January In Brief Review
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
January In Brief Review
Very, very short post today. Work is keeping me busy this week as usual. I wanted to take a moment and thank a reader, Jose, for the help he offered yesterday in my comments section. I appreciate it. My taxes have been submitted and, though I'm getting back the highest amount ever for me, unfortunately there will be no padding the poker bankroll. I need to eliminate some debt as well as buy a new car (well...new to me) with my return and my company bonus. Just like that, poof, the money is gone. It will barely be in my account a day before I hand it over to someone else. That TripSux.
Sessions: 44
ROI: 49.63%
I had a good month with no real complaints. I built the bankroll to its highest point in nearly 6 months so I'm digging that. However, I can tell my biggest problem is not getting the quantity of games in that I would like. I have had success multi tabling so I just need to open up another SNG more often to bring up my quantity. I also want to consistantly move up to the next level buy-in as I play them often enough and don't see a difference in the competition. This will require that I consolidate some of my bankroll to 2 or 3 sites instead of the 5 or 6 I currently have money at. I think this is a good idea for me. I've analyzed where I have the most success and where I enjoy playing the most. No big surprise where I play the best is where I enjoy playing the most. Hmmm...correlation...I think so.
posted by TripJax @ 2:21 PM,
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Mundane Monday Musings
Monday, January 30, 2006
Mundane Monday Musings
Not a whole lot to report in TripJaxville, but I'll see what I can bust out of the ole cranium. The hot run at the tables continues with a nice weekend booked. I played 9 SNG's cashing in 7, but more importantly winning 5. Hellz yeah. I could get used to weekends like that.
I also slapped a monkey off my back by beating Veneno in a heads up match. Prior to our game last night, I was 0-3 and none too happy with my play. The Hammer ended up playing a factor in that she played two hammer hands strong and ended up having to fold both to my raises. In her first hammer hand I didn't have much better, but I played a hunch and raised and she thankfully folded. Good game V.
I want to take a moment and thank Dragonystic for writing a post about the SNG Analyzer. I had asked him in a comment if he would offer a summary of the software and he promptly obliged. Thank you, sir. If you haven't had a chance to check out Dragon, you should. He's a young guy playing poker as his primary source of income (I think) and it makes for interesting writing. He doesn't read my blog - at least I don't think he does - based on the fact I'm on his "Poker Blogs I don't Read, but are Halfway Decent From What I've Seen" list. Not complaining, just think it is funny. I'm in good company with 9 2 Offsuit, Bobby Bracelet and Skitch. Those guys are great reads so I'm happy to be lumped in with them. Moving on...
I often listen to music while playing poker and I really think it helps me focus. That may sound strange, but hear me out. With two kids all over the place playing and the TV always kicking, the music pumping through the head phones gives me focus directed towards the computer. That's a good thing. I may be taking in the music, but it helps me block out the rest. This is not to say I avoid the family, as that is not even close to the case. In fact, I bought the laptop mainly so I could be closer to them while being a degenerate pokah playa. Now I can be on the computer and still be in the living room to keep up with the kiddies and hang with wifey. Before the laptop, I felt like I was off in a cave when I played on the computer in the bedroom. Good for focus, bad for family interaction.
What I've been listening to of late:
Interpol
Modest Mouse
The Mars Volta
Postal Service
Coldplay
Nine Inch Nails
Nick Drake
I gotta say, The Mars Volta is just kicking my ass lately. They are amazing. I hope to see them live as I've heard it is an incredible show. I've seen a couple of the live videos on the Cable On-Demand and it was sweet. If you haven't heard of them go check it out.
As you may recall from my last post, I was supposed to host a poker game on Friday night. The Bad...said game was cancelled due to only 4 players being able to make it. Sucks when you think you have a good game going and people bail. Bastardos! The Good...I did my taxes. Talk about a 180 huh?! So why was doing my taxes a good thing. Looks like we'll be getting the most we've ever gotten back and the timing couldn't be better. I still have a few things to clear up, but hopefully I'll be able to get a check soon.
I'm gonna take a chance and ask this question here in hopes a poker playing CPA/Tax Advisor is reading and willing to give some free advice. One of the things I need to clear up...In the Credits section I am listing an amount for Child and Dependent Care Credit for daycare expenses, but it always lists it as $0 when I get to the end as if I cannot claim it. Does anyone know if there would be a reason why I can't list the amount I pay for my son to go to preschool on my taxes? I know I did it last year. Last year I did a Standard Deduction and this year I am doing an Itemized and wasn't sure if that made a difference. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to avoid shelling out anymore dough than I already have...
Men, it is getting close to Valentine's Day. If you haven't already, get those reservations made before it is too late and you find yourself taking wifey/girlfriend (or both for some of you playas) to Denny's and getting no nookie for you! There, that's my good deed for the day.
And with that, I must end this here post. I have a busy week ahead of me so we'll see how things go with posting the rest of the week...
posted by TripJax @ 3:11 AM,
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If I Were A Porn Star
Friday, January 27, 2006
If I Were A Porn Star
GCox, this picture is for you. Is that you in the background??!!Short post today folks. I want to thank everyone who commented in my post yesterday. I rarely throw out the non pokery stuff, but when I do I tend to get some comments regarding said stuff. That's always nice.
To an extent, the occasional info we put in our blogs allows us to form a better picture of the people we read day in and day out. I don't expect to know the ins and outs of people, but it is nice to better understand where someone is coming from based on the info I've learned over time by reading their blog.
OK that sort of turned into a random tangent, so moving on, I wanted to comment on the, umm, comments yesterday...
cmitch - I think wifey and I are going to plan a weekend getaway very soon. As always your advice is spot on.
LittleAcornMan - Wifey is very intrigued and I found a copy of the book online so we are gonna give it a try. Thanks!
PokerPeaker - I'm reading, just been damn busy lately. Keep up the great writing no matter what.
Veneno - Thanks for the kind words. Now prepare to be manhandled at the tables this weekend. I'm ready for our game. How about Sunday?!
My review with the boss man went well. He gave me all nice marks. Unfortunately our branch didn't hit all the numbers we needed to so his bonus was cut by 20%. Accordingly, whatever bonus he was going to give me was cut by 20%. Sucks, but I think it is as much as last year, even with the cut, so I can live with that.
My interview with the FBI was much easier than I expected, but still extremely boring. When I met him in the lobby he said, "This is the first time I've ever had to bring a box to an interview...that's never a good thing." Great, we're setting precedents here. Half the time he was sifting through his box of papers trying to locate info. Meanwhile our firms attorney and I were just sitting there twiddling our thumbs.
