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TripLife
Wednesday, May 31, 2006

TripLife

TripBoy is quite the cool kid. When he walks (make that runs) into a room, he immediately sends a positive vibe throughout. He could convince a three toed sloth to dance like MC Hammer. Erm, whatever that means.

In all seriousness, as much as he has learned from me, I have learned from him. He is my insipartion in so many aspects of my life. Tomorrow Jax graduates from Pre-K. He is my little buddy, but he is growing up fast. I don't think I could be more proud of him right now.

In August he starts elementary school, which is bringing TripWife near tears. I'm happy for him, but I know she can't bear to see him grow up. Like those NationWide commercials, she better not blink cause it's gonna happen fast. Rock on Jaxon.

Speaking of TripWife, she is also quite the cool cat. I'm not sure how, but I hit the jackpot when I met her. She is incredible. Three examples:

1) I head to Okie-Vegas next week for four days of poker, drinking and all out good times. She is all for it and is definitely taking one for the team in handling both kids on her own while I'm gone. Thankfully, we have family and friends to help her out while I'm gone.

2) When PokerStars announced their next freeroll I was pumped, until I saw the date. June 18th is TripWife's birthday. I mentioned how I was just going to have to miss out on the tourney and she immediately told me I should play. She said we should just go out June 17th to party so the 18th should be pretty wide open for a little PokerStars action. How cool is that?!

3) Finally, she's smokin' hot.

Nuff said.

Hate I don't have much pokery stuff to write about currently, but TripLife is filling up my days and nights these days. I have a stack of blog posts I printed today so I could read during some down time tomorrow. So, I'll hopefully get to commenting across the sphere tomorrow. In the meantime, please visit any of the links on my blogroll for mmmm mmmm good content.

I had planned on spitting out a Blogger Spotlight as well as a Poker Sites Take Notice this week, but those will just have to come when my heads in the game. Right now it just isn't. Other than a few tokens at FullTilt, I really don't have much money on any sites as I've cashed out in prep for Okie-Vegas. I can't wait to hit some live casinos next week. G, I'm coming soon!

DADI seemed to go off without a hitch last night. Yours truly donked off just before the first break, but still had a good time railing for a while. I wasn't able to stay the whole time, but I'm happy to hear how things finished up. Hoyazo continued his kick ass MTT play by taking DADI 6 down. I would suggest reading his recap here. I don't know of anyone else who details their own play in a tourney as well as hoy. He really seems to zone in when he is playing. Congrats on a nice win man and congrats to everyone else who made the money or won some VPP points.

Well, that's it for me folks. Thanks for reading! I'll probably be back to write Thursday or Friday.

posted by TripJax @ 3:01 AM, ,




Flight Of One Crazy Ass Asian Mofo or "Everyone Completes The Questions..."
Friday, May 26, 2006

Flight Of One Crazy Ass Asian Mofo or "Everyone Completes The Questions..."

I couldn't decide which title I liked best, so I went with them both. More on that later.

Not sure where this post is headed, but lets get started shall we? I haven't pimped the upcoming DADI 6 recently so here it is. To keep things fresh we've switched it up this month to Pot Limit Hold'em. Details are in the picture to the left.

When we decided on the date, we didn't realize we were scheduling it on Memorial Day (night), so hopefully that won't be much of a problem for you all.

I figure most people will be in detox mode at that point and ready to just slump next to the computer and use a stick to click the keys, thus not expending too much energy. Or is that just me? No matter what, we hope to see you there.



If you haven't yet, please make sure to go visit Cmitch over at O-Poker and congratulate him on winning a seat to the WSOP Main Event through Full Tilt Poker. Cmitch is clearly a hawesome player and I can't wait to keep up with his action at the main event this year. If he plays the main event the way he played the satellite, without fear, I have a feeling he will soar. Good luck to you, Sir.

Next up in the congratulatory line is hoyazo, who is absolutely burning it up these days. Last night he WON the 40k on Party for a cool $10k. I implore you to head on over to his blog and give him a virtual pat on the butt.



He's late on the scene, but thankfully Iakiris was gracious enough to plop his answers to my questions down in a blogtastic post. It is so out there I just had to give it props here. He and Pauly win the award for most original answers me thinks, though I've enjoyed everyone's take.

Please go check it out here, but let me just throw out a few of my favorite lines below. I believe I laughed out loud at least 7 times while reading the post. That's good stuff.

12. What satisfies you more, your aces holding up for a big pot or a bluff working for a big pot
Strange as it sounds, I refuse to play Aces. I used to play them all the time, with varying degrees of success, but then I started reading poker blogs and have since become convinced that they are biblically cursed to a fate worse than cracking. However, waste not want not, and in that spirit I invented The Iak (pronounced Ike) which is to muck your Aces face up, while smiling and noting, "Don't need 'em...". Can't overstate how badly this really fucks people's shit up. The chatbox is reeling for a good 5 hands after it happens. Yes, on its face the move itself seems -EV, but I would refer you to the Hoy as another example of a truly can't lose mindfuck. What hand, after all would you put someone on who reraises you your whole stack, if the same villain is willing to muck AA? What hand indeed, my friends, what hand indeed...I take a similar tack with bluffing and announce to the table, "I am going to reraise on a bluff for villain's entire stack". Those exact words, every single time I bluff. If you thought villain was having a rough time speaking my language before, a couple rounds of this kind of rope-a-dope and he's crying for mommeee.Yeah, it usually costs me a couple of buy-ins to really pull these off, but its all about Table image baby. Table Image.

11. Who was your first poker blog read?
Tao of Poker - and on that note, has anyone noticed that the website and the book are radically different? One's full of whores, pimps, drugs and violence - often all on the same page. Now that's how you teach someone poker! The other is a square-shaped book [see above for further clarification] written by a guy we need to get laid. Seriously. It's the right thing to do. Before he tells us how 'her' breasts felt like sandbags.

17. If you had to pin it down to one specific trait, what does a great poker player have (or do) that separates them from an average player?
Great question. The one uniform trait I see, and I mean speaking top to bottom of the world's very best is that they (to paraphrase Cliff Clavin) are not me. Nor are any of them in my kitchen. Who says Final Jeopardy is hard?

