Monday, April 23, 2007

Beach house weekend


Took a day off last week to relax at the beach house last weekend. Despite bleak weather forecasts, the weather was quite bearable. Friday evening was only partly cloudy and nice enough for a excellent sunset accompanied by a nice bonfire on the beach. Plenty of beer kept our brains warm, and an action packed game of Jenga kept us entertained when the weather got too nipply.
Saturday was a lazy one. We power-lounged all day.
The rain started up and did not relent. No bonfire. But I did BBQ a nice tri-tip, with rice-pilaf and roasted veggies. Someone made a bet with JoeO to drink an entire bottle of Chianti while standing on a stool within 30 minutes. We all threw in a ten spot. So for $60 he drained the bottle in 15 minutes.
With beers and wine coursing through our veins, we took in a movie, but didn't last 15 minutes before crashing out.
I awoke groggily to a gorgeous morning. An utterly cloud-free day.

Someone suggested a game of poker. So of course, poker was on.
I took second-place in the first one. After being thick stacked and ultra-aggressive, we get down to two. Me and Chad. Heads-up, it went like this. I held QQ. He bet. I raise (big)... he calls. Flop comes an ugly Axx. He raises all-in. I go in the tank. I should be able to toss this in the muck. But it's Chad afterall. Rain Man. Luckbox, Calling Station. He'd make this move with any two cards. Of course in my gut, I knew he had me. Another look at my cards, two ugly queens begged me to call and end this misery. So I did. Turn and River do not help. I take second.
Game two: It lasted a bit longer. I made a couple choice semi-bluffs and got thick-stacked again. Eventually, JoeO and I went heads-up. 2 hands later I crown myself King of the World with my victory.

Then I get bamboozled to stay and help Chad paint the laundry room. But despite being worked like a slave, getting paint on my new hoodie, it was worth it just to behold this: before going back to reality.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Cards Dead



Cold decks have hit me hard in live games lately. Last night, nine players at Dylan's house. We started shortstacked with only 3,000 in chips, 12 minute blinds, and blinds starting at 25-25. In my opinion, not nearly enough chips for any real poker play. After the 4th level, I chased a flush draw which missed, leaving me in push & pray mode. I saw a chance and pushed with 77. A loose call behind me led to one of many lost races for the evening.
We played a couple more, and I lost all of them. Not necessarily due to bad play, but I couldn't hit a flop or win a race to save my life. I didn' t play great, but ultimately I was truly card dead.
A bad streak for sure. I've been doing so well online, but my live game has certainly suffered. So I'm going to need to step it up a notch and weather the storm. I know that the cards will turn for me eventually.
In tournament poker, winning coin-flips is crucial. It helps being big stacked where a lost coing flip doesn't mean going broke. But when you are playing shortstacked, usually a coin-flip is MUST WIN. I chose moments where I had the best chance of doubling up. Unless you are playing total donkeys (last night was not one of those games) the majority of those situations are at best 60-40, but usually 50-50. If you never win a single coin-flip, which I did not last night, you will not go deep in the tournament.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Poker at Sam's

Sam had a couple of us over to his place for some poker action this weekend. It was shorthanded, so we started a cash game. It was a ridiculously one-sided affair. Chad (aka Chizz aka Chestnut aka RAIN MAN) was catching cards like you wouldn't freaking believe. He caught pocket rockets literally five times during the evening. He won all five. He was also showing awesome hands regularly: flushes, straights, trips, fool houses... you name it, he had 'em. He was nice enough to show his cards despite my HUGE laydowns. Luckily I read him right most of the night, so I didn't pay him off THAT much. Near the end of our cash game session, I finally caught him on one big hand and managed to finish the session up a few bucks.
The tournament that followed demonstrated how horribly I am capable of playing. To my own defense, I was legitimately card dead. But I found myself chasing a flush with Sam betting into me. I caught it. Unfortunately.
I made a raise on the river, thinking it was a value bet. But really, Sam's hollywood-ass all-in re-raise was the actual value bet. I insta-call and he flips up the rivered Fool House. I go home coolered by the motherfucking ace on the river.
I know I didn't deserve to win by any stretch of the imagination, cause I just played so damn bad. But I'll have plenty of chances to redeem myself. And I can keep telling myself that losing a little is good in the long run, so that I may win big against my opponents later. Soon, I'll start believing it.