To combat the boredom, I started thinking up random shit. For instance, at one point I was thinking about SNG strategy...nothing monumental, just some thoughts racing through my head. At another point I came up with a Porn Star name, just in case I ever decide to go the Porn Star route. Umm, yeah, whatever. Anyway, the name...
Johnny Cum Lately
It has a certain ring to it.
posted by TripJax @ 11:05 AM,
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Cream Stouts But No Suck Outs
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Cream Stouts But No Suck Outs
I ended up playing in an impromptu home game last night, which worked out well. The usual suspects were emailing back and forth yesterday trying to set a plan and as far as I knew we were going to play Friday at my house. I got home and was making dinner plans with wifey when I received a phone call from one of the playas noting that everyone decided they wanted to play last night instead. One of the guys had agreed to host which was fine by me. I got clearance from wifey and the chitlins and was off to the game.One of my favorite parts of the home game is stopping off at the grocery store for a beer run. This is how I load up on brews as well as pull money out of the bank account without having to hit up the ATM. I've been on a Budweiser Select kick lately as it tastes damn good and is cheap, but with the cold weather I was feeling a darker beer would do the trick. I chose the Samuel Adams Cream Stout as it is one of my favorite beers, but I haven't had any in quite a while. Damn good beer.
We had a new guy at the tables, also a Jason, and though he made the typical rookie mistakes, he was not too shabby. I'm happy to report he won the first game which I think is always a good thing for a rookie. There is a very good chance we'll see him back since he got a taste of the goods. I ended up helping him on his way to 1st place in the first game after getting waxed by him in a pot.
About 10 hands into the game I wake up with AcQc and pop it pre flop. Only newbie calls. The flop comes A Q Xc. I make a pot size bet and get called. Turn is a blank and I make another bet and get another call. River is another blank and I make a final hefty bet and he calls flipping over Q Q. That one crippled me, but didn't put me out.
Looking back on the hand I don't think I made a mistake, but after the hand I was a bit vexed. Typically, at least in my experience, when you have a good hand and are being called by a newbie they are either chasing or overplaying middle or low pair. That's why I was surprised when he flipped over a set. In this case, he underplayed his hand, thankfully.
After making a rally to get back above the starting stack I ended up getting bounced when the blinds started getting hefty and I couldn't get anything going. I was the first out. I had AA twice in that game and though I won both hands, I didn't capitalize in the long run.
The second game I ended up knocking the newbie out early to double my stack. Much to the chagrin of the other cast of characters, I played table captain with my newfound chips. I rolled over the table and when it got heads up I took it down in less than 5 hands. I showed the hammer once which was nice.
All in all it was a strange night because there were not any real suck outs. When there was a race, the person with the better hand won. The closest thing to a suck out was a few pots that were split when the board paired and a weak Ace hand ended up getting back some chips. Our games are usually full of suck outs, so that was something new for us.
As if the review wasn't enough, I am being interviewed by the FBI in the office this afternoon to go over a criminal case against a former employee who is being sued by former clients of ours. Most of the monetary issues are done after SEC/NASD arbitrations, but now the FBI wants a crack at this guy too. Since I was a manager in the office at the time he was employed they want to discuss with me the nature of his employment. Oh joy.
I'm being courted by another financial services firm and, though I'm happy where I am and have no plans to go elsewhere, it is kind of nice to know that another company is actively recruiting me. Apparently someone I used to work with is now at that firm and highly recommended me to his managers. I've already met with one of the higher ups and things went very well so we'll see where that goes. If it is a nice salary bump and things fall into place, I could see making a move, but for now I'm comfortable where I am. I should no more pretty soon.
On the home front, wifey is going through some tough times and is battling a bit of the depression bug. She is also trying to quit smoking which isn't exactly an easy task. She's a trooper, but everyone has their downtimes. I know she occasionally reads this here blog so if you are reading this honey, I love you and am here for you if you need me.
posted by TripJax @ 9:58 AM,
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American Idiots
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
American Idiots
This is a graph of my alcohol consumption since the Panthers lost to Seattle. Actually, this is my total poker earnings for 2006. No specific numbers being put out there, but the chart tells the tale.I've been running somewhat hot with a couple of break even sessions mixed in. My break even nights are usually one of the following...1) playing ring games I drop a buy-in early then build it back to even...or 2) playing SNG's I run hot early then play way too many games and give back the bulk of my profits.
GCox mentioned this routine of giving back profits in his most recent post and it rings all too true. I know there is good in continuing to play on nights when you're running hot, but there is something to be said for booking a profit and laying your head on your pillow with a smile on your face. I know it sounds crazy, but I sleep much better after winning nights than I do when I'm running bad. It's all up in the noggin', but it is what it is.
And speaking of Seattle (yeah I mentioned them above), go check out the wild story Skitch offers up in his latest post. $40,000 riding on an open ended straight flush draw. Friggin' crazy.
I must say I did laugh a good bit so it was all good. That show is so fucking cheesy it's sick. I don't mind these early episodes with all the jokers showing their dumb asses, but when the singers start shilling cars and random products, consider me out. I'd rather watch the 2003 WSoP for the 194th time than watch the singers pimp Ford or Pepsi or whatever it ends up being this year. I'll stick around and watch if they will do a skit that involves Bonus Code: Iggy. Now that would be the shit.
Boobie Lover recently posted details on how to change up your table and card mods over at Stars. Though I had a short e-tard moment early on, I finally figured out how to get the mods to work and I really dig'em. I highly recommend them. You can click on the pic to the left to get an idea of what it looks like. I just picked a random table so I covered up the players names.Thanks to Waffles for putting up with me IM'ing him with questions on what I was doing wrong as well as to Wes for helping me on his blog. I appreciate it guys. After downloading the new look I played a SNG and finished 3rd. I like it already!
Well that will have to do it for now. Jordan, have a good time in Atlantic City. I'm jealous ya bastard.
posted by TripJax @ 10:58 AM,
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Poker Sites Take Notice: Token Plus Payout SNG's
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Poker Sites Take Notice: Token Plus Payout SNG's
The meat and potatoes behind this idea are quite simple. Create a SNG that pays out a token to 1st Place in addition to the payouts to 1st - 3rd. I will use a 10 Player, $10 + $1 SNG format for the example used in this post; however the numbers could be adjusted for a 9 Player SNG as well as any buy-in amount.
An example of a Token SNG Payout:
1st Place = $50 + $11 Token
2nd Place = $25
3rd Place = $14
From there the winner could use their token to buy-in to any $10 + $1 SNG or Tournament available. In addition, the poker site could offer a daily or weekly Token Tournament that only winners of a Token SNG could join. The payouts for the Token Tournaments would be like a regular tournament, but the poker site could spice it up by awarding those in the money with goodies like extra points (FPP, VIP or whatever they are called) or prizes. Considering this would be a double dip - they will receive the fee from the original SNG as well as the Tournament - they can absorb the cost of the points or prizes.
