With everything family starting to kick into full gear, this will probably be it until after Christmas. So before I get too involved to get this done right, heres the official “Christmas Wish List” from Bedrock.
I truly hope each one, somehow manages to come true.
Al : I wish him all the best 08 has to offer. Including; reduced SoCo pricing, a win in The Mookie and Riverchasers (back-2-back of course) and a better looking afternoon shift where ever he happens to be at the time.
Astin : I wish that he manages to carry the success he has seen through the end of 07, well into 08 and beyond.
BadBlood : I wish for a new, (and even better, local!) thrash metal band to be discovered, for us to rock to.
Mr. Bankwell : I wish for Banky to get the Season win he wants so badly.
Bloody P : I wish B.P. nothing but the best in 2008. I wish him big pots and a happy heart.
Dr. Chako : I wish for his time to safely fly by until his return home. Then I wish for it to slow to a crawl during his first family hug.
Drizz : I wish for his Vikings to stick with Tarvaris Jackson. If they let him develop into the player he looks like he might be, he could become one of the best.
Falstaff : I wish Falstaff all the happiness and joy in the world. He deserves it. I also hope that he’ll continue on with his healthy ways. Healthy people just look happier.
Fuel_55 : I wish him dozen’s and dozen’s of great “Presto” stories going forward into 08.
I love them.
G_Cox : I wish you and your lovely wife nothing but health and happiness in 08 Gary. Now that I know you're a man-hugger, there's a huge one coming next meeting bud!
G-Rob : I wish for the return of the G-Vegas scene as it should be. Safe and legal games, where adults are allowed to think for themselves and spend their time and money on the entertainment of their choosing. A scene where local crime fighters will start to consider a Rapist or Pedophile, a far worse threat to society than any family man poker player. (with bad knees no less !)
Instant Tragedy : I wish for something to change that will let him come to our next get together. After Dec. 7-10, it just seems wrong that he might not make the next one. I also wish him lot's of laughter in the coming year.
Iron Girl : I wish this lovely young lady all the best in the new year. Oh… and I also wish for a “Peppers” concert in the Syracuse/Rochester area, so we can go together. ‘Cause that would be ½ way from home for both of us. Heeeeyy-O.
Kat : I wish Kat a stress-less and much more carefree and relaxing 08. And slightly on the selfish side, I wish that she gets the chance soon… to grab my butt. *grin
Maudie : I wish Maudie good health and only the best Karma going into the new year. Maybe some will trickle down my way too. Sometimes, Karma does that.
Mookie : I wish mookie the 100+ players he deserves for every Wednesday night in 08.
Otis : I wish the ringing would just go away and… I wish him the wisdom to continue on learning from the little drummer boy..
Pauly : I wish Pauly the best in 08. Hopefully, we’ll all gain the benefit of that. Since a happy Pauly seems to = a writing Pauly, “The Book” can’t be far off. I also wish Pauly the exact same luck, on our next Vegas adventure. (for both of us of course!) ;o)
PokerTart : I wish that no matter what, P/T will find some way to get herself and Banky out to Vegas with us next year. You were missed incredibly. :o(
RecessRampage : I wish him the best of luck in 08. Despite the fact that it seems his skill is doing just fine on it’s own, thank you very much.
“The Rooster” : I wish “The Rooster” continued success and mucho laughter in 2008. My Spanish is pretty weak these day’s but I will work on it, I promise.
Soy solamente feliz cuando mi hermano es feliz !
Cuando usted es feliz, soy feliz !
Surflexus : I wish for more good friends for Surf. I know, I know, he has hundreds already! But he has them because he is a good friend. Good friends can always use more. It just makes the world a better place.
The TuckFards : I wish them all the very best Christmas possible. I also wish that they’ll see a huge increase in attendance at their Monday night games on FullTilt. So spread the word if you know someone with $3.50 and some time on their hands at 7:00pm EST on Monday’s.
Waffles : Wow there’s a lot of work to be done here ! (kidding) I wish Waffles all the best that the holidays have to offer. I also wish him continued good health and happiness in 2008.
The Wife : I wish for the time to pass swiftly, until the safe return of her man. I wish that she slows down just enough, to realize the importance of doing some of the things on “the list” before time makes some of them, impossible.
To everyone else that's helped me become part of my wonderful
Kuh-myoo-ni-tee, I say thanks and all my best wishes, for a very Merry Christmas to you and yours.
My sincerest thanks for dropping by....
12/20/2007
12/19/2007
What happens when comments go too long, Part II ....
I started a comment to a post, about a post and I got
"comment-itis," it ran way too long IMHO. Soooooooooooo,
Here's a thread post for you !
