It's not always about the money, as long as you are playing within your limits. The $5 loss is just as painful as the $100. It's the cards that will drive you nuts no matter the stakes.

Taken from http://www.jasonlefkowitz.net/blog1arch ... _of_a.html
Maybe my all time favorite show "Deadwood". Think of it in terms of poker.

A dialogue between Swearengen and newspaper editor A.W. Merrick (Jeffrey Jones), after Merrick’s presses have been destroyed by local toughs upset by Merrick’s publication of a notice that existing gold claims might be thrown out if Deadwood is annexed to the U.S. Swearengen’s final line is a kind of mini-soliloquy that sums up his character perfectly:

Al: (Sits, lets out a sigh) Why ain’t you up and running again?

Merrick: I’m in despair. The physical damage is repairable, but the psychic wound may be permanent.

Al: (After a pause.) You ever been beaten, Merrick?

Merrick: (Rolls his eyes) Once, when I thought I had the smallpox, Doc Cochran slapped me in the face —

(Al slaps him.)

Merrick: Ah! (He stares at Al, touching his cheek — he leans forward) Stop it, Al.

Al: Are you dead?

Merrick: Well, (touches cheek) I’m in pain, but no, I’m obviously not dead.

Al: And obviously you didn’t fucking die when the Doc slapped you.

Merrick: No.

Al: So including last night, that’s three fucking damage incidents that didn’t kill you. Pain or damage don’t end the world, or despair, or fuckin’ beatings. The world ends when you’re dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man — and give some back.


Because I'm feeling the effects of a small hangover today I may take the rest of the day off from poker. Here are some more of my favorite quotes (nothing to do with poker)........

Two of the greatest and most under-rated characters ever, Waldorf and Statler from "Muppets in Space"
Statler: I wonder if there really is life on other planets?
Waldorf: What do you care? You don't have a life on this planet.

From Lucky Louie during an AA meeting he and Mike were forced to attend after they were arrested for drunk driving.....
Louie: I'm not an alcoholic. I'm just a fuckin' asshole.
Mike: I'm just a fuckin' asshole too. And this fuckin' asshole is buying all you fuckin' assholes drinks.

Part of a conversation that took place between a friend and I a long time ago in a bar we basically used to live at.
Me: I know 95% of the people in this place.
Friend: And I hate every fuckin' one of them.

Lastly, Kristy, a bartender at above bar introducing a new waitress to us.
Kristy: This is Matt and Danny. They came with the bar stools.

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but if I haven't I hate Harrah's, and even if I have, it deserves mentioning again. It used to be that comps and freebies were easy to come by in AC. This has drastically changed ever since the corporate machine took over the city. The human factor is gone and the machine is here to stay. It's not enough that they get you at the tables, but now they get you for everything.

We took the day trip to AC yesterday with the intention of playing the $40+10 2pm and 7pm at the Showboat. The first irritating thing was the parking. It has been this way the past couple of times I've come as well, but it's really starting to anger me. Used to be free self-park (w/ casino card) and $5 valet in most casinos. Now the Harrah's owned casinos have signs, "Non-members $5, Gold card members $5". What the hell is the point of that? Valet parking now $10. Screw you guys.

Then we get upstairs to register for the 2pm MTT at 1:30. They put us into the computer and we get in line to pay. It's 1:45, 1:50, 1:55 and we're still in line as the announcement comes over for all tournament players to take their seats and then for the dealer to high card for the button. There is a loud grumble from the long line because for the duration they have only 1 DAMN TELLER! F'in Harrah's. So they've started off pretty well by pissing everyone off. We miss basically the entire 1st level. Not only this, but once we got to the cashier we were informed that it was $50+10. This is not a big deal, but when I call the poker room asking for information and they give me information, I generally expect it to be the correct information. Is that too much to ask for?

To make matters even worse, my friend and I end up seated at the same table right next to each other and they tell us that they can't change the seating. Our whole table is full of calling stations and maniacs. I sit out for the 1st couple of orbits, but pick up AKo in MP w/ the blinds 50/100. 2 limpers in front of me and I raise to 500. One player behind me, both blinds, and both limpers call the 400 raise. Flop completely misses me with low cards, but I decide to pick now to see if I will be able to steal at all. When it's checked to me I bet $1000. Everyone folds.

The very next hand my friend gets QQ. He saw what happened and raised to 600. Again, half the table calls. Flop comes 7T7 and he bets only 800, the button calls. The turn and river are blanks and he ends up losing most of his stack to the button who called his PFR w/ A7o. Brilliant! The very next hand he is dealt QQ again, but the dealer mistakenly flips up one of his Queens which becomes the burn card. Damn is he pissed. The hand after that he is dealt KK as the blinds are now up to 100/200 and he only has 1200 left. 1 limpers and he has to push, but now everyone decides to fold. He is out about 20 minutes later forced to open-push KQo and running into AKo on the Button.

The high-point of my tournament comes when I pick up AQs in EP and raise to 900 (3xBB). 1 call behind me and then the BB pushed for 2350 total. With the amount of money in the pot I have to call. LP caller only has about 2000 behind her as well so I'm not too worried, but she folds. BB turns over TT and I hit a Q on the river. I'm now up to a little over 8000.

