Bazkar's Poker Voyage

Still Here

2007-09-11T22:13:00.000-05:00

Hello.....if anyone still stops by I want to say thanks....and I'm sorry for not posting in WAY too long. I've had a ton going on....some good and some potentially bad. Overall, I can't complain and hope to get back to a somewhat regular posting. I have still been playing plenty of poker both live and online. I played in my first WSOP this summer and had a blast. My only regret was not getting the chance to meet up with the good Dr. Pauly. My family has been taking way more of my time which can't be a bad thing. Four children will keep you busy as they grow. The time goes faster and faster and I'm trying my best not to miss out on any of it. I took the family to Disneyland this summer and it was awesome! One of my sons is being tested for a variety of things as he has had various problems since birth. They thought he might have a rare form of Cystic Fibrosis but we've just finished the testing for that and it thankfully seems to not be the case. We are back at square one but that's not all bad when something as scary as cystic fibrosis is on the table.

Anyway....just wanted to stop in and say hello.....long overdue.

Hope all is well in the blogosphere.

Baz Out

Pre-WSOP 2007

2007-06-11T00:21:00.000-05:00

Things have been crazy here at home as we prepare for summer festivities, vacations, and fun.

The past couple of weeks I have been playing a good number of tournaments online. I had a good run in several with a couple of final tables in smaller $10 MTT for several hundred each. The best....and worst one was the nightly 10K gaurantee $10 re-buy on Full Tilt where I found myself as the chip leader with 6 players to go. With about 3 minutes before a break I lost my connection. I freaked. This never happens here. I tried opening a browser and....nothing. I tried several other things before getting on the phone with my provider. I did my best to stress the urgency of the situation and to skip past all of the basic bull---- to get to the bottom of it all. Almost 45 minutes later (around 4 am) we figured out that the connection was working perfectly....something went wrong with my router. Now why I never thought of trying to bypass the router in the first place I'll never know. Bottom line is it worked and I logged back in to see that I was blinded out in third place for a very nice payday.......but there was a sizable difference between 1st and 3rd. I know that I could have been sucked out on and gone out even earlier......but I liked my chances and you don't get that chance every day.

Well.....I'll be heading to Vegas this week! I can't wait. I'll be playing Event #25 on Friday. The 2K NLHE at noon. I will also probably play a deep stack event at the Venetian and/or the Binion's classic events. I will be in town from Thursday until Tuesday so I will see how things are going and go from there. I have to say that I am SUPER PUMPED to play in my first WSOP event. I went back and forth on whether or not I should play or stick with the Venetian events but people who play with me and know me helped convince me to go ahead and do it.

So I am.

Hopefully you've been visiting the good Dr. daily for the straight down and dirty at the WSOP. I know that's where I've been. I also hope to buy the man a beer while in town. Here's hoping there's time and that I can pry him away or catch him for a dinner break at the Tilted Kilt.

Anyway.......I know you're not expecting regular updates.....but I will post info as I can.

Til then....

Baz Out

PS Darfur Charity Tourney

2007-05-20T09:39:00.000-05:00

The following post has been copied and pasted from The Tao of Poker:
Play if you can....and if you can't.....DONATE!!!!

We got less than 300 players in last week's charity tournament. That was pathetic. My goal is to get at least 1,000 players in this tournament. I need your help. Let's spread the word!

PokerStars is running the Ocean's Thirteen Darfur Charity Tournament next Sunday afternoon at 2:30pm ET.

PokerStars is teaming up with the cast of Ocean's Thirteen to help stop the suffering in the war-torn region of Darfur in the Sudan. If you have not been paying attention, over 400,000 people have already been killed. They launched Not On Our Watch. Their mission is to..."focus global attention and resources to stop and prevent mass atrocities. Drawing on the powerful voice of citizen artists, activists, and cultural leaders, our mission is to generate lifesaving humanitarian assistance and protection for the vulnerable, marginalized, and displaced."

PokerStars is donating $1 million and you can help out by playing in two diffeent charity events. You have a shot to win a ticket to the Ocean's Thirteen premiere in Los Angeles. See below for specific details.

Overview of the Ocean's Thirteen Darfur Charity Tournament:

These tournaments are special re-buy tournaments - the entire prize pool will be matched by PokerStars and donated to the Darfur relief efforts. At the conclusion of the event the prize pool, which will be temporarily awarded to the 1st place finisher, will be removed from the 1st place finisher's account. The amount will then be matched by PokerStars and sent forward to the Darfur charity. Thank you for participating — go re-buy crazy! — it's for a good cause. Good luck!

Date: May 27th 2007, 15:30 ET
Buy-in: $10 plus rebuys.
Prizes: Top 4 receive tickets to June 5th premiere in Los Angeles plus 2 nights hotel and $2k for travel/spending. Top 18 receive autographed copy of "Oceans 13" DVD. Total prize pool will go to charity. PokerStars will match the donation. The tournament is open to all players. Good luck!

WSOP BABY

2007-05-17T22:16:00.000-05:00

No, I didn't win a seat in the Main Event.

I did, however, book my trip to Vegas during the WSOP.

I plan on playing in Event 25 on June 15th which is a 2K NLHE event. I am also looking into the Binion's tourneys that will be going on and plan on playing a TON of cash games.

If anyone else is going to be out there at this time let me know and hopefully we can hook up. I hope to be purchasing a beer and some shots for the good Dr. Pauly if he can break away for a few minutes of his great coverage.

Mad props goes out to my lovely wife for being on board with, and supporting my WSOP trip.

I'm sure the interest level is minimal to none BUT just in case I misjudge or don't realize who all reads this humble little piece of the blogoshpere I want to inform that I am selling up to half of my action in Event 25. I've already got 15% sold with a real possibility for 10-20% more. Like I said.....I'm playing regardless. Your money is probably better of with this Omaha pro anyway.

Til next time.

Baz

Evaluating Play Based on Actions.

2007-04-22T13:01:00.000-05:00

I thought rather than post how I played a hand it might be more beneficial to post all the information regarding the hand without revealing what the holdings were or which player I was and simply state the stack sizes, positions, etc. Then we can discuss the thought process from each position with the cards being secondary, initially focusing on just the action and position. Later I will reveal the cards, maybe one position at a time, as well as which position I was in. I think a lot can be learned by thinking of it this way and looking at a range of hands and how that changes or doesn't change as each street is dealt and action ensues. At least I hope this is the case and I hope I can do a good job of giving all of the details.

Here we go.

This is a live weekly tournament that usually has between 20 and 35 players. There is a core group that is almost always there week to week of around 15 players. The core group has a couple of super tight, non-imaginative, straight forward rocks. A handful of weak-tight players, a handful of LAG's and 8 or so solid players that can mix up their game well changing gears and playing the player at times based on reads and prior information since they've played a lot together at this point.

We had 22 players this tournament. The starting chip stack is T5000. We are in the second blind level (25/50) and each level is 15 minutes long until the first break and 20 minutes long after that.

The two players involved in this hand have played a lot of tournaments together, both fall under the solid player category that can change up their game, and have a good percentage of cashes and wins in these tournaments (although maybe some of your opinions on one or both of their plays here will be different).

The hand:

There are two limpers and a MP player makes it T250 to go. It folds to the SB who calls. It folds back to the raiser and they will see a flop heads up. The MP raiser has T7000 and the SB has T6400. There is T675 in the pot.

Range of hands?

The flop comes: 2d 6c Qd

SB checks. MP bets T400. SB check-raises to T1200. MP player thinks for a few moments and makes the call. There is T3075 in the pot.

Hand range narrowed?

The turn comes: 8s

SB leads out T2000. MP player goes in the tank and finally calls. There is T7075 in the pot. The SB is left with T2950 and the MP player is left with T3550.

Hand range narrowed?

The river comes: Ad (putting the third diamond on the board).

The SB makes two distinct piles of chips and counts them. He counts out T1500 in one stack leaving T1450 in the other.

The SB pushes the T1500 stack forward. The MP player goes into the tank again. He asks several questions of the SB getting no response. He goes to muck and then pulls back a couple of times before counting out T1500 and seeing he'll have T2050 left. He makes the call.

What do you think? Who got the pot pushed their way? What were the hands? Was the bet on the end by the SB weakness or strength in a value bet? Do you like the way it was played by one, the other, or both depending on the range of hands?

I'm curious to see thoughts based on purely the action. I will then go the next step and begin revealing the holdings where hopefully more discussion can take place.

Thanks for taking the time and hopefully we can all learn from this approach.

Baz

Still Here

2007-03-28T21:06:00.000-05:00

I'm still here! It's been a crazy month. My youngest boy was in the hospital for several days and things have been nuts. He's doing ok now but it was crazy for awhile. Any of you that have an infant or have had an infant knows what it feels like as they are helpless and sometimes there's nothing you can do as their parent to help them out.

Anyway, on the poker front, I've been playing a little online and usually at least once a week live. Online has been going ok. I've been bouncing between MTT, SNG's, and ring games. I've been getting in the money a good percentage of the time in the SNG's.

Live has been going well for the most part as well. The HPT was back at Majestic and I played a qualifier again this year. This time I didn't make the top 20% and didn't qualify so I was bummed but I played well. I won my poker league for the year and will be playing the end of year tournament this weekend. Can't wait to do a little gloating and play in the bigger buy in year end event. I also have been going to another bigger buy in game regularly. The past two in a row I won one and came in second the next time. That was awesome. I also played a friendly home game with a smaller buy in ($20 1st two SNG's and $40 the 3rd). I won the second and third games there going out early in the 1st game when I got my chips in WAY ahead.

I also have my fantasy baseball draft this weekend. It's a day I look forward to all year. It's a marathon day but I love it. My keepers aren't the best as I made a run at the title last year before slipping to 5th....but I have a few tricks up my sleeve.

Anyway, just wanted to give a quick update.

Sorry for my absence lately.....family duties have been raging.

Til next time.

Baz out

Thanks to Hoy!

2007-02-23T21:53:00.000-06:00

Just a quick update:

First off I want to thank Hoy for pointing out Full Tilt's satellite's to the nightly 30K gaurantee. I don't know how I missed these all this time. I played my first satellite last night and got my seat in the 30K where I went on to money. I should have final tables but lost half my stack when we were down to 56 players and had to scramble from there. Anyway, I'll be a regular in that satellite and hopefully the 30K. Thanks Hoy! Much like him I am committed to my family during the day and on weekends so I don't get the opportunity to play in most of the bigger gaurantees. Family comes first.

While I played the satellite I also played in my first Riverchaser's tourney. I didn't fare so well there going out bottom third.

I played my regular home game last Saturday and it was a rare bigger buy-in tourney which brought out 16 players. The structure was improved as we had 30 minute levels and more starting chips and I took it down for a nice win. I then went to Empress on Monday and was down about 1/2 my buy-in playing 5/10 when I took off. Most of it was due to playing a hand about as bad as I've played a hand in a LONG time. I was up against quads and a boat....brutal.

Doyle's Room is pulling out of the U.S. and I moved the money I had there directly over to Full Tilt with no trouble at all. I am still waiting on my epassporte account to get finalized which should be the middle of this week. We'll see how that ends up working out. Most of my time will be spent on Full Tilt and Absolute for now.

Also, the Heartland Poker Tour will be back at MSII in March (actually 3 times this year). I'll be looking to qualify again this year and hopefully make a run at some good money. We might run some home game satellites for the qualifiers and I might buy myself directly in like I did last year. We will see.

In the meantime you can find me some nights on Full Tilt in the satellite to the 30K, the 30K, and probably the Daily Doubles at times as well. I also may try and get a few tokens.

Til then.

Baz Out

2-9-07

2007-02-09T21:36:00.000-06:00

It’s been a busy time in the Baz household since baby #4 has hit the ground. Things have been good on the family side of things…..busy…..but very, very good. I think my wife is a little bummed that our only daughter didn’t get a sister. Don’t get me wrong, she loves the little guy like no other but she was hoping our daughter would be able to experience life with a sister.

Anyway, I haven’t posted in awhile but I have gotten the chance to play some both live and online over the last month. Things have gotten crazy in the online poker world. I personally have been sitting back and watching as the smoke settles. I’m not really sure what I’m going to do. I didn’t have any money in Neteller when that all went down (as I rarely kept much if any money sitting there) so that was good for me. Good luck to all of you out there who are still trying to get your money from them. I’m hoping it all works out for you.

I’ve been reading a lot of blogs and message boards as well as catching up listening to poker pod casts. There are so many different thoughts and ideas of what is going to happen and what everyone should do.

I got an e-mail from Full Tilt regarding their new ATMonline system. I haven’t had a chance to look at it myself but from what I’ve read there are a lot of fees and it’s usable at Full Tilt only. I’ve looked into Epassporte as well and may start the process of getting registered there. Anyone out there who stops by my little corner of the blogosphere and has used Epassporte I’d like to hear your experiences.

As of right now I have money on two sites so I am able to play currently but if I said I wasn’t concerned with my ability to get that money out eventually I’d be lying. I am of the camp that things are going to get worse before they get better. Time will tell. The question is how much time will it take.

I did something a couple of days ago that I meant on doing a LONG time ago and for one reason or another never got around too. I have no excuse. I have finally done it. I registered as a member of the Poker Players Alliance. I encourage all poker players to do the same. You can register as a free member if your bankroll is hurting bad enough that you can’t donate the $20 to become a full member. The point is there is power in numbers and the more people that are involved the greater the chance that legislation can go our way. I am by no means an expert on this subject thus the reason for me joining the PPA to have a voice.

Any of my blogger friends out there that would be willing to do player to player transfers so I could get money on Full Tilt let me know. I have money currently on AP and Doyle’s. I’m actually not positive you can do player to player transfers on AP and Doyle’s but I will look into it.

Currently I haven’t noticed a change in the online numbers and game quality at the stakes I play which lately has been .25/.50 NL and .50/$1 NL. It is definitely harder for people to put money online right now. As these worse players lose money and start to fade away because they can’t put money online as easily the games have to get tougher. Again, Time will tell.

Lastly, I have a request for any LA area bloggers out there. I will be in Anaheim doing the whole family Disneyland experience this summer. It coincides with my convention and we’ve been planning the trip for years. I would LOVE to be able to break away for a day or night of poker at the Commerce or Bike while there (maybe even a home game). If anyone would be willing to share info with me to help me out I would be thankful. Or better yet, if anyone would be willing to pick me up and join me that would be even better. I know I haven’t been to any of the live WPBT tournaments but if you visit my blog you know (or can guess) why I’ve had to miss. One of my resolutions for the year was to try and play more WPBT online tournaments. That has been slightly foiled with the Neteller fiasco and my inability to move funds to Full Tilt or Stars. If there is any question due to not meeting me at a prior event and you have met Shelly from Hella Hold ‘Em or Maigrey the Poker Princess and trust their judgement you can ask them as I’ve personally met both of them.

Til next time.

Baz Out

It's A Boy!!!

2006-12-28T17:01:00.000-06:00

Born Dec. 27th at 8:48 am. Weighing in at 8 lbs. 15 oz. and 21 inches long with a 14 1/2 inch head that gave momma and the doctor's some problems.

I'm happy to report that Mom and baby Baz are both doing wonderful. Happy and healthy.