#1) You need to read here.
Then come back ...
#2) Now you need to read here.
Once you've done that, come back here for the rest..........
............................................................
............................................................
I think it's safe to say that Blinders has an excellent point. Having said that, it's an excellent point if you're playing with this juice as a longterm objective. That is not what this event is all about.
To pay what we paid for the event that we had, (thanks to you again Falstaff) I'd do it 4 times a year if I could.
Compared to our weekly games where we can't see, man-hug or be seen with "the Kilt" like we can twice a year in Vegas, I can't think of a better price to pay. I can pay $11 to sit down with Al, Waffles, BadBlood, Otis, Pauly, Fuel, The Rooster or Alan, and Girly-Chat my butt off and have fun. I can also pay $135 and actually sit with them at the table, the bar or the Let-it-ride / Pai Gow tables at any given time over the weekend.
Here's my simple-minded analogy.....
I can go to Maui once a year if I want, (and I'd love that 'cause it rocks) or I can hit Cuba for a week, then head off to the Dominican for another, and follow those up with a New Year's Eve in Mexico somewhere, all for the same price as my Maui trip.
Point is... I love the Blogger event and would pay the same to do it again no matter what. Let's face it, I can see(?) you all weekly at a much lower price. But to be able to sit with you for a few hours and enjoy your company to play the game, I think the price was just right.
If this pisses someone off... come and let me know. I'll do my best to inform you correctly. Remember what this event is supposed to be all about. If you're in it for a profit, sit at the tables in the 2/4 range and play ultra-tight. If you're in it for the spirit as intended, pay the juice, enjoy the company and hope for damn good cards that'll hang on all the way to the river. We all honestly know that damn good poker might not quite be enough. This is a one time event that can take it's toll on "good" poker. But we also know that the player that took us out, is someone we've wanted to meet for a year, or sometimes even longer. The price of admission, as it were.
I know you say you don't take it personally Falstaff, I just want you to know that you did a great job. No one can take that away from you. I'll damn well stand at your side if they try, and I know I won't be alone.
Take Maui and have a blast = Meet good friends and have a good time.
Take three trips a year = sit down at Binions, Hooters or the IP and realize that you're settling for lesser events than the original intention.
If I'm meeting my "Invisible's" again for 2 weekends every year............
Two tickets to Maui please. Peb's and I are in for sure !
My sincerest thanks for dropping by ....
"comment-itis," it ran way too long IMHO. Soooooooooooo,
Here's a thread post for you !
#1) You need to read here.
Then come back ...
#2) Now you need to read here.
Once you've done that, come back here for the rest..........
............................................................
............................................................
I think it's safe to say that Blinders has an excellent point. Having said that, it's an excellent point if you're playing with this juice as a longterm objective. That is not what this event is all about.
To pay what we paid for the event that we had, (thanks to you again Falstaff) I'd do it 4 times a year if I could.
Compared to our weekly games where we can't see, man-hug or be seen with "the Kilt" like we can twice a year in Vegas, I can't think of a better price to pay. I can pay $11 to sit down with Al, Waffles, BadBlood, Otis, Pauly, Fuel, The Rooster or Alan, and Girly-Chat my butt off and have fun. I can also pay $135 and actually sit with them at the table, the bar or the Let-it-ride / Pai Gow tables at any given time over the weekend.
Here's my simple-minded analogy.....
I can go to Maui once a year if I want, (and I'd love that 'cause it rocks) or I can hit Cuba for a week, then head off to the Dominican for another, and follow those up with a New Year's Eve in Mexico somewhere, all for the same price as my Maui trip.
Point is... I love the Blogger event and would pay the same to do it again no matter what. Let's face it, I can see(?) you all weekly at a much lower price. But to be able to sit with you for a few hours and enjoy your company to play the game, I think the price was just right.
If this pisses someone off... come and let me know. I'll do my best to inform you correctly. Remember what this event is supposed to be all about. If you're in it for a profit, sit at the tables in the 2/4 range and play ultra-tight. If you're in it for the spirit as intended, pay the juice, enjoy the company and hope for damn good cards that'll hang on all the way to the river. We all honestly know that damn good poker might not quite be enough. This is a one time event that can take it's toll on "good" poker. But we also know that the player that took us out, is someone we've wanted to meet for a year, or sometimes even longer. The price of admission, as it were.
I know you say you don't take it personally Falstaff, I just want you to know that you did a great job. No one can take that away from you. I'll damn well stand at your side if they try, and I know I won't be alone.
Take Maui and have a blast = Meet good friends and have a good time.
Take three trips a year = sit down at Binions, Hooters or the IP and realize that you're settling for lesser events than the original intention.