Obviously the big winner in these SNG's is 1st Place (shouldn't that always be the case??!!) Not only are they receiving their normal 50% of the pool, but they are also receiving a free buy-in. That free buy-in could result in more winnings at the SNG tables or at the Token Tournament.
I could write more on the positives and negatives of this, but I'd rather gauge the thoughts of you, the reader...
What do you think?
posted by TripJax @ 10:53 AM,
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$113, 508 Less Than Absinthe
Monday, January 23, 2006
$113, 508 Less Than Absinthe
Well, I'll start where I had hoped I wouldn't have to. The Panthers were pixilated by the Seahawks last night. I never once felt like Carolina was in the game or had a chance. It was harsh to watch, but the Seahawks were just a much better team last night. I won't try and justify Carolina's abysmal play with talk of injuries and what not, they were just ass whooped and that's it. As a fan, I feel like DonkeyPuncher probably felt last week, it just took me 7 more days to get to that point.
Speaking of mojo, I think Absinthe went into the final table with approximately 50k of 1.7mm in chips (if my memory serves me). We should all take this as a reminder that anything can happen at a final table. Anything. You could even dumb that down to anything can happen at a 1 table SNG. I know on numerous occasions I have been knocked down to less than 100 chips in a SNG and came back to win it. Yet, all too often I practically give up when I take a big hit. I know it is not quite appropriate to compare a big poker tournament to a SNG, but I hope you get my point. Don't give up.
During my struggles I dropped my initial deposit of $50 down to $15. I decided I wouldn't touch the site again until my connection problems were clear. Once that was resolved, I went back, but decided to play some SNG's to try and build the roll back up to an amount that could withstand .50/1, the level I needed to play to clear the bonus quickly and comfortably. I managed to win some SNG's and built the roll back up to $50. At that point I started grinding again, but continued the tough run at the limit tables.
Yesterday I logged onto Hollywood knowing I was gonna clear the bonus no matter what it took. I had cleared 250 of the required 300 points so I wasn't far from my goal. When I started the day I had $26. By the time I hit 275 points I had run the $26 up to $79. Unfortunately I lost some pots with big hands and ended the day at $55 and 300 points. It was a struggle to get to that point, but somehow I managed to play break even poker and finish with $55 and the gift from VPP. Still I get the feeling if I hadn't done well in the SNG's I'd be here typing about how much I suck at limit poker and just can't seem to find my way.
I will say yesterday was the first time at the Hollywood limit tables where I felt like I was in control. And I think I know why. Since I only bought in for $50, anytime I wanted to two table in order to clear the bonus faster, I had to buy-in well short of what I would like. Yesterday, rather than two table, I decided to one table and focus on my play. By the time I hit $50 I knew I could open up another table and clear the bonus quicker, but it was no longer about the bonus, it was about playing a good game of poker with a more chips in front of me (shouldn't that always be what it's about??!!). With a few more chips to back my play I felt more confident and played my big hands stronger without fear of using up my roll. It worked well for me.
Let me make one comment about VPP. I don't have an affiliate link with them yet, but I do want to pimp them mainly because of the service they offer. After I finished my promotion last night I emailed Dave to let him know it was complete. I received an email within the hour - on Sunday night - confirming that they would get things set for me on Monday. Now that is service. I just checked my email a few minutes ago and I see that my gift has already been shipped. I highly recommend VPP if you are a PSO whore and need some other sites to sign-up with. Like I said, I don't have an affiliate with VPP yet (though I'm sure you could just tell'em tripjax sent ya) so if you are looking for some definite VPP links, go check out Jordan or GCox.
Unfortunately, after building my stack to top 10 in the first 30 minutes, I lost a huge hand to set over set. The flop was 8 6 2 rainbow and I had 6 6. After some hefty raises we got it all-in and he showed 8 8. He had slightly more chips than me so I was out. He vaulted into first place with that hand and I vaulted onto the couch for some down time. Oh well.
posted by TripJax @ 9:39 AM,
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Party For Your Right To Sight
Friday, January 20, 2006
Party For Your Right To Sight
I'll get to the Party stuff in just a moment...
As much as poker and I got along the last couple of times I've played, I've not been able to hit the tables lately. The last two nights I tried to stay away from the computer as wifey hasn't been feeling well and I wanted to spend more time with her. After staring at a computer at work and staring at one when I get home, it can be very therapeutic to stay the F away from it for a few days.
I did, however, play one SNG today after coming home at lunch time to hang with wifey. After a while she took a nap and I hit the table. I signed up for an Omaha Hi/Lo SNG on Party and was quite bummed when I realized it was limit. I much prefer PLO8. Oh well. I ended up winning the damn thing. Counting the two SNG's I won the other night while playing with GCox, that makes 3 SNG wins in a row. Booya!
Party For Your Right To Sight: I hadn't even planned on hitting the tables today, but I came across something at Party that sparked my interest so I had to sign on and check it out. Specifically I was checking out the Party Beta Client. If you haven't seen it, you gotta check it out. It rocks. I can't believe I just typed that something Party has done rocks. A big thanks to Radii over at 9 2 Offsuit for pointing this out. If you don't read the guys over at 9 2 Offsuit, you should.To make a long story short, with the Beta Client you can now change the size of the table in order to fit more tables on your monitor. I tried it out and I can fit 4 tables easily on my small laptop screen. Granted the size is small, but I don't mind it a bit. Not having to toggle between the overlapping tables is priceless. Now go check it out, damnit. The pic above is just what I pulled up on my screen to give you an idea. I think my screen is 15" so it is pretty cool that it fits all 4 tables.
I was the first person to sign up for the HORSE tournament and I'm really looking forward to playing. For a while I was the only person signed up...it was the best chance I had to win the whole thing. Actually, I'd probably still find a way to lose. The last time we had a WPBT HORSE tournament I was in the hospital with my wife. If you wanna check out those old posts I found them here and here.
Widgets. Ever heard of them? No, I don't mean our favorite little man. I mean a Widget. A buddy just turned me on to these today and I'm lovin'em. Basically they are just little programs that run on your desktop. For instance, you can keep a small widget that lets you know flight arrivals and departures. Or maybe you just want the weather showing on your desktop. And of course we all need to keep up with the latest Russian Brides available.
And for the poker bloggers out there, how about putting a bloglines widget on your desktop that refreshes automatically for you. Or for you Poker Room players, why not keep up with your bankroll on your desktop. And, I haven't tried this one out yet, but posting to your blog directly from your desktop is an option as well.
