Friday, April 29, 2005

In less than 24 hours I will be on a plane to Las Vegas..........I'm lovin' it! I'm hoping to take some notes along the way for a kick ass trip report upon my return......We shall see how it goes. I'm working on finishing my Party bonus off tonight and plan to print off my SouthWest boarding pass at 12:01 am so I can get the coveted "A" boarding. This will be the first time I've traveled with all of my siblings in a LONG time and I'm looking forward to it big time. I'm also pumped that my Dad has NO CLUE we will be there and that I'll get the chance to play to Vegas poker with him and my brother.

Good luck to everyone in the WPBT WSOP tourney on Sunday.....Wish I could be there. It was a blast last time.

Look forward to a trip report sometime after my return.

Take Care Til Then.
Baz Out
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Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Bummed

I am bummed that I have to miss this Sunday's WPBT event for a second seat into the $1500 NLHE event at the WSOP this June. I had such a blast at the last one I am bummed. I will, however, be missing it for a VERY good reason. I will be in VEGAS! Can't wait!

Good luck to my fellow bloggers! Hopefully there will be another one I can make.

Baz Out
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Sunday, April 24, 2005

Blogger Tourney.....Home Game......and More

I played in the WPBT blogger only tourney tonight for the seat in Event #2. I played well but kept my chip stack pretty much average or just below average. The couple of big hands I caught I got no action so I basically got the blinds and maybe a limper. Ultimately my pocket Jacks went down to pocket Aces when my 3 or 4X the BB raise from MP was called in LP. The flop was all undercards and I ended up all in with my two outer never coming putting me out 38th. My chips were put to good use however as they went to Bob who ended up winning the seat to represent the bloggers in the $1500 NLHE event at the WSOP June 3rd. Good luck to him and hopefully we'll have another one of these as it was a BLAST!

I hosted a home game Saturday night which was a success. Broke in the new poker table of which I need to take some pictures of and post. We ended up with 10 people and played two tourney's (one $20 and one $10 tourney). We only had 8 for the second tourney as two people bailed after busting out of tourney number 1. We started with T300 and each blind level was 20 minutes long which allowed plenty of play which was great. The players at the game were of various levels of experience from beginner (2) to average (majority) to solid (3). It was a good time made even more enjoyable by the fact that I won both games. Another little bit of money to add to my poker bankroll for this weekend. I don't have any specific details as I drink and enjoy myself at this game even moreso than normal.

Speaking of this coming weekend.............I cannot wait! We fly out Saturday night and I'm pumped. My bankroll is in great shape and I'm looking forward to taking it to the tables in Vegas. I just put in for my first cash out of Neteller tonight so now......Officially........All of the money in my online bankroll is poker profit. My cash out is more than I've ever deposited combined. What a nice feeling. I just needed a little bit more to take with me for everything this weekend......Now the weekend just needs to get here! I have a small memo book I'm bringing with me so hopefully I take some notes that make some kind of sense and can give a nice trip report upon my return. I'll do my best.

Working on the Party reload bonus between now and then. Got in 250 hands tonight with 450 left to go to finish it off. Finished tonight after 2 hours up 56BB. Hopefully I can continue more of that and get the bonus to sweeten the deal.

Anyway.......it was a nice weekend overall. I'll be in Vegas next weekend so it doesn't get too much sweeter than that. Can't wait.

Til then.
Baz Out
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Friday, April 22, 2005

Home Game And Blogger Satellite

This weekend brings a home game and the Blogger satellite to WSOP Event #2. I am having some people over Saturday night for a couple of NLHE tourney's which should be a good time. We are sitting at 10 confirmed right now and I'd like to keep it there or get at least another 4 or 5 minimum to start with two solid tables. We will play a $20 game followed by a $10 game which seems about the comfort zone for the majority of people that will be attending. My Dad made me a sweet poker table and Saturday night it will get it's cherry popped. I unfortunately I have to work all morning but will have enough time to get things organized and ready before our start time.

Sunday night will then be the blogger satellite for the $1500 WSOP Event #2 seat to represent the bloggers. It would be AWESOME to win this seat. The crew.....Who? These are bloggers baby and they'll be representing in FULL FORCE! What an awesome feeling some blogger will have in that tournament having so many people cheering and rooting for them. We shall see if it is destined to be me. First thing I have to sort out the connection problems I'm having at the house. Minor glitch I believe......We shall see once I get home tonight.

