Thursday, April 12, 2007
Massive HORSE Tournament
I entered a tourney on PokerStars to kill some time while watching baseball. Somehow I outlasted over 5100 players and made it to the next round. It was only a freeroll, so it shows hardly any level of skill, but it's pretty cool that I lasted that long <-- "that's what she said". Since I have no means of transferring money to any online poker sites, and have over $600 locked indefinitely in my Neteller account, I'm shooting to win a whopping $10 through freerolls and build it up to millions (or at least enough to fool around with).
Long Weekend
With Patriot's Day on Monday, I'll have four days off from class. That means Foxwoods x 3. At least I hope. I expect a slow day on Friday at the tables. The Omaha game was pretty tight up until about 4pm last Friday when it became more tourist-y. Saturday's are usually goldmines but I have missed the past few and would like to check out the action. And, I am definitely going on Sunday. So this weekend looks to be either two or three trips to gambool. Looking forward to it. Results to come...
Friday, April 6, 2007
Is Niceeee
Another solid day in the books. I got to Foxwoods around noon and the Omaha wait list was already 12 names deep. So, I sat around for a couple of minutes before jumping into a $1-$5 Stud game. I was dealt a few nice hands, taking down a big pot with an aces full of fives fullhouse shortly after I sat down. I dwindled away $60 until I started with a QQ in the hole and a K showing. I caught another Q on the next card and it was smooth sailing til the end. I managed to finish up $85 after under an hour. I had said I am wasting my time on the $1-$5 table and should move up limits. Next time hopefully.
Over the past month, after six hours at the Stud tables, I was only at break-even. In the past two hours I've been up $155, which finally gives me a respectable win-rate.
They opened a new Omaha table around 1pm, which I was surprised about since it's Friday. When I sat down, it was a kill hand, meaning the limits were $6-$12. Usually it's a good idea to sit out a couple of hands when you are new to table to get a feel for the action, but I decided to play regardless. Right off the bat I'm dealt A267 and flop beautifully - 85K. The turn was even better, a 4, giving my nut high, nut low. The worst possible card in the entire deck came on the river, the 2 of clubs. This not only counterfeited my low, but gave someone a possible flush. I managed to squeeze out a quarter of the massive pot by splitting the high. On the turn I was looking at a nice $150 profit to start my day and wound up winning zilch.
Unfortunately it turned out to be a pretty tight table. We traded chips for about three hours. TightAssholeHick was down $100 quickly and that made me pretty happy. NiceMiddleAgedLadyButPlaysTooGoodForAWoman was also down $100 and that also made me happy. Finally BigFish sat down and we started getting some better sized pots.
I didn't have anything really going for me and was forced to switch tables when seats became available at the main Omaha game. The usually suspects had already moved to the new table, but there were a few other fish there. With no really memorable hands I cashed out $110 after playing for a couple of hours.
Total trip came out to +200 in 5.5 hours. A decent day all around, but I never had any huge wins. I noticed I was making better folds early in hands, rather than throwing away good money. I was also tilting less. The few times I'd get rivered to one of the only four cards in the deck that could hurt me, I didn't overplay crappy hands immediately after. Those two factors combined helped me minimize loses between my scattered wins.
With Easter on Sunday, I'm going to have to limit my gambling to one trip this week. I'll just have to make up for it with three trips to Foxwoods next week. (Which I plan on doing).
Over the past month, after six hours at the Stud tables, I was only at break-even. In the past two hours I've been up $155, which finally gives me a respectable win-rate.
They opened a new Omaha table around 1pm, which I was surprised about since it's Friday. When I sat down, it was a kill hand, meaning the limits were $6-$12. Usually it's a good idea to sit out a couple of hands when you are new to table to get a feel for the action, but I decided to play regardless. Right off the bat I'm dealt A267 and flop beautifully - 85K. The turn was even better, a 4, giving my nut high, nut low. The worst possible card in the entire deck came on the river, the 2 of clubs. This not only counterfeited my low, but gave someone a possible flush. I managed to squeeze out a quarter of the massive pot by splitting the high. On the turn I was looking at a nice $150 profit to start my day and wound up winning zilch.