I pick up JJ a few hands later and raise to 1200 getting called only by the BB. Flop is 9QA (suits are irrelevant) and BB bets 700 into me. This has been a prevailing theme of this table so far. Raising/calling, then betting less on the flop than the original bet amount. I've seen this with top pair, trips, draws, and nothing at all, but it's really throwing me off. Stupidly I call. Turn is another 9 and it gets checked. River is another A and I know I'm screwed as I fold to his 900 river bet. I hear him mention to the player next to him that he had AQ, but that seemed really strange. Then again, everything on this table seems strange so he could have been telling the truth.

Getting back to "I Hate Harrah's". I'm starting to get a little thirsty at this point. One of the real improvements in AC over recent years is that instead of handing out plastic cups, they now give you real bottles of beer. I call over the waitress and ask for a Coors Light because I really don't want to start in on something that might mess up my stomach while playing. She asks if I'm a Diamond Club member. I say no and show her my Gold card. She says that I can't have a Coors Light unless I'm a Diamond Club member, but I can have a Miller Light. What the F***?????? Obviously I'm not the only one that thinks this is retarded because the whole table breaks into hysterics.

1- Who the hell made this ridiculous rule. I understand giving extra benefits to your bigger players, but this is just taking normal things away from your other players. I can't have a god damn Coors Light? I'm now a 2nd class citizen?

2- I hate Harrah's

3- (And I actually asked a Showboat employee this one) What friggen idiot makes the distinction that a Coors Light is in the upper class of beers and therefore not availably to the lower class such as myself, but that Miller Lite is ok. I could understand if they were withholding the Guiness, but this decision is just completely insane.

4- I FUCKIN' HATE HARRAH'S!!!

I went almost an hour after the JJ hand completely card dead and that was basically death on this table as stealing was impossible. I pick up [Ts] and there is a push for 900 in front of me. I have a little over 3000 left and as the blinds are 400/800 I have to go with this hand. The blinds fold and as I turn the JTs over I tell the other player that he is in trouble because this is the best hand I've had in an hour. He turns over [Qs]. Ha! I told you that you were dead. I can still make a straight flush, while you, my friend, can not. We both miss the flop where the shows up, he turns a Q and I river a J. Next hand I pick up [7c] and when it's folded to me I push my last 2000 or so into the pot. I'm called by both blinds. Flop is [9c]x. I gotta be thrilled by that flop even though the SB bets out. She has [9s] and I go out unimproved.

We've still got about 3 hours until the 7pm tourny so it's time to eat. We try out the Showboat buffet (I forget what they call it) which is actually one of the better buffet's as far as AC goes although I'm not really into buffets. However, behind most of the stations, out of the reach of the diners is a sign and pan stating "For Diamond Club Members Only" or in other words.."You Can't Have This!". F U Harrah's, I'm going to the Taj.

I play the 2nd tourny ($80+20 6pm) at the Taj while my friend goes to play Blackjack. This table is even more full of maniacs and calling stations. About 3 to 5 hands in we get a raise to 250 and about 5 callers. Flop comes [6d]x. SB bets 500 into the raiser, the original raiser makes it 1500 which is called by the Button and the SB pushes all-in which both players call. Holy Crap! The original raiser shows KK, the Button a retardly played AA, and the SB JJ for the set. 2 players gone already.

Less than a full orbit later the guy with 15K already raises to 400 in EP. The SB asks if he actually has anything or if he's just being a bully. Then he quicky pushes all-in for a massive overbet of about 5000. The big stack gets a sheepish look on his face as he calls and flips over [6d]??? The small blind has 2 black Queens. Two diamond on the flop, but me doesn't complete his flush on the river which is a black King. The SB made a very loud and animated exit.

I'm playing tight as hell, in fact only entering one pot before I pick up AK in the CO. There is one limper and I raise to 800 (4xBB). The button calls as does the limper who was actually sort of tight. Flop is 7A6 (3 different suits) and I bet 1200. Both players call, but I am more worried about a set from the limper than the Button who seemed to call with mariginal hands. River is Q which scares me a bit as well as I'm thinking the Button could have called twice with AQ. I check, Button bets 2000, but limper folds. I only have 2100 left so I can't really fold this and I don't. Button turns over AT and I take it down.

I actually stole my only hand of this tournament with [4h] on the Button. The big stack min-raised to 600. I called. Flop is 4Kx w/ only 1 heart. He bets 600 again and I raise to 1500 to test him and to see if I can get to the river for free. He thinks and calls. Turn is a blanked which is checked and River is a blank which he checks. I now have bottom pair and I think the only way I can take this is if I bet. I bet 2000 and he looks pained as he folds. I'm not up to 12000+.

Blinds are now 200/400 and player in early MP open pushes for 4550. With the antes, there is about 5600 in the pot and I am the BB with AK. This is a huge overbet for AA or KK so I decide to call. He has AT. Flop comes out blanks, but he catches a T on the turn and a T on the river.

