10 HOURS and the Not-Mook(?)

I fired up the poker machine as the kids were eating dinner last nite. (Hello, my name is Brian, and I’m addicted to poker) I got into a Full Table 1/2 game at INTERPOKER and had 30+ minutes before going to baseball. I was also catching up on e-mail and sorting the bills at the same time. I feel like I play better when my mind is half occupied, I really don’t know why I feel that way, but I tend to make better decisions…crazy.

I went up a little over $40 playing 3 hands – AA, QQ and 66. I made very little on AA, but flopped trips with QQ and 66, unfortunately the only maniac at the table had $20 behind him and I stacked him twice.

+8.25 after 10 hours +51.25 after 10.5 Did I mention that I’m really liking INTERPOKER? As far as I can tell, they don’t offer referrals, but they have a pretty generous monthly and new player bonuses there. 100% up to $100 for 500 raked hands, and the rake counts on all tables. I know there is also some %31-%33 rakeback offers out there too.

Last night’s baseball game was fairly uneventful. I watched (played with) the girls for most of the game. The other team did not have a pitcher that could throw strikes, although MasterP managed to strike out once, then walk twice.

One thing that does piss me off is at the beginning of the season, I spoke with the coach and let him know that I was working with P on pitching. Now, I’m NOT one of THOSE dads, so don’t get me wrong. I’m emotionally invested in my children, yes, but I am also aware of their faults and abilities. My son can throw strikes, at this age, that’s what it’s all about. He is not a fireballer, but not a lollipopper either…he can throw. Now, the team he is on has at least 2 very good pitchers. I know the coach has worked with them before and has seen them play. I understand he is comfortable with them, and they are older and more experienced. However, last night we only had 2 guys that could pitch and in the last inning, the coach puts a kid in who he has never seen pitch. WTF? Now the capper here is that I had taken my neighbor’s kid to the game with us. MasterP just happened to get lucky and have a friend on the team. So who does the coach pull in for mop up duty, but this kid?? Pissed me off for sure. Maybe the coach saw me bring this kid, and is so addlebrained that he can’t remember who my son is? I don’t know. But this kid was a lollipopper, and I want to make sure the coach doesn’t think he’s my son. Blah Blah Blah….wow that’s a whole lot about nothing. Next season I sign up to be a coach….case closed.

So I get home, and MAYBE I could of pushed the kids into bed and gotten into the MOOKIE . But they needed baths, and the requisite attention/book reading etc. despite it being 10 o’clock on a school nite. I plopped down at the computer and signed up for the second chance tourney (MOOKIE-not) and play some seriously stuuupid poker, folding A4 on a AJK flop K turn…why the hell did I call preflop exactly?? Then went out on the “Accidental Tourist’ A7sooted. I stole that from somebody….sorry.

Meanwhile I was 2 tabling a 2 table tourney and 2/4 NL on interpoker. I played very aggressive in the tourney, stealing several pots. Has anyone else noticed that foreigners limp ALOT? Even with premium hands! It’s quite an adjustment. Down to 5 handed I made an ill advised move with 2nd pair, and got down to ~T900 into push zone. I doubled on a steal attempt by the chip leader, then drew a straight (QTd) to take out #4. Unfortunately I can’t remember how I got to HU, but I pushed with QJ when the chipleader woke up with 88 and I doubled up when the J hit the river. Then I couldn’t get the guy to commit to a hand, and pushed everything until he decided to call with Q8 when I had an ace and I took it down.
In the 2/4 game there was a donkey that had money behind him this time and I doubled my less than max 100 buy in on the second hand I played. He got me back a little later when he sucked out a flush calling an all in with QTh Vs KK. Luckily he only had about 40 bucks behind him by then played about an hour and a half and ended up +61.

Soooo, I was +51.25 after 10.5 hours and am now +112.25 after 12. Wo0t!

I can’t wait to show the bloggers how completely useless I am at THIS game!!!!

Its been nearly a week since playing any poker, though I’ve been trying to keep up with my blogging brethren via Bloglines.

