Now I have to talk about the camping trip which was funny and very entertaining. When I wasn't at Folsom Lake bowl mizing it up, I was at camp learning about the strange things people were doing with sheep down in Gilroy. I went to a company meeting for a sheet metal semiconductor place that I know the GM of. He's a great guy and he sets up this camp thing every year, and we try and play some poker. Small game, small buyin, but tons of laughs, drinking and really bad play. We each bought in for $20 and played NL with $.40 chips. One blind of 40 cents, and each chip is worth the same. We get B and I, Karl, Don, Jon, Tom, and Butch jumped in later for a few hands. So, it starts out six handed.

I have to speak about the players first of all. Jon I believe never really plays poker and gambles very little, Karl is a big time gambler and will overplay most of his hands and try and buy pots constantly. Don will try to make those tough decisions with second pair but is a pretty big CS. And then there is Tom. Tom has never played poker in his life, but he really wants to play. So, we give him a chart of the ranks of hands and tell him if he sees anything that matches or one of those hands on the board, he should be in. I'm also giving him a little guidance when I am out, but not making any decisions for him unless he had 4 high, which he did call down with a few times. He was having a hard time remembering that a straight was five cards.
About two hands into playing, I remember I should never bluff in this particular game in a big pot. B raises to $2 and gets called in three spots by Karl, Tom, and Jon. Flop comes AAQ rainbow. Brian bets about half pot here, Karl folds, Tom calls with K8 of clubs and Jon calls. The Turn is a 3, putting two clubs on the board. Brian bets a smaller amount this time, and Tom calls and Jon calls again. River is a 6, no club, and Brian pushes in. I look at Tom's hand and tell him he missed his draw, so he reluctantly folds. Jon calls. Brian flips over his AQ for the flopped nuts and Jon shows the mighty J3 for two pair. Yeah, Jon was done after two hands. So, now down to five.

Tom really has never played poker before...maybe not any card game. One hand where Don raised, Tom and Karl called, and the flop came out Q 5 4 all clubs. Don bet out on the flop, Karl folded, and Tom said, " I want to call." And did. He wasn't showing me his cards and asking for help anymore. The turn brings the , and Don who had that look of that is the worst card in the world, checks it. Tom, looking at his cheat sheet, keep looking at his cards, back at the cheat sheet, back at the board, and finally says, "I want to bet this much" and bets about 20 chips or more than half of what he has left, and a pot sized bet. Tom keeps saying, "I think I am reading this right" as he looks at his sheet. Don, who has a set of 5's, reluctantly folds(which was probably correct considering the pot and the odds to hit his FH). I ask Tom what he had, and never fearing showing anything, turns over for that turned two pair. I get up laughing my ass off, and everyone else is cracking up except for of course Don(who had that I just lost my dog look). The beauty of not knowing you are bluffing...he had no idea 4 clubs on the board was a little scary.

Tom called another raise by Don where he flopped the Ace high flush, and that time Don called Tom the whole way of course...I don't think Tom knew what he had that hand either. I doubled up through Karl when he raised with J8 and I called with KJ and the flop came J 7 3 rainbow, and I pushed all in and he called. Karl always overplays his hands and he didn't seem strong, but even so, I was pretty happy when I saw how bad in shape I had him. So, I had about $30 at this point when the hand I was waiting for came up. I had KK in the blind, and I raised it to $2.40 and Tom and Don called(Tom had me covered at the time because he was getting really lucky). I bet the pot($8) on a flop of 9 7 4 rainbow, and Tom of course called. The turn came a 6 putting two spades up on the board, and I decided to push all in just to take it down because I was pretty sure I was ahead. Two other people were looking at the hand, Gary, the owner of the company, and another fellow I didn't meet. Both were older gentlemen, and they both checked out Tom's hand and stood behind him which didn't bother me in the least. Brian saw Tom's hand and kept his mouth shut. Tom kept looking at the rank of hands he had there. When Gary saw his hand, he paused for a minute and then let out this grizzly bear snort which cracked us all up, except Tom who was concentrating. Tom finally decided to call my push which was about half his stack at the time. He then flipped over the solid which gave him a double gutter straight draw. I think he though he had a straight again though. The river bricked a Jack and I was sitting pretty at $60 while I tried to explain to Tom why I won the hand. Karl and Tom kept buying in over and over which I was pretty happy about. Butch decided to play a couple of hands; he is a player who will push with anything, and I've seen it many times, him push with nothing. He was all in with on a board of against Karl nd his set of 8's. He actually hit a SF draw on the turn when the hit the turn, but bricked the river and he was done after that, lasting about five hands I believe.
Tom continued to take money off of other people, beating Tom time and again, and playing a hand against Brian when Brian decided to go all in with on a board of . Problem was Tom was in the hand, and he of course decided to call with possibly the most dominating of hands over that one, the . I was cracking up when I saw Brian had made a semi bluff push at this table. What a kook.

