Poker Sunday

Played for a little while today. Started out down in the cash games, then entered the $10,000 Guaranteed tournament on bodog. Had very little success and ended up busting within the first 45 mins, ran my QQ into a flopped full house. Then ran like shit in the $5.25 HU Sngs on bodog. Won my first one, then in my second one I was ahead until the river, and on my third one I was again ahead until the river. So I decided to take a break after that and just chill out. It did a little good when I came back to the cash games. I started out really crappy and just thought about quitting. I lost half a stack when some moron pushed Q6 pre vs my KK and turned two pair. Anyways, here are a few hands from today.



A hand from early on in the day. I was trying to steal the button and c-bet with one caller here. Unfortunately, I didnt get the button and got looked up by two players. Then a nice flop where I flopped top pair and an open ended SD here. I couldnt really put him on anything here yet, maybe he was drawing towards the low end of the straight here. On the turn it got good and bad. I turned two pair, but it made 4 to a straight. I figured I could still sort of block bet here and hopefully the river. At this point I am pretty much thinking he has a queen or seven. I really cant put him on anything else. The river I figured I would have to bet because I cant call anything here. I am hoping by betting here, although it was a small bet I could get him to fold out a hand that could possibly beat me. I really cant expect anything good here if I get called/raised in this situation because I wont be beating much here but a total bluff.



With this hand here I had previously raised pre flop like, 3 time sin a row. I had JJ the last hand and took it down pre with a raise. So I raise a little smaller than I had been in hopes of getting some callers. On the flop I see those donk bets as either a cheap way to get to draw to cards or weak hands. I had put both of them on either SD/FD here with the donk bet and call here. I overbet it to try and eliminate any pretenders and to make it look like I am trying to take the pot away. The turn wasnt to bad for me because I was pretty much committed to calling what he was going to put in here. I was just hoping he didnt have K10 in this situation.



This is just a hand that I wanted to keep to keep reminding myself about position and aggressiveness. Raised the button with suited connectors and took down a tiny pot on the flop by c-betting here. With this type of hand if I happen to ever hit the flop my hand should be hidden, giving me a chance to take down a decent pot a few times I do ever hit. And if I ever get looked up here I probably shut down on the turn.



I decided to 3-bet htis hand pre flop to see what type of hand I might be dealing with here. Sometimes I just call this, but I really just wanted him and I in the pot here. OOP I always 3 bet this hand. When he just calls it makes me wonder if he has a hand similar to mine, something like AK or AQ, or possible 10's+. The flop bet has me thinking that he does have some type of pocket pair or hit the flop decently. I figure with two overs, the NFD, and a backdoor SD, I can get away with raising here. If I just call here any club may kill my action on the future streets. And if I just raise a little bit here it may look like I am on a draw here further killing my action. And possibly committing me to the pot if I happen to miss the turn and river. Fortunately, I got lucky on the turn here and didnt have to sweat until the river.



Again, another AK hand here where I raise it 5x the BB pre flop and get one caller, putting me in position. I miss the flop and I should probably c-bet this almost 90% of the time. I really have no range for my opponent here though and still would have no idea what to do on the turn. I hit TPTK on the turn here and decide to stab at the pot and see what I can do. When I just get a call I put him on a FD or something like QK, JK. The river is a little scary because if he was on a FD I just lost the hand here. So I figure a check would work best here in case he was going to try and raise me here with the scary river card. If I do bet and get raised I would have no idea on what to do, I guess it depends on his bet sizes really. But I will only get called here probably by a hand that beats me. I have no idea why he called the turn here.



This hand I really butchered here, but got really lucky. It says that one guy shoved pre, but he just timed out so he really isnt in the hand. I normally dont like coming into the hand here in this position, but I was feeling pretty good. I decide to c-bet here and hopefully take the hand down right here. Again, with the donk bet I put him on a FD or something like K9, A9, or a weak nine here. On the turn I decide that his check was weak and if he is on the FD I can take this pot down with a bet right here. I overbet hoping he folds, which doesnt work, but the ten gave me a few more outs. I hit gin on the river, getting runner runner cards to river the nuts here. I decided that he may have some two pair type hand on the river and that the best bet here would be about a third of the pot, giving him the odds to call. This is an area where I need to work on and I thought I made the best bet here for him to call. And I highly doubt he could even put me on this hand here.



With this hand we had a decent sized pot going to the flop. I figured a min bet here I could call, especially with all the players in the hand. I flopped bottom set here on a drawy board. I wanted to check raise here, figuring I could get a little more value out of the hand. My plan worked, and I put this guy on a jack here. He had been playing a little wild and I was a little scared that he was betting into a big field here after just calling pre. But I decide to overbet here and got a call, making him pay to see a turn. It seemed like he had planned on floating me here on the turn, by just auto shoving the rest of his stack here. Unfortunately, that scare card was a good card for me, boating me up. I still had to sweat two jacks on the river here though.

All and all after being down, I ended up I believe around $25 for today. Not too bad I guess, as long as this roll grows along with my knowledge. I really cant wait for my check to arrive so I can hop on FullTilt. Played the home game last night, but I am tired of writing, so will review later. Gonna watch the Bob Saget Roast.

Few Hands = Tiny Profit

Played for about an hour today, not much going on. Mixed it up with some button steals and LP raises, trying to add hands and strategies to my arsenal. Here are two small hands I played today that I want to post. A few hands I wish I had from yesterday were not saved, not sure why. I wish I could find them though as well.



This was a pretty tight table, so I figured I could get away with raising KJ from LP. Stole the button which is where I wanted to be, and got one caller from the blinds. Didnt raise it too much, figured I could get a caller.