Well, that's gonna have to do it for me. I look forward to seeing you all at the HORSE tourney. Now go sign up, damnit.
posted by TripJax @ 3:03 PM,
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Tracker, I Hardly Know'er
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Tracker, I Hardly Know'er
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've been using Poker Dominator as a session tracker and for bankroll management. So far I really like what they offer, especially since it is free. One of the best things about the software is it is web based so I can access it from anywhere with a web connection. That's a good thing. If you've been looking for a way to track your game, this may be your answer, so check'em out.
A strange thing happened when I started using their software. I immediately went on a rough streak that felt like would never end. The summary graph of my total earnings looked like a ski slope where you never need a lift to the top because you just keep going down, down, down. As a result, I started dreading playing as I didn't want to continue to watch my demise - now tracked with all the bells and whistles. It's one thing to have a bad run and not really notice since you are not tracking your results. It's another to have it slap you in the face every time you sign on. I had to face a few facts, buy mainly...
I was playing scared.
Scared to continue the slump. Scared to risk anymore of my paultry bankroll. Scared to make that number in parenthesis (negative) continue to climb. I was just plain scared.
I think that is why I played beyond my bankroll this past weekend. I know that sounds opposite of what I should have done, but stick with me on this one. For the last month I had been giving myself a hard time for running bad. I was being way too critical of myself and my game considering this is a short term bad run (I hope). I needed a break, not from the game, but from the way I was managing my game. Therefore, I gave myself two chances to play $20+ buy-ins and just enjoy them. If I lose, whatever, I'm already in a slump, but if I cash I can give myself some much needed confidence.
I basically broke even in the $20 buy-ins, but I did something much more important. I quit worrying about the numbers, quit dreading playing poker and reminded myself that I enjoy this game. I also stopped treating the session tracking software like a big brother. It is just a friggin' poker bankroll - and a small one at that - not the U.S. Treasury. In other words, lighten up TripJax.
So I'm now enjoying the game more and letting the session tracker work for me and not the other way around. I'm the boss damnit.
I'd like to post more, but as always, work beckons. Don't forget the HORSE tourney...details in my announcements section over on the left...
posted by TripJax @ 10:59 AM,
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You Trickin' On Me?
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
You Trickin' On Me?
Poker and I got along this weekend. I only missed cashing twice in 4 days. I didn't play too often, but when I did I was in a good frame of mind and the results showed. I didn't cash in the Maui SNG I mentioned below and I placed 5th in the last SNG I played just a little while ago. Otherwise, I was in the moo moo. One of my wins, albeit small, was in a Titan Dirty Dozen. Just three more wins and then I'll be as bad ass as Scott at DeadMoneyInc. He turned $2.50 into $2000 by winning four of those in a row. Damn.
Fate Plays A Hand - In 1858 Robert Fallon, of Northumberland, England, was accused of cheating in a poker game at the Bella Union saloon in San Francisco and shot dead. Since money won by cheating - $600 in this case - was thought to be unlucky, the other players called in the first available passerby to take the dead man's place, confident that they would soon win the money back. By the time the police arrived, though, the new player had turned the original $600 into $2,200. When the police asked for the $600, so that they could pas it on to the dead man's next of kin, the young stranger proved that he was Fallon's son, who had not seen his father for seven years.
Now that is pretty f'ing crazy. It's sort of along the lines of the Dead Man's Hand. I thought you all
would enjoy that one.
- You Trickin' On Me? - He said this one to wifey after she said something he didn't believe. I'm quite sure this will be the new way I ask, "Are you serious?"
- I'm A Mental Robot - He was intending to say, "I'm a little robot", a statement from a Barney video he watched when he was 2 or 3 years old, but it came out wrong. It just sounded funny as hell the way he said it.
- I'm Wood And This Is My Pecker - He was pretending to be a woodpecker. Wifey and I just broke out laughing when he dropped that one on us. He had no idea why we were laughing.
- I'm A Ho - I had said the word hose earlier and he was saying I'm a hose, but it was coming out as I'm A Ho. Again, it was random and just had us cracking up.
All that was random, but had me laughing. It may be the "had to be there" type, but regardless I thought I would throw it out there.
I'd like to offer my condolences to DonkeyPuncher and all the Chicago Bears fans out there. As I suspected, the Panthers played their asses off to punch their ticket for the NFC Championship. Every time they've made the playoffs they've made it to the NFC Championship. That's pretty friggin' amazing. Damn I hope they can make it to the SuperBowl. I like they're chances. Go Panthers!
Well, that will have to do it for today. More to come this week. Thanks for reading this far!
posted by TripJax @ 3:01 AM,
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Speaker Of The House
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Speaker Of The House
Don't know why, but I decided to play some larger buy-ins (for me) today and ended up with mixed results. First, I played a Maui SNG at Titan which is $23 total, but ended up bubbling when I overplayed my Aces and chump filled his straight on the river. I then decided to roll over to PokerStars and give the 180 person $22 buy-in SNG a try. I had never played this SNG before, but had really been wanting to so today was the day. You can click the pic to enlarge, but I'll go ahead and tell you now that it's not too impressive. In the money, but not by much. I'm looking forward to posting one of those really nice pictures where I win it, but today is not that day. As for the tourney...I hovered at my starting stack for a while, but chipped up when I got a set of 5's twice within 5 minutes near the end of the 1st hour. I said 5 thank yous, slapped wifey on the tail 5 times, then turned the TV to Hawaii Five-O. Erm, strike that last sentence from the record. Halfway into the 2nd hour a guy minimum raises and another player pushes all in for about 3 X more the raise. I held QQ and had them both covered so I pushed. The minimum raiser folded and my QQ held up against 88.
This put me well above the average and I was able to hold that stack for quite a while. I chipped up to about 10k, but hit a real bad run of cards with around 60 players left. I didn't see another playable hand until we were around 25 players left. I didn't even get a chance to loosen up as the chip leader was at our table raising virtually every hand. He was taking players out left and right and I didn't want to be one of those guys. I was not going to push chips in the pot with him still to act unless I held a monster.
Down to 22 players left I made what I feel was my 1st mistake. I had about 6000 in chips and held A 10 in the big blind. It folded around to the small blind who had about 3300. He pushed all-in and I made the call which turned out to be a good one as he held K 9. Unfortunately a K hit the flop and we traded stacks. I could have easily let my hand go, but I felt like I had him, and did, but didn't need to risk my stack like that with just a few players to the money. I know I need to stay aggressive and take chips at that point, but I don't need to be calling all-ins with mediocre hands.