Unfortunately it turned out to be a pretty tight table. We traded chips for about three hours. TightAssholeHick was down $100 quickly and that made me pretty happy. NiceMiddleAgedLadyButPlaysTooGoodForAWoman was also down $100 and that also made me happy. Finally BigFish sat down and we started getting some better sized pots.
I didn't have anything really going for me and was forced to switch tables when seats became available at the main Omaha game. The usually suspects had already moved to the new table, but there were a few other fish there. With no really memorable hands I cashed out $110 after playing for a couple of hours.
Total trip came out to +200 in 5.5 hours. A decent day all around, but I never had any huge wins. I noticed I was making better folds early in hands, rather than throwing away good money. I was also tilting less. The few times I'd get rivered to one of the only four cards in the deck that could hurt me, I didn't overplay crappy hands immediately after. Those two factors combined helped me minimize loses between my scattered wins.
With Easter on Sunday, I'm going to have to limit my gambling to one trip this week. I'll just have to make up for it with three trips to Foxwoods next week. (Which I plan on doing).
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Foxwoods
I' m taking a trip down to Foxwoods tomorrow. I play on playing some Omaha and $5-$10 Stud if there is a wait list for the Omaha game. Is niceee.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
CDM Points Teams
CDM is my favorite fantasy service. I've played with them for eight years now and have won a nice chunk of change along the way.
It is a salary-cap style game with 40 man rosters (28 starts, 12 bench), 25 team leagues, and league, overall, and weekly prizes. Transactions are made weekly and the salaries and positions don't change throughout the season.
I've entered seven teams across three different game formats (different costs and prizes).
Scoring:
1B- 1 point
2B- 2
3B- 3
HR- 4
Run- 1
RBI- 1
BB- 1
SB- 1
IP- 1
K- 1
Win- 10
Save- 10
Week 1 Staters:
C- Mauer
C- Piazza
1B- Fielder
1B- Gonzalez
2B- Weeks
2B- Phillips
3B- Cabrera
3B- Encarnacion
SS- Reyes
SS- Drew
OF- Soriano
OF- Sizemore
OF- Swisher
OF- Rios
OF- Taveras
OF- D.Young
Util- Howard
Util- Hafner
SP- Haren
SP- Olsen
SP- Sheets
SP- Hernandez
SP- Harden
SP- Papelbon
RP- Rodriguez
RP- Ray
RP- Street
RP- Saito
Bench:
C- McCann
1B- Pujols
2B- Utley
3B- Atkins
SS- Ramirez
OF- Holliday
OF- Baldelli
OF- Markakis
SP- Young
SP- Hill
SP- Hamels
SP- Cain
I've done a ton of research this year, so I really hope it pays off. My strategy was to mix a bunch of higher priced hitters with a relatively cheap pitching staff. Papelbon listed as a starter is money in this game. You get 14 buys throughout the year to drop a player from your team for a new one. I figure that I'd need at least two on closers, a couple on my speculative outfield, and the rest will be for the various pitching injuries that always occur.
It is a salary-cap style game with 40 man rosters (28 starts, 12 bench), 25 team leagues, and league, overall, and weekly prizes. Transactions are made weekly and the salaries and positions don't change throughout the season.
I've entered seven teams across three different game formats (different costs and prizes).