And last but not least, his thoughts on my requesting he answer the questions.

Alright, per specific personal request from JJJ himself*.

*He was drunk, naturally - quite a mean drunk too most would agree - and was threateningly waving a machete of some foreign make. I asked as to my offense, and he replied, "Once more into the breach, dear friend..." To which I replied, "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun..." Well he cut off my left nut right there with one swell foop. And as I lay dying, through the sound and fury I heard him whisper, "Everyone completes the Questions..." before he stole away into the murderous dark. Yes it happened just like that, shortly after last week's Mookie.

All I can say is that is one crazy ass asian mofo. Good stuff.


If you get a chance, go answer Klopzi's questions he posed recently in this post. I started to answer them, but realized I'm not going to be much help. Due to the fact that I have typically cashed out my winnings for vacations and other goals I set for myself, I haven't had a chance to really move up in limits per say. As I'm building the roll each year I start to go up, but I end up putting myself back into a hole when I cash out. Great for paying off vacation, bad for becoming a better playah.

I know this is a serious weakness in my game I need to fix if I'm ever going to grow as a poker playah.

Next week I'll be dropping a new Blogger Spotlight on the scene so look for that one probably Monday.


Follow-Up Thoughts From My Previous Post:

I really liked my title. Glad you guys noticed.

Big Ups To These Fine Folks Who Left A Comment In the Last Post:

pokerpeaker
bloodyp
iamhoff
smokkee
jordan
brettjungblut
pokerenthusiast
csquard
mookie
iakiris


posted by TripJax @ 1:09 PM, ,




Bubble Entendre
Thursday, May 25, 2006

Bubble Entendre

Last night I played one game, The Mookie, and had a good ole time in the process. The final result is probably a given if you read the title of the post ( I bubbled going out 6th out of 42 with 5 places paying), but das pokah baby. I had a few cards drop my way just to get that far, but I feel like I played a pretty good game in the process. Early on I got into a SB vs. BB hand with smokkee where we both had K with a stinky kicker, but my kicker was a tad more funky than his(his K8 vs my K6). Unfortunately for smokkee I was suited and the turn and river brought my suit to help me and cripple him.

That hand got me above average and helped me set a decent pace. Not long after I flopped the nut flush and took all the chips from a K high flopped flush. He was low on chips so I didn't chip too high on that one. Other than that, I don't recall too many hands. The only monster I recall was AA and everyone folded to my raise. When we got down to the bubble, I was either last or next to last in chips when DrewsPop got it all in against SirWaffles who was the chip leader. Pop was dominated AK vs. AT, but hit his Ten on the river to stay alive.

After all the hands that were played during the tournament, it is wild how one hand - and even one card - that I was not involved in proved to be a factor in me cashing or bubbling. I would like to think we all play the game with a resolve to put ourselves in a position to cash and/or win any tournament we play. Sometimes, however, there are mitigating circumstances that you cannot control that end up making the difference in a perceived success or a gut punch disappointment. Last night was neither a success or a disappointment as it was not enough money to worry about, plus I was happy to see Pop do well as he is my buddy.

Poker is a wild game. Every turn of the card can make you or break you, sometimes when you are not even in the hand or at the same table. It can be the most frustrating at times, but truly makes this game an adventure to play.

Mookie, I really enjoy your tournament and I think Gilain is right, for me it is the closest thing to a home game on the virtual felt. And keep on live blogging them each week as I enjoy reading the action during the tournament or the recap the next day to see what I missed at the other tables. I'm sure I'm not alone in that respect.

I see it all too often these days...a post about a NL cash game player where his/her monster pre-flop hand is toast by the river at the hands of an inferior hand. What we don't often see is the guts of the hand and the true thinking behind how the hand played out and what the winner was thinking in the process. Yes, many times it is a donkfish playing horrible and being rewarded for his actions, especially at the very low limits. However, how often is it actually a calculated well thought out play where the inferior hand played every street correctly given his set of parameters and managed to stack the guy playing the monster hand?

Like it or not, I want to be that guy finding the spots to take inferior hands and stack the monsters with them. Monsters only come so often and sometimes even when they do come - even when you play each street correctly - you still get spanked with them at times. I don't want to be the guy waiting around all day for a monster. I want to play my hands correctly and take calculated but correct risks. When the monsters come...awesome...when they don't...make the game work for you in the interim.

Many poker books preach the way of the aggressive player, and other avenues have given us a framework to find successful ways to break the tight players bank. Abdul comes to mind, but what I've read from him is based on limit games. Lately Waffles has been pimping Fluxer like he is the next coming, but I gotta tell ya, the more and more I read the more I'm interested to hear what they both (and others) have to say. At first I was pretty tired of Waffles seemingly over doing it, but after a while I liked hearing the way they think about the game and how they put the non traditional plays into perspective. Not saying it is right or the way, but it is great to get it out there to discuss.

I don't even play enough NL cash games to enter the arena of thought on putting yourself in a position to destroy the field over the long haul, but I hope to get there someday and reading fellow poker bloggers will help me get there.

Follow-Up Thoughts From My Previous Post:

A big thank you to the commenters who helped me feel a little better about this here blog. When you write nearly every day of the week it is inevitable that you will eventually be at a loss for words. I just have to learn that, though I should strive to blog everyday, sometimes I just have to do something else and let life happen. Usualy when you do that the material will write itself. It's just a friggin' blog, but I want to enjoy it and I have so far and plan to going forward. This is the longest I've ever stuck to writing anything, so every day is a new record for me.

Big Ups To These Fine Folks Who Left A Comment In the Last Post:

pokerfool
dawnsummers
hoyazo
smokkee
alcanthang
garyc
felty
iakaris
klopzi
csquard

posted by TripJax @ 11:27 AM, ,




TripSux
Tuesday, May 23, 2006

TripSux

It seems there just isn't anything remotely interesting going on in TripJaxville as far as poker goes. At work I am being absolutely bombarded with, erm, work. We just hired a Financial Advisor from a top competitor so that is keeping me busy, not to mention my typical work routine that has a tendency to get in the way when "more important" stuff crops up. I know, however, you are not here to read about my work, so I'll move on. Let's just leave it at posting at work has been pretty much impossible lately.

