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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.

In case you were in a cave somewhere with Usama this weekend and didn't hear the news, a fellow blogger, Absinthe, hit it big this past weekend by winning the LA Poker Classic Event 1. He pocketed $113, 583 for 1st place, which was approximately $113,508 more than I made this weekend playing poker. That is to say I had a good weekend, but it doesn't even come close to his. Not even in the same galaxy. My weekend was grinding out $5 here and $10 there. His was genuinely impressive. Kudos to you Absinthe. I know it was the Mojo I sent you at the final table that did it for you.

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.

I finally finished my VPP (www.vegaspokerpro.com) at Hollywood last night. It was much more difficult than it should have been, but that is not VPP or Hollywood's fault. Mainly, my struggles stem from the connection problems I had last month and prior. Once I was able to clear those up the promo went rather quickly.

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.

I think I've learned two things from the Hollywood experience noted above. First, my strong suit is clearly SNG's so I should try and focus on them more. Second, when I do decide to bonus whore again, I need to deposit more than I have been depositing. Not only to take adavantage of the bonuses the site offers, but to play more comfortably with the chips I have, whether 1 or 2 tabling.

After some very strong play at the SNG tables this weekend I've run my paultry bankroll to its highest point this year. That's not to say I have a big bankroll - at all - just that I seem to be running well lately and I'm feeling much better about my play. I still have some work to do in order to grow it enough to pay for Okie-Vegas, but I know I will get there.

I had an incredible chance to make some great money last night and just didn't seal the deal. After some bonus whoring at Titan last month I was entered into a $2,500 freeroll last night. The tourney paid 30 places and only 94 players signed up! Talk about overlay. On top of that, some of the players that signed up were sitting out. First place was near $400 and even 30th place paid $25, not bad for a freeroll.

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.

Me thinks that's gonna have to do it for today. Congrats to the Seahawks ong win last night. I'm sure MeanGene has something to say about your chances of winning it all.

posted by TripJax @ 9:39 AM,

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