Scoring:
1B- 1 point
2B- 2
3B- 3
HR- 4
Run- 1
RBI- 1
BB- 1
SB- 1
IP- 1
K- 1
Win- 10
Save- 10
Week 1 Staters:
C- Mauer
C- Piazza
1B- Fielder
1B- Gonzalez
2B- Weeks
2B- Phillips
3B- Cabrera
3B- Encarnacion
SS- Reyes
SS- Drew
OF- Soriano
OF- Sizemore
OF- Swisher
OF- Rios
OF- Taveras
OF- D.Young
Util- Howard
Util- Hafner
SP- Haren
SP- Olsen
SP- Sheets
SP- Hernandez
SP- Harden
SP- Papelbon
RP- Rodriguez
RP- Ray
RP- Street
RP- Saito
Bench:
C- McCann
1B- Pujols
2B- Utley
3B- Atkins
SS- Ramirez
OF- Holliday
OF- Baldelli
OF- Markakis
SP- Young
SP- Hill
SP- Hamels
SP- Cain
I've done a ton of research this year, so I really hope it pays off. My strategy was to mix a bunch of higher priced hitters with a relatively cheap pitching staff. Papelbon listed as a starter is money in this game. You get 14 buys throughout the year to drop a player from your team for a new one. I figure that I'd need at least two on closers, a couple on my speculative outfield, and the rest will be for the various pitching injuries that always occur.
Yahoo Roto Team
10 teams, 30 players deep, $30 fee
C- McCann
C- B.Molina
1B- Lee
2B- Kinsler
3B- Rolen
SS- Reyes
CI- Overbay
MI- S.Drew
OF- Sizemore
OF- Matsui
OF- Hunter
OF- Markakis
OF- Hawpe
Util- Tracy
Bench- Duncan
Bench- C.Young
Bench- DeJesus
Bench- Scott
P- Oswalt
P- Papelbon
P- Bonderman
P- Ray
P- Haren
P- Wainwright
P- Maddux
P- An.Reyes
P- Garcia
Bench- Broxton
Bench- Shields
Bench- Loewen
I'm pretty happy with my team. I had the third pick after Pujols and Utley were taken and I decided to take Reyes over Santana. I like locking up the shortstop position early and not having to worry about it later. My offense projects to be first in the league and my pitching looks to be about average.
C- McCann
C- B.Molina
1B- Lee
2B- Kinsler
3B- Rolen
SS- Reyes
CI- Overbay
MI- S.Drew
OF- Sizemore
OF- Matsui
OF- Hunter
OF- Markakis
OF- Hawpe
Util- Tracy
Bench- Duncan
Bench- C.Young
Bench- DeJesus
Bench- Scott
P- Oswalt
P- Papelbon
P- Bonderman
P- Ray
P- Haren
P- Wainwright
P- Maddux
P- An.Reyes
P- Garcia
Bench- Broxton
Bench- Shields
Bench- Loewen
I'm pretty happy with my team. I had the third pick after Pujols and Utley were taken and I decided to take Reyes over Santana. I like locking up the shortstop position early and not having to worry about it later. My offense projects to be first in the league and my pitching looks to be about average.
Atlantic City Trip Report
For those unfamiliar with Atlanticy City, picture extravagant hotels and casinos mixed with a third world country. The surrounding areas intertwined with the city are pure ghetto. Walking outside, at night, alone is a guaranteed death sentence. Regardless, it was a great trip.
I played at the Trump Taj Mahal for the two days I was there. I wanted to check out the Borgata, but didn't have enough time. The Taj is notoriously known for having disgusting, dirty chips, but other than that the poker room was pretty good.
Day One:
I started off playing in a $3/$6 2-way Omaha hi-lo/Stud hi-lo game with a full kill to $6/$12 which was pretty juicy. I only played for 2.5 hours and won about $50 on the Omaha side. I got dealt nothing but garbage in the Stud side and gave most of my money back. A huge hand that could have helped my stack out big time was when I held A237 on a K867 board. I had an uncounterfeitable low to go with a pair of 7s. The river brought a 10 and I wound up getting 3/4'd to an A2510. Final result was +$0 in 2.5 hours.
I was highly disappointed with the $80+$20 fee Omaha hi-lo limit tournament I entered. The blinds increased way too fast and only 26 players entered. First place was $1000 and fifth place made their money back. With 15 players remaining I was chip leader after an incredible hand. I was in the small blind with AAxx and about five players in the hand. The flop came KJJ. It was checked around to the button and he bet. I called because he could have made the bet with just a pair of kings. Four players saw the turn which brought the beautiful Ace. I had a lock on the hand so I checked. When it came back to me there was already a bet and the button raised all-in. I didn't need anymore help on the river, but another Ace came giving me quads. I managed to get a call from a fat, obnoxious lady with QT for the straight. The button showed KJ and he was pretty pissed to get knocked out after such a perfect flop. The blinds were quickly $1K/$2K and I exited in 10th place after I committed my stack pre-flop with a suited AAxx and lost to two pair.