At home things are pretty much the same. By the time I get home I'm whooped and there is always something else to do. Lately I've had absolutely no desire (nor time) to put any legitimate blogging time in at home. My sole free/down time goes towards banging away at the virtual felt. As of late I've been pretty much break even, except for my continued success at the token SNG's on Full Tilt. I've yet to play an MTT, but those tokens are burning a hole in my account at Full Tilt so I've got to use them soon.

All the above pretty much makes for a bad blogger. For the past year I've tried to post every week day, but that is going to be pretty tough here for a few weeks. I'll do my best to post every day, but at least you will know why if you don't see me update daily.


I did a little experiment on Saturday night that end up being rather amusing. It was pretty late, but I was not tired so I decided to play some SNG's with a few up front requirements in regards to my play. First, I would not enter a pot by calling. If I was going to play, it would be for a raise, no matter what. Second, I was going to do my best not to do any calling post flop as well. Third, I was going to raise much more than the typical raise amount preflop and bet strong post flop to force the players to play my game.

With the blinds at 10/20, I wasn't raising to 50 or 60 or even 75, I was raising to a minimum of 150, but usually more. And as the blinds increased, my bets increased. Playing this style afforded me the chance to really keep players off balance. When I hit the board hard with a crap hand early, I was able to show down my craptastic winner. This caused a few more players to play back at me, but I was still able to control the pace with my betting. When I hit I bet. When I missed I bet. When I had monsters I bet. Bet Bet Bet. I bet the players into the ground. And interestingly, this made it really easy to tell when I was beat. If I was played back at after putting a big raise out there - and with my big stack - I knew where I stood. They on the other hand, could never figure me out.

I won both SNG's.

I'm not saying this is the way to play all the time, or even a profitable avenue, but it was sure neat to control the action and make such huge bets. I am already pretty aggressive at the tables and tend to help determine the pace of the game, but playing this extremely aggressive strong betting style was a rather fun time.

Follow-Up Thoughts From My Previous Post:

Yeah, that post sucked to. I need to get my head out of my ass.

In the bum news department, we have another Okie-Vegas casualty. After Kip, DNasty and Jordan dropped, I was sure we would maintain the rest of the crew, but oh well. That really sucks as I was looking forward to meeting Surf and his buddy. I'm only giving you a hard time Surf cause I really was stoked about you guys being there. That and I'm trying to guilt you back into the mix. Color me bummed. SteelerJosh, don't you dare drop!

For everyone else, if you are on the fence about coming to OV, jump on the fun side and get your bootay there. We'll be Casino poking, home game poking, lake tripping, bbqing, and much more. Good times, people, good times.

Big Ups To These Fine Folks Who Left A Comment In the Last Post:

mookie
pokerwolf
kipper
kgblovesoreos
pokerpeaker

posted by TripJax @ 11:46 AM, ,




Token Post
Friday, May 19, 2006

Token Post

When I asked the 21 questions the other day I never expected to get the response it has received so far. Looking back, Jordan was right and I'm glad most of you chose to answer the questions at your own blog. While I love comments, had everyone answered there it would have been pretty ugly. I guess that shows I didn't expect so many broggers playing along.

One cool thing is I even got an email from a non-brogger who reads my stuff and just wanted to offer his two cents. Thanks again for doing that EF. What was originally an attempt to fill some space on this here brog ended up filling some space else where. There I go clogging up the internet, one post at a time.

As many of you know, Full Tilt offers token SNG's in order to win tokens towards $26 or $75 MTT entries. I love these things. In fact, I think I love playing the token SNG's more than actually playing in the MTT's I earn with the tokens. I haven't had much success in the MTT's at Full Tilt, but I have a feeling things are going to change for the better.

As for the token SNG's, I've been nailing those things. Since they started offering the $6 +$.60, six player SNG's, I've been all over them like Al on a double shot of SoCo. I cashed out the bulk of my Full Tilt roll last week and with the $50 I had remaining, I quickly won 3 tokens with three 1st and one 2nd in 5 attempts. Mmmm, that smells good.

I've decided to build up as many tokens as possible and then make sure I only use them when my head is in the game and I know I have the time. No jumping into an MTT at 10pm on a weekday when the baby isn't feeling well and there is a show I want to watch as well. Focus is my friend.

Hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures of my finishes here in the near future. I could sure use the bankroll boost.

When I'm not playing the tokens at Full Tilt I'm spending the bulk of my time running my SNG Challenge at Ultimate Bet. Things have been up and down for me, but last night helped as I won the only SNG I entered. GCox and I decided to play one last game last night and we settled on a 10 player SNG. As usual, I ramped up my aggression and found myself raising a ton of hands. As I had hoped, my aggression paid off when a player moved all-in against me when I did hold a good hand. I doubled up early, hit a few roadblocks along the way, but never looked back as I went on to win it.

Unfortunately GCox bubbled when I was hoping we could battle it out for 1st place. I always hate seeing fellow broggers get knocked out when I am in the game too, especially on the bubble. However, das poker, and I'm in that same position more than I would like to recall. I did try and drop the hammer, but GCox woke up with Aces and would have sucked out on me had I not made a rare fold with my monster after his hefty raise. Next time I vow to push all-in with my monster if I sense he is holding an inferior hand like that.

Okie-Vegas is creeping up and to say I'm excited would be an understatement. My plane ticket was purchased last month so there is no backing out now. They better stock up on 30 pack Keystone Light cans in Oklahoma City next month.

Follow-Up Thoughts From My Previous Post:

Meek had a good idea to pick my favorite answer for each question and post. If I can find all the entries and the time to put it together, I'll do that next week. Good call meek.

Big Ups To These Fine Folks Who Left A Comment In the Last Post:

guin
gcox
meek
jusdealem

posted by TripJax @ 1:45 PM, ,




The Answers
Thursday, May 18, 2006

The Answers

No, I'm not talking about Allen Iverson, I'm just talking about the answers to my questions yesterday. First, however, I want to thank everyone who left a comment yesterday or answered my questions on their own brog.