That's 3 boys and a girl in the Baz household with the oldest being 5 and the youngest being 1 day old......needless to say busy times are ahead and probably a little less poker on both the live and online fronts. Well worth it.

Hope this finds you all having a great holiday season. Enjoy your family now and the whole year through.

Baz Out

Vegas......

2006-12-19T00:43:00.000-06:00

I wish I was able to get to Vegas with the bloggers this past weekend but alas....with baby Baz #4 around the corner it was not to be. It's been too long since my last post. It's not that I haven't been playing because I have. It's just finding the time and something worthwhile to say. I've started going to a new home tourney that runs every two weeks. Nice play and nice 1/2 NL cash games before and after. I took 2nd the first time there. I'm still points leader in my home league with only one tourney left before the championship tourney I think I'm a mathmatical lock to finish in the top spot.

I played the 25K on Full Tilt tonight and finished ITM. 49th out of 1545. Was an average stack pretty much the whole tourney and then the blinds and antes started getting to me. Stole some to stay afloat and then got called by K Q while holding pocket 3's. A good run. Got myself a token as well so I'll probably play it again later in the week.

My cash game I've been happy with even though I'm down lately I'm playing well. Had a losing session at Majestic Star 2. Card dead wasn't the word for it. In the home cash game here's an example of how I'm running. Warning: Bad Beat Lies Ahead.

UTG raises to $12 in 1/2 NL and he can be raising here with a wide range of hands as we are 6 handed. There are two callers and I have run my stack up to $160. I look down at 9 10 of spades and make the call. The flop comes 6 7 8 with two clubs. The raiser leads out for $25. It folds to me and I pop it to $60. He has me covered and goes all-in. I call and he turns over Jh Jc. The turn is a club and the river is a club.....re-buy!!!!!

Anyway. Baby Baz will be here by December 27th. I hope you all have a great holiday and I'll try to post more often although that seems unlikely here in the immediate future.

Take care.
Baz Out

Heartland Poker Tour Finale

2006-11-19T11:17:00.000-06:00

So, in my last post I was in the third hand of the Heartland Poker Tour main event. I had called the river bet after playing the hand as passively as you can play a hand and left myself with T5900 from my T15000 starting stack.

Everyone at the table was very interested in the hand at this point. Curious as to what the hands were that caused us to get so many chips in the pot this early on in the tourney. He turned over 10 10 for the flopped set of tens. I was stunned at how he played his set and mucked my hand. I probably should have showed my hand but after thinking about it some people at the table probably thought I called him down with top pair. That’s probably what I wanted them to think and maybe it would pay off for me down the line. I was glad I didn’t go broke on the hand but am still not happy with the way I played it. If I would have check raised him on the flop I may have found out where I was at if he re-raised me and even if he did re-raise me what was I expecting to flop when I called the pre-flop raise? I got a great flop and based on how it played out I probably should have been more than willing to get all my chips to the middle. I’m trying not to focus on the results and more on how I played the hand.

What if he would have flat called my check raise? I would have had to lead into him on the turn when I picked up my flush draw and all of the chips would have gotten in at that point I’m guessing. I’ve thought about this hand a lot since then. I don’t think there is anyway I can put him on a set with the way he played it (can you ever put someone on a set?). He was taking a big risk with the way he played it, as there’s NO WAY I’m getting a lot of chips into the pot without a BIG hand. His pot sized flop bet isn’t getting called on that flop without AT LEAST TPTK. There had been a lot of players willing to put a lot of chips in with just top pair. I wasn’t one of them but he couldn’t know that at the time.

So I buckled down from there and dug in for hopefully a long chip rebuilding process. Unfortunately I was card dead for the next couple of levels. I raised 3 times the big blind with AK once and was raised by my one caller when I missed the flop and I had to muck. We went to the break and I had enough chips to cover the blinds and antes for a little over two times around the table. I needed to pick a hand quickly and go with it.

I talked with the guy I had met before the tourney briefly on break and he asked me about that hand. He asked if I had AK on the hand and I said, “there’s no way I’m getting that many chips in with only AK there.” He responded, “I didn’t think so but what did you have?” I told him and he said he would have gone broke with the hand. I’m not sure if that meant he thought I played it well or badly but all I knew at that point was I was still alive…..barely. I talked with my wife and told her to think good cards for me as I needed to catch a hand. She said she would and I went back to the tourney.

When I returned, the first hand I saw was KQs and it folded around to me so I pushed and picked up the blinds and antes when it folded around. This was the first round with antes and now was the time to win some pots. The second hand back I had A9s and it folded to me and I pushed and picked up the blinds and antes. The third hand I looked down to find KK when it folded to me and I pushed again figuring someone would get sick of me pushing and call me with maybe less of a hand than they would normally. The big blind called me with 99 and he had me covered. The flop came 9QQ. Ouch. The turn was a K. Yeah! The river……a blank and I doubled up. I was then at just about an average stack and thrilled. I was determined to get back into this by playing solid aggressive poker. It seemed everyone was playing tighter than they should with the antes now in play. An orbit later I raised from MP with KQs and missed the flop. I had mucked when my continuation bet was raised. I should have just check-mucked because it put me short chips again. A couple of hands later I was big blind and it folded to one off of the button and he raised three times the big blind. He had me easily covered but my stack would have taken 50% of his chips. He raised a lot in position when it folded to him as I had played with him in the qualifier and had seen him do it here when the opportunity was there. No one had played back at him yet. It folded to me in the big blind and I looked at A7s. I came over the top all in as any other raise I was basically committed and he could still muck to an all-in. He thought for a few minutes and then called with QJs. I knew I had the best hand and just needed it to hold up. A jack flopped and I didn’t find my ace. I was out around 120^th.

I had a blast and can’t wait until they come back again. I found it fairly easy to get in through a qualifier as you just have to get top 20%. Next time I’d play a couple if I had the time as they are transferable and people were selling theirs to the surprising number of people that were buying in directly to the main event.

On the home game front I’ve played in a couple of local home tournaments over the last couple of weeks. I took second in one with around 24 people. I played well throughout the tournament and the cards didn’t break my way in the heads up battle. We were both aggressive in the heads up match and we played awhile. I made one crucial reading error on a hand which caused me to not fire a third bullet on 5^th street and mucked my hand when he went all in. I had Ace high and he showed his missed flush draw and he took advantage of my check to him on the river to push me off. I put him on a pair with how he played his hand. A middle pair as he had been betting his draws aggressively. He changed it up that hand and it paid off for him. That left me short and my K 2 went down to his pocket deuces shortly thereafter. I final tabled another home tourney bubbling out in 5^th and the third one I went out halfway through the field when my late position short stack (8 times the big blind) push with Ad Qd didn’t hold up against pocket 5’s. I stayed for the $1/$2 NL cash games and made back my tourney buy-in plus some so it was a good night overall. I even gave some of the winnings to my wife for the purchase of Christmas presents. Boy, the holidays sure are expensive.

On a personal note: Just a touch over one month to go until baby Baz #4 hits the ground. That will make casa de Baz a very very busy household and will pause a lot of my poker play for awhile. When you have four kids and your oldest is five there is a lot going on in the house on a daily, hourly, and minute by minute basis. Mama Baz could use a little more help from Papa Baz. I also just booked the family summer vacation to Disneyland so we are looking forward to that. Hopefully poker funds can help with the costs but the money has been saved for this trip for awhile now so it’s not a necessity. I have to look closer at the location of Commerce Casino or some of the other area poker establishments and see if I can make it over for a night or two of live California poker action. Any fellow poker bloggers out there that still stop by my little corner of the blogosphere from time to time, live in the LA/Anaheim area and are willing (or should I say want) to accompany me to a local poker establishment this summer holler.

Hope this finds you all well.

Baz Out

Heartland Poker Tour Part 2

2006-11-09T22:38:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the delay with the results from my Heartland Poker Tour experience. I have been embarrassed, as I didn’t see Donkey Puncher’s comment on how I should dress at the final table until after it was already filmed. DP isn’t going to be happy with my attire.

I wish. Not even close. Here’s how it went down. I was feeling good that Saturday morning. Grabbed a Gatorade from the deli and sat down with a guy I had played with at the qualifier. He had been moved to my table near the bubble and had a stack slightly bigger than mine. We mostly stayed out of each other’s way. We chatted about the play in the qualifier and how we both thought it wasn’t as tough as we expected it to be in order to get the seat. Then again he mentioned that other guys from his regular game had said they were coming up to play a qualifier as well and he didn’t see any of them there so maybe we had an easier qualifier than some other ones. Either way it didn’t matter to me as I was in and ready to play. He called over a guy he knew who had bought directly into the main event. The three of us talked until it was time to go take our seats.

When I got to my seat I recognized one guy from my qualifier. He had been moved to my table about halfway through and was on my immediate left. I had doubled through him during the qualifier once and noticed he raised the pot a lot in late position when folded to him. Then the new guy who I had been chatting with sat down at my table as well. Interesting how I talked with 3 guys prior to the event and the new guy I had just met was seated at the same table as me. Well, maybe it’s only interesting to me.

I was in seat 10 and there were 183 players to start the event in the biggest main event in the Heartland Poker Tour’s history. What this number meant was that we had to use some of the lower numbered tables to get started. Those of you that have been to Majestic Star 2 know that these lower numbered tables don’t have automatic shufflers. This meant that ALL tables had to hand shuffle until those tables were broken down. I thought that sucked but what could you do at that point.

I also thought it sucked that the blinds started at 100/200 instead of 100/100 like the qualifier. Sure we got 15K in chips instead of 10K but I thought it would have been nicer to keep the EXACT blind structure of the qualifiers AND get the 5K extra in chips for the main event. Anyway, the first two hands of the tournament the same guy raised to T600 and it folded all the way around. On the third hand I was the big blind and the same guy raised to T600 again from UTG +2. It folded to me and I looked down to find Kd 10d. I called the raise and looked to flop two pair or better.

Being the third hand of the tournament it was hard to put him on a hand but I figured the range was fairly large due to the fact that he raised three hands in a row. I put him on a possible range that included AA, QQ, JJ down through 77 (and maybe any pocket pair), along with AK, AQ, and potentially any two paint cards.

Here’s how the action went from there:

The flop came K 8 10 rainbow with the 8 being a diamond.

(This was a GREAT flop for me. Top two with a backdoor flush draw.)

I checked with the intention of check-raising him.

The pot had T1300.

He bet T1500.

(I thought this was a very curious bet. He obviously wanted to win the pot right here with a slightly larger than pot size bet. I immediately threw out 88 as a possible holding as he would want to extract the most chips from me if I had a king and would want me to catch something if I called with an Ace. I didn’t put him on KK or TT initially as I had one of each and those were even less likely now that there were also one of each on the board and then with his flop bet it made them even more unlikely. I figured him for QQ, AA, JJ, or AK at this point. QJ also was possible with his flop bet as it would give him an open ended straight draw which I could see taking a shot at taking the pot down right there.

At this point I changed my strategy and simply called. I know this gets me absolutely no information but I was fairly certain I was way ahead here and wanted to let him have the lead.

The turn was the 6d (might have been the 4d).

(This gave me the second nut flush draw to go along with top two pair.)

I checked.

(I could have led out here as I don’t want to give a free card to QJ but I thought that was not a likely holding and wanted to give him a chance to bet again as that turn probably didn’t help me.)

The pot had T4300.

He bet T4000.

(Again a pot sized bet. Now I’m putting him squarely on AA or AK. I had seen A LOT of players willing to put a lot of chips in the pot with as little as top pair. Something about the way he bet bothered me. I can’t put my finger on it. I don’t know if he was acting weak or what but I sensed strength like he thought his hand was good. Whether it was good or not I wasn’t sure anymore but I still put him on AK or AA as his most likely holdings.)

Again I just called. I know, I know. I played this VERY, VERY passive. At this point I was either WAY ahead or WAY behind and I wanted to see what the river brought. Not like I usually play hands at all. I would usually check raise that flop and/or lead out and/or check-raise that turn when I picked up my flush draw. This time I didn’t. I simply called.

The pot now had T12300.

The river brought the 9c. I didn’t get my flush and the straight got there. I didn’t think QJ was a possible holding anymore.

I checked like a passive girl.

He bet T3000.

I called leaving T5900 behind.

What have you put him on? Did I lose the least I could have or win the less than I could have won?

I will post the ending of the hand soon.

Comments are appreciated and welcome.

Baz Out

Heartland Poker Tour Part 1

2006-10-27T20:07:00.000-05:00

As I believe I mentioned before, the Heartland Poker Tour has come to the Majestic Star 2. I wrestled with the idea of buying in directly to a qualifier for $560 or trying my hand at a satellite or two to try and win a seat in a qualifier. If you are not familiar with the Heartland Poker Tour it is a tour that has mainly been in casinos in Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, and states in the area. I had been keeping an eye on them hoping they would come to the area. They are expecting this to be their biggest tournament ever. Let’s think why…..South Dakota casino? Chicago area casino? They told me over a year ago they were trying to get to the area and it’s obvious why. Anyway, they have been running satellites 24/7 since Saturday. You can play a $65 single table satellite (which awards one seat in the $560 qualifier) or a $125 single table satellite (which awards two seats in the $560 qualifier). They are running 7 total qualifiers and sent like 35 players into Saturday’s main event from Monday and Tuesday’s qualifiers.

I decided I was going to go Wednesday night and would decide when I got there whether I would play a satellite to try and get in or simply buy-in directly. I got two phone calls while I was on my way Wednesday afternoon from people with confidence in my game with offers to buy a piece of my action. So I sold 35% of my action and bought in directly to the qualifier upon arriving to MS2. The qualifier started at 6 pm and I arrived plenty early as I planned on playing a couple hours of the $1/$2 NL cash games before grabbing a bite to eat prior to the tournament starting.

The cash games list was longer than I expected that early on a Wednesday afternoon and I got on the list hoping it would move fast. There were only a handful of tables not being used and the 1 pm tournament was taking up 3 to 6 of them. The satellites were running on a bunch of tables as well and the lists for each of those was LONG. I was glad I simply bought in and didn’t count on playing a satellite to get in. I finally got called as they opened a new $1/$2 NL table which I liked as everyone was starting fresh and I only had about an hour or an hour and a half to play before getting a bite to eat and getting sat for the tourney. I won a few pots before heading over to register for the tournament. That took longer than I anticipated and while I waited in line I chatted with a guy in line who was buying in directly as well. It seemed like a mixed bag of people buying in directly and people entering through their satellite wins. I registered, signed the release form, and drew table 21, seat 9. I headed back to my cash game and the guy two to my left had a little over three hundred in his stack. As I sat down I said, “Look who’s gathering chips.” He just laughed and normally I’d not be happy I missed what happened but I was focused on the tournament and simply passing time in the cash game for another 15 minutes or so. I began talking to the older gentleman on my right who commented that he qualified for the main event Saturday Tuesday night after winning a satellite. He told me that a lot of people in his qualifier played like it was a single table tournament with low chips and fast moving blinds. This is a 10,000 starting chip tourney with blinds starting at 100/100 and going up every half hour. I had thought this might be the case but hearing it confirmed from him was nice. I figured people would be willing to put a lot of chips in early with as little as top pair and told myself not to make that mistake and hoped I could take advantage of this early.