A couple of orbits card dead and a 1600 open PFR in late MP with 77 pretty much crippled me. I did see another funny hand where the previous big stack had donked off most of his chips, but had then gotten really lucky again to stack another player and regain the table stack lead. This time he PFR'ed in EP and was pushed by the Button with a medium sized stack. He called the all-in and turned over [7s], but had no luck this time.

I ended up pushing and picking up blinds one more time with AK, but was eventually forced to call for the rest of my chips with KTo in the BB when a late MP open-raiser made it 4500 with blinds of 500/1000. I only had 4300 left after I posted the blinds and ante. I was just hoping my cards were live. He turned over 66 and I was in the best position I could hope for. Flop was AQx which gave me even more outs, but I would have preferred the K or T. Turn and river missed me. In both MTT's I had a ton of outs on my last hand, but couldn't catch on either one.

I went over to the Blackjack tables where my friend was still putting in a shift. He ended up playing for about 4 hours which was great because he was using my card, but sucked because he ended up losing. Here's something interesting. I ordered a drink sitting next to him while not playing and they gave it to me....in a bottle.....and it was a Coors Light....and it was free! Think a Harrah's owned casino would have done that? So again I say FU Harrah's!

Speaking of AC casinos and comps, I heard some disturbing news today from my brother who is a frequent Borgata poker player. He plays almost exclusively 6/12 limit and 2/5 NL and has always gotten the poker discount on rooms. This weekend he tried to set up a 1 day stay-over for late September and was told that they have changed the discounts. He spoke to a host who told him that he'll give him the discount this time, but they can't do it anymore. He was told that not even the 75/150 players can get the poker rate anymore since they opened the new room.

Finished up the Party bonus too this afternoon after a roller coaster session. I seemed to have suited connectors or a pair every other hand and I actually ruled the table early on as I showed down 2 pair, sets, boats, overpairs. I had everyone playing weak and folding whenever I raised after a while and was up over $40 on the $25 NL table. Then I went absolutely flop dead. I was still getting the starting hands, but missing the flops or ending up with an overpair with something like pocket 9's against a bigger pair. I ended up all the way down to $10, but finished at $28.

The bonus took me 9.5 hours (619 hands) all together and I walked away with $76.66 including the $40. Now the question is whether to leave it there or go someplace else. I only paid $13.10 in rake according to PT so well worth the deal.

There hasn't been much in the way of poker the past week except for today. I played one of those Shootout tournaments at Party and while I think it's a cool concept, it was a total waste of time. I got past the 1st round, but then the 2nd round had everyone starting with an M under 10. Every hand was an all-in. I've been messing around with the Mini-Steps too and while I am still on my orginal $6 buy-in, I haven't gotten to Step 2 yet. I've made the top 5 in all 6 I've played, but then some ridiculous hand knocks me out. I made it to heads up with a small chip lead once, flopped a set of 7's and pushed, but my opponent called w/ an inside straight draw and hit it on the turn.

I also played in the $20K Guarranteed at Party tonight with 2498 people. I was the short stack most of the way, but worked my way up to about $13,000 with 600 left. I was a pretty sure bet to cash, but I decided I wanted more and got a little more than half my stack in vs a very loose player with JJ. They actually had a hand this time, QQ and then I lost the rest of it when I flopped a 10 out draw with AJs. The same player took me out with 8To, I pushed the flop with my 10 outs and they called with middle pair of 10's. Went to play some $25NL for about 45 minutes and only won 1 hand, but the other player was so bad that it sent me away positive for the session. Opponent was so bad, I had decided that I was value betting any river here. Too tired to mess with the converter.

***** Hand History for Game 5081996277 *****
$25 NL Texas Hold'em - Friday, September 01, 23:05:02 ET 2006
Table Mi Kaw Noo (Real Money)
Seat 7 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 2: WinkProtea ( $14.90 )
Seat 3: PayMeDaMoney ( $19.80 )
Seat 4: DieVee ( $21.65 )
Seat 8: FinneYe ( $12.56 )
Seat 10: YepSNAFU ( $23.55 )
Seat 5: grtnaoto ( $8.80 )
Seat 7: irawkhoes ( $25.25 )
Seat 1: Ravechyld ( $37.02 )
Seat 9: sdvkam ( $25 )
Seat 6: sjdsydemg ( $25 )

FinneYe posts small blind [$0.10].
sdvkam posts big blind [$0.25].
sjdsydemg posts big blind [$0.25].

** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to PayMeDaMoney [Qc]
YepSNAFU folds.
Ravechyld folds.
WinkProtea folds.
PayMeDaMoney calls [$0.25].
DieVee calls [$0.25]. (90.32% VP$IP - 53.57% WTSD)
grtnaoto folds.
sjdsydemg checks.
irawkhoes folds.
FinneYe folds.
sdvkam checks.

** Dealing Flop ** [ Qs][4s][Tc] $1.10 in pot
sdvkam checks.
PayMeDaMoney bets [$1].
DieVee calls [$1].
sjdsydemg folds.
sdvkam folds.