From there I went down to 19th in chips with a stack of about 1200 chips. There was one other player with about 1500 in chips and I was hoping he would push or someone at the other table would get knocked out putting me in the money. I was no longer in a position to force the action and just wanted to get in the money. Pussy poker, yes, but when you're down to 1200 in chips you are just hoping for the best.
Luckily, 1500 man pushed and 2 players called him. One of the players hit his hand and I was in the money. From there I ended up pushing with A 10 and thought I was going to get a nice 4k pot when an A hit the flop, but one of the other players held AA. He severely underplayed his hand which caught me off guard. All in all, since it was my first attempt, I am happy with my result, but very disappointed that I couldnt' bring home the bacon by making a run for the final table. I didn't play the SNG to come in 17th place, but under the circumstances, I'll take the double up of the buy-in.
With both SNG's played I actually finished the day down $1.80. Oh well, I feel like I have a better idea of the 180's now so I'll take that for what it's worth.
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On a side note, and to clarify the title of this post, I kept Speaker's Low Buy-In Online Tournament Manifesto Version 1.0 up in the background as a reminder and I think it really helped me. My only problem with sticking to the code was being unable to pound the smaller stacks when it was close to bubble time. Though I was still in the top 20, my stack relative to the others at my table was paultry and the extreme raising coupled with my crap cards made for a sit and wait game. Regardless, Speaker, you wrote a damn good piece their and I am very thankful for the knowledge gained. A lot of what you wrote is common sense, but when you bring it all together the way you did, things just start to click. Thank you.
Luckily, 1500 man pushed and 2 players called him. One of the players hit his hand and I was in the money. From there I ended up pushing with A 10 and thought I was going to get a nice 4k pot when an A hit the flop, but one of the other players held AA. He severely underplayed his hand which caught me off guard. All in all, since it was my first attempt, I am happy with my result, but very disappointed that I couldnt' bring home the bacon by making a run for the final table. I didn't play the SNG to come in 17th place, but under the circumstances, I'll take the double up of the buy-in.
With both SNG's played I actually finished the day down $1.80. Oh well, I feel like I have a better idea of the 180's now so I'll take that for what it's worth.
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On a side note, and to clarify the title of this post, I kept Speaker's Low Buy-In Online Tournament Manifesto Version 1.0 up in the background as a reminder and I think it really helped me. My only problem with sticking to the code was being unable to pound the smaller stacks when it was close to bubble time. Though I was still in the top 20, my stack relative to the others at my table was paultry and the extreme raising coupled with my crap cards made for a sit and wait game. Regardless, Speaker, you wrote a damn good piece their and I am very thankful for the knowledge gained. A lot of what you wrote is common sense, but when you bring it all together the way you did, things just start to click. Thank you.
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This was a rare weekend post and I have Monday off for MLK Day so I don't plan to post again until Tuesday. Until then, go sign up for the H.O.R.S.E. tournament I have detailed up in the announcement section.
posted by TripJax @ 2:57 PM,
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Gambooling, Capital Knockers & The Hammer
Friday, January 13, 2006
Gambooling, Capital Knockers & The Hammer
A few days ago I mentioned a buddy of mine who runs a game in my hometown. We have worked together for the last 6 years, but he recently moved to a new firm so I don't see him as often as I used to. I bring him up again as I plan to use him as an example in this post. I have a couple of nicknames for him, The Asian Equation and Ruckbox, but for today's post I'll keep it simple and refer to him as Ruckbox.
Ruckbox is a gambooler. He takes chances and goes beyond the comfort level of the average person (read: me). As an example, this past weekend he deposited $500 of recent cash game earnings onto PartyPoker to play some NL Hold'em. In one night he ran that up to $7,500, but that just wasn't enough. "I took a break and then decided I would keep playing until I hit $10,000." It wasn't enough to make $7,000 in one night! From there he donked off $4,000 and ended the night with $3,500. Still a huge profit for one night, but a downer after being at 7.5k.
That got me thinking about how different Ruckbox and I truly are. Good friends and poker players, but immensely different people. What is it about him that makes him play high stakes BlackJack and gambool at the poker table for an attempt at 10k in one night? What triggers his brain to shoot out of the cannonball with nary a safety net in sight. All I know is he has something I don't have, an extreme desire to gambool.
Now don't get me wrong, I have the desire to make huge money playing poker, but I don't take the same path as he. I'm happy to find what works for me and grind a profit over time. I'm happy to occasionally take a chance at a nice payout with a freeze out MTT. I'm happy to make money without risking too much of my own capital. In other words, I have no gambool.
There are notable distinctions in our lifestyles that give some insight into possible reasons for our differences. I am a family man with a mortgage on a single income budget. He is single with income not only from his job, but the cash games. He's got the cash to gambool, but not so much that he could afford an extended downswing. He could seemingly sit on his cash game rake and never worry about money, but he still has the gambool in him to risk it on his games of choice.
I don't want to come across as knocking him in anyway, I just wanted to use him as an illustration of the gambool that some folks have. He is a friggin' Ruckbox though. Dude always catches cards.
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I played some poker last night and for the most part it was uneventful. I took second in a PLO8 SNG then bubbled in a SNG with GCox. At the bubble I was in a battle of the shortstacks with another guy who was even with me in chips. In the big blind with A5 suited I pushed and was called by a big stack with KK. No cards for your truly and the bubble was my call for sleep.
Before the SNG's I played a ring game at Hollywood as I'm trying to clear a bonus. I'm about halfway to my goal and currently down about $5 from my deposit. The tables were pretty full, but I finally found one with a seat available. At Hollywood you don't get to choose your avatar so where ever you sit is the avatar you get.
I played some poker last night and for the most part it was uneventful. I took second in a PLO8 SNG then bubbled in a SNG with GCox. At the bubble I was in a battle of the shortstacks with another guy who was even with me in chips. In the big blind with A5 suited I pushed and was called by a big stack with KK. No cards for your truly and the bubble was my call for sleep.
Before the SNG's I played a ring game at Hollywood as I'm trying to clear a bonus. I'm about halfway to my goal and currently down about $5 from my deposit. The tables were pretty full, but I finally found one with a seat available. At Hollywood you don't get to choose your avatar so where ever you sit is the avatar you get.Check me out. I had to take a pic of some boobies and hammer action. I was down about $15 for the session and found the hammer UTG +1. I raised it up and everyone folded. I, of course, showed it down. I started to get a lot of action from there and luckily I hit some big hands. I ended up for the night and I owe it all to my capital knockers and the hammerific showdown. Thank you Poker Grub!
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I'll be back to post next week. In the meantime, everyone have a great weekend as well as a great MLK Day.