As I noted, the idea hit me because I couldn't think of anything else to write about, but when I started seeing broggers answer the questions on their brog it put a smile on my face. That was very cool of you guys to do that. If anything, I gave you something to write about eh?!

And now, my craptastic answers:





1. What is the biggest mistake people make at a NL table?

Calling off their money with mediocre hands.

2. What is the biggest mistake people make at a Limit table?

Calling.

3. Why do you play poker?

It is one of the few hobbies that I enjoy in which I can make money. Plenty of hobbies end up costing money (including poker), but not many hobbies offer the chance to make money back.

4. If you weren't playing poker, what would you be doing?

Watching more nonsense on TV or reading.

5. What is your favorite poker book and why?

I rather enjoyed Positively Fifth Street

6. Who is your favorite poker player and why?

Phil Ivey. Bad ass.

7. Which poker player do you dislike the most and why?

The one that calls my bluff.

8. Do your coworkers know about your blog?

Only one, but I don't think he remembers the address and he is a poker player too. I'm not too concerned, but occasionally I worry big brother might not like what I'm doing here, even though it has zero to do with my profession.

9. What is the most you have won in a cash game or MTT (both live and online)?

Cash game: Live $75, Online $100+
MTT: Live $900, Online $250

10. What is the most you have lost in a cash game or in one day total (both live and online)?

$120

11. Who was your first poker blog read?

HDouble

12. What satisfies you more, your aces holding up for a big pot or a bluff working for a big pot?

Me likey the bluff win.

13. Why do you blog?

Then: To see what it would be like to actually keep a journal of my thoughts on a particular subject.
Now: The friendships I have made with people who share the same interest. Without the friendships I have made I would have been long gone.

14. Do you read blogs from an RSS reader like bloglines or do you visit each blog?

Mainly bloglines, though I regularly visit the actual sites to comment.

15. Would you rather play poker for a living than do what you currently do for a living?

Yes, if I could be successful and if I could better my families life in the process.

16. Do you wear a tin foil hat on occasion?

Yes, and I'm thinking about buying stock in a tin foil company.

17. If you had to pin it down to one specific trait, what does a great poker player have (or do) that separates them from an average player?

Making the right decision regardless of the money at risk.

18. Is Drizz the coolest person on the planet for naming his baby Vegas?

Indeed.

19. What is your primary poker goal and are you close to accomplishing it?

Make money and pay for our family vacation every year. 3 for 3 so far.

20. What is your primary online site and why?

Stars because they have the traffic, the software, the customer service, and the desire to constantly improve. Also, I can create private tournaments which is nice. Me likey Full Tilt too for the same reasons, though there traffic is not as huge as Stars.

21. What site do you dislike and why?

Party is on my shit list right now. They need to go ahead and give me $75 free so I can decide if I like them again or not.

Once again, thanks to everyone who answered the questions. I appreciate it.

posted by TripJax @ 1:51 PM, ,




Dude, WTF?
Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Dude, WTF?

 As I was getting ready for work this morning I pondered a simple question. "Dude, what the fuck am I going to write about today?"

I know I'm not alone in the blogosphere when I say sometimes I just don't have shizzy to write about. That said, the little wtf? moment gave me an idea. Well, mainly the question mark gave me an idea. Why don't I throw some questions out there and let my dear readers answer any and all that they please in the comments.

To save on time and space when commenting, just put the number you are answering and, erm, your answer.

edit
Some folks have mentioned answering the questions on their blog. That would be cool too...
/edit

Lets light this candle.

1. What is the biggest mistake people make at a NL table?

2. What is the biggest mistake people make at a Limit table?

3. Why do you play poker?

4. If you weren't playing poker, what would you be doing?

5. What is your favorite poker book and why?

6. Who is your favorite poker player and why?

7. Which poker player do you dislike the most and why?

8. Do your coworkers know about your blog?

9. What is the most you have won in a cash game or MTT (both live and online)?

10. What is the most you have lost in a cash game or in one day total (both live and online)?

11. Who was your first poker blog read?

12. What satisfies you more, your aces holding up for a big pot or a bluff working for a big pot?

13. Why do you blog?

14. Do you read blogs from an RSS reader like bloglines or do you visit each blog?

15. Would you rather play poker for a living than do what you currently do for a living?

16. Do you wear a tin foil hat on occasion?

17. If you had to pin it down to one specific trait, what does a great poker player have (or do) that separates them from an average player?

18. Is Drizz the coolest person on the planet for naming his baby Vegas?

19. What is your primary poker goal and are you close to accomplishing it?

20. What is your primary online site and why?

21. What site do you dislike and why?

That's going to have to do it for me. I think I will give my answers in my post tomorrow. Most of the questions are pretty lame, but I'm just having a turd moment in the ole noggin' so you'll have to forgive me.

I also think I need to write about what I linked in number 8 on my next post. This whole blog thing and work can get hairy and I hate the way things have turned for Bob. It's bullshit, but I'll delve deeper later.


Follow-Up Thoughts From My Previous Post:

Before DADI makes an appearance at the end of this month, don't forget that the WPBT has an upcoming tournament this Sunday. Make that tournaments.

Big Ups To These Fine Folks Who Left A Comment In the Last Post:

hoyazo
wolverinefan

posted by TripJax @ 11:26 AM, ,




Go Ahead, Try Some
Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Go Ahead, Try Some

Yeah, we've been pimping it, and I sort of forgot to set it up. However, fret not dear readers as I've remedied that shit hella quick. As you can see below, I've signed up and I hope you do too.

Go Ahead, Try Some.


posted by TripJax @ 5:08 PM, ,




Great Odin's Raven...
Monday, May 15, 2006

Great Odin's Raven...

...it's been nearly a week since I dropped a post on thine asses. In my last post I did give fair warning I would be out of town and probably unable to post and by gawd I lived up to that warning.

To be honest, there were a couple of times I could have snuck on a computer and dropped a quick post, but I just didn't have it in me. Something about being out of town puts me in a different zone...a zone where I can't form rational thoughts or complete sentences. See, I'm back in town and that last sentence still sucked.