** Dealing Turn ** [ 5d ] $3.10 in pot
PayMeDaMoney bets [$2.50].
DieVee calls [$2.50].

** Dealing River ** [ Kc ] $8.10 in pot
PayMeDaMoney bets [$5].
DieVee calls [$5].
PayMeDaMoney shows [Qc] two pairs, queens and tens.
DieVee doesn't show [Jd] a pair of tens.
PayMeDaMoney wins $17.20 from the main pot with two pairs, queens and tens.

Like I said, she was horrible and if she had hit the straight on the river then I was gonna lose a big pot, but I was pretty sure she was calling a decent bet with anything.

Always a little depressing when the summer ends, but at least the start of the football season picks up some of the slack. Also been looking around for a new part time income source, preferably with benefits. I'm not making as much as I thought I would from my Condo Card venture. It's paying most of the bills, but that's about it. Most people believe that if something is too good to be true then it probably is and I can't blame them. Anyway, I'm looking for something with a flexible schedule, just can't physically do the 9-5 M-F thing right now. Found a website about mystery shopping which looked like a cool part time deal. Extremely flexible and get free stuff. Might try that. I've also seen a number of ads in the local paper for PT Property Inspectors. PT to $30,000. No experience necessary, make your own appointments, will train. I don't know a damn thing about any of that stuff, but it sounds like a pretty sweet deal. Part time, flexible, I still have time to play poker and continue my other ventures. So anybody know exactly what it is that a Property Inspector does?

Disgusting weather kept me inside for the last weekend of the summer. Spent the past few days watching football and trying to grab the casino bonuses early. William Hill has really kicked my ass as you can tell if you read the casino bonus thread. Seems like there are fewer and fewer casinos that are allowing US players each month. For the 1st time in a while I actually don't have any money in a poker account. I got it all sitting in my neteller account trying to find some casinos to clear, but after WH there might not be anything.

Cherry Casino and Casino Euro....nothing about a monthly on their promotions list this month. That would suck.
VIP and 32 Red....gotta wait for the e-mail invitation I think.
Littlewoods....have not yet confirmed this myself, but I've read that they no longer allow US players.

Was thinking of trying to chase down some sportsbook bonuses. I took advantage of a 20% reload at my prior book and I'm halfway through the wagering requirement already making $10 and $20 plays. I'm trying to keep the football season fun this year instead of the draining grind it had become the past few years. I deposited $100 and I'm sitting at $160 right now. I'm thinking about trying BetUS.com next. I only get 15% on a $100 deposit, but you get a free 1 month premium membership at SportsInsights.com if you signup through them. They provide a slightly different service to sports bettors who like to fade public opinion.

Tonight I finally made it Mini-Stage 2 on my 7th try (4th, 3rd, 5th, 4th, 2nd, 4th, 1st) and the funny thing is, this looked like the one I was going out early on. I lost 1/4 of my stack very early on when there was a min-raise to 120 UTG, I re-raised to 400 in MP w/ QQ and it was called. An Ace on the flop and UTG bet out 300. The kind of bet where you just want to get up and punch them in the face because you know they hit that garbage Ace and you really wish you had AK there because they're not folding it either. BUT you have to fold QQ because they're not folding it. Anyway, I just seemed to get blinded down slowly after that with garbage until all of a sudden we were down to 6.

I was still the short stack all the way through, but managed to get heads up with a player I knew I could outplay even with the blinds 200/400. He had me outchipped 17,482 to 2,518 and this is going to sound ridiculous, but I felt pretty confident that I could outplay him if I just got 2 or 3 decent hands to double up with. I kinda thought I was the favorite even with the small stack and I played some great heads up poker. It only lasted 9 hands, but here it all is.....

Hand 1: 2,518 - 17,482
Me - 400BB [9c] and he min-raises to 800. Easy push, K9 is a very good heads up hand and I thought I had a great chance to double up here. He calls [2h] which I thought was a strange play. It's almost like he just gave me an easy double up. I hit a K on the flop, 9 on the turn with no hearts on board. Now I'm in business.

Hand 2: 5,036 - 14,964
Me - 200SB [8c]. I just call the BB. I like this hand, but don't feel like I need to go crazy with it yet. He min-raises to 800 again and I call. Flop is [3h][3c] and he bets 400 into a 1600 pot. I decided to pick a better spot.

Hand 3: 4,236 - 15,764
Me - 400BB [5h]. He calls and I check. [6s][Qh]. He bets pot (800). I let him have it. If he is going to be super aggressive I'm going to find a decent hand and double up. He can have the garbage hands for now.

Hand 4: 3,836 - 16,164
Me - 200SB [8c]. I knew the money was going in pre-flop before we even started. I PFR to 1200 and he pushes. I call. He shows [Ts]. [3h][3d][5h][8h] and I double up again.

Hand 5: 7,672 - 12,328
Me - 400BB [8c] yet again. He raises to 1200. I may be better here, but I still don't want or need to go to war with this hand. I fold.

Hand 6: 7,272 - 12,728
Me - 200SB [4s]. Now I know your really never supposed to fold in the SB HU, but he seemed to be willing to play for all his chips (or all mine) with every hand. I knew he wouldn't let me play cheap here so I folded.