If I'm meeting my "Invisible's" again for 2 weekends every year............
Two tickets to Maui please. Peb's and I are in for sure !
My sincerest thanks for dropping by ....
12/18/2007
Merry "Blog-mas" everyone ....
Pebbles wanted me to shake things up just a touch, as she asked me to put some slightly more befitting lyrics to some of the holiday classics. But before you go any further, I highly recommend that you go
HERE
to get the background music for the following. That way, it’ll be much more enjoyable for everyone involved. Just click on the title, (highlighted beside) that goes with the lyrics involved and enjoy. Hopefully, you’ll get as big a kick out of “Blog-mas” as I did in writing this schtuff.
Merry Christmas every one, and to all a good night !
===================
Little Blogger Boy........... (Little Drummer boy)
===================
Come they called me, pa rum pum pum pum
A new born blogger to see, pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest hands we’ll bring, pa rum pum pum pum
We’ll make you lay down Kings, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,
Don’t make a fool of you, pa rum pum pum pum,
but here we come.
Little Bam-Bam, pa rum pum pum pum
You’ll not leave a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum
You have some skills to bring, pa rum pum pum pum
Their fit to play the Kings, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,
Shall we pay you too, pa rum pum pum pum,
Comps are for you!
The Pit-Boss nodded, pa rum pum pum pum
Pauly and Rooster came by, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my best for them, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my cards so blind, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,
Then he smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum
our trips were free.
================
Waffles the Red-Nosed blogger .......... (uh... you get it right?)
================
There was Maudie and Sir Al and Falstaff and Astin, Iggy and G_Cox and Carmen and Kat’s in, but do you recall, the most infamous Blogger of all?
Waffles, the red-nosed blogger
always had a very crappy hand.
And if he ever bet it,
you would even call 10 grand.
All of the other bloggers
used to be called names by him.
They never let poor Waffles,
even win a game of Gin.
Then one foggy Vegas Eve
Santa came to say:
"Waffles with your nose so bright,
you’re going to win this game tonight!"
Waffles, the red-nosed blogger
always had a very crappy hand.
And if he ever bet it,
you would even call 10 grand.
Then one foggy Vegas Eve
Santa came to say:
"Waffles with your nose so bright,
you’re going to win this game tonight!"
Then all the bloggers loved him, as they shouted out with “The Tao,”
Waffles the red-nosed blogger,
you just hit it large,
you just hit it large,
in the game they call Pai-Gow!
===============
Otis the blogman ........... (yeah.... this one too right?)
===============
Otis the blogman, had a jolly like appeal. With a chip stack large and a button raise, And some plans to make a steal.
Otis the blogman is a G-Vegas tale, they say. He was made of stone but Ole’ BadBlood knows, how he came to life one day.
There must have been some magic in that Pai-Gow hand he found.
For when they placed it in his hands, He began to dance around.
Ooooo, Otis the blogman Was alive as he could be,
And the bloggers say he could laugh And play, a bit better than you and me.
Otis the blogman knew the games were hot that day,
So he said, "Let’s run and we'll have some fun now before we walk away."
Down to the buffet, With a bankroll in his hand,
Running here and there all Around the square saying, Catch me if you can.
He led us down to the craps table, Right to the place so fine.
And he only paused a moment when He began to holler "line!"
For Otis the blogman, Had to hurry on his way,
But he waved goodbye saying, "Don't you cry, We’ll all win again some day."
Thumpetty thump thump, Thumpety thump thump,
Look at Otis go.
Thumpetty thump thump, Thumpety thump thump,
With his pockets full of dough.
=================
Away in Las Vegas ..... (away in a manger)
=================
Away in Las Vegas, no need for a bed,
The Wife had just laid down her sweet, pretty head.
The neon and bright sky looked down where she lay,
The rest of us bloggers awake for the day.
Now Tragedy glowing, from something he drank,
And we all soon realized, that he’s with Buddy Dank.
But this shall pass soon, at least that’s what we’d thunk.
And then we’d all realize, that it’s us that got drunk.
Be near me Lord Jesus, I ask thee to stay.
I promise not to gamble, but Rockets I pray.
Bless all the dear bloggers, In thy tender care.
And make them all gamble, when they hold small pairs.
Coming soon, my Christmas wishlist !
My sincerest thanks for dropping by ....
HERE
to get the background music for the following. That way, it’ll be much more enjoyable for everyone involved. Just click on the title, (highlighted beside) that goes with the lyrics involved and enjoy. Hopefully, you’ll get as big a kick out of “Blog-mas” as I did in writing this schtuff.
Merry Christmas every one, and to all a good night !