Everyday is a Good Day



I've recently found Japanese/Brazilian tattooist Jun Matsui's blog, Life Under Zen. It chronicles his tattooing and travelling exotic destinations that is his day to day life. From the first post, his blog maintains a sense of peace, tranquilty and perfection which is a pleasure to read. It's sort of a vacation unto itself.
His tattoo work, which combines japanese, somoan and maori styles of tattooing, is thoughtful and significant. The linework is immaculate.
Matsui's life seems to be filled with peace, party, art, travel and good food.
I envy his experiences, skill and lifestyle. We should all be so blessed.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Dogs in a jeep


Dogs in a jeep, originally uploaded by Joe_13.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Final table at the Mookie

77 players/bloggers played in the Mookie last night. I knocked out and crippled several players early, putting me fat stacked for much of the tournament. I played super duper tight for a long time seeing very little playable cards. I did manage to drop the hammer twice winning blinds, which is always a bonus.
At the final table, the action was swift until we got down to four players. Me, TFG, JoeSpeaker and BoneDaddy shuffled stacks for a while when JoeSpeaker finally falls to BoneDaddy when his A3 is outkicked. Soon thereafter, I push all-in with KTo, get called by TFG with QJo. Four clubs on the flop and one on the river give TFG a flush and gives me third place money.
Final two didn't take long. BoneDaddy gets taken out by TFG's nut flush five minutes into heads-up play.
And there we have it.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

The joys of motherhood


The joys of motherhood, originally uploaded by Joe_13.

Any funny captions?



Best caption gets $5 in their Fulltilt poker account.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Shotgun Fun

Took the shotgun out Sunday and last night with my cousin Evan. He recently became the proud new owner of a Remington 870 12 gauge shotgun, and wanted to get some shooting time in.
Sunday we hit up Coyote Valley Sporting Clays and shot a few rounds of trap. I shot mediocre. But I did have quite a good time. Some sun, about a hundred rounds and a nice Romeo y Julietta to go along with the fresh scent of gunpowder.
A perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
Last night I went out to County of Santa Clara Field Sports Park, aka "Metcalf" with Evan to get a few more rounds in. We ended up shooting Skeet for the first time. It was a blast, and now that we've learned how to play properly, I get a new game to try and master. It'll be great, because as fun as trap is, skeet is more fun with a group. Hopefully I can get a couple more buddies to get guns and come with me to blow some shit up.
Plus, not only is it fun, but we'll be better prepared for armageddon.

YEEEEEEEE HHHHUUUUUUUU !!!!

Monday, April 09, 2007

Poker at Eric's

Last week's poker action was at Eric's house. $40 buy-in, Me, EricN, Bootie, SamD, Hideki, ScottO, JoeO, Irwin, Chad and Greg played for several hours with the final three being Hideki, Sam and Me. In the end, Hideki held the big stack and took first place money, while Sam and I split 2nd and third place money.
With a faster structure for the second game, we flew through players pretty quick. I fought my way up to chip leader early on when I rivered a flush against Irwin. But, not long after, I totally blew my stack when I fully overplayed JJ into ScottO's flopped trip sevens. For some reason, I completely brain farted. I knew I had him beat pre-flop. But when he checked the flop, I checked behind him too quickly. And then inexplicably, I heard myself say "all-in" when the ace hit the turn. The minute I saw the ace, I knew I was beat. But it was too late. ScottO instantly called with pocket sevens. There was a seven on the flop. I was suddenly crippled. A couple hands later, I pushed with QQ, only to run into Bootie's KK, and I was done.

For the evening, I was still up $40, so the horrible play didn't get my mood down too much. It bites that I lost to ScottO when I know I should've been able to get away from JJ. The ace on the turn should've saved my ass, but instead I Matusow'd and blew the fuck up.

Online, I recouped the steep loss I took earlier in the week, and my Sharkscope graph is finally back to where it ought to be.

BTW, Eric's new nickname is: Titties.

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

ugh

Sheesh,
Been getting killed at the Sit-n-Gos. Lost like 5 in a row.
So much for the ROI, dammit.
Running bad and playing bad.
My Sharkscope graph is taking a major shit right now. But, that's to be expected while going up in limits. One loss moves the line twice as far.
I'll just have to dig in, and play good. A bit of luck would be nice too.

Well I just delivered a horrendous beat to some poor dude. I'll take it as a good omen.

Monday, April 02, 2007

Sharkscope


Sharkscope, originally uploaded by Joe_13.

My Sit-n-Go graph at Full Tilt via Sharkscope.

As you can see, my performance in my last 100 games has been decent. Maybe I was just running bad in the first 100 games, but now I have an average return on investment (in sit-n-goes) of +28%. Not too shabby.
Let's hope it stays this way.