Hand 7: 7,072 - 12,928
Me - 400BB [5c]. He raised to 1,100 and I pushed this one. I was hoping that he would fold to a huge re-raise, but I knew he'd call and I figured I'd probably be in a race. He called with [6c] and the 5's held up. Now I'm in charge.

Hand 8: 14,144 - 5,856
Me - 200SB [9s]. I just called the BB. If he raised he could have it. No big deal. Amazingly he checked and when the flop came KK9 he checked again and folded to a pot sized bet. Wow, suddenly not so aggressive with a short stack.

Hand 9: 14,544 - 5,456
Me - 400BB [Jd]. He min-raised again and I just called here. [3c][6d]. I checked. I wanted him to make a mistake and end it here. He made it right away. He pushed and I called. He showed [2h]. Turn and river are [Td] and it's over.

I know the cards helped a lot, but I knew that even being out-stacked 7-1 to start that if I was able to wait out a few mistakes I would outplay him and move on and I did. It's a nice feeling when every once in a while you play well and win.

Stage 2 goes like this....
10th - Out
6th-9th - Back to Stage 1
3rd-5th - Try Stage 2 again
1st-2nd - Move up to Stage 3

I figure the same strategy I've been employing is the most +EV. Very conservative until we are down to 5th and once it's a freeroll I get super-aggressive again. Only now since I only have to place 2nd, I slow down again when it gets to 3 instead of HU. Anyone have a better proven strategy for these?

Got past Mini-Step #2 on the 1st try. I figured the play would be a bit tighter, but we were down to 5 players in just 20 minutes, but then it became a 4 player marathon for the better part of a half hour. There were 2 players with large stacks and 2 of us with smaller stacks, but the blinds weren't too bad.

Key Hands....
***** Hand History for Game 5102017778 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $22 Buy-in Trny:28297971 Level:4 Blinds(100/200) - Monday, September 04, 17:27:37 ET 2006
Table Mini Step 2 #1290706 (Real Money)
Seat 10 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 10: crainio ( $8444 )
Seat 1: PayMeDaMoney ( $2330 )
Seat 4: Hoffmann1970 ( $6380 )
Seat 5: peteypan ( $2846 )

Trny:28297971 Level:4
Blinds(100/200)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to PayMeDaMoney [9h]
peteypan folds.
crainio calls [200].
PayMeDaMoney calls [100].
Hoffmann1970: nh
Hoffmann1970 checks.

** Dealing Flop ** [9c][Tc ] (600 Pot)
PayMeDaMoney bets [400].
Hoffmann1970 raises [800].
crainio folds.
PayMeDaMoney is all-In.
Hoffmann1970 calls [1330].
** Dealing Turn **
** Dealing River **
Hoffmann1970 shows [Td] two pairs, tens and nines.
PayMeDaMoney shows [9h] a full house, Nines full of sixes.
PayMeDaMoney wins 4860 chips from the main pot with a full house, Nines full of sixes.

AND

***** Hand History for Game 5102066010 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $22 Buy-in Trny:28297971 Level:5 Blinds(200/400) - Monday, September 04, 17:34:19 ET 2006
Table Mini Step 2 #1290706 (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 10: crainio ( $4244 )
Seat 1: PayMeDaMoney ( $3714 )
Seat 4: Hoffmann1970 ( $6750 )
Seat 5: peteypan ( $5292 )

Trny:28297971 Level:5
Blinds(200/400)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to PayMeDaMoney [Kc]
crainio folds.
PayMeDaMoney raises [800].
Hoffmann1970 folds.
peteypan calls [400]

** Dealing Flop ** [3c][As] (1800 Pot)
peteypan checks.
PayMeDaMoney bets [1000].
peteypan calls [1000].

** Dealing Turn **
peteypan bets [500].
PayMeDaMoney is all-In.
peteypan calls [1414].
** Dealing River **
peteypan shows [Ah] two pairs, aces and sixes.
PayMeDaMoney shows [Kc] two pairs, aces and sixes.
PayMeDaMoney wins 7628 chips from the main pot with two pairs, aces and sixes with king kicker.

Was never behind again after that.

Ran through the Casino Euro and Casino Cherry bonuses today. Even though they aren't listed on the website, their still there. Busted Euro which made me 0 for 3, but finally caught fire on Cherry while watching the Canes vs Noles and came out $90 ahead. Now I gotta wait for the e-mail invites to the remaining ones.

The Good, the Bad, the Painful, and the Ugly

2nd session at William Hill left a disgusting taste in my mouth. The stupid people will always get you at limit poker. First, even though I played for slightly over 2 hours yesterday, confirmed by PT, WH only deposited 10 GBP into my account. After playing over 2 more hours tonight, I had better be getting credited for 4 hours total tomorrow. We'll see. Game was even tighter than yesterday with almost nobody having a VP$IP over 20, but still pretty aggressive although not as much so as yesterday. Most hands were raised pre-flop, but rarely 3 bet and some flops were limped to. Still lots of blind stealing.