===================
Little Blogger Boy........... (Little Drummer boy)
===================
Come they called me, pa rum pum pum pum
A new born blogger to see, pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest hands we’ll bring, pa rum pum pum pum
We’ll make you lay down Kings, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,
Don’t make a fool of you, pa rum pum pum pum,
but here we come.
Little Bam-Bam, pa rum pum pum pum
You’ll not leave a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum
You have some skills to bring, pa rum pum pum pum
Their fit to play the Kings, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,
Shall we pay you too, pa rum pum pum pum,
Comps are for you!
The Pit-Boss nodded, pa rum pum pum pum
Pauly and Rooster came by, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my best for them, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my cards so blind, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,
Then he smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum
our trips were free.
================
Waffles the Red-Nosed blogger .......... (uh... you get it right?)
================
There was Maudie and Sir Al and Falstaff and Astin, Iggy and G_Cox and Carmen and Kat’s in, but do you recall, the most infamous Blogger of all?
Waffles, the red-nosed blogger
always had a very crappy hand.
And if he ever bet it,
you would even call 10 grand.
All of the other bloggers
used to be called names by him.
They never let poor Waffles,
even win a game of Gin.
Then one foggy Vegas Eve
Santa came to say:
"Waffles with your nose so bright,
you’re going to win this game tonight!"
Waffles, the red-nosed blogger
always had a very crappy hand.
And if he ever bet it,
you would even call 10 grand.
Then one foggy Vegas Eve
Santa came to say:
"Waffles with your nose so bright,
you’re going to win this game tonight!"
Then all the bloggers loved him, as they shouted out with “The Tao,”
Waffles the red-nosed blogger,
you just hit it large,
you just hit it large,
in the game they call Pai-Gow!
===============
Otis the blogman ........... (yeah.... this one too right?)
===============
Otis the blogman, had a jolly like appeal. With a chip stack large and a button raise, And some plans to make a steal.
Otis the blogman is a G-Vegas tale, they say. He was made of stone but Ole’ BadBlood knows, how he came to life one day.
There must have been some magic in that Pai-Gow hand he found.
For when they placed it in his hands, He began to dance around.
Ooooo, Otis the blogman Was alive as he could be,
And the bloggers say he could laugh And play, a bit better than you and me.
Otis the blogman knew the games were hot that day,
So he said, "Let’s run and we'll have some fun now before we walk away."
Down to the buffet, With a bankroll in his hand,
Running here and there all Around the square saying, Catch me if you can.
He led us down to the craps table, Right to the place so fine.
And he only paused a moment when He began to holler "line!"
For Otis the blogman, Had to hurry on his way,
But he waved goodbye saying, "Don't you cry, We’ll all win again some day."
Thumpetty thump thump, Thumpety thump thump,
Look at Otis go.
Thumpetty thump thump, Thumpety thump thump,
With his pockets full of dough.
=================
Away in Las Vegas ..... (away in a manger)
=================
Away in Las Vegas, no need for a bed,
The Wife had just laid down her sweet, pretty head.
The neon and bright sky looked down where she lay,
The rest of us bloggers awake for the day.
Now Tragedy glowing, from something he drank,
And we all soon realized, that he’s with Buddy Dank.
But this shall pass soon, at least that’s what we’d thunk.
And then we’d all realize, that it’s us that got drunk.
Be near me Lord Jesus, I ask thee to stay.
I promise not to gamble, but Rockets I pray.
Bless all the dear bloggers, In thy tender care.
And make them all gamble, when they hold small pairs.
Coming soon, my Christmas wishlist !
My sincerest thanks for dropping by ....
12/17/2007
The Goose, The Gambler and the shaking man's throat..
There's a poker story in here that needs to be set up just a touch, before it can start. So here's a little history that leads up to what I want to say.
Pebbles and I were fairly avid supporters of our local bar poker scene here in Bedrock. With help form my pal DonK, we could always find the best place, with the best people and typically, the better players in town to play with. DonK always kept up to date with the local scene. If we'd grown tired or board with our current game, location or just the play in general, DonK was always there to let us know about where he'd sniffed out some "real" play going on.
Just for the memories of all the local's that read here, don't you really miss the old "Red Hot" game? I know we do.
