Poker Sucks

Ok, I know that was quick, but I hate poker. Just played 2 SNGs on Stars. A $6.50 2 table deal and then a $15+1 2 table deal.

First, the $6.50. Doing pretty well, second in chips at the table with a guy just behind me. There are 6 people left in the tourney and I get bullets. Raise to $300 ($150 BB) to hope to get some action. The guy just behind me in chips pushes all in and I gladly call. That left me with $240 in chips but when I saw he had Ad10h, I am looking real good. Then the flop comes with 2 hearts but I am still good. Woohoo, needed this double up to relax a little. Turn is another heart. Hmm, didn't like that turn card, but I am still in great shape. Oh look at the river, another heart. Too bad my bullets aren't red. Sonofa...

Ok, I want to regroup so I put a little more money on the line so I will concentrate better and hopefully play against better players so I can make some moves when needed. I was doing great but noticed that the players at the $15+1 actually sucked way more than the lower buyins. Oh well, better for me. They were reckless, especially the chip leader who was getting lucky and then bullying the hell out of everyone. We get down to the final 7 players so I am looking good to get into the money at least. I am in 4th place but pretty comfy over 5-7th. I get dealt AQo, a small stack pushes and then another medium stack goes over the top and pushes too. I decided to let them fight it out and I fold. The very next hand, I get AQ suited. I raise preflop and get called by the big stack. The flop comes rainbow with Q, 4,5. The big stack makes a big bet (about half my stack) but I know he is full of shit, and he has been calling and betting on everything like a donkey. I push and he calls with...K6o. Woohoo. What a dumbass! The turn comes 7. Hmm, that's not a good turn card but I can't get beat runner, runner again to knock me out right??? River is a 4. Thanks for playing with the donkey. I never get mad when I play the right way, and I clearly did but wtf. I actually typed a posthumous, "dude, that was a terrible play" and logged out asap. I hate people that do that too!!!

Oh well, I am sure I will be addicted by tomorrow again but man, what a sucky night. Ok, enough whining. Time to sleep and get ready to try and stay awake past midnight tomorrow. Happy New Year.

Foxwoods Trip

Didn't work on Tuesday and 4 of my buddies and I decided we would go to Foxwoods, which is about a 2 hour drive, and play in the daily tourney. Website said registration starts at 7am and the tourney starts at 8am. $60 a head ($45+$15) and they have a capacity of 250. None of us really had any illusions of winning but just having a few hours of fun at the casino.

We left the house at about 5am and got down to the casino at about 7:10am. Rushed over to the line and saw that it was as long as the eye could see. For whatever reason, we jumped in the line, figuring we might still be ok. About 5 minutes later, one of the tournament organizers came by to tell us that it was already full but they were taking alternates. Alternates would be taken for the first 20 minutes as people busted out. They apparently starting registering people at about 6am because of the holiday week. Bummer. Forget that, we ain't getting in.

Once we found that out, it was like every man for himself. We all scattered with 2 guys going to play blackjack, 2 going to play 1/2 NL, and me plopping down at the nearest 2/4 limit, suckout city table.

It was about 7:30 and open seating almost everywhere right then. By 7:45, after everyone realized they really weren't getting in to the tourney, the list for 2/4 limit was about 30 people deep.

My first hand dealt to me was pocket 8s. Board came with an Ace and 2 unders so I called a bet. Turn and River, both unders but nothing too scary so called it down. Both the other 2 in the hand had aces. Good start. Btw, I probably haven't said this yet, but I am still learning. After the first hand, I am down about $14 bucks. Folded a couple and then looked down at some sweet bullets. Just called, bunch of callers followed then a raise, I reraise, couple folders and the raiser caps it and I call.

Flop comes rainbow, with a K and some trash. I bet, get raised, reraise, he calls. Now at this point, I probably should have realized I might have a problem, but I didn't. (Have I mentioned I am still learning?) I bet and got raised each round and then showed my Aces to his set of Ks. Yeah, I know, you already knew that but I am such a dumbass, I was still pretty confident I had the hand?? Hello, I am not only learning, I suck.

So down to about $40 a little while later, I am in the bit blind with K6 of hearts. I check and see 2 more hearts on the flop. Nice. Plenty of players and some action on the table. I call the post flop betting and the turn is a blank for me. At this point, I am close to the end of my initial $100 buy-in and figure I will just have to go down on this one. There is bet and raise but I call, just in case (I think this is another case of me sucking). I am praying that the Ah falls on the river...and there it is. Oh yeah, I am the suckout fish king of the table. A bet, a raise, and I reraise (well kinda, my last chips). The original bet pays it off and so does the raiser. They both knew it though. I swept the pot of $105 and I am back in business.

I went on to play for 4 hours and ended up making FOUR DOLLARS. That is better than losing it all of course but almost like kissing your sister too. I would have played on but my buddies had made a steady stream by me so I knew they were probably getting ready to go anyway.