It was time for me to get something to eat and get ready for the tourney so I got up from the table up around $40. I wished all good luck and headed out. While waiting for food I ran into the same gentleman I was talking with while waiting to register and he asked me what table I drew. I told him and it turns out he was two to my left in seat 1. I told him I wouldn’t attack his blinds without a hand and he moved on into the tournament area. When I got to my tournament table I noticed there was one guy from the cash game at the table as well as I guy I had played with several times before at the Rockford Charitable tournaments. I remembered that he liked to be the table captain and hoped my memory was serving me well. It was.

I had gotten a note card several days before and wrote a couple of “reminders” on it of things that have gotten me in trouble at times. The first line said, “Position, Position, Position.” The second line said, “Patience.” The third line said, “Don’t go broke early without a monster and don’t bluff early with no money in the pot.” The last line said, “A Q – Yuck!”

Do you think I would listen? The third hand of the tournament I am in the big blind and the blinds are 100/100. I have 6h 5h and the guy UTG +1 raised it up to $400. For those of you paying attention, this is the guy I had talked with in the registration line and then again told I wouldn’t attack his blinds without a hand (a lie by the way). There was one caller in MP and I called as well. The flop was ugly…..Q J 9 rainbow. What did I do? I led out betting roughly half the pot $600. The guy in the 1 seat looked at me and said, “You and me tangling already?” He seemed to struggle with a decision, which I took as either top pair or a straight draw with pocket tens. He called and the MP player folded. The turn was a deuce of the fourth suit and I bet out $1000. He thought for a little bit and called. The river paired the jack and I was behind no matter what he held. It was just a matter of how big his hand was and if he was willing to call. I fired a third bullet of $1500 and when he called almost instantly I knew I was beat. I flipped over my 6h 5h and was shocked to see he flipped over A 10. That’s right. He called me down with Ace high after his busted open-ended straight draw didn’t come through. He took down the pot with the pair of jacks on the board and his ace.

I was mad that I lost around 3000 of my chips so early on such a stupid play. I was mad I didn’t listen to my own advice that was in my own pocket on my own note card. I knew I would get chips back from that guy in time and I definitely made more on several hands not long after that than I would have if I hadn’t shown down that hand. I wrote down on my note A Q – Yuck. I was dealt A Q during this tournament approximately 10 times. Yuck! I am happy to report that I did listen to my own advice on this hand, which I have misplayed in the past, and didn’t go broke with it. Our table captain accumulated a lot of chips early and busted two players. He was over betting pots on the flop and raising crazy amounts pre-flop. It began to be fairly obvious pre-flop when he had a mid-range pocket pair based on his betting patterns. I laid down pocket sixes to one of these big raises and he showed pocket fives but it could have just as easily been pocket sevens. One time I held A Q and raised pre-flop on the table captain’s big blind from middle position after one limper and he was my only caller. The flop came Ace high with two hearts. He checked to me and I bet about the size of the pot. He check raised me a huge amount and I laid my hand down. I could have been ahead but he could have had two pair or a flush draw so I thought it better to find another spot.

Another key hand was during the fourth level when I was an average stack. An early position player with a shorter stack (around T 5000 with the blinds at 300/600) raised the minimum to T1200. The player immediately to his left went all in for T3000. It folded to me in the big blind and I looked down to find pocket queens. I love the ladies. I had around T15000 and pushed all-in. The EP raiser thought about it and said something about wanting to be the one heads up with the guy on his left and then mucked his AK face up. I turned up my hand and he turned up pocket 10’s. He didn’t catch a 10 and I took his stack. A king flopped so I was glad I was successful in my isolation.

At this point I simply told myself I am not playing to win today. I am playing to get into the top 17 and get my seat for Saturday. I wanted to keep an average stack and pick spots to pick up the blinds and antes with little risk. I wanted to pay attention to when people are tightening up as well and use this to keep my stack above water. The tightening up point came with 25 players left. A little earlier than I expected it to be and I couldn’t take much advantage of it at first because I was totally card dead for around 40 minutes. As the antes and blinds whittled away my stack I was paying attention to who was being overly tight. I got down below average for a while and needed to find a hand to pick up some chips. It folded to me on the button and I looked down to find Qd 10d and I pushed all-in. The small blind had me covered by a couple thousand and called. He had K Jo and the flop brought a 10. The turn brought a second diamond eliminating a couple of his outs and the river missed doubling me up. In the next couple of rounds around the table I stole the blinds and antes with hands like A Q, K 9s, K Js, and pocket 10’s. I also folded A J and pocket 7’s to all-in players with shorter stacks than me but if I would have lost I would have been dangerously low.

Now we were down to 19 players left with two to go until we got our seats. Three stacks at our table were very low. The blinds were 2000/4000 with a 500 ante. I had around T44000 with an average stack being T35000. The one short stack had around T12000, the other had around T8000, and the third had T7000. The other table lost a player and we needed to lose one more. The short stack with only T7000 was moving into the big blind. He folded BOTH blinds to a late position raise leaving himself with only T1000. He anted T500 from the button and FOLDED when it was folded to him. He then anted his last T500 and his A K lost to the big blind’s 6 8 with an 8 high board.

We were down to 17 and I had my seat into the main event Saturday. The only way to describe the feeling is: AWESOME! Here’s hoping I can play a good smart game Saturday and give myself a chance to win. I know I don’t give the best details as I go strictly from memory. I tried. Hope it all made sense. I will give another report following this weekend’s play. Hopefully I will be the next HPT champion. Even though I know it’s not all about luck I’d still like to have some so if you get the chance, wish me some will ya?

Til Next Time.

Baz Out

Trip to Majestic Star 2

2006-10-23T22:54:00.000-05:00

Played my monthly home tourney last Saturday....the one I won the previous two times. No one was happy and they were gunning for me from the start. I didn't fare so well. Had the chip lead early but lost half of my stack with Q J in the small blind when it folded to me and I raised. My Dad was sitting in the big blind and called my raise. The flop came Jack high and I bet 1/2 the pot. He called. The turn was a blank and I bet 3/4 of the pot. He called. The river paired the board and I pushed. I had my Dad covered and he had about the size of the pot left. He thought and thought before calling with A J taking down a very nice pot. Two hands later I got all my chips in with the best hand and got knocked out second overall. My Dad ended up going heads up and taking second. I should remain on top of the leaderboard and look forward to getting back on top in the next tourney.

Played a home tourney Saturday night with a lot of family and friends of family. Half of the people play a lot and the other half play only once in a great while. I ended up taking it down. Afterwards my brother and I headed out to Majestic Star 2 to check it out. We had not been there since Trump sold it and they are running satellites for the HPT tourney this weekend. We got there between 11:30 pm and midnight. I sat $1/$2 NL and my brother sat $3/$6 while he waited for $5/$10. I'm liking the 1/2 NL game there. I feel like I played well and finished down a buy-in by the time we took off around 4 am. I was going to play a $125 satellite for the HPT event which gives two seats to the qualifier but the players getting in it were all tough tourney players so I figured I'd be better off staying in the cash game and either trying another satellite Wednesday or just buying directly into the qualifier.

I'll let you all know what I end up doing but I'm definitely heading to Majestic Wednesday afternoon for cash games or a satellite and then the HPT qualifier.

Til next time.

Baz Out

Down is up....up is down.....

2006-10-05T23:58:00.000-05:00

Everything's crazy since this stupid law got piggy backed in on the Port Security Bill. Could someone please explain to me why this is even allowed....we are talking apples and oranges here people.

Some people are taking a wait and see attitude. Some are being SUPER cautious and going so far as to cash all their money out AND go through their entire blog and deleting EVERY link to ANY poker site. I'm not judging or saying which is right or wrong....different strokes for different folks.

Myself.....I have cashed some money back to Neteller and left a little on Tribeca. I may deposit back onto Full Tilt or I may cash some or all out to my bank for live play in good 'ol Indiana. I will be keeping an eye on this for the time being. I will resist taking down my Full Tilt affiliate link for the time being. I love playing live anyway so this gives me a reason to get back out to the boats and play. It's been too long as I have been swamped at work. I will also look for more home game action. Shelly? I hear the Majestic Star II is now spreading a $100 Max 1/2 NL game that I'd like to try. They are also hosting a Heartland Poker Tour event the end of the month. I might try and satellite in or buy directly into a qualifier for $560. I may even see if some friends are interested in backing me for a %.

In any case....it's going to be very interesting for awhile. We shall see how things begin shaking out.

Baz Out

Back to Back

2006-09-11T23:37:00.000-05:00

I played in my regular home tournament Saturday night. I am sitting on top of the leader board after 6 tournaments of 10 and have seperated myself from the pack slightly. I won the tournament for the second time in a row. I was making good reads and playing a solid game. I made moves when I sensed weakness and got the most value out of most of my better hands. It was a "shooting stars" tournament where each of the previous winners had a bounty on their head. I knocked out one previous winner and avoided getting knocked out myself so that was sweet. It was a good time. My brother made the final table as the short stack and drew the small blind putting him half in already so he didn't make the money.

I've also been doing well online. Played three tournaments last week with each having anywhere from 90 to 180 players. I came in third in all three. Played one tonight and went out 46 out of 87. Cash games have been going well also. I have been playing mostly .25/.50 NL and it's been going well.

I have another tournament this Saturday night but have a LONG week to get through to get there.

I'm in two fantasy football leagues this year. I mopped up my opponent in one. In the other we were tied going into tonight. He has Antonio Gates TE SD going and I have Lamont Jordan RB OAK going. As I was typing this I was up one point with a 3-2 advantage on the night but Gates caught a touchdown pass putting me down 6 total points. COME ON JORDAN!!!!!

Anyway....wanted to check in. I hear Majestic II has changed a lot of their structures and games getting totally rid of the 3/6 and adding more options at No Limit. I may have to check it out before too long. Haven't had time for live poker lately.

Til next time.

Baz Out

Way....Way....Overdue

2006-08-20T20:27:00.000-05:00

My apologies for the inactivity this summer. I have played my fair share of online and live poker this summer with mixed results. That was when not traveling with the family which we did A LOT this summer.

It was a GREAT summer. My online bankroll is healthy and slowly climbing. I have been playing a lot more no limit ring games online and working hard on my NL cash game. I was playing live 2-3 times a week early in the summer until they shut down the poker room at Empress. I then checked out Resorts in Northwest Indiana and have been playing 5/10 or 10/20 limit. I'm dying to get into the live NL games there but need more of a live bankroll to sit comfortably and play the type of game/style I like. I haven't been back to the casino formerly known as Trump since right after the changeover. I see several former dealers from there dealing at Resorts and keep planning to get back there to check it out. The baby NL game there used to be 200max buy in so if it's still that way I'd be more tempted to return.

My blog reading was pretty much non-existent over the summer except for the Good Doctor's WSOP coverage which was top notch and entertaining as Hell! Keep it up Pauly.....I'd understand if you didn't go back.....but REALLY hope you go back again and again.

Did anyone out there actually get the Main Event's final table on Pay Per View? If so....I'd love to hear if it was worth it.

Some guys I know and have played in a variety of home games with got a poker league together where we play once every month or so and get points based on how we finish along with a variety of other things like knocking people out, knocking out the previous winner, etc. At the end of 10 regular season games we will have a larger buy-in championship tourney with people who have played regularly getting bonus chip amounts based on their league standings. I like the idea and they are running it well. A player's top 6 totals will be used for the "championship" so you don't have to make all 10. I've played 4 out of 5 this "season" so far and have taken third, last, second, and first finding myself at the top of the league standings at the halfway point. It's a good group of guys and the side cash games after the tournament are a blast as well with lots of Omaha and other crazy games like 2 of 3, chase the Queen, Shit on your neighbor, etc....etc....etc.

I never wrote up my Vegas trip report from the beginning of the summer.........I played limit and a couple of tournaments and lost. I just missed the money in all three tournaments I played. Two at the Sahara and one at the MGM where we stayed. I lost in the limit ring games overall due to a couple of huge pots lost. The first was when I flopped a set of eights and another gentlemen flopped a set of Kings and hadn't re-raised me pre-flop.....worked out well for him. The second was when I flopped another set.....10's this time with an ace and duece on board with it and no flush possible. Betting was capped on the flop and the turn was a 9 of the fourth suit. Betting was capped three way and the river brought another 9 giving me 10's full. Betting was capped again and the lady on the end showed pocket 9's for runner runner quads. Those are the two that stick out in my mind that were monster pots I lost. Not the reason I was an overall loser on the trip but those two pots caused an uphill battle. I played well overall but didn't put the hours at the tables I have in the past due to the company I was with on this trip.

Anyway....hope this finds everyone doing well.

Hopefully I will get back onto a semi-regular posting schedule........

See you on the virtual felt......

Baz Out

7/15/06

2006-07-15T18:34:00.000-05:00

It's been almost a month since my last post. I just returned from taking my family on a two week vacation which had stops in St. Louis, Kansas City (where the only poker was played), and the Lake of the Ozarks. It was an AWESOME two weeks but was sooooo nice to be back sleeping in our own bed again. The kids had a blast as is evident when they are so upset we are heading home.

I didn't play any online poker and had only one live session in Kansas City. I've been so busy this summer with T-Ball, swim lessons, and other summer fun activities I haven't even had the chance to write up my Vegas trip report. My apologies. I am WAY behind in my blog reading and don't have a clue as to what's been going on in the World Series. Much catching up is needed. This may even be the weekend of the blogger gathering in Vegas.....will visit some blogs and start catching up.

Hopefully I'll be back to some sort of a regular schedule soon......until then enjoy your summer. I hope to still play live at least once a week and plan to get on a regular online playing schedule so hopefully will have more to talk about and share.

Til then.
Baz Out

R.I.P. : Empress Poker Room

2006-06-17T08:51:00.000-05:00

I just don't get it. The Empress poker room has been packed EVERY time I've gone which has been AT LEAST twice a week on various days at various times. Two weeks ago they added a Tuesday night no limit game so now they had two nights of no limit action with a packed table and long list all night long. They added a Wednesday night 20/40 game as well which was packed both weeks it ran. Sure they only had four tables but the four tables were packed the majority of the time. So what do they do......shut down the room. That's right folks. Sunday is the last day of Poker at Empress. I played Tuesday night and all was good. When I returned Thursday night there was a sign stating the room would be closed come Monday June 19th. A lot of it has to do with Illinois gaming laws and the number of stations they are allowed....blah, blah, blah. I was really enjoying the games at Empress......damn. Looks like it's back to Friday nights at Majestic Star II or Resorts. I might check out Hollywood Casino but I've heard the wait there is just crazy.

I owe a Vegas trip report.......and it will be forthcoming. Things have just been crazy since we returned with the kids and summertime activities.

Til then I'm looking forward to the PokerStars Blogger tourney tomorrow.

Baz Out

Vegas Baby.........

2006-06-05T00:27:00.000-05:00

I'm heading to Vegas this weekend......Can't wait. My wife and I are meeting my sister in-law and brother in-law out there......The kids will be at Grandma's house.......Almost here.....Almost here. I plan on playing the Sahara tourney on Thursday night and the MGM tourney on Friday morning. No other plans besides playing as many ring games as possible.