Tom promptly gave some of that money back to Brian a few hands later when he pushed and Tom called on a board of . Brian had 75 for the straight, and Tom had 64 for the turned two pair and Rivered 3 PAIR.

Tom was busted and asked me for more money which he paid me by doubling up against Don, and then I took it all again when I hit a straight on the turn and Tom hit two pair. I actually bet that hand pretty well, making it pretty much impossible for him to fold with the money he had left...of course, folding never really entered the framework of his mind. I think Tom lost about $70, Don lost only $10, Karl lost $50, and Brian won $70 and I won $78. It was a good time and very enjoyable, but Tom should probably learn a little more about the game before he plays again. Just a little more though.

I wrote a review of it. Left it in the poker site forum area because I don't want to be near it...it's unholy.

This site is giving me shakes. I can't believe how many times my AA has gone down to AK here. Also, I'm probably not playing high enough stakes...my bankroll online is only for NL $25 or less although I have tried to delve into the NL 50's a little here. Noble's bonus is hard work at these levels though...mostly 3-4 tabling at NL 20 when there are enough players.

It seems that a big push is usually the nuts at this limit (NL20), everyone is minraising their monsters, and most people buy in short which makes it really hard to get away from some hands even when you know you are beat( getting 4-1 or better alot).

I have enough for the software now, so that is good...I'll be sending an email to them later. I just don't think I'll be clearing the whole bonus...hopefully I'll break even doing this, that would be a nice comeback. Noble Poker stats, ($-89) after about 2500 hands. I'll work on it and fix whatever the heck I'm doing wrong.

Played at Garden City again, 1st time in a week or so...same old players playing really badly, but I managed not to make too many mistakes and won $92 in about 4 hours. Seems at the larger rake places I do alot better in short 3-5 hour shifts while in Reno and LV I can play longer and do well...don't know if this has to do with the rake or maybe the energy of the casino that I feed off of, but it's something to consider.

Have a good weekend planned, going to brunch, the SF symphony, another breakfast the next day, X-men 8 or whichever one it is, and see my buddies from So. California which don't visit enough and I don't visit with them enough. So, should be fun. And then I'll plan 6 trips to Tahoe this summer!

Went to Garden city last night...and I won one pot. I am Tagish when it comes to that place, but I didn't get a PF raising hand. No pocket pairs over 6's, and AJ UTG was the biggest ace I saw in something like 3+ hours. I must have folded everything too because I only lost $164 in that time which was not too bad. I put in way too much money a few times preflop against the super Lag's who were seated at my table the second hour and I did not hit one flop. I think I probably should have stopped at $100 down, but I chases a little...and the Giants game wasn't over either. And those bastards lost. At least most of the pitching looks good...no wonder the Cards gave up Morris, they hit him really really well.

Trying out those free Internet Casino Bonuses that Derk recommended here:



I may have to quit poker and play BJ exclusively after getting my stack over $70 at one point doing the Breakaway free bonus. Going to try the other one today.

It's been a week, so....

Did try some of the BJ stuff Derk and ED was proposing in the bankroll section. Just did the free ones so far, won $50 on one, and lost the bonus on the other...wasn't sure it was worth withdrawing $5, so I bet it all and lost, surprise.

Played more at Noble who finally didn't screw up too badly, although unless you play in higher limit games, I would probably avoid bonusing there because it is pretty dead most of the time. Must be at least 50% shortstacks at NL $20 where I try to win the minimum. Need to get that bankroll bigger, hence more BJ! I did get the POKEROFFICE from them for signing up through them at Noble...that doesn't take alot of time and is pretty easy to get, so I recommend it definitely for the software at least. Now all I have to do is read how to use the software and maybe even USE IT! Lazy ass I am, it has no been attempted yet.

Other than that, I went to the symphony again and listened to SSF play Haydn, Tchiakovsky, Mozart, and someone else who eludes me at the moment. Symphone is pretty sweet...wish I had never given up the piano now of course.

