DID I MENTION THAT I'M IN VEGAS NEXT WEEK ? I can't wait. The un-official blogger gathering is taking place right now and I truly wish I could have been part of that. Sometimes things just don't work out the way we hope. But I have to say that the more information that is being passed around among the troops for the "Blogger Mulligan" coming up this week, the less I'm crushed about not being able to include this weekend in my Vegas plans.
Obviously attempting to gain full on "A-Lister" status, VinNay has been pretty impressive at trying to give us some semblance of organization. He's come an awful long way in the past little while, I must say. It might be related to the fact that he's not crossing any International borders this time around. (I keed, I keed!) $mokkee gave the Vinster props for getting something together for the group to get somewhat organized by, and I have to second the motion! There's alot going on for the bunch of us, with WSoP activities and trying to hook up with the friends we have doing some of the best coverage going on all of the events. Taking the time to give us direction and make sure we all get together at some point in time, was a pretty cool thing to do.
So now that we've all been in touch and passed around a few ideas for our little get together, my "Vegas (non)plans" seem to have turned into a series of get togethers here and there with a bunch of new friends and some, that I just can't wait to see again.
I'm getting pretty pumped up about it!
=========
In other news....
I got an interesting e-mail from a surprise source the other day. I was asked if I would be interested in contributing to a new poker news site. They pitch it as follows ;
"A site that is interesting both for poker bloggers and interested readers, RoundersBuzz.com. It is a recently launched social voting website just for poker content. If you are a publisher looking to drive traffic to your site, you can submit poker articles, stories or news at RoundersBuzz. If you are a poker player looking to improve your game, you can quickly sift through the best poker content voted up to the main page by the community.
Besides the main page, there are five Category pages for specific stories. The most popular categories are the two strategy categories; Tournament Strategy and Ring Game Strategy. They also have categories on General Poker, Online Poker Tools and Poker News."
In all honesty, I've been there everyday this week to see what's been going on out there. I'm sure my opinion means crap to many out there that "really" write on their blogs, instead of the regular drivel I offer up to the masses. But I personally think this RoundersBuzz idea is a good one. So far I've found it to be like one stop shopping. I've found a few Blogs that I didn't know about and found some pretty good material once I got to them. I found a strategy post that probably could of been sold as a freakin' book to the masses of Donkey's like me out there trying to learn NLHE. And, yes I know it won't do me personally any good to study strategy! But some of you loyal readers out there will get some good from it for certain, and I owe you that much!
You're all big kids, you can check the place out for yourself and make your own decisions. It's only been a week for me and I'm getting a kick out of the site. So I thought I'd pimp'em up a bit.
======
I'm not touching anything computer related, (save for some type of electronic pokery type game perhaps!) for at least a week, so I'll be back shortly. Miss me tons and think of me often!
My sincerest thanks for dropping by....
6/06/2008
6/04/2008
Give me my PROPS, please....
As you may or may not know, Feed the Monkey II, (brought to you by TuckFard Poker) is just over two weeks away. Yup! Right after we get back from the WSoP, another group of degenerate gamblers, Drinkers and supposedly 'decent' poker players, will descend on to Bedrock, in an attempt to be the one and only Monkey Feeder. But poker has just never been enough to satisfy me at these events. It's always about the fun!
So in honour of my friend Pauly, I offer up Bam-Bam's list of Prop bets for Feed the Monkey II ....
1) During the pre-game show, I say Carson takes Mini in the HU match.
2) I will also hug who-ever Carson wants me too when he wins. Only if mini agrees to hug anyone I want, should she accidentally lose!
3) I say..... Yummy-Mommy outlasts the good Mr. Bankwell. (2 against 1, NO BRAINER)
4) I say ANIguy outlasts the lovely Donkette.
5) I say the beautiful Kat outlasts brudder Carson.
6) I say I will NOT Gigli this MoFo.
7) I say DonKaaa will at some point show everyone, that he really is the greatest short-stack player in the world! (warning! No brainer. DO NOT TAKE THIS BET !!!)
8) I say Pebbles and I BOTH final table. (home court advantage!)
9) I take the 0% chance of precipitation, you can have the rest.
10) I say that surrounded by such a great group of friends helping us support our friends and neighbours over at Bear Creek Sanctuary, it's going to be one of the real highlights of the Summer of 2008.
I plan on updating this after the event has reached it's conclusion.
So I ask you my Blogren, any others I need to know about?
My sincerest thanks for dropping by....