I'll be back to post next week. In the meantime, everyone have a great weekend as well as a great MLK Day.
posted by TripJax @ 11:10 AM,
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Jest Cause
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Jest Cause
I must say, you bloggers continue to amaze me. The DADI PLO8 tournament played out last night with an amazing 47 entrants. With the game choice straying from the typical Hold'em, we figured the field would be chopped in half from the first DADI event that garnered 60+ entrants. To be honest, when I saw 20 entrants midday yesterday I was happy. Thanks to all who played and or pimped the event in advance. Obviously, this doesn't happen without you all.As for the play, Jestocost absolutely annialated the final table en route to a very impressive win. I played with him early at the first table, but don't really recall how he went from A to Z in winning it. Regardless, congrats on a big win. My play was quite ho hum as I managed to get to the final two tables, but was knocked out in 13th place - 4 away from the money - by Felicia.
My knockout was uneventful as I was down to 1000 chips and had 600 of those pushed in the middle as the big blind. With, I think, an A47J hand I had to put my final 400 in and hope for the best. Alas, it was not to be. Kudos to you, Felicia, and all the others who made it to the final table.
My failure to cash in the tourney was eased by the two last longer sidebets. In essence I paid $11 for the tourney and won $10 total on the sidebets. Under the circumstances, I'm happy to walk away giving PokerStars their $1 and calling it a night. I enjoyed the competition Sumo Shark and The Drizz All-Stars (sans Trauma...insert Waffle). Lets do it again sometime.
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We're going to give the DADI series a rest for a little while and then bring it back maybe in February. There's talk of a Heads-Up tourney for DADI III. We'll see. In the meantime, I'm sure other options will surface over the next few weeks. I've heard rumor of a H.O.R.S.E. tournament at FullTilt, but don't really know any details. If anyone can clue me in please do via the comments.
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This is not something I bring up often as I try not to flood my posts with shill stuff, but I just wanted to take a moment to thank anyone and everyone who has ever signed up for a site or promotion using my bonus code. I really do appreciate you keeping me in mind when deciding who to use. I've had a few sign-ups on FullTilt recently which is pretty cool. I really dig FullTilt so I'm glad to see my readers are giving them a chance. And when I say readers, I know one sign up is a non blogger and I'm thinking my most recent sign-up is also a non blogger. I'll leave out screen names in case you don't want to be listed, but if you are reading this, thank you.
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I know it's a little late for the DADI PLO8 tournament, but for general knowledge I found this atricle by Barry Mulholland in CardPlayer interesting. For anyone who wants more insight into raising with only the nut low and being "quartered", check it out. You may be surprised by his general viewpoint. I was.
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For the time being, my connection problems are solved. I didn't get the resolution I truly wanted, but at least I can now play poker without the stress of being kicked from the table every other hand. Basically I eliminated the wireless router from the equation and hardwired my laptop directly from the cable modem. This means I'm no longer really wireless, but for the most part it is no big deal.
A while back I moved the cable modem and router from the bedroom into the living room in hopes that my connection problems would clear up. I do most of my "computing" in the living room so I thought that might help. It didn't, but it did allow me to easily hardwire from the cable modem and still be in the living room. I can still sit on the couch with the family and be online, but now I have a cord sticking out of the laptop. For now, I'll take it.
Immediately I could tell a difference in my attitude towards the game. Not worrying about whether I would be timed out or kicked from the table, I went on a run at the cash games on Hollywood. Then, as a little prep for the DADI PLO8 tourney, I played a SNG and won the damn thing (see below). I then played well in the DADI, but as I noted above, finished a little short. For the last few months, with my bad connection, I've been standing in the ring with my gloves by my side taking hit after hit. It is nice to finally get back in the ring with my gloves up able to block the hits. I'm not saying my connection problems were the sole reason for my downturn, but I can already see a difference in my attitude and my play as a result of the fix. I am optimistic for things to come. That is refreshing.
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I have some interesting topics I'm brewing for the next few posts, but I just have to find the time to write them. I'll work on them and hopefully get them out for next week. We'll see. In the meantime, thanks for reading this far.
posted by TripJax @ 9:18 AM,
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Lets Get Omatarded
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Lets Get Omatarded
Had to come home early today to watch the kids so Wifey could go see her Granny in the hospital. Everything looks to be ok, but hospitals are never a good thing, so we'll see. While the kiddies were playing I decided to fire up PokerStars and try out some PLO8 in preperation for the DADI tourney tonight. I haven't played PLO8 in ages so I was a little rusty early. I still don't have everything down at times, but I make due. Regardless, here are the results of my SNG...
So I've paid for the DADI tourney with this win, but I still have the sidebets to deal with. Regardless, I needed a win as I've been in the dumps lately, so I'll take anything I can get right now...even if it is a $3 SNG.
Hope to see you all tonight! For the tourney info click the picture below. Sign up you friggin' omatards!
posted by TripJax @ 4:25 PM,
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TRICK DADI's: We Are Sofa King We Todd Did
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
TRICK DADI's: We Are Sofa King We Todd Did
Well it seems I've set myself up for a tough run in the DADI Special Omalympics tournament. The first DADI blossomed into a tournament defined by the bounties being offered by numerous bloggers. The second installment is shaping up to be a tournament of last longer bets. Somehow, someway, I've managed to get involved in last longer bets with some formidable opponents. Team TRICK DADI's (GCox, Jordan, and myself) will go up against Sur-Mow-Shark (Surflexus, Mowenumdown, and PoolShark) as well as the Traumatized by Drizzing on Daddy All-Stars (TraumaPoker, Drizztdj, and Daddy).
So, that pretty much uses up my bankroll at PokerStars. For the time being all future side bets potentially involving me should be directed towards the nearest wall. You can tell I like my chances, eh?!
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I'm going to keep this section uber vague for good reason. As some of you may know from reading my earlier days of blogging, I used to be a dealer in a local game a buddy of mine runs. A while back I decided it was no longer my bag, but my buddy has continued at it. The game has progressed from a 1/2 limit table once a week when we first started to a 2/5 NL and 5/10 NL game every week. The 5/10 NL just recently started and my buddy told me a 2005 WSoP bracelet winner attended the most recent gamee. I gave him the "yeah right" and he proceeded to give me details/specifics that all checked out (I did some research on cardplayer.com and a few other places online). So that was pretty cool. I'll leave it at that.
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The connection woes continue. I am at my wits end and I'm not sure what else I can do other than stop playing until it is resolved. Dnasty mentioned I should get some network sniffer software to track my network problems so I downloaded a program, but am clueless as to how to use it. I'll do some research on it. I'm very frustrated as I'm trying to clear a bonus at Hollywood, and am running out of time, but everytime I get on a table I get timed out and kicked from the table. It is enough to make me want to throw my laptop across the room. Why am I paying $40+ a month for high speed online access when this continually happens? Aaaarrrrggggghhhhh!