I played at Empress for the first time in awhile Thursday night and doubled my buy-in. All in all a good night. I hope to get there one more time before heading out to Vegas. I was planning on taking out some of my online bankroll for Vegas but it's not where it was a few short weeks ago so I will be leaving it alone. My online bankroll has dropped considerably due to two factors. I pulled a chunk over to a second site strictly for MTT play as I really wanted to work on improving my MTT play this year. My play has improved but I still haven't had a big cash and so it's been a drain to my bankroll. Looking back I probably pulled too much aside too early for this endeavor. Secondly, I have been playing higher limits than my bankroll dictates. I have no excuse for this and didn't wise up until I had a serious drain on my roll. No one to blame but myself.

I will unfortunately be back to grinding it out online at the lower limits such as .50/$1 and $1/$2. If Vegas goes really well I will add some to it so I can stick to starting with $1/$2 and $2/$4. Let's hope I've learned my lesson.

I really need to sit down and set some goals for myself. Set a plan and stick to it. In the past I've seen my bankroll growing and pull some out to take my family on a nice long weekend vacation or rent a huge jumper for my sons birthday. I definitely do not want to stop doing these things but I need to be disciplined enough to set a goal setting and reach it before pulling out any for family fun.

I will be thinking more on this in the weeks to come.

Last summer in Vegas I would win money at the poker table only to lose my winnings and then some at the craps or blackjack tables. I need to be more disciplined this trip. I am not going to totally avoid the -EV games but I will set amounts each time and stick with it.

Hopefully I will be reporting on a successful trip.

Until then....

Baz Out

THANKS POKERSTARS!!!

2006-05-24T19:46:00.000-05:00

This is the 2nd annual World Blogger Championship of Online Poker brought to you by PokerStars! They are awesome! I've been spending more time playing MTT's and ring games on PokerStars. It's hard to beat it for table and game selection and I've THIS CLOSE to cracking the money spots in the nightly $11 re-buy which I've played three nights this week.

Hope to see all my blogger friends at the final table.....hopefully Father's Day is good to me.........and I'm not greedy, I'd be THRILLED with the $1,500 buy-in prize :o)

Thanks PokerStars! You really do get it!!!

Baz Out

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 7330476

Free Money

2006-05-16T20:36:00.000-05:00

I had read on another blog (forgive me for the lack of linage as I do not recall where) that Party Poker was giving people some free money. I had cashed out there awhile back and hadn't been back since so I thought I'd stop in to my account and see if there was any free cash for me. Lo and behold there was.......$75. I will try and turn this $75 into something more substantial over the next 10 days. I will be playing the $40K Gauranteed tonight at 9:20pm and am currently two-tabling $25NL ring games and let's see what I can do with that free $$$.

Baz Out

American Cancer Society Home Game

2006-05-15T18:20:00.000-05:00

My wife and I got an invite from Shelly to a home NL re-buy tournament. The hosts were having a poker tournament to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Instead of getting pledges and donations and what not they had this re-buy tourney and donated 25% to the ACS. I thought it was a GREAT idea and told her my wife and I would be there.

We secured babysitting and looked forward to the night getting here. Those of you out there with multiple children may know that nights out with just the wife get fewer and farther between. Maybe all of you with one child have no trouble but we have three children ages 4 and under. Let me tell you, there’s not a stampede of people wanting to rush over and watch our kids. It’s not that they aren’t well behaved because they are very well behaved kids. It’s just that there are three of them ages four and under. That says it all. We’re lucky to have lots of family in the area willing to take on the task from time to time. We planned to go to dinner in the area prior to going to the tournament. We went to a Mexican restaurant that was pretty good but couldn’t match up with the fact that I just got to actually talk to my wife without being interrupted 10,000 times every two minutes.

My wife was a little nervous because she rarely plays poker. She hears me talk about it way too much (I say “hears” because I think she rarely listens) and understands the basics. She knows her hand and how strong it potentially is but needs a little slower pace than the one we found for other facets of the game. She enjoys the home games that are more casual and laid back. I thought this one might lean a little toward the casual conservative side being it had the charity aspect. I was wrong….sorry honey. The tourney was full of poker playing junkies of various types. The conversation was mostly poker and I was enjoying myself.

I was glad to see Shelly was there already when we arrived close to 7pm (Thanks Shelly!). For some reason I thought we were supposed to start at 7pm and didn’t want a ton of down time before getting started. I was wrong and we were SUPPOSED to start at 7:30pm. You know how that goes with home tournaments. There were 13 total by the time we started and I drew the table of 6, which I loved. I also was glad my wife was at the same table and seated just to the left of Shelly. In a home tourney like this one it’s impossible to completely split all facets of friends/family/etc to different tables so it was just a straight random assignment. I appreciated Shelly’s help to my wife with regards to action being on her and the comments to her about girl’s sticking together and what not. I think it helped make her more comfortable. THANKS Shel!

I bought my wife and I both in for the initial buy-in plus the re-buy right off the bat so we each started with T3000. You had to drop below T1500 to re-buy so my plan was to see how the table was playing but take chances with hands during the re-buy period and look to flop a monster. I think my starting table was the better table to be at for me as I hoped to control most of the action and was fairly successful at picking up many of the orphan pots as a result. The other table ended up with more overall chips due to more re-buys overall and I think there were more playing more aggressively over there. I think I mixed my game up decently and my chip stack was in flux for the first four levels. I twice made the mistake of betting into the nuts (or close to it) twice with draws that wouldn’t have been good even if they got there so there were a couple of times I put dead money into the pot but overall the pots I picked up along the way more than made up for those couple of times. One pot was against Shelly when I raised pre-flop with suited J 10 and she called (maybe one other caller). The flop came K Q Q and I bet into her. She smooth called and warning sirens should have been going off in my head. I don’t even remember what the turn or river brought but I can tell you it wasn’t an Ace or a 9 and that’s a good thing because Shelly had K Q and called my turn bet before raising all-in to my river bet and I had to muck. Another hand I called Shelly’s pre-flop raise with K K and the flop was 10 high. I figured she had one of three hands: Aces, Queens, or Jacks with the outside chance of A K which was more unlikely since I had two Kings and we were 6 handed. She bet out on the flop and I called. There were two spades on the flop and the King of spades hit the turn. She bet into me (correct me if I’m remembering wrong Shelly) and I raised to put her all-in which wasn’t that much more. I figured even if she had the flush I had 9 outs to pair the board. She had Jacks with the Jack of spades. No spade on the river and she re-bought. The guy to my left Mike was getting tired of folding to my bets when it checked to me on the flop. He started saying out loud in an aggravated tone, “I know you don’t have anything” as he folded. I raised another pot with J 10 and the guy on my right called from the big blind. The flop came 10 high rainbow and he pushed all-in almost instantly. He was short stacked and we were still in the re-buy period. I called thinking he either had a set or was getting tired of me taking pots away from him when he checked to me. He turned over 10 5o and wasn’t thrilled with my J 10 which held up. He said he planned when he called on pushing if a 10 hit thinking I had over cards and admitted he shouldn’t have even been in the hand.

The thing was there were times I was taking the pot with nothing when it checked to me. There were times I was taking the pot with middle pair when it was checked to me. There were times I was taking the pot with top pair or better when it was checked to me. The thing was it kept checking to me. Or at least it felt like it was checked to me a lot. Another example: The guy on my right raised pre-flop and I called with 10 9s. The flop came K 9 4 and he checked to me. I bet roughly the pot and he mucked his pocket queens face-up mumbling how he hates queens because every time he has them Aces and Kings hit the board. Newsflash!!!! We were 6 handed (Maybe 5 handed at that point)! Bet and see if you can see where you’re at in the hand. I’m going to bet middle pair every time in that spot and sometimes with nothing depending on who’s in the hand and my read on them.

I made the final table with a healthy chip stack but the blinds were increasing rapidly. We lost a couple and were down to six. I had raised a couple of times and had to fold to a lot of action either pre-flop or post-flop that missed me. I lost a chunk of my stack when I was dealt KK in the big blind. UTG raised all-in with a short stack and was called in one spot before I re-raised all-in and the caller folded. UTG didn’t want to flip his cards and had 9 3o. He hit a four card straight on the river and dented my stack. I had about 8X the BB due to losing when I raised and was re-raised by a shorter stack all in. It wasn’t that much more to call with my pocket sixes so I did and I lost to A Q when an Ace came along on the flop. I folded A Qo to a raise and a re-raise all-in by a bigger stack than mine. I was dealt A9s it was raised enough to put me all in. I thought for a few moments. The blind level buzzer went off so blinds and antes were going up. I was going to be in the big blind. I said this might be a horrible call and then called! It was a horrible call. He had A Jo and had me dominated. We both caught an Ace and no clubs or 9 came and I went out 6^th.

I had a great time and hope to play with that group again. My wife had been sleeping on the couch for the hour or two before I got knocked out. I’m going to go out on a limb and say no one else in that house had kids as conversations turned to how late everyone was going to sleep in the next morning. We always know how late we will sleep in. It’s roughly the same everyday. 6 A.M. when the kids get up. Sometimes it’s as early as 5 and by the grace of God as late as 7 (rarely). Of course it was Mother’s Day which meant I didn’t lay there and roll over when I heard the kids expecting my wife to take care of them. I handled it. Here’s hoping I make the money at the next one. You can guarantee I’ll be playing to win!

Baz Out

Mother's Day

2006-05-14T11:46:00.000-05:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there......not sure how many Mom's stop by here......so happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's of people who swing by my little corner of the poker blogoshphere......as well as the wives who are Mom's....hope you treated your babies mama's well on this day.

My wife and I played in a re-buy home game last night with part of the proceeds benefitting the American Cancer Society. The invite was from Shelly and I had a great time. I didn't take notes but a post will be forthcoming on the evening and my take on it.

Time to go feed the kids lunch......while the wife kicks her feet up on this....her day.

Baz Out

Slow Rolled

2006-05-08T22:01:00.000-05:00

Played in a home tourney this weekend. It’s the second time I’ve played this particular home tourney. I took second last month and this month I didn’t do quite as well. I think I was playing well. It was the third level and my table was most of the same guys I had played with last time. Two new faces at my starting table with one I have played with a lot previously and one I only played with for a short time at the final table last month (who was seated to my immediate right). I was the chip leader at my table by the third level and rolling along well when the following hand came up. I was dealt A 10 suited in LP. It was folded to the guy on my right who limped (he had limped most pots up to that point). I raised 3X the BB and the big blind called along with the limper. The flop came Q 9 7 rainbow. It was checked to me and I bet the pot. The big blind folded and the guy on my right called. The turn was a deuce of the fourth suit. He checked to me and I bet the pot. He called. At this point I put him on some pair but not a big pair. I had watched this guy lay down a made flush the previous orbit to a big bet. The river was a Jack and he checked to me again. I couldn’t win without betting so I bet almost the size of the pot again. He insta-called and I knew I was in trouble but was surprised when he flipped over pocket 4’s. I mucked and was left short stacked but not without room to wiggle. Two hands later I was dealt pocket 3’s and there was a raise of double the big blind. The guy on my right called and I called so three of us saw the beautiful flop of 3 7 K rainbow. The first guy checked, the guy on my right bet the same amount as pre-flop, and I was the only caller. The turn was a 4 and he bet the same amount and I called. The river was a 6 putting a possible straight out there if he held a 5 and he checked. I bet about the size of the pot leaving me with only T375 behind and was prepared to put it all-in if raised. He called and instantly flipped over a 7 stating he had 7’s. I flipped my cards stating I had trip 3’s. He then said, “Oh, I also have this card giving me a straight” and flipped over a 5. The Mother Fucker slow rolled me! I wasn’t pissed about the cards he played because he was seeing every flop with the any two cards can win mentality. I wasn’t pissed about the runner runner gutshot to the nuts. I was pissed that he slow rolled me. I said “thanks for the slow roll” in my most sarcastic tone. He replied, “I didn’t mean to slow roll, I was just having fun and I called you so you needed to show your cards first.” Of course I replied, “Then table both of your cards or wait for me to table mine before showing yours down. Slow rolling is a dick move and should never be done.” I then added, “By the way, nice value call with the nuts.”

I was pissed about the slow roll…….it was the first time anyone ever slow rolled me and it sucked even in a low buy-in home tourney. I went out first after doubling up once and then watching my K Q off-suit go down to the same slow roll jag bag who held…..wait for it……pocket 3’s. Yes, the same pocket 3’s that I held less than an orbit before and tripped up. I went outside to cool down and then went back in to watch my Dad take down the tournament with a win. At least it was all in the family. Once they combined to one table we started a side game which initially began as limit hold ‘em but would progress to dealer’s choice once the tourney ended. I was in a gambling mood by this point and won two big pots in a row when I caught runner runner flushes. The first one I had Ah 8h and a great guy sitting on my immediate right raised so I naturally re-raised, it was called back to me so I capped it off and saw a flop of A J 2 with one heart. It was bet and called by the time it got to me so I raised and had two callers. The turn was the 4 of hearts and it was bet and called before getting to me so I raised and both called. The river was the 6 of hearts giving me the nuts and it amazingly was bet and raised ahead of me so I re-raised and both called. I showed my nut flush and they both mucked. On the very next hand I was dealt Kc Jc and raised a community of limpers and we saw a family pot when everyone called. Now we were playing only 5 handed at this point so I was playing very loose and very aggressive. The flop came 9 5 2 with one club. It was bet with two callers when it got to me after stating “raise” I announced I was going to hit runner runner again while my chips tumbled into the pot. Everyone called. The turn was the Queen of clubs and it was bet and called before reaching me. I raised, there was a fold, it was re-raised, called, I capped it, and it was called around. The river was the beautiful Ace of clubs and it was checked to me, I bet, and it was called around where I showed my runner runner nut flush for the second hand in a row.

By the end of the evening I had won back my side game buy-in, my tournament buy-in, and made a whopping $7 profit on the night. Better than a loss but didn’t even cover breakfast for the family on Sunday. All in all it was a great time. I won’t be able to make it to their next month’s game to watch my Dad defend his 1^st place finish as I will be in Vegas. ONE MONTH FROM TODAY I WILL BE IN VEGAS!!!! Can’t wait!

This weekend I will be attending a part-charity poker tournament courtesy of an invite from your favorite Hella Hold ‘Em player Shelly. I’ll be bringing my wife along as well. It’s nice when I can include her on a poker event like this as she likes to play tournament style poker but doesn’t get the chance too often. Well we have Grandma stepping in and I’ll be taking her out to dinner before the game. It’s for a great cause and is a great idea by the hosts. Instead of getting sponsors for their walk or bike ride to raise money for the American Cancer Society they are having this poker tourney with re-buys. It’s a great cause, great idea, and looking forward to a great evening of poker.

Baz Out.

Ken Rock's WSOP

2006-04-24T20:01:00.000-05:00

I played a live WSOP tourney on Sunday. It was held at Ken Rock Community Center in Rockford run by Rockford Charitable Games. It was probably the last one I’ll play for awhile……at least until next year. Don’t get me wrong…….it’s a very beatable tourney and I love their new structure and hope it stays the same. I just think they take WAY too much for “charity”. I’m all for charity……played in my share of poker tournaments for great causes…..donated money to this and that.

The buy-in for this tourney is $60. That gets you T1500. You can get T500 for $10 for the dealers (who knows if it all actually goes to the dealers). You can then re-buy in the first hour one time for $30 or $50. The $30 re-buy gets you T2000 and the $50 re-buy gets you T4000. Most people at the tables I’ve been at get the $50 re-buy along with the $10 dealer bonus chip. There are a handful that don’t re-buy at all and a handful that take the $30 re-buy. I always get the maximum re-buy and do it before the first cards are even dealt.

