Mistakes a plenty

I really know better than to play any poker after an argument. That being said, I was just about to sit down and play in the Party Poker satellite that gets you an entry in one of the weekday major tournies when my girlfriend decides she wants to have a "do you like poker more than me" discussion.

The tourney starts at 1030p est and she is asking me this question at 1026p est. How do I get out of this w/o an argument? I'm literally sitting in front of the computer with the poker screen open and trying to tell her how much she means to me in under 4 minutes. Well, needless to say, it didn't go well. Then, I sit through 3 orbits w/o a hand, and finally get Ah Kh in MP. I raise 5x the BB and get 5 callers - (gotta love the satellite play early on). Flop comes 10s 10c Kc - I decide to go all in (I know - bad play) and get called in 3 places (2 flush draws, and the winner of the hand who held highly powerful Q10o). Out 40 minutes into the tourney.

I made the $ back at the ring games but I broke one of the cardinal rules of poker and played when my head wasn't in the game. To add insult, my girlfriend comes back later and asks "Did u win?" ...

Blu

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Howard Stern This Morning

I heard the strangest interview this morning. I listen to Howard Stern's radio show to get me through my 45 min morning commute, and today he was talking to Director/Actor Vincent Gallo. I had no previous knowledge of who this guy was but he usually stars in the movies he directs. One movie he did was Buffalo 66 back in 1997 which is a cult classic? I haven't seen it so I can't really confirm or deny.

All I do know is this guy is f**ked up pretty bad in the head. He was talking about getting beaten for days as a child by his father and how he used to expose himself to random women on their way home from work. WTF?! Howard then proceeds to ask him, "who is on your shit list?" He just starts throwing out names of all these critics that pan his movies and he knows exactly the publications they all write for. If I was one of these peeps, I would hire some bodyguards because this guy is looney.

It cracked me up but in an uncomfortable way.

Blu

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My Poker Background

I started playing poker seriously about 2 1/2 years ago. I've played in home games since my mid-teens but they were sporadic at best. I mainly play online now. I started at Party Poker at the beginning of 2002 and played there for about a year. Then I went to PokerStars and Full Tilt when they went live. I am now back at Party Poker because of the mass fish population.

I have a small bankroll so I play $0.50/1, $1/2 Limit ring games. I play NL single table SNG's ($5 and $10 usually), and as many multi-table tournies that I can qualify for through satellites. I can play Omaha High/Omaha HL 8OB/7-card stud HL but I only do when I'm bored and want a change.

I have to play online because in Cincinnati, OH and now Florence, KY, there are no close B&M games. Back in 1999, one of the riverboat casinos over the border in IN had a poker room and I sat and played 3/6 limit not knowing what the hell I was doing and lost $180 in 4 hours. It would have been $300 but I won $120 on my last hand by sucking out the "local pro" on the river. He was called "The Fat Man" for obvious reasons and he started yelling at me when I flipped over my Q7o after I hit the Q for 2 pair on the river. I must have looked like the biggest fish back then! Good times...

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Last Night's WSOP Ep's

Overall I thought last night's main event episodes were entertaining. Moments that stuck out for me:

Sam Farha is the man. On the outside he looked calm and cool but you could feel how bad he still wanted to be playing.

I can't believe Eric Seidel called a preflop raise all-in with K8o - Even if he was short stacked, what was he thinking there?

I would bet the Maxim chick got hit on at least 200 times.

I loved how Doyle took Fischman to school hand after hand. The funniest part of the night was when my girlfriend turns to me and says "Why is he (Fischman) talking so much before he makes his decision on the hand?" I tell her he is trying to get a read on Doyle. She says "I hope he loses." lol

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Shooting Fish @ Party Poker

After reading a couple posts about Party Poker starting up "Bad Beat Jackpot" tables, I decided to take a look and see how juicy the tables could be since I hadn't played there in over a year.

OMG!

I cannot stress enough how good these tables are for solid tight aggressive players. Now, I do not have a large bankroll by any means. I am playing .50/1 Limit this past Sunday and made $60 in two hours. I was literally laughing my ass off at some of the plays that were being made. Did I flame the culprits? Hell No! Keep playing that way all day if ya like, you'll get no complaints for me :).

I had been playing at Pokerstars and most recently at Full Tilt, but I have to say that I am very impressed at the improvements that Party Poker has made in the past year. They now show the hole cards of 2 people going all in preflop and they are now up to 55,000 people playing at the same time! When I used to play there were only about 4,000.

Time for my plug and I'll make it brief. You can signup now for Party Poker and get two bonuses! Click on the first recommended link on the right side of this blog for the download to begin, and when it asks for a signup code type Blu. Then when you make your first deposit, it will ask for a deposit code, type WOW20. You will get 20% up to $100 for Blu, and 20% up to $50 for WOW20. For example, if you deposit $250, you would get $50 from Blu and $50 from WOW20 for a total of $100! One of the great things about Party Poker is how easy it is to get your bonuses. You only have to play 5 raked hands per $1 of bonus. I figure for a $100 bonus you could get it all released in about 7 days playing 1-2 hours a day. Its a great deal and I hope everybody takes advantage of the free $$.

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Funny Stories on the Way into Work

I'm driving to work this morning and I hear the following stories:

1)For those of you not in the greater Cincinnati OH area, yesterday was the opening ceremony for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center with Laura Bush as the key speaker. 10 years to plan, 2 years to build, it was a fairly big deal here locally. Several celebrities were suppossed to be on hand but ditched at the last minute. One of the no shows was P-ditty/Puff Daddy (whatever he calls himself these days). The reason he didn't show? Because Laura Bush would not take any group photos and he felt snubbed! Way to keep the focus on what's important P!

2)Over the last couple years public schools have taken steps (e.g. eliminating dodgeball in gym class) to "help kids feel better about themselves". So it has been determined that when a child gets something wrong on a test, red ink is too negative and will now be changed to purple ink. So even though the child is still 100% wrong, he won't be as upset because purple is more soothing. Lol!

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My Virgin Post

My first foray into the blogging world. A little background: I am not a writer by any means. I have been told that I type exactly how I speak and for some reason that tends to be unusual? However, I am passionate about my poker and can tell a good story now and again. I would welcome any suggestions for improvement, so please leave me a comment anytime.

Over the weekend I got to play in the 200K Full Tilt tourney. It was a freeroll for me since I got a satellite entry for my initial deposit and won the single table satellite for the $200 +16 fee. 620 people total, 14 or so identified pros - everyone started with T1500 in chips and 20 minutes in, I was at a healthy T2600. My table was playing very conservative, and with no labeled pro's around, I was lobbying for table captain. I finished the first hour with a respectable T3100 above the average of T2500.

I ran into my first setback halfway through hour two and it was a big one. Blinds were 120/240?, I have T3000 and I get [Ac][Kd] in MP. The person to my right makes it T720 to go and I call (mistake?) and everyone folds to the BB who goes all in for T900. We both call and the flop is an ugly [8d][6d][3s]. The person to my right bets the minimum and I call. The turn is the [Jd] - again bets the minimum and I call. The river is the [2d] and I have the King high flush. He checks, I check. He flips over [Ad][Ks] for the Ace high flush to my King high flush and the all-in BB mucks. That hand took me down to T1600 or so and I never recovered, losing my last T700 with [As][7s] to AQ finishing 240/620 (top 63 paid).

I thought I played very well up to that deciding hand but that is how it goes in multi-table tournies. One or two hands make all the difference.

PS - if someone could comment how I can get the heart, club, spade, and diamond icons to come out in my posts, I would greatly appreciate it!

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