The Good I got a little lucky on the end, but I played this hand perfectly.
----- HOLE CARDS -----
BB with [Tc]
2 folds, UTG+1 calls $1, MP1 calls $1, 1 fold, MP3 raises to $2, 3 folds, Hero calls $1, UTG+1 calls $1, MP1 calls $1.
Flop [7c][3c] (Pot 8.5 SB)
Hero checks, UTG+1 checks, MP1 checks, MP3 bets $1, Hero raises to $2, UTG+1 calls $2, MP1 folds, MP3 raises to $3, Hero raises to $4, UTG+1 calls $2, MP3 calls $1 (Damn flush draw can't take a hint that he's not wanted. I did everything I could.)
Turn (Pot 10.25 BB)
Hero checks, UTG+1 bets $2, MP3 folds, Hero calls $2. (Yep, but I'm now getting odds to draw to my boat.)
River (Pot 12.25 BB)
Hero bet $2, UTG+1 calls $2 (Gotcha sucka! That's what you get for calling a capped flop on a draw!)
Hero shows [Tc] for the full house.
UTG+1 shows [7s] for the flush.
Hero wins $17.25

The Bad I played this one like an ass, although it may have only been the river call that was bad. It did look like an isolation play from the Button after my steal attempt.
----- HOLE CARDS -----
CO with [Ad]
6 folds, Hero raises to $2, Button raises to $3, SB calls $2.50, BB folds, Hero calls $1
Flop [2d][3c] (10 SB in pot) (This became a pretty big pot for a steal attempt.)
SB checks, Hero bets $1, Button raises to $2, SB folds, Hero calls $1 (I figured my TP might be good. Still think it might so I call to see what happens.)
Turn (7 BB in pot) (Now I have more outs so I'm not going anywhere.)
Hero checks, Button bets $2, Hero calls $2
River (9 BB in pot)
Hero checks, Button bets $2, Hero calls $2 (Yep, dipshit was getting 10 to 1 on that river so he had to call w/ middle pair knowing he was beat.)
Hero shows [8d] for a pair of 8's and a busted back-door flush draw.
Button shows [As] for a pair of Aces.
Hero loses $9

I guess he had a pretty damn good reason to isolate me. Both of these hands happened happened within the 1st 2 orbits after I sat down. I went completely card dead afterward to the point where my VP$IP in the session dropped under 10%. Just nothing then what seemed like an hour later.....

The Painful How hard was this?
----- HOLE CARDS -----
Button with [Jc]
2 folds, brand new player UTG+2 raises to $2, MP1 w/ 11 VP$IP 5 PFR after almost 100 hands raises to $3, 3 folds, Hero.......Hero.......Hero......Hero......Hero cries and folds.
UTG+2 had [Ah]
MP1 had [Ks]

Now on my 160th hand UTG, I know that I am leaving as soon as the BB gets to me so obviously before I can get away.....

The UGLY
----- HOLE CARDS -----
UTG with [Ac]
Hero raises to $2, 8 folds, BB calls $1 because it MUST be a steal when an extremely tight player with VP$IP under 15 and PFR under 6 after 160 hands raises.
Flop [Jc][As] (4.5 BB in pot)
BB checks, Hero bets $1, BB calls
Turn (3.25 BB in pot)
BB checks, Hero bets $1, BB check-raises to $2, Hero calls $2 (I bet because with just 2 players in the pot I couldn't be immediately afraid of the scare card. Very unlikely he has the flush and I have the so I still have outs.)
River (7.25 BB in pot)
BB bets last $1.50, Hero calls $1.50
Fuckin imbecile shows [8s] for 2 pair Jacks and 8's.
Hero shows fucked for pair of Aces.
Hero loses $8.50

That was really painful. I could have gotten out of that rough session only down a little bit yet still ahead after 2 sessions, but this idiot pretty much ruined the success I had yesterday. I'm so pissed and it had to be the last hand. Thank god for the friggen WH bonus.

Wierd stats:
18 hands seen in the BB and 8 of them were suited.
I won only 12 hands in the entire session and 6 of them were in the BB.
Only 3 wins of more than 1 BB in 160 hands. Can you say Card Dead.
291 hands total and no AA/KK/QQ yet. I'm due.

Tonight:
160 hands 15 VP$IP 6.25 PFR 1.16 AF (-7.34) BB/100 (-23.50) and only $2 in rake paid in 2hrs 10 mins played according to PT
Total William Hill $1/$2
291 hands 17.53 VP$IP 7.56 PFR 1.05 AF +$.21 BB/100 +$1.25 and $7.75 in rake paid in 4.18 hrs of play.

I best be getting 30 GBP credited to my account tomorrow.

PS - Haven't looked at a damn stat yet for this weekend, but that Bengals ML is just screaming at me. KC has to learn a new system with a new coach and hasn't gotten any better than last year. I watched Herm Edwards for years with the Jets, he's a great motivator, but sucks at running a game. If Palmer is healthly, and he looked good in the game he played, Bengals may be the best in the AFC despite off-field problems. I'll go out on a limb and say that things go very differently in last years playoffs if Palmer doesn't get hurt. (Read: Pittsburgh does NOT win Superbowl).