Hope to play some online poker tonight if I can sort it out in a reasonable amount of time. I hear the Bad Beat Jackpot was hit so will be spending time on the regular $2/$4 tables tonight. Look for me.....I'm not hard to find.

Baz Out.
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Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Vegas Countdown

10 days and I'll be in Vegas!!!! Can't wait! It can't get here fast enough.

Anyone ever stay at Bally's? I hear to ask for a room in the North tower as they are nicer. I also just recently heard that their poker "room" is simply poker tables on the casino floor. I was bummed when I heard that but was planning on going mostly to Aladdin and the Bellagio for ring games near by anyway.

Gotta run.....Baz Out.
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Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Neteller Freak Out

I got home earlier than expected tonight so I thought I'd jump on and deposit money at PokerStars and register for the WPBT tourney on Sunday. I logged into Neteller to check my balance and was greeted with a message stating my account had been closed and listed a number to call and which options to push once I got there. Needless to say I was a little freaked out. I called and was greeted with a nice woman's voice....That was automated. I quickly pushed the two options I was given and was promptly talking with a nice gentlemen named Mike. He asked me how I was doing and I told him I was doing fine up until a few moments ago when I tried logging into my Neteller account and it told me it was closed and to call. He asked me a few security questions which I remember answering when I first opened the account and once he was convinced I was the true owner of the account asked if I tried logging in from a different computer than normal. I told him not recently but that I occasionally check on a transaction from work. I then told him that I had just installed DSL yesterday and wondered if that could be the problem. He told me it was showing that the IP address that tried logging in was from another country and when that happens there is an automatic shut down of the account. He was then showing my current IP address as the proper location and reinstated my account. I thanked him and thought it was pretty cool that they had safety measures like this in place to protect me and my account.

I was able to log back in minutes later and all was well. If you are ever going to be in another country and want to access your Neteller account while there contact Neteller first and let them know about it. I even deposited and registered for the WPBT $1500 WSOP tourney on Sunday. I think I was number 43.

Baz Out.
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DSL

I have used my poker money a decent sized purchase (much needed) and hopefully not the last. I hooked up DSL and got rid of dial-up yesterday. I didn't get a chance to play around with it too much but I liked it a lot for the few minutes I was on. I really wasn't unhappy with dial-up other than when trying to download or upgrade programs and see and send pictures which all took way too long. I will look forward to the quickness of DSL and can't wait to get a chance to play around with it.

Question for those of you more computer savy than me......or maybe those of you that have had high speed access for awhile now and learned already. Do I need a router? Or something similar to help deter and prevent viruses, spyware, worms, etc. from infiltrating my system. I currently run Norton Securities and utilize Adaware. Anything else I need?

Thanks.

Hope all is well.
Baz Out.
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Monday, April 18, 2005

Weekend Tourney

I played in a live tourney on Saturday. The same one I won back in February that is held every other month. This time there were only 35 guys (actually 34 guys and one woman) as opposed to the 52 that were in the February tourney. Must have been the beautiful weather we are having. My brother played for the first time and my Dad was there as usual. I meant to bring a small notepad to jot notes but just plain forgot it so details are going to be few and far between.

It was well run like always. I started playing a very patient game with a lot of folding and getting a read on the players at my table. Some guys were ribbing me due to me having one last time and I didn't mind at all. I had only played with one player at the table previously and that was my Dad who happened to draw the seat directly to my right which he wasn't happy with since I play an aggressive style that changes gears which he is familiar with. I only got involved in two real pots with him and neither were showed down.......Once I had a set and he laid his hand down and the other time I had nothing with and when the third flush card hit on the turn and he checked to me after I flat called his flop bet I put out a pot sized bet and he laid it down. I put him on a pocket pair of Queen's or Jack's but still don't know what he had. My Dad and brother both went out about halfway through and my stack went up and down all day. A new guy got seated to my right after my Dad busted out and he was the chip leader of the tourney up to that point by far.....Great. Time to tighten back up. I made the final table and was 3rd or 4th in chips. Long story short.......I took third. I was happy with the way I played and gave myself a chance to win it all for the second time in a row. I wish I had specific details to share but it's all a blur. I ended up drinking way too much (didn't have my first until the final table) and losing some of my payday on some dealer's choice side games until 5am. I don't get to do that too much anymore so it was definitely a good time.