They are running a shootout structure now, which I absolutely LOVE! They can handle a max of 500 people but haven’t getting more than 300-350 and that’s with people buying into multiple sessions. They have three sessions now starting with a shootout format where you win your table and move onto the second part of the tournament. Yesterday there were 320 total people. They paid out a little over 16K in cash and prizes with the top prize being 10K in World Series of Poker credit to be used for any of the WSOP events you want along with like $750 in cash for travel. Second place dropped to $1500. Third was $1000 and down from there paying top 10 out of 320.

You do the math. $60 times 320 is $19200. That’s with zero re-buys. Forget about the $10 dealer chip. Even if only 200 out of 320 took the full re-buy that’s an additional 10K making the total $29200. Only 200 taking the full re-buy is a very conservative number. With total cash and prizes of just over 16K that leaves 13.2K to pay the workers and the rest goes to charity. Is it just me or is that steep? Somebody please call me out if I’m being a jerk-wad here.

The thing is that the play for the most part is terrible. But it isn’t worth it if you don’t win it.

So I sit down at my table yesterday and don’t recognize any faces from previous tournaments. The guy sitting to my immediate left however is a friend of guy I’ve played with several times here who is a good player. That doesn’t mean he’s a good player but I make a mental note to stay out of his way until I get a better read.

In the shootout format it’s like two tournaments. You have to win your table before moving onto the freeze-out portion of the tourney to determine the money. So it’s a single table sit and go that you have to win. I love it. Once you win your table you come back later with everyone else that won their table and play a freeze-out.

Me, my Dad, and my brother played the middle session. They had three sessions. (One session at noon, one session at 2:30pm, and one session at 5pm.) My brother made it down to three handed at his table before going down. My Dad made it heads up and lost the heads up match after battling back from being out chipped 6-1. My table was the last one still playing of the session.

There were two tight aggressive players besides me at my table, several loose passives, and one guy who I just couldn’t peg. My chip stack fluctuated early as I called and raised with some marginal hands to see if I could flop a monster. When we got to 5 handed I called a raise with pocket 7’s along with two other players. The raiser was all-in for three times the blind and the flop came 7 7 2 with two diamonds. I was loving it and was in middle position of the three of us hoping to create a side pot. It was checked to me and I checked. It checked through. I wanted someone to catch up and hoped an Ace would hit or someone would catch a diamond flush. The turn was a non-diamond 9 and we all checked again. The river was a non-diamond 6 and I bet half the pot when it was checked to me and no side pot was created when they both folded. I then tabled my quads and took the main pot. The guy to my immediate left said, “I’m sure glad I didn’t hit my flush.” To which I replied, “Gee, I sure wish you had.”

I another pot when it was five-handed 4 times the big blind with A J off-suit and the lady in the small blind went all in for just less than double my bet. The big blind went all-in for slightly more. If I called and lost I’d still be second in chips at the table so I made the call hoping they both had a mid-upper pair. I was right on the ladies hand as she had pocket Jacks and the gentleman turned over A Ks so I was screwed. The case Jack hit and I thought I might at least win the tiny side pot from the guy but when the Ace hit the turn I was drawing dead to both pots.

I feel there were two key hands when we were four handed. I was second in chips and the chip leader was the guy on my left. I was staying out of his way for the most part but took a couple pots away from him as he wasn’t using his bigger stack effectively and still playing solid even four handed. The guy on the other end of the table who had been chip leader due to some lucky catches was bleeding and still waiting for premium cards. I had Q 10 on the button and called. We all saw the flop. The flop came Q 10 4 rainbow. The lady who was big blind bet out ¼ the pot and I just called (probably a mistake). The turn was a King and she bet out ½ the pot. I called fearing a K Q or A J holding. The river was a blank and she bet out the same exact amount she bet on the river. I just called and she showed A Q and I took it down a nice pot with my two pair.

Shortly thereafter I called from the small blind after it was folded to me and the big blind checked. I was holding 6 2s and the flop came 4 5 J rainbow. I checked and he checked. The turn came a 6. He bet and I called. The river brought a 3 with no flush possible. I bet and he doubled my bet. I simply called with the bottom end and said, “show me your 7.” He had the seven and took down the pot. I think I could have lost more money here…….or gotten him to lay it down with a bet on the flop or bigger bet on the turn.

In the end I was heads up with the solid guy on my left and he had a slight advantage over me. We were the last table of the session as we traded chips back and forth. He didn’t fall into a pattern of raises, or calling, or folding and I think I mixed it up well too. I ended up taking him down with K 2 when he checked to me after a flop of 5 6 8 rainbow. I checked and the turn was a deuce. He went all in and I thought for a moment before calling. He had J 7 for the open ended straight draw that didn’t come on the river. It was a tough call with the deuces but I was confident he would have bet any pair on the flop and figured if the two helped him I was either running into a flopped two pair or two pair that included the deuce.

If any of you have made it this far I owe you a sincere apology for the lack of details with regards to stack sizes and what not. I did not take any notes and am simply pulling it from my memory banks as best I can.

So I won my table and have a seat in the finals starting at 8pm. My brother and Dad bought into the 5pm session and tried to get seats for themselves. My Dad went out fairly quickly when twice his top two pair didn’t hold up to a flush draw. My brother again made it down to three handed before going bust. It was going to be just me representing the family tonight……and while I wished they had gotten seats, I was prepared to take it down.

In the freeze-out portion everyone started with T60000 and the blinds started at T1000/T2000. There were 32 players with top ten making the money. First prize was the big one and a serious drop off after that so I was definitely playing to win. We had two tables of 11 and one table of 10. I asked why we didn’t start with 4 tables of 8 and they didn’t have a good answer. I drew seat 5 at one of the tables starting with 11. The table started out playing really tight feeling each other out. The other tables weren’t doing the same because several people got knocked out in the FIRST blind level and we lost a couple players as they balanced the tables.

I picked up the blinds and a limper or two a couple times with position raises. Then during the second orbit I proceeded to put the guy sitting in the 11 seat on TILT. I wish a hammer story was coming………it isn’t.

I called the T2000 from middle position with one limper already in the pot with 8 9 of hearts. The 11 seat raised from his small blind to T6000. The first limper folded and I called along with a guy in late position. The flop came Q K 3 with the King and Queen being hearts. The 11 seat bet T6000 and I flat called. We lost the other guy and it was heads up. The turn was the 10 of hearts giving me a 9 high flush and gut-shot straight flush draw. I was confident I had the best hand and was confident he’d bet out. He led out T6000 again which was a small bet at this point. I figured he didn’t like the third heart and could have a hand like A Q with the Ace of hearts. I just called (mistake?). The fourth heart hit the board on the river and it wasn’t my Jack. That gave me the third nut flush with my 9 and I was prepared to let the hand go to a big bet here. He then checked. I thought for a quick moment if he would check with the Ace of hearts and guessed he would have put in a value bet if he had it so I fired T 20000 into the pot. This is when the TILT began. He began talking out loud about how I called him down with my Ace of hearts and sucked out on his two pair. He said out loud how he had a 7 high flush and two pair. He finally mucked his hand stating those are his chips and he was going to be coming after them. I was smiling inside but wished I had bet smaller. It was possible however that he had the Jack of hearts and I wanted to represent the Ace just in case…….maybe a smaller bet would represent the Ace better in some games but in this game with these people it would just get called…….and my T20000 bet wasn’t out of line.

Then he wouldn’t let it go and talked about it…..out loud…..constantly. Up to that point I had called a bunch looking to flop a big hand so it looked like I was a calling station and only bet or raised with a big hand. Every time I called he’d look at me and say, “That good of a hand, huh?” I never said a word, as hard as it was not to and by the second blind level changed gears and began raising anytime I entered a pot. Everyone else must have been listening to his talking because my raises were getting mad respect. I kept hoping he would try and chase after me but it never happened before we combined to two tables.

We were down to 20 with top 10 getting paid and I moved into seat 8 with just under T60000 and the blinds at T3000/T6000. I had lost a decent size pot with middle two pair to top two pair just before our table broke bringing me back to about even. After one orbit we were down to 17 players and I looked down to find pocket 8’s. I raised when it was folded to me in middle position to T18000. This was 1/3 of my stack and the blinds were going up to T5000/T10000 on the next hand. The button called and the big blind re-raised to T36000. I had folded to a re-raise twice in my first orbit at the table. If I called all of it was going in on most flops. Calling also might bring along the button who had a bigger stack so I was either folding or re-raising all-in. I thought it would be a coin-flip or I’d be dominated.

So what do I do after thinking AT BEST I was a coin flip? I push all-in. Now the blinds were going to be T5000/T10000 and I would have been left with only T30000 if I folded. I chose to take a stand and look to take the pot down there or double up. I was pretty sure the button would fold to an all-in and he did. The big blind called asking if I had a big pair. I said, “That depends on your definition of big.” I tabled my 8’s and he flipped over pocket sevens! I was pumped until a seven hit the river. I had him covered and was left with T4000. I folded the first hand I saw 5 3o and was UTG for the next hand. I was dealt K 4o and as I tossed in my T4000 said, “don’t be scared by my all-in here boys.” I had one caller and the big blind so I could more than triple up if I hit. The flop came 4 2 2. They checked it down when the turn brought a 7 and the river was another 2 giving me two’s full of four’s and more than tripling up. I folded 9 2o in the big blind to a raise and a re-raise. I was left with T 10000 (I know the math doesn’t work perfectly but I’m working off memory here) and was dealt K 7o. There were two callers and I put my last chips in. I hit a 7 but someone else hit a 10 and I was done. Should I have folded that small blind and picked out another hand in the orbit before the blinds came back around?

If I double up with my pocket 8’s I definitely get in the money and have a shot at winning. It didn’t happen. It was a late night and early morning this morning. The last thing I thought about before falling asleep last night was those pocket 8’s and they popped into my head first thing when I woke up this morning. I wasn’t upset or mad. It happens. Maybe I should have folded the hand. I got my money in with the best of it (surprisingly) and sometimes it doesn’t hold up. I’m happy with the way I’m playing and improving in my tournament play which is one of my goals for the year. It’s only a matter of time before I hit big one.

I’m looking forward to it.

Meanwhile…..I probably won’t be back to Rockford Charitable Games anytime soon. The play is horrible and I love the shootout format but can’t stand the other “stuff”. I just wish I had stayed at the same table as the guy I put on mega-tilt. I didn’t even try this time.

Hope this finds everyone doing well. Not sure when I’ll get a chance to play live again.

Baz Out

At Empress Without A Princess.....but with a Phlyersphan

2006-04-13T17:23:00.000-05:00

I made it out to Empress last night for some 5/10 limit hold 'em. When I arrived I found Shelly seated and looking to take down some pots. It felt good to be able to get back out and play some live poker. Shelly did a nice write up of the night in a nut shell up to the point where she left.......go to Hella Hold 'Em for the first portion of the evening. It was nice to get the seat change next to Shelly as the seat I initially started in was seat 11 (they play 11 handed at Empress) right next to the dealer which I usually love but felt "off" to me this evening. Shelly and I were able to socialize, which is a great thing about live poker, without hollering across the table at each other.

I planned on leaving shortly after Shelly.......was going to only play an orbit or two.......BUT........
we got down to six handed and everyone at the table was still playing as if we had a full table. I started raising with any ace and any any two paint and started taking down small pot after small pot. My stack slowly grew. It was then that we got a couple new players and I again thought to myself.....one more orbit and I'll take off......halfway through that orbit the 10/20 game which had been playing 4 handed for over an hour broke and they came into the 5/10 game with their big stacks. I figured there's a chance they'd still be in "4 handed" hand selection mode and wanted to stick around to see if I could get my hands on some of those chips. Unfortunately there's not a fabulous story to tell. I won a couple of smaller pots and one good size one when my AQ vs. another guy's KQ won on a Queen high ragged flop.

All in all it was a good night at the tables. Nice to play with a fellow blogger live.........nice to play live.....period.

I look forward to getting back again soon......

Until then....

Baz Out

Still Here.......

2006-04-08T00:10:00.000-05:00

I'm still here.......guessing the minimal traffic I once had has diminished even further.

I haven't been playing as much poker these days for three reasons:

1) Bankroll isn't what it was due to a cashout and bad run immediately following.

2) Family time has been taking up more and more time recently.

3) The minimal time I have been online lately.....a lot of it was prepping for my fantasy baseball auction. I'm really bummed I missed the one DP put together......that would have been a blast. I didn't read about it until it was past.......got WAY behind on my blog reading.

I've played in a few home games and a few MTT on Full Tilt along with some RAZZ.

Hoping to get out to Empress this week......Shelly....drop me an e-mail if you're planning on heading out there any evening this week. I haven't been to Majestic II since the bomb dropped and they let go all those dealers........not sure if I will go......if I'm dying to play live on a Friday or Saturday night I might head straight to Resorts.....we'll see.

Gotta Run....Hope everyone is well.

Baz Out

Mini-Vacation......

2006-03-19T22:31:00.000-06:00

My apologies for the lack of posting but there hasn't been much time to post.......or much to post about for that matter.

I just returned from taking the family on a fun filled mini-vacation to the Wisconsin Dells. The resort/hotel we stayed at was fantastic yet again as we are return customers. The indoor water park is a blast for the kids and adults. All in all.....a GREAT time was had by all. I am not as young as I used to be either and all those trips up the stairs and down the waterslides took a toll on this body.

On the poker front.....not much news. Played several online tourney's. Most recently tonights 19K on Full Tilt. It was my last token and I'll be needing to build a little more bankroll before going after more tokens and playing more tourney's. I played well. At the last hand before break I was 8th in chips overall and the tourney chipleader was at my table with about 4K more than me. I was dealt KK and raised it up 4X the big blind. Chipleader was my only caller and I told myself not to tangle with him and get cute. The flop came K 6 2 with two hearts and I bet pot hoping to take it down right there and scare off the flush draw. He called. Warning bells went off in my head. The turn was a 2 giving me King's full and I was loving it. I checked and he bet 1,000 into the 8,000 pot. I called hoping the river was a heart. The river was the ten of hearts. I bet T2500 and he came over the top all in. I called and he flipped over the stone cold nuts........pocket dueces for Quads beetches. I was out.

Anyone out there not give him all their chips on this hand because I didn't see it coming. I thought he was on the flush draw even with my pot sized bet on the flop or pocket sixes for trip sixes.....I guess if I could put him on 6's I could put him on dueces but can you ever put anyone on having quads?

Anyway....I feel my tournament game is getting stronger even though I haven't played as much lately. This time of year I start spending more time prepping for my fantasy baseball draft....can't WAIT!!!!!!

I do have a couple home tournies lined up.........hopefully will get some ring games online in over the next week and plan to play at Empress one day next week along with Majestic Star II next Friday night. This coming weekend however the wife is out of town and it's just me and the 3 little Baz's.......Can't Wait!

Baz Out

Still Surviving

2006-03-08T23:11:00.000-06:00

I've been gone for what feels like forever......haven't played much poker lately online or live. It's been crazy at the house with the kids all being sick one after another.....plus two of my kids birthdays and all that goes into that it hasn't left much time.........no complaints.......family first.