We slowly migrated from location to location and from game to game, strictly because of how the play would develop after just a few months at the same location. What always seemed to happen was, the players we were trying to avoid in the first place by moving, would eventually catch up to us. The vast majority of these players, are "ass-hats" that we had no issues with decimating at the tables. But then we would have to listen to their "T.V." analysis about how stupid we were and how "we know nothing about poker and just get lucky." (despite it being the 19th. straight game one of us had taken out this same player in 5 orbits or less) This my friends, this gets old incredibly fast. Another important factor is, if you always play with the fishies, you'll always be a fishy yourself at the next level. We wanted to grow our game and be as competitive as we could at all times. The "Downtown game" lead us to a desire to leave poker in Bedrock for good. The core group of us, (although we weren't actually a group then, more like the early migration folks at the time) were all dilligent poker players who had knowledge and a love to study the game. This constantly lead to us tossing out words like "The Hammer!" or "TuckFard Nutz!" or the occasional confession of playing "Dolly" or "The Brunson" as it's better known. We were doing this in jest because the vast majority of the players we were up against at the time, didn't have a clue what they were doing. We could see a cheap flop every hand, no matter what we held. If you hit "The Hammer" hard on the flop, you could make chips like they were going out of style, because one of the players at the table, was holding "big slick" and loved their hand. What happened though, was these students of the game that we were playing against didn't learn poker. OH-NO ! The learned to play "The Hammer" because they'd seen it win huge.
One day DonK sends me an E-Mail telling me about a home game with really good players starting up. He wanted to know if Peb's and I would be interested? I told him that, "if I can find a regular game that has good play and ends up in good friends, we're in whatever the buy-in is." We showed up in the basement of a house of a couple we didn't yet know, and they made us feel at home. To make matters worse, the host was not un-familiar to me. It was funny because, I could tell he did not recognize me at all. Someday, I'll tell you all about my second place finish in the big "Red Hot" game a few years back. I know exactly when the host remembered who I was, as I could see the light switch turn on the moment he realized where we'd met before. The host's are Carson and Suzy_Q. They hold the games at "Carsino Royale" and have a great set up to do so. We left the bar games, downtown games and most other assorted poker in town for good. This is how Pebbles and Bam-Bam became TuckFards. We are now and always shall be, proud to call ourselves Tuck's. When we were asked about joining a team format poker challenge to represent the Tuckfards, we jumped at the chance.
And that leads us up to The goose, the gambler and the shaking man's throat ..
=========================
Pebbles and I were playing for "Team TuckFard" yesterday in a N.L.H.E. table elimination event. 9 players at a table play down to the winner, and you get points for your team based on where you finish the game. (There's a good re-cap by Carson on everyone else's results HERE ) Our team is kicking some butt as I expected. There are some solid players in the Tuck's core group. We all got to know a little bit about each other in the local 200 plus player, local bar scene tourney's. It seemed like 7 or 8 of us, always made up the final table. Put any 5 of us on a team and we'll take our chances with most. Add to that, the fact that we have another 13 - 15 we put in as subs at any given time, with almost no loss in ability, it makes us a formidable team going in.
Anywho.... at my table, I ended up in the #4 spot of only 8 players. The dealer was a known "Downtown Donkey." He was gone in 3 orbits. The 2 spot was an unknown to me but, he showed solid play with some skill for about an hour, before getting crushed by the nut flush while he was holding the 2nd. nut flush. The 3 spot was still in the game and had won a huge race when his 7-7 improved against K-K, once all the money got into the center of the table. The 5 spot was unfortunately holding, the K-K. The 6 spot was still in and had shown nothing but great poker reads and instinct. The 7 spot simply put, was the worst poker player I have ever seen. He didn't last too long but way longer than he should have. He doubled up once miss-reading his cards. He thought he had a flush because, and I quote, "they're all red right?" His two pair was just a little bit better than the other players at the time. That leaves us the 8 spot. After losing the last hand with the great play in the 7 spot, it took exactly two hands for him to exact his revenge. We were now down to four players at the table. We all maintained our position relative to one another, but we gathered around one end of the table for ease of play.
The three spot was "the shaking man's throat." He was directly to my right and had a quiver of some kind when he was excited and nervous. Not the good cards excited, the "I hope I get away with this" kind of excited. it was good to have him on my right. He became my ATM of sorts, because he liked to make moves into pots. I see what I want to see and, I would go over the top. He'd innevitably fold, and then get more and more frustrated at, "not being able to beat (you)me" over and over again. He managed to hang around courtesy of the nice folks in spots 6 an 2. Every time I'd crippled him, they'd go after him with crap and lose. He was doubled and tripled up, several times. The 8 spot became 'the Goose." If you put him to the test, his lips had a quiver, reminiscent of how a goose or duck works it's beak, to get that long lake grass down it's gullet. If confident and poised, his entire body remained motionless and still. Our player in the 6 spot was "the gambler." He loved to see flops, loved to bet them hard if his hand was marginal, and he really loved to talk about poker and it's going's on in the world. He definately knew how to hold 'em, not when to fold'em. I made him walk away, when the dealing was done. We we're at three.