Can't wait until the next one in June......I'll try to have better details next time.

Lastly......I work a ton this week and late a lot of nights but I plan on signing up for the WPBT WSOP tourney for Sunday. Not sure when I'll get a chance to get on and get it done but I plan on it and will do it as soon as possible.

Til then......Baz Out.
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Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Quick Thoughts....

I finished clearing the Empire bonus last night and was on a good run over the 1050 hands at 2/4. Finished up 125BB total during the bonus clearing (without the bonus) which is my personal best run in a LONG while. It felt good. Hopefully I can hold on to it and continue to build it for my Vegas trip the end of the month. I'm still trying to decide how much to cash out to bring for B&M poker vegas style. That probably depends on if I can make it to the final table in my tournament this Saturday and how much I get for it......if anything. If I bust out Saturday and don't make some cash in the side games then I think I'll set a floor of my online bankroll and withdraw whatever I have down to that point. Probably say 300BB at whatever level I want to come back to play online when I return. So if I want to be playing $2/$4 when I get back I'll withdraw everything I have down to $1200 and leave that online for when I get back taking the rest with me to Vegas to buy chips to sling. Haven't fully decided yet. I will then see how it goes in Vegas and can always deposit back if I have a good run and want to put it back into the online roll.

Thoughts a prayers go out to Felicia who will be having her surgery tomorrow morning. Send some thoughts her way everyone. Take care of yourself and good luck.

On the homefront all is well. Our newest addition is doing great and we couldn't be happier.
No online poker for me until Thursday or Friday night. WPT tonight and looking forward to my live tourney on Saturday.
Gotta run

Baz Out.
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Saturday, April 09, 2005

Up In Limits

I haven't had as much time for much of anything but taking care of the kids the past several weeks. I was able to squeeze in a little online poker over the last couple of weeks. Mostly after the kids go to bed and then I play online up until the 1am feeding which I have been taking care of most nights. It's been working out well. I moved up to $2/$4 last weekend and have been on a rush since I made the move. Not sure what to make of it if anything but I'm just trying to enjoy the ride while it lasts. Since I've made the jump I'm up 132BB. It's definitely been nice.

I'll be cashing out a little bit of my online poker money for live poker money in Vegas the beginning of May. I've never actually cashed out any money yet as I've been working on building the bankroll so my question is how long does it take for the Neteller cash-out to hit my bank account? Anyone?

I'm currently working on the Empire reload bonus and will be using this bonus and the next one to fund the DSL purchase I just made for the next year. I know.....I know.....how could I still be using dial-up you are asking yourselves? It's all a matter of finances and with three little ones at home there isn't a ton of money to spread around so we've had to pick and choose. Well the choice is now for DSL. Dial-up actually has never been a problem for me except for the fact that my wife gets aggravated that she can't use the land line when I'm online. I very very rarely get disconnected and have a solid connection the majority of the time. It's been fine for online poker even multi-tabling and rarely gets bogged down unless I'm trying to do other things at the same time. Never the less it is time to make the move to DSL and I'm sure I'll be very glad I finally did it. It will be the first thing that my poker winnings actually buy. A nice feeling.

I have two home games coming up this month. April 16th is the tourney I won in February and there will be a 5% bounty on my head for this one. Looks like it will be somewhere around 48 people. I can't wait to defend my victory! My brother will be playing in this one with me and my Dad for the first time. Then April 23rd I'll be hosting a no limit tourney here at the house. My dad built me a sweet poker table just like his (minus the cup holders which I just have to buy and put in) and it should get broken in. We will see how many people end up making it out. I'm hoping for 18 but we'll see. We'll probably play two no limit tourney's.

Unfortunately I've got to return to work Monday. It's been a hectic and enjoyable 3 weeks off where we welcomed our newest addition into the world but back to work I go. It will be tough to get back into the swing of things but until I'm independently wealthy I must earn that paycheck.

Hope this finds everyone well.

Baz Out
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