I'm hoping to get to Trump......errrr Majestic Star 2 Friday night with my brother.....we shall see if I can escape. My brother-in-law and in-laws might be in town already and I'm not too sure how that would go over.

I've been keeping up with all my blog reading.......ok...ok.....most of my blog reading.

Booked our Vegas trip for June......Can't Wait!!!!

Just a quick hit and run tonight.......

Til next time.
Baz Out

Sick....Sick....Sick.....

2006-02-22T20:09:00.000-06:00

It's been crazy at casa de Baz the last month.........

The whole family got sick one after the other........and I haven't been as sick as I was in as long as I can remember.

Aside>>>First hand dealt in the $6.60 SNG on Full Tilt and the UTG player pushes all in.....it folds around.....way to pick up T45!

Anyway.....as I was saying.....I was out of it for several weeks. Part of it was my stubbornness as I delayed going to the doctor after my initial stage lasted longer than normal. The doctor actually sent me to the emergency room two days later based on my symptoms and all he actually thought I could have meningitis and wanted me to get a CT Scan and Spinal Tap. Have you ever had a Spinal Tap???? Let me tell you.....don't rush to get one......not the most pleasant experience.

Needless to say I didn't play much poker. I actually played the live WSOP RCG tourney in Rockford on Friday night February 10th and was not feeling the best when I got there.....and feeling much worse by the end. I still played well making the top 40 before being bounced. My Dad made the money finishing 12th......Good job Dad! The next morning is when I finally went to the doctor and I ended up out of it for awhile.

I was finally feeling better and since I was off work Monday I went during the day to Empress with my brother to play some 5/10 hold em. It was great to play live again and my brother was not joking about the softness and passiveness of these games. He's been going several days per week as he works 3rd shift and has been making a killing. Any of you Chicago bloggers that have a weekday off might want to check it out. They'll run you down once in awhile but they'll also call you down when they pair their King with a 3 kicker and say, "you got me outkicked" when you flip over KQ.....NO SHIT SHERLOCK!!!

Anyway....check it out. Call in before 9am and tell them you'll be there at 9:50am. You don't want to get there at 9am because you'll be sitting with "the breakfast club" which is a table full of old timers there to socialize. You want to be first up on the second table which opens when the next dealer comes on at 10am. They open a 10/20 game at 11am as well if you're so inclined. I hear it's not much different from the 5/10 but I didn't witness it first hand.

I did play in the 16K on Full Tilt Saturday or Sunday night (can't remember) as well and was top 50 in chips most of the way. Paid like 93 and when we were down to 120 I got AKs and made a standard 4X the big blind raise. I was third in chips at the table but only by a couple thousand. It folded around to one of the guys with a bigger stack than mine and he re-raised. I figured two things: 1) The chances of him having Aces or Kings when I have AK is slim. and 2) If he had Aces or Kings he would have flat called to try and get the most out of me heads up. I figured him for a smaller pair....maybe 10's or Jacks or even AK as well. I came over the top all-in and he insta-called with pocket Aces. I got two of my suit on but no flush would come and I was out. I was looking to win this thing and that pot would have put me a great spot. I didn't want to simply make the money as the lower money spots are small....the real money is at the final table and I was willing to risk it at that point to have a great shot. Of course if I knew he had Aces I would have folded but I just couldn't put him on them.

Any advice....thoughts......suggestions are appreciated.

Well that's where I've been.

Hope you all have been good and hope to be back at Trump errr Majestic 2 before long.

Baz Out

It's been too long........

2006-02-10T07:44:00.000-06:00

It's been too long since I last posted.......but not much to post about on the poker front. My family has been battling the flu for the last week and a half. My 4 year old son brought it into the house and it's spread like wild fire since it's introduction. I was in bed last Wednesday through Saturday and still don't feel like myself a week later. The worst is my 10 month old boy as at that age they just don't get it......they know they feel like crap but just don't understand.....breaks your heart.

On the poker front.......not much to report. Haven't been to Trump in awhile.......between being ill and the live bankroll hurting right now just haven't had the chance. I'm playing in a live tourney tonight with my Dad and brother courtesy of RCG. We shall see how it goes. I've played in a couple of online Full Tilt MTT's this week as I am still wanting to improve my MTT skills. Played the 16K a couple of times and the new 8pm $10 + $1 double stack tourney a couple times as well. I know my game is improving because I go deep most times but I just can't seem to get over that hump into bigger money. In the double stack Wednesday night I was 2nd in chips at the 2nd break really rolling. I proceeded to go card dead but used my stack to pick off orphan pots from time to time and steal as well. Top 45 were ITM and we were down to 60. I had around T13000 at that point with the blinds 300/600 with a 125 ante. I got pocket jacks and it was raised to T1200 by the big stack at our table (T35000) and there was one MP caller. I pushed and the big stack went into the tank finally calling. The other limper folded and he turned over A 10 offsuit. I was thrilled until an Ace and a 10 flopped and I got no help. If I double up there I think I give myself a good chance to make a run at winning the tourney in a spot where a lot of people were starting to focus on getting into the money. I don't know.........I need to keep working on my MTT game as I want to improve there this year. The only problem is it takes time and money which takes away from my ring game efforts.

I might take the next couple of weeks and dedicate solely to online ring games again to build back up my roll a bit before putting another couple hundred out there for MTT.

We shall see.

On the home front.......taking the family to an indoor water park for a long weekend next month.......they deserve it.....they're the best! Also starting to look at a Vegas trip with my wife, sister and brother-in-law for the second weekend in June. Hope it works out.......

Anyway....wanted to check in.....will let you know how the live tourney goes tonight.

Til next time.

Baz Out

NOT HAPPY.......

2006-01-28T12:21:00.000-06:00

I played in some MTT's last night.......the 16K and 8K on Full Tilt. I had a just above average stack in the 16K when I got my pocket Aces all in pre-flop against a guy who had me covered by alot with pocket 7's..........he ended up with a straight and sent me packing.......I'm happy with the way I played that one as most times I double up there and am in great shape to make a run deep into the tourney.

In the 8K I built a nice stack and was mostly top 30 or so in chips from the second hour or so on.......I was playing well when I again made an idiotic play that cost me! When will I learn? We were in the money and I was sitting with around T10,500 with the blinds at 250/500 with a 75 ante. I was dealt pocket dueces in EP and I raise it up to T2500.....it folds to the button who barely had me covered and he re-raises to T8500 pot committing himself. Should be an easy fold here as it was a questionable raise in the first place! But what do I do??? I push all-in without much thought.....I busted my butt and played my A game until there were 44 players left and I was still sitting with a decent stack and I push with pocket dueces knowing that AT BEST it was a race and at worst I was DOMINATED!!!! There was no way he was folding to the less than T2000 re-raise. He turned over AK and flopped an Ace sending me out in 44th.

STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!!!!!

All that hard work down the drain for roughly an $8 profit.....I put myself in a position yet again to make a run for it and shot myself in the foot again.

Maybe I'll learn one of these times.........

On a side note......factgirl was in the tourney as well and when my first table broke I was seated to her left which is exactly where I wanted to be.....I ended up knocking her out awhile later....sorry I didn't utilize the chips better.

Til Next Time.

Baz Out

Online MTT Results and Live Tourney This Weekend

2006-01-27T15:34:00.000-06:00

I played a couple of MTT's online this week........both Tuesday to be exact. I played the 16K on Full Tilt and the 10K on Pacific which both started at 9pm. The Full Tilt 16K had over 700 people and I played very very well......for a long while. I ended up going out short of the money 111th. I was in the top 40-50 in chips for most of the tourney until I went out where I made a crucial blunder against the only person at my table that had me outchipped........I don't know how many times I'm going to make that mistake before I learn. I got pocket Kings and raised 4X BB and was called by only the bigger stack. The flop came J 8 4 rainbow and I was first to act. I bet 1/2 the pot and he raised me about the size of the pot. This is where alarms should have been going off in my head....but they weren't.....now he was newly moved to my table so I had no prior info on him.....so what did I do......I come over the top of him push all-in which he insta-called with........wait for it.......wait for it..................you got it.....pocket Jacks for top set. I had built my stack with people overplaying top pair and without thinking about assumed he was doing the same........I think I could have survived this hand.....I would have lost some money but played differently I think I would have saved a portion of my stack.....I don't know.

The Pacific tourney went well. There were roughly 640 players and I finished ITM going out 49th. I built a big stack early and then the deck went cold. I picked spots to take pots to stay afloat but eventually the blinds caught up with me and I had to push. I started pushing with about 10-12 times the big blind with hands of medium strength or above when I was first in the pot. My stack was still big enough to damage most stacks at the table if they called and I liked this better than letting it dwindle too low where I'd get called by a wider variety of hands. My K Q offsuit lost to A 10 offsuit and I went out. I was happy with the way I played and hopefully I'll keep fighting for those top money spots more often as time goes on.

I'm playing in a live WSOP satellite Sunday. If I can keep playing like I have been I like my chances. I will post results after the fact.

Hopefully I'll get online to play tonight. No Trump for me this weekend....taking a short break from live poker for the next week or two. Went to Trump last Saturday night and played 6/12 instead of the 200 max NL game.....just wasn't in the mood for the NL game and the live bankroll is a little light at the moment. I cashed out up $100 so it was a good night and it actually felt good to be playing live limit again. I look forward to getting back to the 200 max NL game but might stick with 6/12 for the next trip or two.....we shall see.

Til next time.

Baz Out

RCG Tourney 1-13-06

2006-01-17T15:33:00.000-06:00

Me, my brother, my Dad, and my future brother-in-law played in a live WSOP satellite tourney put on by RCG Friday night…….Friday the 13th. We all played in the 7pm session. They run two sessions of 250 people (2pm and 7pm) each with the final table of 10 from each session meeting after the 7pm session to play down to a winner. They pay top 20, which is a tiny percentage of the overall entrants. It’s a FAST structure but they improved it this tourney in my opinion.

You used to get T1500 for your $60 buy-in and had a re-buy you could use in the first hour if you got below T500. The $30 re-buy bought you another T1000. If you didn’t drop below the T500 then you could use it at the end of the first hour as an add-on. It was a one time use re-buy or add-on. This tourney we got T1500 for our $60 buy-in, had a $10 dealer add-on that had to be taken prior to the cards being dealt for an additional T500, and also had the option of a $30 re-buy/add-on for T2000 or $50 re-buy/add-on for T4000 more. You had to be at or below T2000 in order to take it, which meant you could take it right at the start and start the tourney with T6000.

That’s what I did………..I took the full amount right from the start and there was only one other person at my starting table that did the same. Only two of us out of twelve……that’s right……12. Actually it was 11 because our twelfth never showed up so he/she was just blinded away. The 12 people per table is another thing I hate but it is how it is and I just keep giving them my comments and input and hopefully they continue to make changes and improve it.

I played well from the start. The play was erratic as expected with three solid players at my table and plenty of any Ace or face players. I lost around T1200 early but with T6000 to start had time to chip up even with the fast structure. By the first break (first hour) I had T11000 and hadn’t put my whole stack at risk. By the second hour I had T19000 although the blinds were starting to escalate quickly. A young lady was moved to my table and she was very predictable. She played any face cards and if she caught any pair she bet it. If it wasn’t top pair she check called. She was almost out several times but made a big comeback and had me out-chipped when we moved tables. She had been seated immediately to my left and when I got to the new table she happened to get moved to the same table and sat two to my right. A short time later I was dealt A Q o UTG +1 when the blinds were 1000/2000. I had approximately T18000 and raised it up to T6000. It folded to the young lady in the small blind who flat called my raise. The big blind folded so we were heads up. The flop came J 7 2 rainbow. She bet into me T8000 which told me she paired her Jack. I thought for a few moments about pushing all-in but ended up folding thinking she would call without a doubt and I’d be behind needing an Ace or a Queen on the turn or river IF neither of those gave her two pair which was highly possible given what I’d seen of her play. I also thought I had enough chips to work a little before the blinds got me into push or fold mode.

When we got down to six tables of 10 my brother went out. He had been card dead all night and hadn’t played a hand outside the blinds until he pushed with A 9o and went out. He went out around 55th which told me that if you took the full re-buy and were patient you had plenty of time to work up some chips when you got a hand or a person to pick on. When we got down to 5 tables of 10 I was down to just 1 ½ times the big blind and found 5 6s UTG. I decided to push it in here rather than get a random big blind hand but got three callers and knew I was done when none of my suit hit the board. I went out around 46th. My Dad and soon to be brother-in-law were still battling with future brother-in-law going out 34th and my old man going out 28th to round out a nice showing by our group.

All in all it was a good time and I’ll go back…..especially if they keep the new structure. RCG is an organization that hosts these things for various charities so the structure can change based on the charity that’s hosting it. I might go back to this location on Friday February 10th for another chance. Between now and then I’m playing in another run by them in a different location. It’s Sunday January 29th in Rockford as well but a different spot. It’s limited to 120 entries but the buy-in is $150 with unlimited $75 re-buys the first hour and a $75 double bubble add-on at the end of the first hour. It’s a little steeper price but with the quality of play I think I’ve got a good shot at the money. We shall see.

Til next time….Thanks for stopping by…..

Baz Out

Various Ramblings......

2006-01-12T14:26:00.000-06:00

I’ve got several thoughts swirling around in my head and I want to get them down now so I apologize ahead of time for what will probably be a post that jumps all over the place………bear with me.

First off I want to state that I am proud of my brother……..he does not read this but he took up poker at roughly the same time as I did……poker of a more serious nature. His one problem is he doesn’t play online as he does not own a computer…..something he is working on remedying. We play a regular monthly home game together, which has shifted to mostly two sit and go tournaments. We also go almost weekly to Trump for live play. The fact that I put a lot of time on the virtual felt along with studying and working on my game put me a lot further along on the spectrum in terms of my development. He wouldn’t admit this fact in the beginning after several losing sessions at Trump. He admits it now and regular makes statements about me being better than him……not in a gushing sort of way but in a way that tells me he’s striving to improve and looks forward to the day when he can improve to a comparable level.

It all started when in mid-November we were talking on a drive home from Trump. My brother was a loser yet again and was frustrated with the amount he had lost over several months. I was shocked at the number and apologized for dragging him weekly as he kept losing. He made the statement that he wasn’t going to play again until the New Year and I asked what he was going to do to improve his game between now and then? We then started talking about starting hand requirements, flop texture, etc. He questioned me and specifically asked about a hand that night where I put a regular 6/12 player on tilt raising pre-flop with The Hammer. I ended up flopping two pair and turning a full house taking down a monster pot cracking his aces. (Behold the power of The Hammer) When I flipped up my cards he got loud and said, “You raised with that garbage!” I said, “I learned that from you…..any two cards can win, right?” Now he wasn’t an “any two can win player” but mixed up his game well and plays well after the flop. He had me pegged as a tight aggressive player and I threw him off with that one. I asked my brother how much action my raises had been getting prior to that after I had only shown down big hands and he recalled that people were giving me respect prior to the Hammer and after that I got paid off a lot more than I had been previously. I explained to him that I simply wanted to establish a new image at the table and it simply worked out better than planned. I then went right back to my normal tight aggressive game and got paid off more than I had been.