I've got my work cut out for me in this post.



I did manage to make it over to Falstaff's house for some shorthanded poker last Thursday night. After a few no shows we ended up with only 4 players, but it made for a fun game. We saw lots of hands in the dark even against nice raises and other such shenanigans. Mrs. Falstaff proved to be the ass kicker of the night nearly tripling her buy-in and felting Sir Falstaff twice. The money stayed in the family so it was all good.

With Mrs. Falstaff taking most of our money, I found myself down pretty much the whole night. I only ended up making money on the night due to the very last hand. We were playing .25/.50 NL and I bought in for $50, but was down to just under $30 when I raised it up to 2.50 with 8 9 offsuit. I had been playing rather loose most of the night and raising with just about anything. The only other non Falstaff at the game, Dan, called my raise. The flop came down 9 8 9 giving me a flopped full house. Dan threw out a $5 bet and I called. The turn was the case 9 giving me quads. To my surprise, Dan announced all-in and I sheepishly flipped over my quads and called. It felt good to have quads and take down the hand, but I knew I had probably just ended the night for us all. After Dan said he was out I knew it was time to quit the game and just spend a little time with the Falstaff's talking it up over some beers.

Midway through the game we received a call from Daddy and dial-a-shots were discussed. Unfortunately, he had no liquor in site so we settled on a dial-a-beer. It's always nice to partake in a dial-a-insert alcohol beverage here with fellow broggers. I had a great time with the Falstaff's and want to send out a hearty thanks for the hospitality.


Before I left for Charlotte last week I cashed out $1000 from my bankroll in preparation for the trips I have upcoming, with Okie-Vegas at the top of the list. It was nice to finally take some profit off the table and know that it is ready to be use towards the goals I set for myself. That is a damn good feeling. I still have some money in a couple of accounts, but I would say you probably won't see me at many brogger events for a while until I can build it back up to a decent amount.

I have already begun a new SNG Challenge with the remaining money I have in my poker accounts and I'm looking forward to seeing if I can really work through it this time. My biggest obstacle in the past has not been poor performance, but lack of focus on the task at hand. With so many bonus offers out there and so many blogger events going on, it is easy to fill my limited poker playing time with sessions that aren't exactly on the list of things to do. Hopefully this cash out will force me to focus on the task at hand a little bit better. We'll see.


Along with not posting recently, being away from the computer has also meant I've been missing out on the reading as well. Currently my bloglines shows 111 brogs to read with many of those broggers pumping out post after post during my absence. I have my work cut out for me.


On Saturday I played in two $40 tournaments and was sent home packing in both. I liked my play in both tournaments, but the cards did not want to play along. I watched as one of my buddies had the flop smack him in the face time and again, meanwhile I couldn't buy a card to help me. I also lost $20 on the cash game so overall it was a pretty shitty night. It was one of those nights I wish I would have just stayed home and watched a movie with TripWife. As I say, hindsight is shitty shitty.

One cool thing that did come from the tournament is I found a cool option for a card protector. I had forgotten to grab my trusty donkey card protector given to me by mookie and was scrambling for something to use. I had recently purchased some Altoids breath strips and they did the trick quite nicely. The metal tin is small, but the perfect size for covering your cards. On top of that, whenever you need to freshen the breath they are readily available.

I found anytime I took a tough beat or misplayed a hand, I would take a breath strip which seemed to calm me down and turn my focus away from the result of the hand and back to the play at hand. It helped me move on. It only cost me $100 (in losses that night) to find a $.99 card protector. The donkey protector will still be my primary choice, but it is nice to have a back-up.

Follow-Up Thoughts From My Previous Post:

As I suspected, 31 is pretty much a non event. Thankfully, no one sang to me at work, but I did have a great time with the family. TripWife and my friends and family rock as I got some pretty cool swag. If you guys are reading this, thanks for the cool shit.

Also, thank you to everyone who commented in the post wishing me a happy birthday. Getting that many comments was very cool. I appreciate it.

Big Ups To These Fine Folks Who Left A Comment In the Last Post:

csquard
iamhoff
alcanthang
chad
fastpitch27
kaellinn18
gcox25
bloodyp
ingoal
stephengant
mookie19
jordan
drewspop
pokerpeaker
carmensincity
kipper

posted by TripJax @ 11:36 AM, ,




31
Tuesday, May 09, 2006

31

Having my Dad call and leave a voice mail on my work phone singing Happy Birthday is pretty cool. Having my co-workers sing Happy Birthday is decidedly not cool. Luckily the latter has not happened and there is only a couple more hours left in the work day so I hope I am in the clear. I don't know what it is, but having adults that are not in my family sing Happy Birthday to me is so weird. It reminds me of that scene in Office Space where everyone is passing around birthday cake and Milton gets left out.

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm off to the Queen City tomorrow on business and I doubt I'll be able to post the rest of the week. I did get confirmation from Falstaff that the home game is on this Thursday night at his house. Not sure if we are playing a tourney or cash games, but I'm stoked. Thanks for setting it up Falstaff. This will be my second time at his house in Charlotte and I certainly appreciate the hospitality that has been offered.

I'm on zero time at this point so I must run. Sorry this post sucked. Oh, I did win a SNG last night. Woohoo.

Follow-Up Thoughts From My Previous Post:

DADI loves you.

Big Ups To These Fine Folks Who Left A Comment In the Last Post:

highonpoker
iamhoff
drewspop
pokerpeaker
chane
tonysoprano0
tenmile
adamlabare

posted by TripJax @ 2:38 PM, ,




Weak Tight
Monday, May 08, 2006

Weak Tight

As in I'm feeling pretty weak and my muscles are tighter than Jordan's superman shirt. I worked in the yard this weekend and now it hurts to even type. I cut down about 15 tree branches and I've been cleaning up the resulting mess. Hanging from a ladder with a big ass chainsaw is not easy or smart. Do not try that at home kids.

Since it rained here yesterday I couldn't do any more clean-up work so my yard looks like a hurricane came through. The rain was a blessing as I was too tired from Saturday to do anymore work anyway. I still have a metric ass ton of debris to clean up (sorry to steal your metric as term Speaker).