On the flop when it was checked to me I figured him for weak here. I figure I hit and I can try and represent the ace here. It seems like he is calling with a weaker ace or SD/FD.

The turn it seems like he is trying to float me, so I sat there for a little while and decided to raise a little bit. After it took him a little bit of deciding, he finally folded. No clue on what he had.



This hand here is when the table was breaking up. I wake up with Q10 suited in the BB and elect to check here 4 handed I believe.

On the flop I hit top pair with a decent/bad kicker here and a FD on the board. I decide its best to fire out and see where I stand. Maybe he is calling this with a FD

On the turn here I hit top two, and feel it is the best hand at this point because he probably would have raised a set on the flop with the FD possibility out there, and he may have a FD or weak queen. His raise seems like he may have a combo draw or some type of drawing hand here, and I figured he would be committed, so why not jam and hopefully get a call from him. He quickly folded which made me believe he was trying to bluff me here, or had a very weak hand.

Thats all for now, I am going to try and find those other few hands from yesterday and continue to grind out the NL10 tables until I get my check. I am excited about getting back to the NL25 and NL50 tables. Few reasons why I kept money on bodog. I only left $10 there so I can grind the NL10 tables. I am doing that pretty well. This way I can keep grinding and keep my head in the game, continuing to practice why I wait. Also, if bodog does every go under, I am pretty certain I will get paid whatever money I do have left on the site. And if they get there act together, I can use this as a withdrawal site rather than taking out from Full Tilt, that way I can keep building that roll. Who knows, I may let this roll grow.

AQ Hand

I am terrible at playing AQ, out of any position. This is a really old hand, and I know that my opponent has been playing crazy for a few hands that I have seen him play. This was from a while ago and I have a better idea on how to play AQ now, but this will give me a better reminder to keep playing solid.



Obviously coming in from EP I have to raise more. I know this now and I do this currently. I have to be able to get weaker hands to fold out and hopefully get a weaker ace or queen to call me.

On the flop I have to come out firing, at least close to a pot sized bet or overbet here so that I can fold out the draws or low pairs.

On the turn I still think I have to come out firing, about 3/4 the pot here. His limp call pre flop, then check call on the flop, and check on the turn seems really weak here. So betting here may take the pot down. But this guy has been crazy.

I believe the river play is the best checking behind here. I will only get called my a hand that beats me or raised by a hand that beats me or bluff. Especially after check calling all the streets previously.

I believe I am going to post this on a forum and see what kind of responses I get. I have a better understanding on how to play AQ, but would like to get other peoples ideas and comments because this hand, along with AJ really hurts me.

Knowlege

I am going to start out with a few knowledge sites for me to keep going back to and reading/studying

My first one
Mike Caros Free University

Been Studying

Started to study the game a little bit more than I use to. I guess I can really utilize this time now to read/post about HH's, go through some old hands I have saved up and maybe post some, even though I probably wont remember any of my plays that I made. I did run through a few today and noticed already some mistakes, so going through them really makes a difference because you can really see actually how you play. Anyways, I really want to work on improving my game so I will be reading strategies and what not while I wait 4 years for my bodog check to arrive, and test out some new skills/ideas at the NL10 game with the little bit of money I have. I should really begin to open up the handgrabber and take track of some hands, which I will the next time I play. Again, I am taking a break from really playing any poker and just enjoying the last little bits of summer while I can. I will grind it out in the winter I guess. I really did see a big improvement last winter when I was talking with Lee, so hopefully he will get back in the game or at least discuss the game with me again if I talk to him. Maybe next summer I will be sitting here talking about how I am rolled for a NL100 game, but I will take that in small steps. I have to get past NL50 first, and I think I am going to go with a bigger buy in rule for NL50 and 100. Not a huge jump, but a big enough one that I can feel comfortable. I may take a trip to AC soon, but I highly doubt it. I got a fun home game to go to on Saturday, where I am going to mix it up crazy in the PLO game. Probably looking to go big or bust, because its only a $60 buy in $1-3 spread game, but its always fun with a bunch of nice people.

I will probably report sometime in the next week or so on how my summer went and some other ideas for poker. I hope to get this back more to a poker oriented blog with HH's, strategies, and chat.

Tired

Been running around with work and the weekend and not getting a proper sleep schedule at all this summer, and its starting to show. I am so tired day in and day out. My body needs to start getting the right rest. I also want to try and eat/drink healthier than I am right now which shouldnt be too hard. Eat 2 meals a day and drink all water. Even though I drink enough water in one day for like, a whole week.

I guess I will just keep grinding out that $40 on Bodog until I get that check in from them, which should be about 43 years from now.

Goodbye Bodog...for now

With all the recent shit that has been going on with bodog I decided to cash out most of my roll. I left a measly $10 on there and turned that into $40 already. But I wanted to do the rapid transfer withdrawal but they said you need to deposit more than once to do that, and I really dont want to be putting $200+ on the site right now. I had to contact them about a million times to figure that out though. So I am saying a semi goodbye to Bodog (see what I can do with that $40 on there) and saying hello to FullTilt most likely. A lot of reasons I want to chose Tilt over Stars

• The deposit bonus. Tilt offers a %100 percent match up to $600. This will help my roll big time
• Rakeback. I can get rakeback and at the end of the month have a couple extra bucks in my account.
• I like the FullTilt team better than Pokerstars team. It seems like Pokerstars just gets random people all the time.
• Have the FPP's to buy items from the store. Even though Pokerstars has a better store, I will still get more value out of the bonus and rakeback.

Anyways, hopefully got some exciting news about work in the near future.