Other game I have my eye on is Seattle ML. Detroit SUCKS EVERY YEAR! That being said, there is some kind of stat about Superbowl losing teams sucking the first week or 2 of the next season. Close my eyes, hope it goes to +7 and take the Lions. I can't believe I just said that.

Finished Off William Hill On A Good Note

WH credited me for 3 hours today so I guess I was just a couple of minutes off yesterday. Finished up tonight with a good session and left there a winner for the month. I wrote yesterday about how I hadn't gotten any big pairs yet, so while my 1st table was in the midst of breaking up tonight I picked up KK in the BB, followed by 88 in the SB, then KK again on the Button when we were 6 handed. All 3 PFR's must have looked like aggressive steal defenses or steals themselves because I was bet into on each hand by the Button or Blind. Worked out well for me.

Good Fold
I really only had one decision the entire time. I had AQo on the Button, a loose early position player raised and then it was folded to me. I've seen this player open-limp in middle position and also raise a lot of hands, but everytime he raised preflop he showed a pretty good hand AJ-AK/JJ-AA so he may have just been getting a lot of good cards. I took up most of my time and decided to fold. The BB who had been at war with this player all game called. The flop came Q-high and I was regretting my decision until both players got into a raising war until the showdown. It ended up that both players had AQ as well. It would have been a 3 way split had I stayed in till the end, but we would have only split the small blind 3 ways. I would have lost money by winning the hand after rake. So good fold.

I Don't Really Mind the Tight Games
UTG PFR's, I'm sitting with pocket Jacks UTG+1 and re-raise, UTG is my only caller. Flop comes 3 low cards, UTG checks, I bet and UTG folds. Now in a loose, showdown happy game, UTG I would have been called down and likely been sucked out on enough to pull out a few hairs. In a tight game where the other players can fold, I feel much more confident playing this hand. If a tight player caps, I'm probably behind and can fold if not on the flop, then on the turn if he continues to bet out.

Final William Hill Numbers
Tonight:
70 hands 18.57 VP$IP 12.86 PFR 3 AF +12.41 BB/100 +$17.37 $2.75 in rake paid in 1hrs 4 mins played according to PT
Total William Hill $1/$2
361 hands 17.73 VP$IP 8.59 PFR 1.26 AF +2.58 BB/100 +$18.62 and $10.50 in rake paid in 5.25 hrs of play.

So I finished $18.62 + whatever 50 GBP works out to ahead of WH while paying only $10.50 in rake. SWEET!!!

What next
Where do I go now? I was checking out Code Poker with a 35% rakeback deal or 10% rakeback + 50% of profits whichever is higher, but it doesn't look possible playing $25NL 2 tabling. With minimum rake of 25 cents counting as a raked hand, I'd probably have to play approximately 40,000 hands per month to reach the requirment. I don't know if you need to have the 1,500 raked hands to qualify for the 35% rakeback though so I have to find that out. Other option is Ace Flush, also on the Prima Network, for 50% rakeback. Already signed up there, but haven't deposited yet. I aslo haven't played that Mini-Stage 3 SNG at Party Poker yet.

i been playing the mini steps on party as well, i think i got to level 3, 3 diff times and probably played a total of 20 tournies on my $6 and finally got a 6th on step 1 for $4 and a 2 dollar loss. Seems everytime i get to step 3, im absolutely card dead.

Mini-Step 3 Report
I don't yet know whether I'm going to go with the quick summary or long winded report. We'll see how this develops.....

I started out quickly adhering to the strategy I outlined in the last post. On the Button 2nd hand of the tournament I get one limper from UTG+2, let's call him LAG because he will be a re-occuring(sp?) character in this story, and I raise to 3x (120) w/ [2d] just to see what will happen. He called, flop came 3AK w/ 2 different suits of red. LAG checked, I bet 2/3rd pot and LAG folded. STOLEN!!! Chip count 2160

Very next hand I pick up [Td] and limp along w/ UTG+2 and the SB. Flop is [Kc][Ks]. I pick up an OESD, but I'm not thrilled about the paired board so I check it through. on the turn gives me the straight, but SB bets out for a little less than 1/2 pot. It's folded to me and I just call, still feeling threatened by the board. When the river puts a 3rd King on the board I have to fold to SB's bet. Chip count 2045

Very next hand I get the ROCKETS! I open-raise again for 120 (3x) in MP2. This is the 3rd hand out of 4 that I've been active and 2nd PFR so I'm hoping that the rest of the table is starting to see me as a bully, but it is folded to our friend LAG in the BB who quickly calls. Flop is 65K 3 different suits. He checks, I bet 200 into 260 pot and he check-raises to 400. Beautiful! (This would become a habit with him.) I re-raised to 1200 hoping it was small enough for him to either call or push, but he folded and I think he took it personally because after that he made it a point to come after me in almost every pot I entered. I showed the Aces because I wanted them to think I was playing tight, but just started off with some lucky hands. Chip count 2585

I slowed down just a little after this, but our friend LAG seemed to be involved in most pots. The next hand I played, I open-limped MP1 w/ pocket 5's w/ blinds 30/60. CO raised to 195, LAG called in SB as did I. Flop came 838 and I intended to CR CO, but when he bet a little less than 1/2 pot, LAG decided to CR again to 1/2 pot. Turn was a 4 and they both got it AI. LAG's pocket 7's held up against CO's pocket 6's.