He seemed to be listening and eager to learn. My brother and I have the typical (I think it’s typical anyway) brother relationship where we are competitive with each other and don’t admit the other is better at things very often. Here my brother was admitting I was better and in addition to that looking to learn from me. I then offered to have him come to the house sometime and sweat me while I play online. He eagerly accepted and we continued talking the rest of the way home.

The next time I saw him I gave him my copy of Lee Jones’ “Winning Low Limit Hold ‘Em” and told him to read it and that when he was done with that one I had another one for him to digest. (I had already bought him “Small Stakes Hold ‘Em” by Sklansky for Christmas so it was perfect) He worked on his game using his only outlet which is a crappy PS2 game but began implementing and learning how to play tight and aggressive. He came over twice for a couple hours each and sweated me online as I played. We talked about the hands, why I was doing what I was doing, and it was even a great tool for me to re-learn some things about my own game.

Since the New Year is here we have gone a couple of times and he has been winning at 3/6 consistently playing tight and aggressive. He’s come a long way and I know he’ll be a solid player for people to look out for as time goes on. He says he’s going to stick with 3/6 until he builds his roll and feels confident in his game.

Even though you don’t read this……..I’m proud of you bro! Keep it up!

As a tangent to that it got me thinking. I never thought about it before really but playing online really speeds up the learning curve. I’ve heard it said before by older pros like Brunson that the kids nowadays play so many more hands online that it took them years to play live and learn the lessons we’re learning in weeks or months. I’m seeing it with my brother, as he only plays live right now, (minus PS2) so it takes him longer to see the same number of situations.

My dad hosted a poker night last weekend and we got nine guys to show up for two sit and go style tournaments. I won the first one and took second in the second one. My Dad stated, “You always get so lucky and catch the cards you need.” My reply was that I push edges and while it seems that I get lucky sometimes it’s just bad play by them. The specific hand he referred to was when he held Kd Jd with a board of As Js 4h. I held the Ks Qs and was the big stack at the table. My Dad was middle stacked and we were heads up and he bet a pot-sized bet with his middle pair. Pre-flop he had called the blind and then was the only caller with my raise of 4X the BB. I pushed all-in and he thought for a few moments before calling. I hit my flush on the river and that was it for him. He wasn’t happy but had way too many chips to make that call. I’d have to get the odds calculator and see what the odds on the hand are at that point but I’m guessing I’m the favorite with two to come. Can’t access the odds calculator here at work to see for sure. I also can’t remember the exact stack sizes here, which would help. The way I look at the hand is I had two ways to win…….he folds or I hit my hand because if he calls I know I’m behind and I have to get there to win. I was also not risking my tournament as I had plenty more chips than him still and would still be in great shape even if I lost the hand.

Thoughts…..comments?

I pulled a play on my brother that I have been looking for the right spot to utilize. Call on the flop to set up taking the hand down on a bluff on 4th or 5th street. I had a good size stack and was one of the top three stacks at the table. My brother raised in early position 3X the BB and I was the only caller with 86s. The flop came J 7 5 rainbow. My brother led out with a pot-sized bet and I thought for a few moments before calling. I thought he had a top hand and with his bet knew the Jack hit him so I put him on a hand like A J and figured I could hit my hand or take it from him on 4th street depending on what fell and how he acted. When I flat called bells must have went off in his head because he knows when I’m in a pot I’m raising 90% of the time. I know bells went off because he actually said, “I can’t believe you called that bet.” The turn was a King and he checked to me. This made me sure he had a Jack and he looked uncomfortable so I got rid of K J as a possibility. He only had about 2X the pot size left so instead of a pot sized bet I pushed all-in and he went into the tank stating several times, “I can’t believe you just called the flop bet.” He folded finally and I showed my semi-bluff with my open ended straight draw. He tilted and made the comment later that he can never tell what I have because I am always aggressive and am not afraid to put my chips in if I think I have a good read on someone else.

I’m playing in two live tournaments coming up. One is tomorrow night and the other is the last Sunday in January. I will decide how many more live tournaments to play based on my play in these two. My plan is to play aggressive and look to accumulate chips as the structure is fairly fast.

I spent the last couple of days listening to a backlog of Lord Admiral radio pod-casts. I really enjoyed them and hopefully will get to listen every Monday or Tuesday here on out and stay on top of it. Wish I could link it up but again….limited here at work. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn’t heard them already. Very enjoyable listening.

I’m thinking of going back to 6/12 for a little while in my live play. My bankroll for live play has dwindled for a couple of reasons: 1) A couple straight losing sessions at 200 Max NL. 2) Took out some to do a couple of nice things for my family over the holidays. (If I can’t do things like that then what’s the point) I could cash out some from my online account but I’d rather keep that in tact for the time being as I’m enjoying playing a MTT here and there which tends to slowly eat at the bankroll with stretches of no cashes. Lately I’ve been playing ring games or a sit and go for an hour or so making enough to cover the MTT buy-in and then registering. That’s great but doesn’t do much for building the roll.

I received Michael Craig’s “The Professor, The Banker, and the Suicide Kings” for Christmas and just finished reading it. I enjoyed it very much. It’s an easy read and this is from someone who doesn’t read “Stories”. The next story I want to get and read is “One of a Kind” the Stu Unger story. I wasn’t sure about it before but after listening to the review on Lord Admiral radio this morning I think it’s one I’d like to check out.

I also purchased a book and DVD with some birthday money I had hanging around. I bought Russ Fox’s “Mastering No Limit Hold ‘Em” to see if I can help my no limit cash game where I think I have begun playing too soft which partly has to do with my more limited live bankroll. I’ll probably hold off playing the 200 max NL game at Trump again until I build a little more of a live bankroll and finish this book. I also got Annie Duke’s DVD “How to Beat the Big Boys”. I was planning on getting the Final Table DVD of Phil Gordon’s, which sounds very interesting. It was too expensive, however so I started reading reviews of various others and this one seemed to have a lot of great things said about it. I have only watched a little of it but so far I am impressed and will try and give a full review when I finish it.

Well I think I’ve rambled long enough.

Til Next Time.

Baz Out

Multi-Table Tourneys

2006-01-11T06:51:00.000-06:00

I played in Full Tilt's 16K gauranteed last night.............

Not much to note..........played one hand 10 minutes into the tourney. Pocket Kings and the flop came K Q 10 with two clubs. I made a pot sized bet thinking to myself "push out the flush draws". It folds to a guy in MP who raises me all but T400 of his stack. I think to myself, "he's willing to committ his stack on top pair, top two pair, or a flush draw?" I push and he insta-calls flipping over A J for the flopped straight..........I think...."Oooops." Damn.....the board didn't pair and I was gone. No idea how I didn't see that as a possibility......wasn't happy with myself.

So I joined a $10 + $1 tourney that was starting in a little while. 315 entrants and I finished 10th. I got short stacked as we approached the bubble and used the table tightening up to my advantage by stealing the antes and blinds with greater frequency.......I got lucky a couple of times and doubled up. The blinds were 1,000/2,000 with a 225 ante and I had T20,000 when we were down to 10. There was a significant jump in the money from 10th to 9th ($30 - $60) and play was tightening due to this fact. I raised in MP with 8 8 and got one caller on the button. The flop came Q 7 4 and I led out with a 5,000 bet. He min raised me and I pushed.....he thought for awhile as he only had me outchipped by a couple hundred (we were the two shortest stacks) and finally called with Q 10 and I went out 10th sending them to the final table.

Overall I was happy with my game. I played with calculated aggression. I am playing in a live WSOP satellite Friday night and am signed up for another the end of January. I'll see how they go and go from there.

I'd like to play at least one MTT per week and continue working on improving my MTT skills.

Probably won't be able to make it out to Trump this weekend but hope to the following week.

Til next time.

Baz Out

Trumped at Trump

2006-01-03T09:49:00.000-06:00

My brother pulled me aside at my family's Christmas celebration on New Year's Day (Sunday) and said, "Let's go to Trump tonight and play cards." My brother hadn't gone in several months and had stated he was waiting until the new year to go back......He wasn't wasting much time.

I told him it was on and I picked him up at 10:30pm. We rolled into Trump by 11:30pm and I hadn't been there in several weeks. We had called ahead and were near the top of our respective lists.....my brother for 3/6 and me for the $200 Max No limit. We both got seated rather quickly and it was on.....the room was jumping as we didn't know what to expect on a Sunday night.....New Year's Day.....with most people being off on Monday.

The feeder NL table was a frenzy of people trying to double up with less than stellar holdings before heading off to the land of potentially bigger stacks......I just hoped I could get a solid hand to break someone off.......I limped with A 7 suited and called the $5 raise along with 4 others. The flop came two clubs and I called the $20 bet into the $50 pot......3 of us left. The turn brought my club and I bet $50 when it was checked to me.....there were two Queens now on the board and I hoped someone had one......that is until the river brought a 3 double pairing the board. We had lost the third guy and it was checked to me. I checked it through as I figured I was only getting called by a full house and took down the $190 pot with my flush....him showing pocket Jacks.

I was moved not long after and sat at a table with three MONSTER stacks. I was in seat 6 and two of the Monster stacks were in seats 9 and 10. The third was in seat 3. Seats 9 and 10 each had around $1400 and seat 3 had around $1000. I proceeded to go card dead…….totally. About 10 minutes after I sat down the guy on my right raised to $20…..I folded…..and both of the big stacks in seats 9 and 10 called. The flop came three diamonds. The guy to my right bet $40, seat 9 called and seat 10 raised to $100. The guy to my right pushed all-in for around $140 total and both big stacks called. The turn was a blank and seat 9 checked. Seat 10 went all-in and seat 9 insta-called. The river was a blank and the guy on my right turned over pocket fives for a set of fives…..the board didn’t pair for him. Seat 9 immediately turned over the nut flush with A 7 of diamonds and seat 10 mucked in disgust………Seat 9 had him covered and won a $3200 pot at the $200 max NL table. Seat 10 stormed out of the room and I immediately asked for a seat change button and locked up his seat if he didn’t return in the 10 minutes he was allowed so I could be to the left of the now MEGA MONSTER stack at our table.

The guy on my left stated he had folded the King of diamonds so I can only assume the guy in seat 10 had a Queen high flush. Regardless……it was a HORRIBLE play on his part. There are only two stacks at the table he shouldn’t have tangled with without the nuts…….why go all-in there with the non-nut flush against another monster stack…..you’re only getting called if you’re beat. If he was up against one or more smaller stacks of $200 or $300…….fine…..nice play….but against the big stack on your right…….your only getting called if you’re beat…….He learned that lesson the HARD WAY.

I proceeded to be card dead once I moved to seat 10 and the MEGA MONSTER stack left around ½ hour later so I didn’t get a chance at any of it. I had pocket 7’s once and no set on an A K Q board….folded to a bet. I had A Q once and hit nothing on the flop….folded to a bet and a raise before action got to me. I had dropped below $100 a by a couple hours later and re-bought up to $200. Several orbits later with my stack sitting around $180 I looked down to find two red Kowboys! Finally! I raised to $20 in EP and was called by seat 1 and the last big stack at the table in seat 3. The flop came 8 9 2 rainbow…..a beautiful flop for my boys….minus the potential straight draw for a J 10 holding. I led out $40….was called in seat 1 and seat 3 made it $100 to go. I pushed all-in and was called in both spots. I figured one for a straight draw but had no idea what the other one held……an over-pair to the board? The turn and river were blanks and they checked it down. I turned over my boys and seat 1 turned over pocket rockets……Seat 3 mucked and I was felted. “Nice Hand,” I stated as I stood up and walked away……sucked but it happens.

My brother racked up his chips as well for a nice double up at the 3/6 tables. He has really worked on his game while staying away these past two months….tighter and more aggressive and he saw the benefit of it that night.

It was great to get back out to play live at Trump and I look forward to my next visit…..which will probably be Friday night…….we’ll see how it goes.

Meanwhile…..online is going well. Playing a few MTT’s lately and playing solid…..can feel a big cash coming soon.

Til next time…..

Baz Out.

A Little Razz........

2005-12-30T12:08:00.000-06:00

After getting called all-in by a player who put too much stock in his top pairs and held KQ with my pocket Kings with a rainbow flop of 7 Q 4........and he caught a Queen on the river to send me packing in the Full Tilt 16K gauranteed I saw a Razz Tourney was starting at 10:30pm........

I decided to change it up and get away from Hold Em for a little while..........

I was a HUGE chip leader at the final table and coasted to heads up where I was ultimately even with my opponent and ended up taking second. I'm thrilled with the second place finish but am a little disappointed I couldn't close the deal being a huge chip leader.......I didn't know how to alter my hand selection when it got short handed and ultimately either gave away too many chips or just started getting crappy combo's.........or a combo of both.

Special thanks goes out to the one.....the only.....Princess Maigrey for taking a few moments out to learn me how to take screen shots......THANKS! I just wish I would have asked her for some tips on playing Razz Shorthanded!!!!

I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays and that every has a safe and enjoyable New Year. I thought I'd make it out to Trump for some live poker this weekend but that's not going to happen......family is requiring additional time which is never a bad thing. Hopefully I'll make it out there next Friday night as the following Friday night (January 13th) I'm heading to a WSOP satellite with my Dad, brother, and soon to be brother-in-law.

Til next time.

Baz Out

Full Tilt Tourney

2005-12-19T07:24:00.000-06:00

I have been feeling like a playing some tournaments lately so I moved a little of the bankroll over to Full Tilt to play a few along with some ring games to continue chipping away at the bonus I still have sitting there.

I played in the Sunday night guaranteed tourney at 9pm my time (it was either the $16,000 or $10,500....I can't remember which one because one started at 7pm which I planned on playing as well but we got home from my parents later than I thought we would).

When I was sat at my first table who should I see but Joe Speaker (sorry for no link but unable to from work) seated 3 to my right. I went back and forth on whether to say Hello and on what to say so as to not out him as a blogger as well as if he even knew who the hell I am anyway and before I knew it I was moved to a new table so it didn't matter at that point.

I was playing a patient solid game. Normally I have my browser up surfing the web and maybe a couple ring games going as well but I had decided I was going to focus on the tourney........I did have my First Place Chicago Bears game on as I watch them every week but since they are a defensive team their's usually a good amount of time between any serious action so it was all good.

I had built my stack up to around T3000 a little after the first break and got pocket aces. I raised it up 3X the BB and got one caller. The flop came 2 7 8 all clubs and I had the Ace of clubs. I pushed all in and he called with pocket Kings and the King of clubs. The turn was a blank and the river was a King giving him the pot. He had me slightly covered and I was out. I was pissed for a minute but thought about it and was a HUGE favorite when I got my money in so realized I was playing well and just got sucked out on. I'm trying to look at my play and not the results.

I sweated Joe Speaker as I registered for the post-game tourney they have on Full Tilt where they add $1 to the winner for every NFL point scored that day. (Is it considered stalking if you sweat a fellow blogger without ever saying anything so they never know it......if he made it far I would have voiced support.......at least I think I would have.....sorry Joe) I was playing solid and thought I'd give another tourney a shot.