I barely played any poker this weekend, and in fact didn't see the felt after Friday night. I did manage to lose a little dough however on the Kentucky Derby and the De La Hoya fight. This after just noting in my last post I only gamble in one pool a year. Doh!

I don't have much to write about today, but thankfully I can at least announce DADI 6. In the interest of changing it up, we've gone Pot Limit on dat ass. Details are in the picture, but if you have any questions let me know. As usual, Jordan has put together a great banner so if you would like to pimp the event feel free to copy and paste. If you need help, let me know.

Vegas Poker Pro.com has kindly offered a combined 2000 VPP Points for DADI 6. The VPP Points can be used at VPP's website for a variety of poker-related items and (poker and non-poker) gift certificates.

1000 Points will be awarded to the Winner of DADI 6.
500 Points will be awarded to the Bubble of DADI 6.
500 Points will be awarded as a Bounty on VPP_Dave.

Thank you to VPP for their contribution.

There will be no WPBT-POY points for this event. We were happy to have DADI 5 be a part of the WPBT-POY points, but Biggestron definitely has enough events lined up that there is no need to throw DADI in the mix going forward.

Posting this week will be sporadic at best. I'm going out of town Wednesday through Friday and I'm not sure if I'll have internet access. I'm hoping to play in a home game with Falstaff on Thursday, depending on if he can rally the troops in time.

Tomorrow is my birthday, but it is one of those meh years. I'm turning 31 which is so not 30 and no where near 40 so it is just kind of whatever. Still, TripWife loves that stuff so I'll play along. I asked for a pretty exciting gift this year...boxers. If you're going to lay around the house playing poker in your boxers, you should at least have ones with no holes in them.

Follow-Up Thoughts From My Previous Post:

Nada

Big Ups To These Fine Folks Who Left A Comment In The Last Post:

daddy
hoyazo
halo
bloodyp
kipper there you go kip, you are on the list!
tonysaprano0
gcox25

posted by TripJax @ 11:45 AM, ,




The Biggy, The Jake, and The Suck
Friday, May 05, 2006

The Biggy, The Jake, and The Suck

I have played (read: gambled) in a football pool known as The Biggy since 1999. The Biggy has been around for 32 years, which in itself is pretty amazing. At $375, the entry fee is steep, but I make it my only gambling each year outside of this little poker habit I have. In addition, I have a teammate so we split the entry fee.

The basics behind The Biggy seem complex to some, but are really simple once you get the hang of it. Here's the deal:

A list containing 18 preselected NFL and College football games are generated each week. You must predict a winner from each game listed. From there, you must list your predicted winners in slots 1 - 18 with your most confident pick in the 18 slot, then down from there. Each week a select few games must be listed in a particular spot. Usually slots 5, 7 and 11 have a specific game that must be listed in that spot. Otherwise, you are free to choose where a team is positioned in the slots.

Of the teams you choose, if they win you receive the points for that particular slot. If they lose, you receive zero points for that slot. Throw in a few over/unders, a team high score for NFL and College, and a shut out pick, and it all comes together. At the end of each week the points are added up for each Biggy Team and a weekly prize of $50 goes to the high score. If there is a tie the $50 is rolled over to the next week making that weekly prize $100. Four weeks during the season are "Biggy Busters" with more teams to pick and more money for the weekly prize.

At the end of the year, approximately 30% of the teams that originally signed up receive a payout. The payouts are usually pretty nice with 1st place usually getting between $2,000 and $5,000 depending on the number of entries.

So what the hell is all of this about and why should you care? First, we are all a bunch of degenerate gamblers so any stuff about gambling is like chocolate pudding, we eat it up. Second, there is someone I would like everyone to know about.

edit
There is charity talk ahead, but fret not dear reader, I'm not asking for your money or anything else.
/edit

On 9/11, we lost one of our Biggy teammates, Steven D. "Jake" Jacoby, who was a passenger on the plane hijacked and flown into the Pentagon. Since that time, friends, family, and supporters have rallied to create an event that supports the charities Jake supported during his life. In addition, this event helps generate money for a scholarship in his name at his former high school DeMatha.

The event I'm writing about is the The Jake Invitational Golf Classic. It will run May 22nd at the Heritage Hunt Golf and Country Club in Gainesville Virginia. Sponsorships range from $2,000 down to $150 for individual golfers (all registration fees include lunch, 18 holes of golf, cart, refreshments on the course, dinner, tournament gifts and the Awards Reception).

I know we are often bombarded with charitable requests both offline and here in the blogosphere, so I'm not looking for your donations here. However, if you are a golfer who lives in or around Virginia and would be interested in playing at a great course while also helping a great cause, then let me know. I know $150 is pretty steep for green fees, but it is a nice course.

Also, if anyone is interested in learning more about The Biggy and might be interested in signing up this coming football season, let me know.

Moving on...

Can someone shed some light on something that perplexes me so? I've always wondered how this works, but was not sure. On the WPT episodes, especially the ones filmed outside (Aruba and Bahamas), Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patton look like they are 10 feet away from the table giving commentary on the hands and action at that moment. How does all that work?

For instance, I watched the Bahamas episode last night that aired this past Wednesday, and there were numerous shots showing them both right next to the table. They are continuously talking about the players hands, but apparently they are not heard by the players. Yet, on the last hand of the tournament, Mike calls one of the players "The Suckout King" and the player turns around and says something like, "Oh come on Mike, you just called me The Suckout King." I don't get it, part of the time they can't hear, then suddenly they can.

Can anyone who knows how the production works let me know what is up?


I played in the Blue Veiner Memorial last night and sucked it up. I would call my game last night, The Suck. I had a below average stack, but plenty to play with as blinds were still low, and pushed all-in in the BB with A4 suited on what I felt was a blind steal. I donked my way out of the tourney on that hand against Bloody P's TT. He smoked me on that hand and I got what I deserved. It was all good though as I had plenty to do after. I still don't know who won as I'm hella behind on my blog reading this week.


Non-Pokery Stuff:

Happy Cinco de Mayo beetches.