Congrats to Hoy and cc for cashing in the MATH. I had a few guys over to watch the Falcoons get demolished by the Saints. I’m not sure who took down the WWDN , but congrats to whoever.

My son has Baseball on 2 times a week for the next couple of weeks. They played their 4th game last night. I vaguely remember my first foray into Kid-pitch baseball. I was one of the fastest kids on the team, but I couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with a shotgun. Unfortunately, despite being a lefty my skills at baseball were never developed. For this reason, I try to spend a good amount of time with my son on fundamentals. He is playing above his age, since he is on the cusp between T-Ball and Kid Pitch. I decided that Fall Ball would be a great head start for him in the Kid-Pitch league. He needs some help swinging the bat, but his fielding and throwing is above average, even compared to the 8 and 9 year olds he is playing with.

Hopefully I can get home in time for the MOOK mookie99.bigopokerroom.com, but I’m not holding my breath. Life is getting in the way of poker for the time being, and I have to admit, it ain’t all that bad.

Despite being almost an hour late, I made a decent run at the DADI. O/H 8 is my favorite and weakest game, as I play too many hands (big surprise) and get sucked out on by inferior holdings…2pair on the flop no goot?

In the meantime I played some 1/2 NL at INTERPOKER to grind out my bonus there. I’ve already secured my $100 initial investment and have about 175 left….If I had any idea as to my raked hands, I could adjust, but since their system sucks balls, no one can give me an answer as to how close to my bonus I am. So I’m content to take money off the foreigners and soft, pliable monkeys that occupy that site. I played for a little over an hour and nearly doubled my $50 buy in.(46)

I will count my first cash session in a few days towards my HOUR challenge.

I was -37.75 after 9 hours and am now +8.25 after 10. Yippee!! Did I mention that I am a full table MASTER??

I are not dum.

I took this in about 15 minutes..is that long?

7/9 Intellect You are 53% knowledgable and 84% intellectual.

Excellent! You have a powerful mind backed by a good amount of knowledge. Keep cracking books and nothing can stop you.

Don: Push Donkey
Fuel5: ?
Don: You play 10/20NL yet you are a monkey
Fuel55: Because I make you make bad decisions?

Don: Oh great skidoo the luckbox
ME: Just vs u Don
Don: Is that it?

Don: @#$@%# luckbox….what a suckout.
…
Me: you reraised me preflop with A8 off.
Don: Well you were ahead preflop.

Don: You are playing horrible skidoo
Iak: Concur
Me(chipleader): oh really?
Me: sorry.

Moral of the story: I win = Luckbox suckout. Someone else wins = Great solid play.

I wish I had kept better notes, but it was hilarious. Please keep trying to tilt me, it only makes it worse when you lose. GOLD JERRY, GOLD!

I got home in time to play the mook! I’ll make this short since I’m tired, but I made some good plays and some bad ones, and in the end my nut flush made Iak’s full boat…IGH in 2nd. Always a bridesmade.

I have prospective new addition on the right —>

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See yall at DADI tomorrow.

One hour tonight and like a true dumbass I closed the window before getting my oh so intersting stats but I’m sure I got my VP$IP below 25% on 2 full tables. One 25/PL one 50/NL
Lost my buy in at 25/nl on a horrible beat that I’ll just let go. Full table 50/NL is my game…down a buck total for one hour.

-37.75 after 9 hours. boo.

I had a great weekend that involved not a single hand of poker. I totally got to be DAD the couch potato.. it was awesome.

Friday night we played meet the Fockers as a neighbor had happy hour on our street. We got to meet our ‘new’ neighbors and talk shop, football, (college variety) golf (2 of my neighbors are Sales rep’s) and of course kids. There were about 15 adults and 80(ok slightly exaggerated) running around. It was a nice relaxing time, but my mind was on something else.

TV

My big honkin’ TV showed up Friday afternoon, and I did not get a chance to play with it earlier, so when we got home I set it up post haste. And as feared my HD service did not work…ugh. SO I decided that Friday nite at 10 after several cocktails was not the best time to complain to DirecTV. I set up the other receiver and we watched Cinderella Man at a measly 480i, but tomorrow I graduate to 1080p. WO0T!