I'd made a huge read mistake early. Big enough that it cost me just under 1/2 of my starting stack. I was fortunate enough to put my pride aside and let the hand go, once I realized I was beat. Going into three handed, I was a massive short stack and in some difficulty. We had been told to go on break. I met up with the others and told Carson and Nutzy that, "I need to be an animal now. I hope you guy's will be OK with me ending up 3rd." As always, they understood and told me to do whatever I had to. If I move up, great! If not, Great! That made me feel a little better and motivated the heck out of me. Now, (although I told them way earlier, I had to play for 3rd. spot based on my chips stack) I really wanted at least 2nd. to please them and be a good team player. So it became myself, the goose and shakey, in that order.
There was something going on with the goose. He had shifted gears in a huge way and was raising every single pot pre-flop. Either shakey or myself, would almost always be in a hand with him despite his raises. He once raised my BB by 6x and then started his little, "get the grass down" lip thing-a-ma-bob. I looked down at the Hilton's and pushed all-in. As expected, he folded. Then shakey made a raise of 6x the goose' BB. I see K-K and go over the top again. They both folded. Nothing eventful happened after that, for some time. It became a blind crop circle of sorts, as the blinds were never really put into anyone's stack. The BB stack just moved from player to player. I could tell it was going to have to come down to a "big hand" vs "big hand" situation, in order to get to second. That made my decision easy. I would steal and steal and steal, until I got caught. If I had air when I did get caught, I could just walk away and the chips I'd made earlier would pay for this one mis-step. So off I went. I decided on changing my raise pattern between 2x and
5x the BB's. (I was hoping I'd only get caught at the 2x raises !) With this strategy, I became the second high chip stack. It was then carson had come over, (after winning his game might I add!) and i wanted to ask his opinion on something. I leaned over towards him and said, "somebody's losing his patience!" He meandered around a little and then we met eye to eye again. His look told me one thing, "good read." I shifted gears again. I'll sit back and wait for "it" to happen. Carson actually ended up sitting down to deal for our table. We were the last one left and it was getting late. Having a dealer would allow us not only more play, but more hands at each blind level.
The goose was definately losing it. Every push he made, one of us had an answer for. Then the "it" happened. Shakey folded and I decided to limp into goose' BB, while holding 8c-Jc. Goose just knocked the table and we saw a flop of Jd-2d-Js. I checked and watched the goose intently. A little quiver while the goose thought and thought and thought. Then finally, he announced all in. My instant call and the look on his face, said it all. I was ahead. He had hit the duece and neither the turn or river had anything for him. I'd taken out my second player and more importantly, I made second place points for the team, even with my short stack.
Head's up went on and on. I could gain a little ground on shakey, but never enough to take the chip lead. We actually played pretty good poker. A few cleaverly disguised hands by both of us and the chips did exchange hands a little bit here and there. Then came my A-3 of hearts. I got a free ride in my BB and wanted to see where it got me. The flop came 3c-As-Jc. Shakey put out a bet of 100,000 into a pot that now held 75,000 with the blinds being at 25,000/50,000. My mistake here was, I slow played. I just called based on my read that he had air. The 8c came on the turn and I noticed the neck thing as shakey put out another 100,000. In my mind, I knew I had him. I called again instead of firing. Mistake #2. The river was the Qc and our boy shakey fired out another 100,000 bet. I needed to think and talk out the hand, with him listening. I decided to start with the straight. I told him that it would be brutal if I just let him hit his 9-10. He flinched. I moved to the flush and said something like, "If I were you, I sure wouldn't want the baby end of that club flush." He started to quiver hard. I then said, "wouldn't it be sick to have the 9-10 of clubs? That would be just sick improving that much after chasing a straight." He went dead still and stared at the board. I thought I had him right there. "I raise" I said. I'm all in." It took him almost 4 minutes to make the decision to call. He had the baby flush but said he, "couldn't lay it down, even though he thought he was beat." Good call by shakey, and mistake #3 by Bam-Bam.
I know the kids are happy that I got second place points, but that game should have been mine. If I had only played my game at the end, instead of playing games like I did.
My sincerest thanks for dropping by....
Pebbles and I were fairly avid supporters of our local bar poker scene here in Bedrock. With help form my pal DonK, we could always find the best place, with the best people and typically, the better players in town to play with. DonK always kept up to date with the local scene. If we'd grown tired or board with our current game, location or just the play in general, DonK was always there to let us know about where he'd sniffed out some "real" play going on.
Just for the memories of all the local's that read here, don't you really miss the old "Red Hot" game? I know we do.