So in honour of my friend Pauly, I offer up Bam-Bam's list of Prop bets for Feed the Monkey II ....
1) During the pre-game show, I say Carson takes Mini in the HU match.
2) I will also hug who-ever Carson wants me too when he wins. Only if mini agrees to hug anyone I want, should she accidentally lose!
3) I say..... Yummy-Mommy outlasts the good Mr. Bankwell. (2 against 1, NO BRAINER)
4) I say ANIguy outlasts the lovely Donkette.
5) I say the beautiful Kat outlasts brudder Carson.
6) I say I will NOT Gigli this MoFo.
7) I say DonKaaa will at some point show everyone, that he really is the greatest short-stack player in the world! (warning! No brainer. DO NOT TAKE THIS BET !!!)
8) I say Pebbles and I BOTH final table. (home court advantage!)
9) I take the 0% chance of precipitation, you can have the rest.
10) I say that surrounded by such a great group of friends helping us support our friends and neighbours over at Bear Creek Sanctuary, it's going to be one of the real highlights of the Summer of 2008.
I plan on updating this after the event has reached it's conclusion.
So I ask you my Blogren, any others I need to know about?
My sincerest thanks for dropping by....
6/03/2008
Honesty in poker, a self analysis....
Obviously a large part of improvement in this game of poker we love so much is a good healthy and honest, self-assessment as we go along. I frequently run small sample sized runs of ten games or so, and then evaluate my performance based on the results. I personally find it’s a better test of my abilities and capabilities as they are at the moment, to plan the evaluation period. Rather than just look back and see where I’ve been. I liken this to exam time back in school.
Knowing full well that I could not play every single event for one very important reason, (SLEEP !) I decided to make the BBT3 an evaluation process for the current state of my game. And since Al would already be doing all the hard work for me, in keeping up with all of the stats for every player in the damn thing, it seemed a no-brainer to use the event as a study on my play over the three months. So all I had to do was set a few goals and play my ass off. Seems easy enough!
So how’d I do?
My first goal :
Knowing how many games I would have to miss, finish in the top 50% in points.
Result :
I played in exactly 40% of the games throughout the BBT3 and I finished in the top 12% in points, averaging about 27 points per game played.
Analysis :
At first I went with how the numbers can be skewed because of the number of players that only played 2 or 3 times. This gives me a better result, despite how few games I actually played in the series. But in all honesty, as I look at the players around me in the standings that played 5, 10, 20 and even 30 more games than I did over the entire thing, I’m pretty damn proud to have finished so high. As points were awarded to the top 25% of the players in every game and I finished up in the points in just about 50% of the games I played in, I’ll give myself a B+ here and tell myself to work harder on not making the mistake of re-steal attempts. This is the one true reason I didn’t do even better. Too many times I let my ego cloud my judgment and I just wouldn’t lay down a hand when I thought I was being robbed.
My counter-measure for this leak :
It doesn’t matter if you’re being robbed, if you’re holding nothing to steal.
=======
My second goal :
Do well enough to make it a freeroll.
Result :
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!
The 23 games I played including MATH’s, Skillz, Mookies and Riverchasers, cost me an average of $5.25 each. I was actually freerolling for some time there along the way, but the last three weeks saw me play a few more games than I already knew I should have. Including three in a row in back-to-back weeks. Playing that late and getting up at 4:30am everyday, was just a re-donk-ulous decision on my part.
Analysis :
I don’t care how you slice it. $5.25 / game is less than ½ price. But is that a good thing? In order to find out, I needed to create a comparison. But that pretty tough, when you don’t know what games at what price, everyone paid. So I thought it over and decided to take a look at it, as if everyone only played the $11 games. It’s not realistic of course, but it is a form of measure that will give me some idea of how I stack up against a few random players I pick to measure myself against. For the record, (read : not to piss anyone off or even worse! Boost up anyone’s ego too high!) I decided to pick players near me in the points and several others who’s games I have a great deal of respect for.
So at an average of $11 / game, the numbers come out like this;
Bam-Bam -$3.95 / game
Cemfredmd - $7.60 / game ( 1 ahead of me in points )
PushMonkey -$3.37 / game ( 1 behind me in points )
Surflexus +$2.27 / game
Corron10 +$17.05 / game
Crackenaces -$0.83 / game
RaisingCayne -$4.09 / game
Bayne_s +$6.65 / game
Since my goal was to freeroll this thing at worst and considering the number of final tables and in the points results I actually achieved, my grade for this has to be a D. I just didn’t get paid enough for the results. That shows I have a leak and I’d have to say it was being too careful, (read weak!) around the money bubbles.