Later on that night I took a seat at one of the three (!) $5-$10 Omaha tables they had running. The game played with a full kill, any scooped pot over just $75. It wound up that nearly half the time we were playing $10-$20, which is higher than I would have liked to play, simply because a bad variance downswing would hurt my bankroll. For the most part, the play was more aggressive than at Foxwoods, but that didn't necessarily mean it was any better. I played for about six hours and finished down $60. When I was sat, we had just started a must-move game. Basically whoever was on the top of the list had to move over to the main table whenever someone else left. I only was allowed to stay at the table for no more than an hour.
I hit my first live Royal Flush. My hand had four high cards, so I was looking for a high card flop and hit a straight. I then hit runner-runner for the Royal! In Foxwoods they give you a nice leather jacket, and I was hoping I'd get something cool at the Taj. They wound up giving me two free buffet coupons which was disappointing. Nevertheless, it was cool to hit a live Royal.
When I moved into the main game I was up against a bunch of players who had some clue to what they were doing and couldn't build up any sort of stack. I left the casino around 3am after putting in a nice 14 hour day, down roughly $200.
Day Two:
After eating at the nasty Buffet, I jumped back into the Omaha game. A few guys from the night before were there and I was absolutely card dead for the first two hours. I went through one horrible stretch where I could not be dealt an ace. For an hour I saw nothing but K886-type hands. I sat down with roughly $240 and was all-in at one point. Two of the better players left the table and it was starting to look more profitable. I was picking up some nice hands and started recouping my loses. I wound up leaving the table with $500 for a nice $260 profit in five hours. It could have been much higher, but some of my premium scooping hands didn't develop past the flop.
One unfortunate hand came when I was in the big blind and had KQ108. You only win these types of hands when the flop hits you perfectly. It did. J92. I had a million outs. Any K, Q, 10, 8, or 7 gave me the nut straight. The 8 hit on the turn but brought a low draw and a flush draw. I was thinking that if the Q of diamond hit on the river, I would be money. Four callers saw the river and the perfect card hit. I had the nuts and no lows were possible. I bet, got raised, re-raised, and when I capped it I could only hope that they both didn't hold the KT. Sure enough we split the pot three ways and I couldn't believe the crap they were holding to draw out to the river with. They both didn't have low or flush draws, nor did they have straights on the turn. What should have been a $200 scooper, turned into a zero profit hand.
Over the two days, I played a little bit of $5-$10 stud for no more than an hour while waiting for my main games. I didn't stay long enough to win any pots and bled off $60 there.
Final totals come to 14 hours at the cash games for +$140. The tournament cost me $100 and three hours.
I'm not sure if I'll ever visit Atlantic City again because of how much of a shithole it is. I'll probably head back to Foxwoods next Friday to play some Stud and Omaha.
I played at the Trump Taj Mahal for the two days I was there. I wanted to check out the Borgata, but didn't have enough time. The Taj is notoriously known for having disgusting, dirty chips, but other than that the poker room was pretty good.
Day One:
I started off playing in a $3/$6 2-way Omaha hi-lo/Stud hi-lo game with a full kill to $6/$12 which was pretty juicy. I only played for 2.5 hours and won about $50 on the Omaha side. I got dealt nothing but garbage in the Stud side and gave most of my money back. A huge hand that could have helped my stack out big time was when I held A237 on a K867 board. I had an uncounterfeitable low to go with a pair of 7s. The river brought a 10 and I wound up getting 3/4'd to an A2510. Final result was +$0 in 2.5 hours.