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Noting the above, FullTilt is about to become my new home away from home. They seem to be the only site I never have connection problems with (knocking on wood as I type). Thank you FullTilt.
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I feel like I left this post lacking, but time has been a commodity lately so, until next time...
posted by TripJax @ 11:23 AM,
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Fasst Post
Monday, January 09, 2006
Fasst Post
Work is kicking my ass today. As for your ass, get it on over to PokerStars and sign up for the next DADI PLO8 tournament this Wednesday. Details can be located by clicking the ass in this post.Sorry this post sucked ass. I'll be back tomorrow with content for realz.
posted by TripJax @ 3:18 PM,
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The Origin Of The TripJax Name
Friday, January 06, 2006
The Origin Of The TripJax Name
I thought I would take a moment today to shed some light on the origin of my handle, TripJax, used at this here blog and most of the poker sites where I play. I've only been using the alias since I created this blog, but a part of the name has roots well beyond that time and is much more important than just a name for poker.At the tender age of 15 I wanted nothing more than to get a job. Looking back on things, I have no idea why I was so gung ho about working for the man. I guess I saw Pops bring home the bacon every other week and wanted a piece of that action. Even if my piece would pale in comparison. When I landed my workers permit I set my sites on potential employers and eventually landed a job with K-mart. Remember the blue light special? Yeah, that's around the time I was working with them. At the time I didn't have a car or a license, but K-mart was close enough for me to ride my bike or get a quick ride as needed.
My K-mart gear came with a few shirts, the gay red smock, and a nametag. With the nametag came a sheet of sticky letters. Not long into my tenure I noticed something happening that really annoyed me. For some reason, I hated when customers called me by my name like they knew me, just because I had the nametage on. "Hey Jason, can you help me get this from the top shelf." "Be a dear, Jason, and check the price on this for me." Now don't get me wrong, I wasn't a jackass to the customers, but inside it irked me to no end. I don't know why, but it did.
Enter the sticky letters for the nametag as my answer. One day, while taking my 15 minute break, I decided to pull the sheet of left over letters from my locker. I took as many consonants as would fit and stuck them on the back of my nametag. Then, each day I went into work I exchanged the s in Jason for a different consonant. For example:
- Javon
- Jaron
- Jadon
- Jalon
- Jaqon
- Jazon
- Jaxon
You get the idea. For some reason, either the managers didn't care or didn't notice as it never became a problem. In fact, I went from hating when people said my name to hoping they would say my name. There was a small satisfaction in watching people fumble around with a name they had rarely, if ever, seen. It became a game of sorts for me.
But an interesting thing happend. When I would wear the Jaxon nametag, people would always compliment me for having a very cool name. More and more I started going with the Jaxon moniker. By the time I was 16, I had already determined that my first born would be a son and he would be named Jaxon.
On December 12, 2000, my angelic wife gave birth to our first child, a boy, named Jaxon. Funny how things work huh?!
Flash forward to 2004 and I've decided to join the wonderful world of poker blogging. I'm trying to come up with a name that will work with my personality, the direction I want to go with the blog, and one that will probably be available at each poker site. I also wanted to find a name that was an available domain as I wanted to purchase the rights. After fumbling around for a while I found myself thinking back to my K-mart days and my nametag shenanigans. Then it hit me, why not make something work with Jax, which is our shortname for the boy. It has pokery connatations what with the Jacks in the deck of cards and all. Then it hit me, why not TripJax? I checked the domain name availability and was a little surprised to find it available. I bought it immediately and the rest is, well you know...
So that's it. I'm sorry I turned a quick story into a friggin' book, but sometimes I get caught in the moment when writing. I guess it took me back.
The picture above is courtesy of EasyCure and is the pic he uses for my link at his blog. If you aren't reading him or have never visited his site, get on over there...it's good stuff.
posted by TripJax @ 9:53 AM,
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Ready, Set, Goal!
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Ready, Set, Goal!
I didn't touch the computer last night. I could have, but didn't. I just wanted a peaceful night on the couch with wifey and, erm, the National Championship. I didn't really care who won the game, but I predicted Texas would pull it out.I think it was very good for the game to have Texas win the championship. Do we really need more dynasty talk? Frankly, I'm glad to see the way things panned out. I'm guessing Wonka is a happy man as well. Kudos to you Longhorns.
Though I didn't play any poker last night, I did put some thought into what I would like to accomplish in 2006 (check out the cool 2006 pic). I'm gonna keep it simple and try not to conquer the world. I don't want to dream up goals that I either don't really want to accomplish or are set so high I will be unhappy attempting to meet them. To that end, I offer my goals:
- Play the games I enjoy playing.
- Make as many right decisions as possible in those games.
- Build my current bankroll by at least 800% (including bonus money).
- Work on my MTT play.
- Win an MTT.
- Get back into my 6-max SNG Challenge.
- Pay for Okie-Vegas with bankroll.
- Pay for family vacation with bankroll.
- Increase my limits, especially my SNG buy-in limit.
I may add or adjust this list as time goes on, but these are the things that jumped out at me. The bankroll growth is pretty high because I have such a small bankroll right now. I cashed out my full roll to pay for our 2005 family vacation and some other things and have slowly built it back up to around $250 (sad right?!) I would like to get that up to around $2000+ and go from there. I think the best way for me to accomplish this is to focus on my SNG Challenge which is built on increasing or decreasing your buy-in as it pertains to your current bankroll.
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If anyone would like to pimp the DADI: Special Omalympics tournament on their blog sidebar, just let me know and I'll give you the source code for the thumbnail I have in my Announcement box.
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For anyone who read the above bullet points and is wondering what the heck is Okie-Vegas, click the link and check it out. Just read the post and about halfway down you'll see Okie-Vegas explained.
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I took a pretty tough beat away from the tables yesterday when I took my car to the shop for repairs. When driving for more than 10 minutes or so I start to smell gas and have problems with the car wanting to go when I step on the gas. I figured it was something to do with the fuel injection, fuel filter, gas pump or something along those lines. I know diddly about cars so I was grasping at what it could be. Turns out I have a beat up head gasket and two of the cylinders are filling up with water/antifreeze. I got an estimate for fixing it from two different places and both were in the $1000 range.