My counter-measure for this leak :
I need to stay focused on the game at these points, rather than on the results. I analyzed my HH’s at both the points bubbles and the money bubbles and found the exact same thing. I was folding good solid hands, in the hopes that others would screw up before me. Thus allowing me to squeak into both the points and the cash. This is a brutal flaw! I do not want to have done all this analysis for nothing. Going forward, I will play the game and pay better attention during these sessions, in order to improve my position in the standings, rather than “maintain,” where I am at the moment.
=====
And finally, my third goal was to be in the points in 50% of the games I played.
Result : I was in the points in 44% of the games I played.
Analysis : I was a Donkey for playing all three games near the end there. Tired, un-focused and so far from the right frame of mind. I give myself a C+ here, only to be hard enough on myself to get the message to sink in.
My counter-measure :
Check my ego and my friendships at the door and only play poker during one of these studies, when I’m at my best. The other results tell me quite simply, that my best isn’t even good enough right now! Why the hell would I want to sit down and play when I’m not even that good?
In an ever optimistic glass is half full kind of way, I do want to leave here with a positive of sorts. I looked at the breakdown of the games I played over this time period, and I was pleasantly surprised to see my results in the hold’em games over all. This game continues to be my nemesis, as it’s clear I’m not catching up with the very talented players out there in these BBT events. I expected all of my points, cashes and better results, to come solely from the non- hold’em events. I based this on my experience in the games available over the series. Surprisingly, maybe some of the help I’ve gotten from friends and the lessons I’ve learnt over the last year is all starting to actually kick in! My results in hold’em were very +EV for the expectations going in.
My sincerest thanks for dropping by….
Knowing full well that I could not play every single event for one very important reason, (SLEEP !) I decided to make the BBT3 an evaluation process for the current state of my game. And since Al would already be doing all the hard work for me, in keeping up with all of the stats for every player in the damn thing, it seemed a no-brainer to use the event as a study on my play over the three months. So all I had to do was set a few goals and play my ass off. Seems easy enough!
So how’d I do?
My first goal :
Knowing how many games I would have to miss, finish in the top 50% in points.
Result :
I played in exactly 40% of the games throughout the BBT3 and I finished in the top 12% in points, averaging about 27 points per game played.
Analysis :
At first I went with how the numbers can be skewed because of the number of players that only played 2 or 3 times. This gives me a better result, despite how few games I actually played in the series. But in all honesty, as I look at the players around me in the standings that played 5, 10, 20 and even 30 more games than I did over the entire thing, I’m pretty damn proud to have finished so high. As points were awarded to the top 25% of the players in every game and I finished up in the points in just about 50% of the games I played in, I’ll give myself a B+ here and tell myself to work harder on not making the mistake of re-steal attempts. This is the one true reason I didn’t do even better. Too many times I let my ego cloud my judgment and I just wouldn’t lay down a hand when I thought I was being robbed.
My counter-measure for this leak :
It doesn’t matter if you’re being robbed, if you’re holding nothing to steal.
=======
My second goal :
Do well enough to make it a freeroll.
Result :
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!
The 23 games I played including MATH’s, Skillz, Mookies and Riverchasers, cost me an average of $5.25 each. I was actually freerolling for some time there along the way, but the last three weeks saw me play a few more games than I already knew I should have. Including three in a row in back-to-back weeks. Playing that late and getting up at 4:30am everyday, was just a re-donk-ulous decision on my part.
Analysis :
I don’t care how you slice it. $5.25 / game is less than ½ price. But is that a good thing? In order to find out, I needed to create a comparison. But that pretty tough, when you don’t know what games at what price, everyone paid. So I thought it over and decided to take a look at it, as if everyone only played the $11 games. It’s not realistic of course, but it is a form of measure that will give me some idea of how I stack up against a few random players I pick to measure myself against. For the record, (read : not to piss anyone off or even worse! Boost up anyone’s ego too high!) I decided to pick players near me in the points and several others who’s games I have a great deal of respect for.