Follow-Up Thoughts From My Previous Post:

I didn't get a chance to respond in my comments section, but I'm glad you guys enjoyed my TV show idea. Biggestron, I liked your comment, it had me laughing.

Big Ups To These Fine Folks Who Left A Comment In the Last Post:

biggerstron
mookie99
wes
bloodyp
csquard
brainmc

posted by TripJax @ 11:44 AM, ,




Fugly
Thursday, May 04, 2006

Fugly

This guy pretty much looks (make that looked, I would imagine) like I currently feel...

Fugly.

I actually feel better now than I did yesterday, but yesterday I was on the couch instead of at work, so I had that going for me. As far as this post goes, we won't even qualify it as an actual post since it is fugly too. Oh well.

I played in two tournaments yesterday. The first I finished 7th out of 180. It was my 5th final table and cash in 7 tournaments. I then played in The Mookie, but donked out pretty early when a guy with 5 high pre flop called my all-in and hit his 5 on the turn. I'm not complaining, it's poker and that shit happens. In fact, I wish every time I pushed all-in someone would call with 5 high. The Mookie made me 5 for 8 in tournament cashes and two of my no cash tourneys were blogger events. My record sucks at blogger events, but they are too much fun, ya rat bastards.

Hopefully I can play in the Blue Veiner Memorial tonight, but that will depend on how I feel, if TripWife is cool with it, and if the NyQuil doesn't put me in my place. We'll see.

Non-Pokery Stuff:

Remember that show Design On A Dime? I think it was (or is) on the The Learning Channel and came out around the same time as Trading Spaces and all those other interior/exterior home design shows. Anyway, I think someone should do a show called Design On A Dime Bag. Let contestants get hella high, then set them loose on a house to go to work (or not). I bet that'd be the shit.

Follow-Up Thoughts From My Previous Post:

I liked my title.

Big Ups To These Fine Folks Who Left Comments In the Last Two Posts:

bloodyp
jjok
mookie99
iamhoff
fastpitch27
garyc
hoyazo
kaellinn18
jordan
pokerpeaker
shelly
csquard
steelie
carmensincity
clrusso
crackedaces
drizztdj

posted by TripJax @ 4:50 PM, ,




Strep Poker
Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Strep Poker

Since right around Easter I've been feeling a little off. Sore throat, headaches, occasional fever, zero energy, etc. It would come and go so each time I thought I was getting better, only to relapse after a few days. TripWife finally forced me to the doctor (not Pauly) and he pegged me for mono. Oh shit, please don't let it be mono. He sent me off for lab work and it was thankfully not mono, but I do have strep throat.

I went home early yesterday and I'm taking today off, though I need to be back at work Thursday and Friday. Hopefully I'll be feeling better by then with the meds they gave me. We'll see. In the meantime, I'm taking things as easy as possible and doing a lot of sleeping.

Screw Titan...No You Rock Titan...No...Screw Titan

I got home yesterday around 3:30pm ready to just chill on the couch and get some rest after the news I had strep. Once settled I decided to fire up the laptop and check my emails. I had one from Titan noting I was registered for their 100 Million Dollar freeroll at 4pm.

I'm still a little pissed at Titan, so let me get to that first. I have $208 there and I tried to withdraw so I could use it towards my next PSO promo. I entered my Neteller info and was informed that since I didn't deposit via that method I can't withdraw that way. Having just experienced the Party Poker nightmare, I was in no mood to deal with any support person. I deposited $50 via Neteller and plan to withdraw it in a couple of days. Screw Titan.

Having deposited the $50, I was automatically registered for the tourney I noted above. Top 5 finishers get a seat in the qualifier that pays out 200 spots with first place receiving $160,000. I decided I would play and see how things go. Yes I'm sick, but I'm just chilling on the couch, so lets give it a whirl.

About 575 players started with 1,500 and almost immediately I went on a tear. Before the first break I had 35,000 in chips and was the chip leader. I was playing the bully to perfection and when I had a big hand, usually people were pushing with mediocre hands figuring I was just bullshitting. It was fun. No, You Rock Titan.

We got down to 50 players left and I was still in the top 5 in chips with about 34,000. People were starting to chip up fast though and I held less than 5% of the chips in play so I knew I still had my work cut out for me. I got into a huge pot with KdQd against QQ and I ended up going out a few hands later. It was the worst move I've made in a while and I should have played it differently. It was a stupid play on my part and I paid for it with most of my chips. Oh well, at least it was a free roll. No...Screw Titan.

I'm feeling pretty sluggish, and I know things are going to be hectic at work tomorrow having missed today, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to post tomorrow. We'll see. For now, I'm taking my meds and going back to bed. Stay healthy biatches.

posted by TripJax @ 10:11 AM, ,




The Party Is Over
Monday, May 01, 2006

The Party Is Over

Iggy has hit the nail on the head time and again by noting the fishies swim in schools at Party. Yes, dear readers, there is money to be made in that sea. For now, however, I have to draw the line in the sand at that beach party and part ways with those fuck-tards.

I speak not of the fishies, as they will continue to swim the Party seas, and I hope you are there to relieve them of their bankroll. I, on the other hand, can only take so much craptastic Party Poker Customer Support before I feel obliged to send my hard earned bankroll to finer establishments.

Let me take you down the sad road that is customer support offered by Party. First, I want to note this inolves PSO and I do not blame them in the least. I put this 100% on Party. For some background on the ordeal, I finished a promotion at PSO and earned enough points to get a $100 Party Poker gift card. I had already received a $100 Party Poker gift card in late 2005 via the exact same way, so I didn't expect to have any problems. All of the following are email exchanges. If you don't enjoy customer service crap, it may be time to move on to your next blog read.

Sentences in red are my current thoughts on the subject and were not part of the emails.

PSO to Me:

Jason...Party says you're a play money player and won't allow the giftcard transfer, sorry...order cancelled.

If you have any questions, please post them in our forum for assistance.

I might have been a play money player for a couple of days when I opened the account in 2003, but I quickly hated that shit and deposited money posthaste.

Me to PSO:

My screen name is trip_jax...