Two hands later we lost #9 when the CO decided to take a steal attempt too far vs pocket Aces that turned into a rivered nut flush. And 2 hands after that, LAG knocked out another when he limped in EP and called a large PFR w/ QJo and checked a J-high flop then called the AI from the PFR who showed AKo. Mini-Step 3 was nothing like I thought it was going to be. Loose play, very aggressive, lots of check-raising. My game plan would have to change.

Me vs LAG II
With 7 players left and still only at Level 2 (30/60), I had my 2nd confrontation with LAG. As the big stack (3x everyone else at the table), LAG was still playing every hand. This time he min-PFR UTG. CO called and I called w/ pocket 9's. BB called as well so we went 4 handed. Flop was 74A different suits and LAG min-bet (60) into a 510 pot. CO called and of course I had to raise that so I pushed it up to 400. BB folded and LAG pushed AI. I folded and he made the mistake of showing me pocket 4's for the set. Now I had information. Chip count 1700 w/ 7 left

I do have to say that I was lucky enough to get dealt some premium hands early on. In addition to the Aces and the 9's I was dealt pocket 10's and took a small pot down, stole another one with A9s in LP and had a couple more minor skirmishes with LAG which were pretty much a wash. There was another medium sized run-in when I picked up Kings on the Button. LAG limped UTG and CO called. I raised to 5x (500) and of course LAG was my monly caller. Flop came A5Q w/ 2 spades and LAG checked. Since I knew he called almost every raise pre-flop and my stack was roughly the size of the pot now, I decided to push and pray. He folded. Chip count 2640 still 7 left

Me vs LAG the Rubber Match AND Turning Point of the SNG
3 hands after the KK hand I am dealt [Kh] UTG with blinds still 50/100 (Level 3). I PFR 400 (4x) and of course LAG is my only caller in the CO. I know he has it in for me and he is still the big stack at the table with 2x everyone else's stack except for 2nd who is fairly close to him. Flop is [7s][Td] and I decide to check and let him hand himself. I had been fairly aggressive up to this point so I was hoping he'd see the check OOP as weakness. He obliged and bet 400 into the 950 pot making it 1350. I had 2,240 left and the board was slightly draw heavy so I decided to take the small gift and move to the next hand. I pushed, but he instantly called and turned over [7h]. WTF??? We both caught 2 pair on the river and I am the new chip leader. Chip count 5,430

I played extremely tight from here on until we got down 5. LAG did not. He called an AI from an UTG player w/ [9h] and hit a full house vs UTG's [Qs]. Two hands later he called another AI w/ [8d] vs [Qs]. They both paired their kicker on the flop, but LAG hit a runner-runner diamond flush and the idiot was now the big stack againg.

CHIP COUNTS WITH 5 LEFT AND BLINDS 100/200 (LEVEL 4)
LAG 7,025
GOOD PLAYER 4,775
ME 4,230
SHORTIE 2,330
SHORTIE 1,640

My thoughts now are that I don't have to beat the lunatic. I only have to come in 2nd to advance, but right now my goal is to get down to 4 and make it a freeroll. I played extremely tight and the shorties fought well into the next level for 4th place.

DOWN TO 4
With blinds at 200/400, the shorties were grinded down quickly. They were both trying to wait the other out and I was able to steal a few blinds to keep my stack about the same. It was folded to one shortie in the SB with 630 left after posting he decided to push. I was in the BB w/ [8s] and had to call for just 430 more. He turned over [6c], but I flopped the flush draw which I completed on the river. Chip count 5,160

LAG IS CRIPPLED
Time to get aggressive again as 4th or 3rd place didn't matter. The tight player vs me and LAG decided to start stealing blinds after the other shortie was quickly eliminated, but he ran into much resistance. I had TT in the SB and pushed to his Button raise. Bottom stack was within 1,000 of top stack. Very next hand, I fold on the Button and LAG min-raises in SB. This time BB pushes all-in and LAG of course did what LAG did. He called. LAG had [Jd] and BB showed [Tc]. I didn't care who won because the other would either be out or crippled, but when the flop came [6d][Ad] it looked like it would be all over with LAG having 15 outs, but he missed and was crippled.

NEW CHIP COUNTS
LEADER 11,830
ME 6,690
LAG 1,210

MINI-STEP 4
It didn't take long as LAG pushed 2 hands later in the SB w/ A6 and was called again by the BB who's A7 held up. So I've know advanced to Mini-Step 3 and Mini-Step 4 both on my 1st try. Mini-Step 4 at $165 buy-in will now be the largest online buy-in I've ever played in. I've played a few $55 MTT buy-ins and 2 $150 live MTT buy-ins, but nothing online this high. I have no idea what to expect or when I'll attack it. I will probably wait for a peak time and hope for a few bad players like LAG who I'd like to thank by the way, for making my 1st Mini-Step 3 experience a good one.