I was highly disappointed with the $80+$20 fee Omaha hi-lo limit tournament I entered. The blinds increased way too fast and only 26 players entered. First place was $1000 and fifth place made their money back. With 15 players remaining I was chip leader after an incredible hand. I was in the small blind with AAxx and about five players in the hand. The flop came KJJ. It was checked around to the button and he bet. I called because he could have made the bet with just a pair of kings. Four players saw the turn which brought the beautiful Ace. I had a lock on the hand so I checked. When it came back to me there was already a bet and the button raised all-in. I didn't need anymore help on the river, but another Ace came giving me quads. I managed to get a call from a fat, obnoxious lady with QT for the straight. The button showed KJ and he was pretty pissed to get knocked out after such a perfect flop. The blinds were quickly $1K/$2K and I exited in 10th place after I committed my stack pre-flop with a suited AAxx and lost to two pair.
Later on that night I took a seat at one of the three (!) $5-$10 Omaha tables they had running. The game played with a full kill, any scooped pot over just $75. It wound up that nearly half the time we were playing $10-$20, which is higher than I would have liked to play, simply because a bad variance downswing would hurt my bankroll. For the most part, the play was more aggressive than at Foxwoods, but that didn't necessarily mean it was any better. I played for about six hours and finished down $60. When I was sat, we had just started a must-move game. Basically whoever was on the top of the list had to move over to the main table whenever someone else left. I only was allowed to stay at the table for no more than an hour.
I hit my first live Royal Flush. My hand had four high cards, so I was looking for a high card flop and hit a straight. I then hit runner-runner for the Royal! In Foxwoods they give you a nice leather jacket, and I was hoping I'd get something cool at the Taj. They wound up giving me two free buffet coupons which was disappointing. Nevertheless, it was cool to hit a live Royal.
When I moved into the main game I was up against a bunch of players who had some clue to what they were doing and couldn't build up any sort of stack. I left the casino around 3am after putting in a nice 14 hour day, down roughly $200.
Day Two:
After eating at the nasty Buffet, I jumped back into the Omaha game. A few guys from the night before were there and I was absolutely card dead for the first two hours. I went through one horrible stretch where I could not be dealt an ace. For an hour I saw nothing but K886-type hands. I sat down with roughly $240 and was all-in at one point. Two of the better players left the table and it was starting to look more profitable. I was picking up some nice hands and started recouping my loses. I wound up leaving the table with $500 for a nice $260 profit in five hours. It could have been much higher, but some of my premium scooping hands didn't develop past the flop.
One unfortunate hand came when I was in the big blind and had KQ108. You only win these types of hands when the flop hits you perfectly. It did. J92. I had a million outs. Any K, Q, 10, 8, or 7 gave me the nut straight. The 8 hit on the turn but brought a low draw and a flush draw. I was thinking that if the Q of diamond hit on the river, I would be money. Four callers saw the river and the perfect card hit. I had the nuts and no lows were possible. I bet, got raised, re-raised, and when I capped it I could only hope that they both didn't hold the KT. Sure enough we split the pot three ways and I couldn't believe the crap they were holding to draw out to the river with. They both didn't have low or flush draws, nor did they have straights on the turn. What should have been a $200 scooper, turned into a zero profit hand.
Over the two days, I played a little bit of $5-$10 stud for no more than an hour while waiting for my main games. I didn't stay long enough to win any pots and bled off $60 there.
Final totals come to 14 hours at the cash games for +$140. The tournament cost me $100 and three hours.
I'm not sure if I'll ever visit Atlantic City again because of how much of a shithole it is. I'll probably head back to Foxwoods next Friday to play some Stud and Omaha.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Yahoo Head-to-Head team
12 teams, H2H with generic roto categories
If the league goes well, we plan on putting some money on it next year.