We slowly migrated from location to location and from game to game, strictly because of how the play would develop after just a few months at the same location. What always seemed to happen was, the players we were trying to avoid in the first place by moving, would eventually catch up to us. The vast majority of these players, are "ass-hats" that we had no issues with decimating at the tables. But then we would have to listen to their "T.V." analysis about how stupid we were and how "we know nothing about poker and just get lucky." (despite it being the 19th. straight game one of us had taken out this same player in 5 orbits or less) This my friends, this gets old incredibly fast. Another important factor is, if you always play with the fishies, you'll always be a fishy yourself at the next level. We wanted to grow our game and be as competitive as we could at all times. The "Downtown game" lead us to a desire to leave poker in Bedrock for good. The core group of us, (although we weren't actually a group then, more like the early migration folks at the time) were all dilligent poker players who had knowledge and a love to study the game. This constantly lead to us tossing out words like "The Hammer!" or "TuckFard Nutz!" or the occasional confession of playing "Dolly" or "The Brunson" as it's better known. We were doing this in jest because the vast majority of the players we were up against at the time, didn't have a clue what they were doing. We could see a cheap flop every hand, no matter what we held. If you hit "The Hammer" hard on the flop, you could make chips like they were going out of style, because one of the players at the table, was holding "big slick" and loved their hand. What happened though, was these students of the game that we were playing against didn't learn poker. OH-NO ! The learned to play "The Hammer" because they'd seen it win huge.
One day DonK sends me an E-Mail telling me about a home game with really good players starting up. He wanted to know if Peb's and I would be interested? I told him that, "if I can find a regular game that has good play and ends up in good friends, we're in whatever the buy-in is." We showed up in the basement of a house of a couple we didn't yet know, and they made us feel at home. To make matters worse, the host was not un-familiar to me. It was funny because, I could tell he did not recognize me at all. Someday, I'll tell you all about my second place finish in the big "Red Hot" game a few years back. I know exactly when the host remembered who I was, as I could see the light switch turn on the moment he realized where we'd met before. The host's are Carson and Suzy_Q. They hold the games at "Carsino Royale" and have a great set up to do so. We left the bar games, downtown games and most other assorted poker in town for good. This is how Pebbles and Bam-Bam became TuckFards. We are now and always shall be, proud to call ourselves Tuck's. When we were asked about joining a team format poker challenge to represent the Tuckfards, we jumped at the chance.
And that leads us up to The goose, the gambler and the shaking man's throat ..
=========================
Pebbles and I were playing for "Team TuckFard" yesterday in a N.L.H.E. table elimination event. 9 players at a table play down to the winner, and you get points for your team based on where you finish the game. (There's a good re-cap by Carson on everyone else's results HERE ) Our team is kicking some butt as I expected. There are some solid players in the Tuck's core group. We all got to know a little bit about each other in the local 200 plus player, local bar scene tourney's. It seemed like 7 or 8 of us, always made up the final table. Put any 5 of us on a team and we'll take our chances with most. Add to that, the fact that we have another 13 - 15 we put in as subs at any given time, with almost no loss in ability, it makes us a formidable team going in.
Anywho.... at my table, I ended up in the #4 spot of only 8 players. The dealer was a known "Downtown Donkey." He was gone in 3 orbits. The 2 spot was an unknown to me but, he showed solid play with some skill for about an hour, before getting crushed by the nut flush while he was holding the 2nd. nut flush. The 3 spot was still in the game and had won a huge race when his 7-7 improved against K-K, once all the money got into the center of the table. The 5 spot was unfortunately holding, the K-K. The 6 spot was still in and had shown nothing but great poker reads and instinct. The 7 spot simply put, was the worst poker player I have ever seen. He didn't last too long but way longer than he should have. He doubled up once miss-reading his cards. He thought he had a flush because, and I quote, "they're all red right?" His two pair was just a little bit better than the other players at the time. That leaves us the 8 spot. After losing the last hand with the great play in the 7 spot, it took exactly two hands for him to exact his revenge. We were now down to four players at the table. We all maintained our position relative to one another, but we gathered around one end of the table for ease of play.
The three spot was "the shaking man's throat." He was directly to my right and had a quiver of some kind when he was excited and nervous. Not the good cards excited, the "I hope I get away with this" kind of excited. it was good to have him on my right. He became my ATM of sorts, because he liked to make moves into pots. I see what I want to see and, I would go over the top. He'd innevitably fold, and then get more and more frustrated at, "not being able to beat (you)me" over and over again. He managed to hang around courtesy of the nice folks in spots 6 an 2. Every time I'd crippled him, they'd go after him with crap and lose. He was doubled and tripled up, several times. The 8 spot became 'the Goose." If you put him to the test, his lips had a quiver, reminiscent of how a goose or duck works it's beak, to get that long lake grass down it's gullet. If confident and poised, his entire body remained motionless and still. Our player in the 6 spot was "the gambler." He loved to see flops, loved to bet them hard if his hand was marginal, and he really loved to talk about poker and it's going's on in the world. He definately knew how to hold 'em, not when to fold'em. I made him walk away, when the dealing was done. We we're at three.