This pretty much sux as my car isn't worth $1000. It's a dinosaur, a 1991 Pontiac Sunbird, but it is paid for and has very low mileage for its age (less than 85,000 miles). So now I have to make a decision on fixing it and continue not having a car payment - with a risk of having more problems in the future - or buying a new/used car and starting another car payment. Both of our cars are paid for and it has been nice not having to deal with a car payment for a while, especially since wifey isn't working right now. For now, I'm driving a car with only 2 cylinders working for me until I can figure out what to do. I work about 1/3 a mile from my house so until I decide I'll be going from point A to point B and back, that's it.
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Speaking of life bad beat stories, it's high time I remind everyone of the share blog I created long ago, KickedInTheJunk. I never mention it here and it has been sitting dormant for a while so I figured it was time to re-energize it. Basically, KickedInTheJunk is a share blog where anyone and everyone can go and vent - anonymous or not. I, for one, try not to post hand histories or mucho bad beat stories on this blog so I figured I could create that site for when I need to vent. But don't think it is solely for poker. One of my entries was right after some assclown stole my lawnmower and I just had to get it out of my system. If you are pissed off about anything and want to get it out, that's your place. If you are solely a reader and don't have a blog, here's your chance. Jump on over and give it a whirl. Junk gets kicked everyday, but if you don't post it, no one else can feel your pain.
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Well that will have to do it for today. Thanks for taking the time to spend a part of your day with me.
posted by TripJax @ 9:10 AM,
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Where Everyone Deserves A Ribbon, But Only The Best Get Paid
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Where Everyone Deserves A Ribbon, But Only The Best Get Paid
First, let me note I switched up a few things in order to create the announcements section you now see over there on the left. Rather than waste space with the About Me section, I just moved that info to the About TripJax link above. So, for the time being, I will be using that section to announce the DADI: Special Omalympics PL Omaha 8 Or Better tournament at PokerStars on January 11, 2006 at 9pm. The password is again blogsaregay and the tournament is now available in the private tourney tab. The buy-in is $10 + $1. Go sign-up early! The Special Omalympics: Where Everyone Deserves A Ribbon, But Only The Best Get Paid.Moving on, if you haven't already, go read April's post about plans for a blogger event and sending as many bloggers as possible to 2006 WSoP events. In a previous post I outlined an idea for building a tournament payout sufficient to send a blogger to the main event. I have thought a good amount about if this is feasible and, while I think it could happen, I think we might be better served running satellite tournaments to the smaller events, thus getting more bloggers into the action.
Over the next couple of days I will see if I can formulate an easy plan/schedule for some tournaments that will send some bloggers to the event of their choice. I know there is the WPBT tournaments and I'm sure numerous other bloggers formulating a plan to get this going, but it can't hurt to have a number of people working at it. At the last DADI tournament Cmitch asked if the reason we did the tournament was to see if we could get enough players for a WSoP satellite event. While that was not the intent, we were able to see that 60+ bloggers/readers are willing to get together for a DADI tournament. Thus, it might be a good idea to set up some future DADI events as qualifiers. I'll crunch numbers and talk with Jordan to see if we can make it work.
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I had a pretty good run last night to at least get my self back in the right direction. I found some pretty cool 5-max SNG's at Hollywood that pay out to the top 2 which is right up my alley. I managed to win the first one I played so I'm optimistic that these might work well for me since I already like playing the 6-max SNG's . I also managed to turn a joke of an amount of money at Titan into something to work with - albeit a small amount to work with.
After burning through my Titan Instant Bankroll trying to clear their bonus requirements, I ended up with less than $2.00 in the account. Last night I decided to try and build it back up with some Heads-Up action. I'm happy to report I managed to grow that pocket change more than 1500% and it is now above $20. Geez, I really got a build my bankroll back up so winning $20 isn't such a monumental event for me.
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The picture above is my boy. He's pretending to be something, but I can't remember what it is - maybe an Army Man or a Power Ranger or something like that. I have a nice PartyPoker hat and a craptastic PartyPoker hat and, as you can see, I gave him the craptastic hat. I just thought the pic was funny so I had to share. Sometimes I get the feeling there really are kids looking like this playing at PartyPoker. That's it for today folks. See you tomorrow!
posted by TripJax @ 10:29 AM,
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Shorty To Kick Off 2006
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Shorty To Kick Off 2006
Welly, welly, welly if it isn't 2006. To ring in the new year, if you haven't already seen the previous post, we're kicking off another DADI tournament January 11th. See below (or here) for details.
I don't have a ton of direction for this post as I'm strapped for time, so I'll try to hit on a couple of things quickly.
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Happy Birthday GCox. This is the furthest you'll be from your next decade birthday, so take it all in and enjoy it. I'll crack open a beer in your honor tonight!
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I was reading a post from flopilicious the other day that reminded me of a service I had signed up for a while back and never ended up using, Poker Dominator. It's basically a free service that helps you keep up with your bankroll, but more importantly, track your sessions. It works for cash games, MTT's, SNG's and pretty much any game. I originally chose not to use the service as I felt the session entries took too long to enter, plus I was about to cashout the bulk of my roll for vacation anyway. I figured I would go down that road eventually and never really thought about it again until his post.
Turns out they have upgraded the service to allow you to create templates of games you play often. Therefore, it is very easy to add sessions now and was enough to gain my interest again. As part of my 2006 ToDo list - of which I've yet to post to this blog - I want to better track my game and my bankroll. Thus, this service is right up my alley. I realize there may be much better programs and/or services available to do this type of tracking, but I don't know of them so for now this will be my new home for bankroll and session tracking.
Well of course, from the moment I began tracking my sessions this past week, my roll took a nose dive. I played two $24 + $2 MTT's and was booted from each while all-in with AA. I then went through a span of 10 straight brutal SNG's or HU matches finding the money only a few times, but never 1st place. In the end, I was down pretty bad, but my goals are long term so I'm not gonna sweat it. It's just never fun to start off a new project so poorly and have to work your way out. Building a hole is never fun.
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My game feels undone right now. I'm not happy with the games I'm playing because a good portion of my roll is tied up in bonus chasing at sites where my connection is not working out too well. Therefore, I'm struggling to find any semblance/order. I've decided to finish my current bonuses and then get back to my bread and butter, 6-max and full table SNG's (forget the previous paragraph where I sucked at SNG's...dohl!). Also, I will play those on sites I have the least problems with because my game suffers when I'm constantly worrying about my connection. I know I will be leaving some potential rewards and bonus money on the table by not playing cash games, but I want to get back to the part of poker I enjoy for a while. Eventually I want to put more time in at the short-handed limit tables, but not just yet.
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Damnit, I wanted to put more into this post, but work beckons. Hopefully more will come tomorrow. Sorry this was all tripe.
posted by TripJax @ 3:21 PM,
,