Saturday I went to a buddy’s house and watched some football, I got second again in my college pickem league and its already pissing me off. First week I tied for first, but lost the tiebreaker, 2nd week I get 2nd, this week I miss by one….dammmit USC!
Hope is not lost though as it is a long season and I only need to win one week to cover the year. I am also First overall at this point, which garners a price at the end of the season as well.

Saturday night was camping under the stars….2 times a year my n’hood has a camping night in the common grounds. Last year was miserable with rain, but my son and I stuck it out. This year, the girls wanted to stay all night, so we packed em all up. We had a great time with relay races, tug of war, and the like. As night fell, the obligatory smores were being roasted, and someone had the foresight of bringing a projector. There was a tarp hung over the baseball backstop and they played Pirates of the Caribbean to the crowd, It was better than the drive-in, since we could sprawl our blankets out under the clear cool night. The whole fam snuggled under the blankets. The girls passed out before the ‘scary’ parts near the end, which was good. But my son the trooper made it to the end. He was even a little upset that he had to go to sleep at midnight, but it didn’t last long as he passed out fairly quickly.

Finally, the wife and I had a couple of hours to sit by the fire, and just talk. We don’t get alot of that these days, and it was an absolute perfect night. Except for sleeping. Even my drugs didn’t help quell the pain in my shoulder against the slightly padded ground. I am definitely getting an air mattress before the next camp-out.

Sunday was Me, my remote, a fridge full of beer and the sunday ticket!! My son watch with me a little bit, but the wife had activities for the kids and herself for most of the day. I Sat and wept with joy.

I’m gonna go nuts I think. This stupid challenge is making me feel like a machine again. A not very good poker playing machine at that.

I know now why I haven’t tried this sort of poker before. It bores me. I just don’t have the patience to hold things together like that…I’m wired differently.

I’ve said before that I don’t play poker necessarily for the money. This is about competition, about being ‘better’, such an ambiguous esoteric goal. Its what I’m about though, that’s how I roll. I’m a feel player by most accounts. I’m aggressive, I pick spots, I convince my opponents that I am better. (or at least attempt to)

One thing I think I’ve discovered is that ABC poker wins in the lower limits, pretty simple. If I can extrapolate my results on full ring tables vs 6-handed. I’m actually a very good player at a full table. The reason is that I simply play tight agg. I push when I think I’m ahead sniff out flush draws and farm sets.

I will finish this challenge though…my goal now is to break even…no pressure.

Anyway….I’m trying yet again to justify myself. I feel the need to do this alot for some reason. Every 3 weeks or so I get involved in a game I have no business being in. Something way over my head (right Aaron?). I do this, not cause I’m chasing profits or losses, but cause I’m chasing bigger and better players. I want to play the best players I can play… win or lose, that’s my validation. I just don’t have the discipline to work my way up there.

So, last night after working on the HOUR challenge ( I never really did set a goal) I played the WWDN:not and got my FH kicked in the ass by quads. I went out early in 2 sng’s and decided my luck must change. I played $40 OH8 and made it through a break and a half before going down, then really went off the deepend and played the $100MTT…IGH about mid-pack. I was amazed how loose this game was. Anywho..

I decided it must be Pokerstars that was the problem, certainly not myself. SO I perused for a new site to play and whore a bonus on. I haven’t signed up for INTERPOKER as of yet and they have a %100 bonus up to $100 going on, so I installed the software and plopped my hundo down.

I was somewhat disappointed at the number of players, but I guess that’s expected coming form pokerstars. The best game I could find was 3/6 limit. I watched the game for a few minutes and decided that the players weren’t anything special, and the betting wasn’t getting grossly capped. Despite being under-funded, I joined. I played fairly loose again, it just what I do. Despite being loose, I was getting cards…frequently, and there were 2 guys at the table who just kept paying me off.
The wife finally got home and I was up 260 for the 2+ hour session. I just need to find out how much more I need to play to clear the bonus now and GTFO.

So this is me in a nutshell, Baron Donkmunder Aggrolimp.