I have been calling too many min raises lately, which I have to just stop. Every one I have called has been the nuts or close to them, and I've just been getting hosed. Very sad that I still give this money away, but it's a struggle that we all have to go through I guess. Wish my struggle wasn't as bad as I make it though...making these mistakes that I know are mistakes while I am making them really puts me on these mini tilt binges...although right now mini tilt is limping in with a marginal hand and pretty much folding it to any type of bet on the flop...nothing too rash. Just the anger getting the best of me. Although I did play one set today which I berated myself for 15 minutes over because I let a drawing idiot with a gutshot hit his hand...because I thought he was going to bet it for me with king high...yep, that makes sense. Ugly. Have to get back to basics...and play more tables.

Looks like the best time to play Noble at NL is probably in the early afternoon to about 5pm...thent the games actually slow down alot. But, it's usually easy to find a SH table...I'm just not a fan of it yet. Have to get used to doing that as well. So much stuff to attune to, so little patience for it.

So, I'm neutral right now. Everyone flaked this weekend...didn't go to Tahoe, didn't go to Cashe Creek. Doesn't seem like I am going to Tahoe this week either to play in any circuit events. Sat in my room doing BlackJack bonuses. I think I win more at BJ than I do poker, dammit. And that really blows. On the plus side...there is none. I thought about it and there is none for this week. I have to go to my next casino to whore now, Noble is just too dead for me to care and the bonus is gone. It was pretty difficult to get at the lower levels because of the lack of games and the lack of people who pay you off. Very rarely could I claim a stack on everyone...most people folding on the turn at this site which was pretty depressing. I was hitting a ton of sets, but I lost on more there giving up my stack to someone else when they hit a flush or straight or a higher set. Anyway, probably not recommending that site for low limit players.

Onto the next site. I'm thinking either going to Gaming Club, Full tilt, UB, or Doyle's room. If anyone has a suggestion for my next target...fee free to post it.

Wow, spread limit died in Lake Tahoe and Reno it seems. The Nuggest game has now turned into a 3/6 game with a choice of 6 or 12 on the river, and the Cal-Neva has 3/6 limit games, and spread a NL game on the weekends I think...didn't stay long enough to see it start though. Seems everything is changing...except the bad play! I have an example. This might be one of the funniest hands I have ever seen.

So, I'm playing 3/6 limit full kill(1/2 blinds, $2 limp PF) at the El Dorado. This game I am in is very live, many multiway pots and people just putting money in with nothing and calling down with the same. Good stuff. I'm doing ok, making some hands, and my buddy Brian is raising pretty much every time he has any type of hand near the button. He's been doing this for a few hours, and alot of the time he's just been crushing the callers with bet after bet after bet. Anyway, this tighter-than-most player who is UTG at the moment had just won two pots in a row, so that creates the kill pot. He places $6 as a seperate blind out in play, and for this hand the action goes to 6/12. Brian is in the CO. The UTG player checks his option, one fold, a older man in MP who has some CS tendencies and probably a little frustrated by Brian's constant raising calls 6, and 3 fold to Brian who raises to 12 with AQ. I fold on the button, blinds fold, and for some reason due to drinking too much and a little klutziness the UTG player flips his hand face up. It's the . Since the MP player saw the hand, he had to reveal it to the whole table. But, having his hand revealed does not in any way dissuade him from calling, and he also decided to play his hand faceup on the table. MP also calls Brian's raise and so three to the flop which is ($39). The UTG player checks his FD, the MP player checks, and Brian fires out. UTG of course calls, and MP calls. The turn card produces the ($57) and UTG checks again. Now, the MP player fires out $12 on this card, and Brian being aggressive with a solid hand raises it $12. So, the UTG player takes a nice $24 stack and slides it into the pot for the cold call, and the MP player calls as well. Now the river is the ($93) which looked like a great card for Brian's hand. UTG of course checks his ten high, MP player checks, and Brian checks. I still am in disgust with this check and can't believe he did it there, it's an obvious value bet to me. So, while UTG is throwing away his hand, MP player reveals his winner of and takes down the pot laughing the whole way. Brian cannot believe this, and gets up and takes a little walk while everyone on the other side of the table is congratulating the man on his big pot and hand.

I can't make up this crap when it happens so regularly. The guy was calling down with a 3 outer on the flop and a flush draw that he absolutely knew was dominated, bet out when he hit bottom pair on the turn, and then checked his trips on the river. It's hard for me to recall a hand being worse played than this one this weekend. I'll probably have more later, right now it's off to bed. Brian managed a $90 loss after being up about $300+ during this weekend after this hand, while I managed to make a nice $237 win which paid for the gas...and I had some left over too!

Psssssssssssssssssst. They still play spread limit at Boomtown. 1-5 full kill. The place is ghetto, but whatever.