So at an average of $11 / game, the numbers come out like this;
Bam-Bam -$3.95 / game
Cemfredmd - $7.60 / game ( 1 ahead of me in points )
PushMonkey -$3.37 / game ( 1 behind me in points )
Surflexus +$2.27 / game
Corron10 +$17.05 / game
Crackenaces -$0.83 / game
RaisingCayne -$4.09 / game
Bayne_s +$6.65 / game
Since my goal was to freeroll this thing at worst and considering the number of final tables and in the points results I actually achieved, my grade for this has to be a D. I just didn’t get paid enough for the results. That shows I have a leak and I’d have to say it was being too careful, (read weak!) around the money bubbles.
My counter-measure for this leak :
I need to stay focused on the game at these points, rather than on the results. I analyzed my HH’s at both the points bubbles and the money bubbles and found the exact same thing. I was folding good solid hands, in the hopes that others would screw up before me. Thus allowing me to squeak into both the points and the cash. This is a brutal flaw! I do not want to have done all this analysis for nothing. Going forward, I will play the game and pay better attention during these sessions, in order to improve my position in the standings, rather than “maintain,” where I am at the moment.
=====
And finally, my third goal was to be in the points in 50% of the games I played.
Result : I was in the points in 44% of the games I played.
Analysis : I was a Donkey for playing all three games near the end there. Tired, un-focused and so far from the right frame of mind. I give myself a C+ here, only to be hard enough on myself to get the message to sink in.
My counter-measure :
Check my ego and my friendships at the door and only play poker during one of these studies, when I’m at my best. The other results tell me quite simply, that my best isn’t even good enough right now! Why the hell would I want to sit down and play when I’m not even that good?
In an ever optimistic glass is half full kind of way, I do want to leave here with a positive of sorts. I looked at the breakdown of the games I played over this time period, and I was pleasantly surprised to see my results in the hold’em games over all. This game continues to be my nemesis, as it’s clear I’m not catching up with the very talented players out there in these BBT events. I expected all of my points, cashes and better results, to come solely from the non- hold’em events. I based this on my experience in the games available over the series. Surprisingly, maybe some of the help I’ve gotten from friends and the lessons I’ve learnt over the last year is all starting to actually kick in! My results in hold’em were very +EV for the expectations going in.
My sincerest thanks for dropping by….
6/02/2008
Vegas (non)plans....
I have to admit that I wish I could’ve stretched this Vegas trip out just a touch, so that it could have included this up-coming weekend as well. I was really looking forward to catching up with Falstaff and the gang. By the sounds of things, I’ll possibly be looking for high 5’s from mookie and Falstaff, as we walk through MaCarron. I just figured/found out that we'll be missing Mr. and Mrs Wife! That's incredibly dissapointing to me!
For the first time in ages, I do not have a set in stone itinerary set up. Hell, I haven’t even decided what tourney or events I’m going to look at getting into. This is really bizarre for Peb’s and I. But we are looking at this trip in a completely different way for a few reasons. First and foremost, is the fun factor. We’ve always had fun, don’t get me wrong! It’s just that we’ve done such a great job planning everything down to the letter that we know we’ve missed some special opportunities along the way. Secondly, it’s very different this time around, as we’ll be traveling as part of a group of ten. This is a completely different experience for me. I like meeting groups and I like everything about the blogger get-togethers, but this will be a first for me. I see no problems related to traveling with anyone in the group, I can tell you that. All truly good friends, that I’m very lucky to have. Some are Vegas newbies too, and it’s going to be a lot of fun watching their reactions to some of the goings on throughout the week.
So, I don’t have a ton of things planned for the trip, but there are a few things I really do want to do for sure. With our trip starting a week today, I figured I’d better look at some of the plans I have made and make sure I’m not double booked anywhere’s along the way. Let me tell you, it ain’t easy being an EH-lister! Everyone always wants a piece. ;o)
Tuesday – During the day, probably get everyone pointed in the direction of their choosing. I might try and see if I can find CK and her 130 lbs. of fury too. Then there will be some beverages hoisted at The IP. I promised ElSnarfeGrande and therefore, I will keep my word. So drinks and possible debauchery with the folks of The Corporation it is then. You will find Pebbles and I, somewhere near Let it Ride and The Geisha Bar in the PM’ish.
Wednesday – Hook up with Pauly. This is a “two-birds, one stone” no-brainer for me. The $5000 NLHE event starts at noon and Pauly will be at the Rio doing what he does second, (he’s the best lucky charm for me) best, covering all the action. That reminds me, I hope you’re all taking advantage of the Great Gazoo linkage over there to the right! I obviously want to see my friend and did I mention, GOOD LUCK CHARM? But this will also give me an opportunity to witness what I’ve only been able to read about up until now. Life in the WsoP for Pauly. Note I didn’t say at! He get’s right in there and mixes it up for what I personally feel, is the absolute best coverage available. I really want to see him in action.