C- Barrett
1B- Lee
2B- Utley
3B- Rolen
SS- Ramirez
OF- Markakis
OF- Duncan
OF- Drew
Util- LaRoche
Bench- Tracy
Bench- Dejesus
Bench- Shealy
SP- Zambrano
SP- Bonderman
RP- Wagner
RP- Lidge
P- Hamels
P- Bush
P- Olsen
Bench- Escobar
Bench- Torres
I'm not entirely thrilled with my team. My outfield is very speculative and I was forced to take Derek Lee with my second pick and would have preferred someone else taking the risk. One guy was on auto-pick and somehow horded all the stolen bases. My Utley, Ramirez speed should be enough to compete on a weekly basis since there aren't any other real stolen base heavy teams in the league.
I've been targeting Utley in most of my drafts. I rank him pretty high because of the lack of talent at second base, but 130 runs, 35 homers, 100 RBI, 15 SB, .310 AVG ain't too shabby.
Between Lidge and Torres I should be able to find some sort of production out of my second RP slot.
I have another Yahoo draft taking place this Saturday. $30 entry, $300 prize pool.
If the league goes well, we plan on putting some money on it next year.
C- Barrett
1B- Lee
2B- Utley
3B- Rolen
SS- Ramirez
OF- Markakis
OF- Duncan
OF- Drew
Util- LaRoche
Bench- Tracy
Bench- Dejesus
Bench- Shealy
SP- Zambrano
SP- Bonderman
RP- Wagner
RP- Lidge
P- Hamels
P- Bush
P- Olsen
Bench- Escobar
Bench- Torres
I'm not entirely thrilled with my team. My outfield is very speculative and I was forced to take Derek Lee with my second pick and would have preferred someone else taking the risk. One guy was on auto-pick and somehow horded all the stolen bases. My Utley, Ramirez speed should be enough to compete on a weekly basis since there aren't any other real stolen base heavy teams in the league.
I've been targeting Utley in most of my drafts. I rank him pretty high because of the lack of talent at second base, but 130 runs, 35 homers, 100 RBI, 15 SB, .310 AVG ain't too shabby.
Between Lidge and Torres I should be able to find some sort of production out of my second RP slot.
I have another Yahoo draft taking place this Saturday. $30 entry, $300 prize pool.
What would I do with $100K?
2007 World Series of Poker Schedule
If I ever had the opportunity, I would love to enter nearly half of these tournaments.
If I ever had the opportunity, I would love to enter nearly half of these tournaments.
Monday, March 26, 2007
2007 Baseball Season
The season is just around the corner and this will mark my eighth year playing fantasy baseball. Although in the past I've done an over-the-top amount of research, I've at least doubled that this year.
Here's the breakdown of my teams:
2 Free Yahoo Head-to-Head teams
One was a practice draft with a bunch of scrubs to get a feel for where players were falling
The other is a league with a bunch of guys I've played with the past few years
1 Yahoo Roto League - $30
A bunch of good managers in this one, but it's mostly for fun
1 transaction fee CDM points game - roughly $350 for the full season
6 free transaction CDM points games - $180 ($30 a piece)
1 other CDM game with a slightly different format - $20
Plus I have another $30+$50+70 in side bets going amongst my CDM teams.
Add on an additional $60 for being a CDM Club member, $40 for Insider Baseball subscription, $40 for Pecota website access, $15 for Baseball Forecaster, and $15 for Baseball Prospectus.
That puts my grand total at $900.
Compulsive.
I'll post my rosters once deadlines roll around on Sunday.
Here's the breakdown of my teams:
2 Free Yahoo Head-to-Head teams
One was a practice draft with a bunch of scrubs to get a feel for where players were falling
The other is a league with a bunch of guys I've played with the past few years
1 Yahoo Roto League - $30
A bunch of good managers in this one, but it's mostly for fun
1 transaction fee CDM points game - roughly $350 for the full season
6 free transaction CDM points games - $180 ($30 a piece)
1 other CDM game with a slightly different format - $20
Plus I have another $30+$50+70 in side bets going amongst my CDM teams.
Add on an additional $60 for being a CDM Club member, $40 for Insider Baseball subscription, $40 for Pecota website access, $15 for Baseball Forecaster, and $15 for Baseball Prospectus.
That puts my grand total at $900.
Compulsive.
I'll post my rosters once deadlines roll around on Sunday.
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