If you click this link, (link removed), you will see a screenshot of My Account which clearly shows I have $xxx.xx in real money and my screen name shows clearly in the top right hand corner.

Just when I thought their customer service was turning a corner, they go and do this. The ONLY reason I still maintain an account their is because of PSO.

It is obvious they just quickly checked a screen name similar to mine and did not take the time to be sure before denying my giftcard purchase. If they actually look closely they will see that trip_jax is in fact a real money account.

Let me know what you find out. My patience with Party is wearing thin.

I appreciate your continued time and help.


PSO to ME:

Jason...this is what i get:

Sorry, we are unable to transfer funds to trip_jax as he has not registered with the Cashier. Please ask trip_jax to click on "Deposit" in the cashier and complete the form. Please try again once trip_jax registers with the Cashier.

I think this means you never filled out the necessary info...check and make sure it's all filled out and let me know, thanks.

Me To PSO:

I don't know what they are talking about, I've been real money from the get go. If I didn't fill out the necessary info, I wouldn't have $xxx.xx in my account right now as evidenced by the link I listed earlier.

I know this is not you or PSO doing this, but it makes absolutely no sense. If I had not registered with the cashier, I would not have money in my account right now. I've been real money since 2003. On top of that, this is not my first gift certificate I've gotten for Party through PSO. Check my PSO account and you'll see I've gotten one in the past...now what sense does that make if they will do it once for a real money acct then turn around and deny the next one.??!!

I'll deal with this when I get home tonight.

From there I received an email stating sorry there is nothing else PSO can do and I should contact Party Poker directly.

Me to Party Support:

I recently completed a promotion with www.PokerSourceOnline.com and ordered a $100 Party Poker gift certificate through them. I received an email (see below) from PokerSourceOnline support stating that a Party Poker representative notes that I am a play money player and do not have a real money account.

First, I have been a real money player with Party Poker for years. I don't recall the exact date that I first signed up, but it was probably in late 2003. My initial deposit(s) were via the eChecks by IGM-Pay option.

Second, if I am not a real money player, why do I show the following two most recent real money transactions on My Account as noted below:

12-Nov-05 14:34 ET
Money Transfer $100.00 Success (This is the last gift certificate)

04-Nov-05 17:19 ET PURCHASE $50.00 Success (This was a deposit by me)

Third, if I am not a real money player, how do I have $xxx.xx in my account and show the transactions above??!!

Fourth, this is not even the first Party Poker gift certificate I have received from PokerSourceOnline. As you can see from above, I have already received a $100 gift card. Yet, suddenly I am a play money player and not a real money player??!!

Your company seems to have a quickness in denying the request from PokerSourceOnline rather than a willingness to look further into the subject and see that you are frustrating a PAYING customer.

Now, I ask that you do more than just deny the claim, look into what the exact problem/issue is, and let me know what needs to be done. I am not a play money player. I have a real money account. I have made deposits in the past. I have received a gift card in the past. Please do your job, and help your customer, me, get what I am due.

Four days go by and I am hella pissed at this point. Still, I feel I kept my cool.

Me To Party Support:

I am confused as to why I have not at least received an acknowledgment of the support email I sent 4 days ago. Can someone please help me.

Thank you for your time and help.

trip_jax

Party Support to Me:

Dear Jason,

We have many affiliate sites who promote PartyPoker.com. The PokerSourceOnline.com is one of our affiliate sites whom you were corresponding with.

While promoting PartyPoker.com, these affiliates come up with various unique offers which they offer to players to sign-up. Players are directly associated with these affiliate site and we cannot interfere in their promotional offers.

Hence, I request you to contact this respective site if you are due for any gift offer.

From PartyPoker.com I confirm that you have a real money account trip_jax with us, which you created on 21-OCT-2003.

For any further assistance please write to me, I will be happy to assist you.

BhavanaParty
Poker Customer Care

Me To Party Poker:

Bhavana,

PokerSourcOnline is not the one denying the gift card...Party Poker is...and for reasons that are not just. You say I have a play money account and I have clearly shown that I have a real money account. There is absolutely no reason for Party Poker to deny this request, yet you do so. I have been a real money member of Party Poker for years.

You note the following...

Sorry, we are unable to transfer funds to trip_jax as he has not registered with the Cashier. Please ask trip_jax to click on "Deposit" in the cashier and complete the form.Please try again once trip_jax registers with the Cashier.

Can you explain what this means to me? Even though I have deposited before, I went to the Deposit section as noted above and I see no form to be filled out. Is there something I need to do even though I am clearly a real money account?

What makes all this an absolute waste of my time and yours is the original Party Poker representative who contacted PSO told them I have a play money account, yet in the last email you sent me you note I've had a real money account since 21-OCT-2003. What gives?

Help, please.

Jason Turner
trip_jax

Me to Party Support:

Actually, Bhavana, please disregard this request. I no longer want the Party Poker gift card or Party Pokers help.

trip_jax

I sent the above final email after not receiving a response in a timely fashion, as usual. I never heard back from them.

In Summary:

Party Poker, if you Bhavana piss me off, you've succeeded. I have since withdrawn my money from Party and do not plan to deposit with them in the foreseeable future. However, if they ever eventually toss some free gank in my account I will try and clear it and withdraw it immediately upon completion. All I have to say is fuck party.

I hear PSO offers Absolute gift cards. Looks like I have a new promotion to work on.

Non-Pokery Stuff:

For those of you who watched at least the beginning of the NFL Draft, did you think that intro was a tad over the top. Putting the guys on a flashy stage, dressing them like pimps, and boosting their already inflated egos to a new level. I thought it was pretty much ridiculous. I know that draft day is a big deal and all, but come on, I don't need to see that shit. These guys have not even played one second in the NFL and some might not even see any action this coming season. That's just my thoughts on the subject.

Follow-Up Thoughts From My Previous Post:

I'm done with On Blogs and Lists. I hope you are too.

Big Ups To These Fine Folks Who Left A Comment In the Last Post:

mookie
bloodyp
hoyaza
dbirider
waffles
highonpoker
pokerpeaker
iamhoff
gcox25
csquard

posted by TripJax @ 12:14 PM, ,