Thursday – Do whatever the hell Pebbles wants to do day!
Friday – Open BUT, I’m hoping to catch up with VinNay, Astin, HOY, Cmitch, $mokkee, Bayne and anyone else hanging around for the “mulligan weekend.” My cell #’s on the spreadsheet we’ve all shared, and I’m hoping it gets well used to bring us all together at least once during the week.
Saturday – Open until the ‘very’ red-eye takes off.
So there you have it. Like I said earlier on, no real set in stone plans for the trip. Just some big ass-perations for meeting a few friends as I go along the way. Hopefully I’ll get to meet some of the Bloggers and players that I have not had the chance to meet as of yet. And I really hope I get the chance to see a few of my friends whom I haven’t seen in far, far too long a time.
So I go to Vegas with some great old friends, I’m looking to meet up with some dear old friends and hopefully hooking up with a few IIF’s that I haven’t been fortunate enough to meet before. This may just be one of my best Vegas trips to date!
BRING IT ON !!!!
My sincerest thanks for dropping by….
For the first time in ages, I do not have a set in stone itinerary set up. Hell, I haven’t even decided what tourney or events I’m going to look at getting into. This is really bizarre for Peb’s and I. But we are looking at this trip in a completely different way for a few reasons. First and foremost, is the fun factor. We’ve always had fun, don’t get me wrong! It’s just that we’ve done such a great job planning everything down to the letter that we know we’ve missed some special opportunities along the way. Secondly, it’s very different this time around, as we’ll be traveling as part of a group of ten. This is a completely different experience for me. I like meeting groups and I like everything about the blogger get-togethers, but this will be a first for me. I see no problems related to traveling with anyone in the group, I can tell you that. All truly good friends, that I’m very lucky to have. Some are Vegas newbies too, and it’s going to be a lot of fun watching their reactions to some of the goings on throughout the week.
So, I don’t have a ton of things planned for the trip, but there are a few things I really do want to do for sure. With our trip starting a week today, I figured I’d better look at some of the plans I have made and make sure I’m not double booked anywhere’s along the way. Let me tell you, it ain’t easy being an EH-lister! Everyone always wants a piece. ;o)
Tuesday – During the day, probably get everyone pointed in the direction of their choosing. I might try and see if I can find CK and her 130 lbs. of fury too. Then there will be some beverages hoisted at The IP. I promised ElSnarfeGrande and therefore, I will keep my word. So drinks and possible debauchery with the folks of The Corporation it is then. You will find Pebbles and I, somewhere near Let it Ride and The Geisha Bar in the PM’ish.
Wednesday – Hook up with Pauly. This is a “two-birds, one stone” no-brainer for me. The $5000 NLHE event starts at noon and Pauly will be at the Rio doing what he does second, (he’s the best lucky charm for me) best, covering all the action. That reminds me, I hope you’re all taking advantage of the Great Gazoo linkage over there to the right! I obviously want to see my friend and did I mention, GOOD LUCK CHARM? But this will also give me an opportunity to witness what I’ve only been able to read about up until now. Life in the WsoP for Pauly. Note I didn’t say at! He get’s right in there and mixes it up for what I personally feel, is the absolute best coverage available. I really want to see him in action.
Thursday – Do whatever the hell Pebbles wants to do day!
Friday – Open BUT, I’m hoping to catch up with VinNay, Astin, HOY, Cmitch, $mokkee, Bayne and anyone else hanging around for the “mulligan weekend.” My cell #’s on the spreadsheet we’ve all shared, and I’m hoping it gets well used to bring us all together at least once during the week.
Saturday – Open until the ‘very’ red-eye takes off.
So there you have it. Like I said earlier on, no real set in stone plans for the trip. Just some big ass-perations for meeting a few friends as I go along the way. Hopefully I’ll get to meet some of the Bloggers and players that I have not had the chance to meet as of yet. And I really hope I get the chance to see a few of my friends whom I haven’t seen in far, far too long a time.
So I go to Vegas with some great old friends, I’m looking to meet up with some dear old friends and hopefully hooking up with a few IIF’s that I haven’t been fortunate enough to meet before. This may just be one of my best Vegas trips to date!
BRING IT ON !!!!
My sincerest thanks for dropping by….
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