I found them at a $5 craps table. I love craps and a $5 table at Foxwoods is unheard of. One of our crew was playing at it so I dropped down by $100 and got my chips. Just as I put them in the rack, the pitboss says that the next roll will be $10, noone is grandfathered. Think that is a sign? I cashed in and off I went, hoping we were ready to leave. If not, I knew I would find a way to donate to the fine American Indian nation somehow. There was no way to get back on a poker table since the wait was about 2-3 hours at this point.

I found out that, at that point, I was the big winner at $4. One was down $500, one $300, and other 2 about $90. Of course, on our way out, the 2 big losers want to throw just $20 each at a roulette table, just for funzeys. While they are getting their $20 in chips, I decide, what the hell, $5 on 2 and 16 for the wife's b-day. "No more bets", and buttkiss. I walk over to the table that they are acting like idiots at and decide, I'll try it one more time. "No more bets" and again, buttkiss. I have now very quickly thrown away $20 but my 2 loser buddies have turned their $40 into about $100 somehow in 1 or 2 rolls. I fight the urge to do my bet again but say to my buddy, "I know I am going to stand here and see those numbers come up". The next roll, "No more bets". Huh, imagine, 16! Oh, well, I didn't really need the $175 for that anyway.

Red Sox banter...

So, much to the delight of all those Yankee fans out there, the Red Sox front off have really looked pretty clueless this off season. First, they let Theo get away because of some crazy reasons that people can only speculate on. Then, they make a good deal for a stud in Beckett (if his arm stays on his body), ship Renteria out of town like a dirty dishrag and then completely botch the Damon negotiations.

Now, we need a shortstop, a centerfielder, and oh yeah, we still need a first baseman. Just to pile it on, the left fielder wants to be traded yesterday and their number 2 starter wants out too. I know it is only December and spring training is still a couple months away but Larry better get moving.

I honestly don't think they ever genuinely wanted to resign Damon for what they knew it would take. Probably 4 years 45 mill would have kept him here if they did it quicker. For a 33 year old center fielder who can't throw any better than my 5 year old (he is an odds on favorite for the number draft pick in 2019 mind you), and has declined significantly since the shoulder injury last year, that was probably even a little steep. Mind you, I would love to have him back for the next years but I think after that, he isn't worth the money.

What I think is most laughable thing though are the smug Yankee fans. One dude called into XM the other day and said something like, "if Boston had an owner that wasn't so cheap, they could have kept him, but just like always, George gets things done. Now we have the best lineup in baseball!"

Ok dumbass, but Johnny can't pitch for you. From what I remember, the Yankees weren't exactly having trouble scoring last year either. Their problem was pitching. I will wait and see what Larry and the bozos get done before February before I get too worried.

Check out Boston Poker Club

For those in the Boston area, or anywhere else really, check out www.bostonpokerclub.com. They organize some events in the area and online. Every Sunday night on Crazy Poker, there is a tourney. They just started doing it about 3 weeks ago and there is only one table right now but there are a lot of people that read the forums, etc. so that will probably change pretty quickly.

I played like dog poop on Christmas night and there were only 6 people in. I came in 4th. Nothing even memorable enough to talk about in that one really but everyone is friendly and it is a good game to make regularly I would think.

One of the events that they arranged was a $400 freeroll with www.nlop.com. I guess the Boston Poker Club is a sponsor and NLOP is a new online poker site that is a totally free site. They are set to go live in January so they had this freeroll on Monday night to test the software and introduce themselves to some players. It ended up being a good time. There were 139 people that entered and I ended up coming in 5th and getting a check for $25. Not too bad for a couple hours of playing free poker. Honestly, I played with some pretty bad players there. The funniest thing was that 2 of the other guys that played in the 6 handed Sunday night tourney, also finished in the top 5. The site had some issues but I guess they are working on them and are still shooting to release in January so check it out.

First Post...

Hi, my name is Chris and I am addicted to poker. Wife and kids aren't happy about it, but it is true. I live in "America's hometown", Plymouth, MA and I am a lifelong Red Sox fan and recent poker fanatic.

I have been reading other poker bloggers for the past 6 months or so (Mean Gene, Donkey Puncher, etc) and after hearing about all the fun this community is having, I decided to try and break in. I am not a writer by any means. I work for a financial services company in Boston in the IT group and am generally bored with my job. I play poker online at many sites under the name drewspop or jackspop (I also have a Nolan). I also play at one of the local bars that hosts the weekly free tourneys and play once or twice a month with a group of friends. Last month I hosted a tourney at my house with 42 people and it was a great time.

I will mostly be talking about my poker exploits and bitching about the Red Sox, but will undoubtedly be sharing some of the other inane things that are happening every day of my life. Anyway, hope to keep you awake and make some sense as I post to my new blog.