I'd made a huge read mistake early. Big enough that it cost me just under 1/2 of my starting stack. I was fortunate enough to put my pride aside and let the hand go, once I realized I was beat. Going into three handed, I was a massive short stack and in some difficulty. We had been told to go on break. I met up with the others and told Carson and Nutzy that, "I need to be an animal now. I hope you guy's will be OK with me ending up 3rd." As always, they understood and told me to do whatever I had to. If I move up, great! If not, Great! That made me feel a little better and motivated the heck out of me. Now, (although I told them way earlier, I had to play for 3rd. spot based on my chips stack) I really wanted at least 2nd. to please them and be a good team player. So it became myself, the goose and shakey, in that order.
There was something going on with the goose. He had shifted gears in a huge way and was raising every single pot pre-flop. Either shakey or myself, would almost always be in a hand with him despite his raises. He once raised my BB by 6x and then started his little, "get the grass down" lip thing-a-ma-bob. I looked down at the Hilton's and pushed all-in. As expected, he folded. Then shakey made a raise of 6x the goose' BB. I see K-K and go over the top again. They both folded. Nothing eventful happened after that, for some time. It became a blind crop circle of sorts, as the blinds were never really put into anyone's stack. The BB stack just moved from player to player. I could tell it was going to have to come down to a "big hand" vs "big hand" situation, in order to get to second. That made my decision easy. I would steal and steal and steal, until I got caught. If I had air when I did get caught, I could just walk away and the chips I'd made earlier would pay for this one mis-step. So off I went. I decided on changing my raise pattern between 2x and
5x the BB's. (I was hoping I'd only get caught at the 2x raises !) With this strategy, I became the second high chip stack. It was then carson had come over, (after winning his game might I add!) and i wanted to ask his opinion on something. I leaned over towards him and said, "somebody's losing his patience!" He meandered around a little and then we met eye to eye again. His look told me one thing, "good read." I shifted gears again. I'll sit back and wait for "it" to happen. Carson actually ended up sitting down to deal for our table. We were the last one left and it was getting late. Having a dealer would allow us not only more play, but more hands at each blind level.
The goose was definately losing it. Every push he made, one of us had an answer for. Then the "it" happened. Shakey folded and I decided to limp into goose' BB, while holding 8c-Jc. Goose just knocked the table and we saw a flop of Jd-2d-Js. I checked and watched the goose intently. A little quiver while the goose thought and thought and thought. Then finally, he announced all in. My instant call and the look on his face, said it all. I was ahead. He had hit the duece and neither the turn or river had anything for him. I'd taken out my second player and more importantly, I made second place points for the team, even with my short stack.
Head's up went on and on. I could gain a little ground on shakey, but never enough to take the chip lead. We actually played pretty good poker. A few cleaverly disguised hands by both of us and the chips did exchange hands a little bit here and there. Then came my A-3 of hearts. I got a free ride in my BB and wanted to see where it got me. The flop came 3c-As-Jc. Shakey put out a bet of 100,000 into a pot that now held 75,000 with the blinds being at 25,000/50,000. My mistake here was, I slow played. I just called based on my read that he had air. The 8c came on the turn and I noticed the neck thing as shakey put out another 100,000. In my mind, I knew I had him. I called again instead of firing. Mistake #2. The river was the Qc and our boy shakey fired out another 100,000 bet. I needed to think and talk out the hand, with him listening. I decided to start with the straight. I told him that it would be brutal if I just let him hit his 9-10. He flinched. I moved to the flush and said something like, "If I were you, I sure wouldn't want the baby end of that club flush." He started to quiver hard. I then said, "wouldn't it be sick to have the 9-10 of clubs? That would be just sick improving that much after chasing a straight." He went dead still and stared at the board. I thought I had him right there. "I raise" I said. I'm all in." It took him almost 4 minutes to make the decision to call. He had the baby flush but said he, "couldn't lay it down, even though he thought he was beat." Good call by shakey, and mistake #3 by Bam-Bam.
I know the kids are happy that I got second place points, but that game should have been mine. If I had only played my game at the end, instead of playing games like I did.
My sincerest thanks for dropping by....
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