I again was playing solid and had built my stack slowly the first hour never putting it all at risk without the best of it. I was at around T2500 nearing the end of the first hour when I got pocket Kings in MP. There was one limper and I raised it up 3X the BB. The guy on my left pushed all in and had me covered by a couple hundred. It folded around to me and I thought for a moment about his play and if he was the type to push pre-flop with Aces.......I didn't think he'd make that play and put him on 10-10 through Q-Q type of hand. Based on his play I didn't think he would push with A K so I figured I had him dominated. I called and sure enough he had pocket Jacks. The flop was blanks.....the turn a blank......and the river.....you guessed it......a Jack sending me out of the tourney again.

I'm happy with my play and plan to play several more of these tourney's over the next couple of weeks. I think it all comes down to not interacting with the Luckbox in Vegas or having him sweat me or offer me a save........Another bit of info for my wife to try and get to the next bloggerati gathering in Vegas.......maybe she'll go for it.

Hope you all have a Great Holiday as this will probably be my last post until after Christmas. Take the time to enjoy it and relax from all the holiday rush.......Enjoy time with your family whether that's 100 people or just you and your significant other or cat.

Take Care and Happy Holiday's from the Baz Clan.

Baz Out.

No Trip Report Here......just envy....

2005-12-17T23:48:00.000-06:00

I've been enjoying the trip reports......sounds like it was even better than anticipated......how could it not be......one of these times I'll make it out there for a gathering....I just hafta......

I know all of you are just dying to know what's been going on with me so let me ramble for a minute or two.........

On the poker front......back to playing a decent amount online.....mostly at Party for the moment but I do want to get some dinero back over to Full Tilt to finish working off my bonus and play few of the tourney's I hear are so soft. My online bankroll has taken a hit for two reasons....1) I had to cash out a chunk of it for the good of my family which is now and forever will be number one. 2) I hit a bad run on Full Tilt which was a combination of bad play....RAZZ....and heads up sit and go's. I am in the process of building it back up to where it was.....I did it once.....let's see if I can do it again. What an awesome feeling it is to be able to use poker winnings for my family's needs......instead of us struggling to make this or that work I simply made the decision to pull a chunk out of the roll and take care of it. I have used poker winnings to take my family on a kick ass weekend trip to an indoor water park, get my 4 year old boy a kick ass Spiderman jumper for his birthday, and pay the escrow overage on the house......awesome.

I made it out to Trump last night after a couple week layoff......played the 2/5 $200Max NL game and fared decently. My NL cash game still needs some work but I'm heading in the right direction. Here's a question........in Vegas the $200 max NL cash game has blinds of 1/2...right? That's the one thing that drives me crazy about the 200max game at Trump......the blinds are 2/5 so there's not any room to wiggle and you committ your stack early.....I've started buying initially for $400 at the cage ($200 in green) so if and when I drop below $100 early on due to being aggressive I can easily and quickly reload back up to $200. Thoughts?

We'll be in Iowa for the holidays this year......Will be making a trip to Prarie Meadows in Des Moines to see what kind of poker and -EV games they got......could be interesting.

Other than that just enjoying time with the kids and looking forward to the holidays. I'm a classic procrastinator when it comes to shopping for my wife.....I usually come up with at least one or two great ideas that go over huge......this year I got nothing. I hope something hits me between now and then....it's coming up fast.

Won't be back to Trump for awhile with the holidays and all......maybe not even until 2006.....we'll see.....

I hope you all have a Great Holiday!

Take Care!
Baz Out

Jealousy......

2005-12-10T23:01:00.000-06:00

I'm still around........just been swamped with work and family obligations........haven't been to Trump in a couple weeks now.....hope to remedy that this coming Friday.

Both my online and live games are not going so hot at the moment.......working on that.

I'm jealous of all the bloggers in Vegas this weekend! Jealous! Jealous! Jealous! One of these times......one of these times.....I hope you're all having a grand old time and I can't wait to read all the trip reports.....bloglines is sure to be blowing up and I'm way behind as it is right now.

Back to my online game and catching up on some blog reading.

Hope everyone is safe and having a blast......dreaming of Vegas.....

Baz

Soft Play?.....No Heart?

2005-11-25T22:59:00.000-06:00

Those of you that read Hella Hold 'Em know that I played at Trump Wednesday night. I varied from my Friday night routine thinking that the night before Thanksgiving would be a busy evening in the poker room. It wasn't as busy as I had anticipated but was busy enough to get some solid poker in. I arrived not long after maigrey and was followed shortly by Shelly.

I was seated at the feeder 200 maxNL table and got busy. I was in the 10 seat and Shelly was quickly seated in the 1 seat. Not 10 minutes later the Princess herself was seated in the 9 seat as she moved from the big game. The only hand of real note at the feeder table was when I raised pre-flop with AKs and the board came 10 high rainbow. I bet $15 and was raised by a guy on the end (I think he was in the 4 seat). I mucked and he stated "10 high is good" while showing and something about my Ace King being no good. There were a few comments over on Hella about AK and how they are played in NL cash games. I personally sometimes raise and sometimes limp and I don't always continue betting the flop if missing after I raised pre-flop. It depends on the table.....my stack......the number of players still in....who they are and how they play...my position.....etc. It threw me off for a few minutes but I got over it quickly....I don't think I gave away any info here just think I played it in a standard way.........I would have played it exactly the same if I held JJ - AA except for the mucking part which would have been replaced with a re-raise.

I was moved to a main game rather quickly and there were several big stacks at the table. I was in the 1 seat this time and Shelly followed behind me to the same main game and was in the 5 seat. I had to re-buy before too long after my two pair AQ ran into a straight which I knew was out there if he held J 10 and I called anyway.......I should have recognized that right there as a sign I wasn't playing my "A" game. After I re-bought I played a much more soft passive game than I usually do.......I played without heart. Almost like I was playing not to lose my second buy-in and that's a recipe for disaster.

I limped in with AKs and the flop came Ace high with a two flush (not mine). I check called the flop and turn to any two card johnny with the big stack and the river went check check. I took down the pot but was not AT ALL happy with the way I played it. As I'm talking to myself in my head about how soft and scared I played that one I hear any two card johnny whisper to his buddy in the 10 seat about how softly I play hands. Now I was just telling myself in my own head practically the same damn thing........but hearing him say it set me off......I'm not a player prone to tilt.......but I tilted.....and I'm not happy about it.

I had built my stack back up to close to even kick started by the set of 4's against Shelly which you can read about over on Hella. I limped with K 10 suited. The flop came K high rainbow and I bet the pot. Any two cards Johnny doubled my bet and I called. The turn put a goofy straight possible out there and I check raised him.......he re-raised me all in and I had about $140 left. I kept hearing him saying how I play soft......I knew I didn't play this one soft and realized too late I played it WAY TOO hard........I called off the rest of my chips and he had the goofy straight. Truth is he could have EASILY simply had me outkicked. Horrible playing on my part.......I stood up......said good bye to maigrey.......and stopped at the deli to try the maigrey recommended Polish before heading home earlier than I ever have previously.

I learned from the evening.......just wish the lessons weren't so damn expensive.

On a positive note.......ordered a new video card for my computer yesterday......the fan on my current one is going out and I could use the upgrade anyway.

Taking my wife to Empress Saturday night for some -EV Blackjack......should be a good time. Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving.

Til next time.

Baz Out.

First meeting with a Hella Lady.......

2005-11-20T20:55:00.000-06:00

Headed to my Friday night live poker stomping grounds Friday night......solo this time out.
Got into the room around 9:30pm and got immediately sat in the 200NL game.....feeder table. (I had called ahead to get my name on the list as usual which is awesome to do so your name moves up the list as you're still driving to the casino.)

By the time a couple of people had been pulled from our table it became a "regular" table as they had started another feeder table. This first table was fairly tight with solid players. I built my stack up to just over $300 from my initial $200 buy-in. I had seen a player I thought to be Shelly playing 3/6 and told myself I would introduce myself when I got the chance. Princess Maigrey walked by and I said "Hello".....she told me Shelly was there and I said I would say hi......I was glad she confirmed that it was in fact Shelly I had seen.

I swung by Shelly's 3/6 table a couple of times and each time she had cards in front of her...........Maigrey had stopped by and told me she was on table 18 and I should put in for a table change over there.....for a minute I thought 18 was the big game but she informed me that she was playing the 200NL game.....she had been playing a feeder for the big game and it broke up. I put in for my table change when a seat opened and couldn't wait......my current table wasn't great anyway and I looked forward to being able to play with the Princess. It took a little while as the room was slowing down somewhat and they were keeping tables even since the 200NL feeder had broken up. In the meantime I had tapped Shelly on the shoulder and introduced myself. I told her I was waiting for a seat at Maigrey's 200NL table 18 and she said she'd look into it.

I was moved to table 18 shortly thereafter and took the 10 seat two to the left of Maigrey. I was glad to be on her left and got busy observing the players at the table. One guy had a monster stack but no one else had a ton of chips in front of them. I was dealt KK in MP and there was a raise to $30 or $35 in front of me.........I re-raised to $75 and was called in one spot. The flop came x-A-x and I thought shit. I bet out and he folded. Around 15 minutes later the guy in the 2 seat asked me what I had when I re-raised to $75 before.....I told him AK.

Shelly made it over before long and got the 9 seat between me and maigrey. I was again glad to have her on my right as well. It wasn't long and I was dealt KK again. (my memory is sketchy so I hope I have the whole thing right) I was in late position and made a standard raise to somewhere between $20 and $30. I was called in two spots and the flop came J-10-6 with two hearts. I can't remember if he bet and I raised or if he checked and I bet but we lost one and it was down to me and the big stack at the table. The turn was a blank and as he checked to me he exposed a Jack. It was not the Jack of hearts as that was on the board so I knew then he wasn't on the flush draw. I bet out a good amount and he called. The river was a blank heart and he checked to me again. I bet out a good amount (can't remember specific amounts) and he check raised me all in. (he may have check raised me all in on the turn...my memory is lacking here....I apologize) I had around $130 left and thought for a few moments. He exposed the Jack to make me question whether or not he had the set and probably to get my reaction to it being exposed. I don't know if I reacted (hope not) My thought was if he actually had the set he would never had exposed one. I pushed my remaining chips in and stated "call". He flipped his other card which was a King and I doubled up with a monster pot.

A little while later I got dealt the Hammer and raised it up to $35 and it folded all the way back around to me while I proudly flipped it onto the felt and smiled. There was some grumbling....it was beautiful. A little while previous a guy on the other end of the table stated after a raise that he couldn't call with 7-2 and maigrey hollered down, "No. But you could re-raise with them...play them like aces." Beautiful.

Anyway.....I logged a nice session and it was great playing with a fellow blogger and Trump regulars.

I will be heading back to Trump Wednesday night so holler if you're heading there. No Friday for me this week.

Take care all.

Baz Out.

Trump, A Princess, and a couple of questions......

2005-11-12T08:25:00.000-06:00

I made a run to Trump last night with my brother..........I was supposed to be out of town but plans had to be changed and instead of checking out the poker action at Prairie Meadows in Des Moines Iowa I was back in my familiar Trump surroundings.

I decided that I was going to give the baby NL game (200 max buy-in 2/5 blinds) a go again as the 6/12 grind had been wearing on me and I wanted a change. I've played it a couple of times with some success. My brother wanted to play NL as well so when I called ahead I got us both on the NL list. We got there around 9:30pm and they were getting ready to open a new NL table which would be the feeder table for the evening. Our names were around 10-12 on the list depending on who had checked in and would before they called names so we knew it wouldn't be long before we were sat. I wandered the room quickly and noticed The Princess seated playing NL in a game that uses those nice green chips.......larger than my bankroll can handle. I told myself that once I got settled I was GOING TO SAY HI AND INTRODUCE MYSELF. I bought chips and while in line my name was the 10th called to start the feeder table. I sat in seat 7 and knew we wouldn't be there long before we'd be pulled to a main table. You never know where you'll end up so it's always nice to have increased your stack somewhat before getting pulled.

I won a couple of pots and turned my $200 stack into just over $300 before being pulled to table 15. It was a good looking table at first.......only two LARGE stacks (over $1000) with one of them leaving shortly after I sat down. I told myself, "play solid poker....nothing fancy....trust my reads." The new dealer was waiting to tap in so I posted my time after mucking and headed to introdce myself to Princess Maigrey. I'm very glad I finally introduced myself. We chatted briefly and I returned to my table.............I owe the Princess an apology as well......sorry I didn't stop to say good-bye before bailing.....it was way earlier that I expected when I took off and I was steamed a bit......more on that in minute.........it was a pleasure to finally meet you and I look forward to chatting more in future visits.

Now I just need to hook up with One Hella Hold 'Em player and a DonkeyPuncher on other trips to the Trump. Another time Shelly and DP.

Back to the action.........

I was slowly building a nice stack........with my BB unraised and me holding 7 4o the flop came 4 4 6 rainbow. It checked around and the turn came a J. I checked and a short stacked player in MP Over bet the pot to $45 leaving him with less than fifty in his stack. It folded to me and I raised him all in and he called. He had J 9 suited with no flush draw and I caught a 7 on the river for the full house.

I had a tight image to the people that were paying attention and actually got a couple to fold after the flop with a continuation bet when I missed and they checked to me when I was in position. There was one guy that would call and/or raise with any part of the board or two overcards. I couldn't put him on a hand. When the seat immediately to my left opened he moved there and I wasn't thrilled with it. It wasn't long and we tangled in a hand.

I'd love to hear opinions from anyone and everyone on how I played the following two hands. I need help.

I had built my stack to around $550. I was in LP with Kc 10c. There were several limpers and I limped as well (should have raised here?) as did the gentleman immediately to my left. There was roughly $30 in the pot. The flop came Ac 5h 8c. It checked to me and I bet $20 with my nut flush draw. The guy to my left called and everyone else folded. I was concerned about the Ace but had seen this guy play and show down any piece of a board. The pot was $70. The turn was the 10h giving me second pair with the nut flush draw. I bet out $50 and he called. The pot was $170. The guy had around $80 left in his stack and the river brought the 6d. I thought my ten could be good and figured if he had an Ace with a weak kicker he would lay it down. I bet out $75 basically putting him all in......he pushed all in and it actually cost me another $20 as he had $95 total and he turned over Aces up.......Aces and 6's catching the second pair on the river and both were hearts giving him the heart flush draw on the turn.

This hand put a dent in my stack........thoughts on how I played this?

It was right after this hand that maigrey stopped by to say "Hi" and commented how I had a lot more chips a little while ago. Sorry if I was short with you.....I was trying not to be steamed from this hand but it bothered me......maybe I should have picked the good Princess's brain there but she was moving to the BIG Game and her thoughts seemed occupied with that.

3 hands later...................I'm sitting with roughly $250.

I'm dealt the lovely Hilton Sisters in MP. The player two to my right raises it up to $35. Standard raises at this table had been $15 or $20 with one guy always min. raising. This struck me as odd and I put him on a mid-pair or AJs type hand. I just called as did the big blind. There was roughly $110 in the pot. The flop came 3 6 8 with two diamonds. The BB checked and the MP player bet out $75. I thought about it for a minute..........I decided if I called here I was going to end up with all of it in anyway so I wanted to get rid of the Big Blind player and put the bettor to the test. I also thought he could be on a diamond draw and wanted him to have to pay to draw to it. I pushed for $212 total and the Big Blind folded. The bettor hesitated for a moment and then said I call asking me if I had a set. He flipped over KK and had my Queens dominated. The turn brought another low diamond and he didn't have the King of diamonds so I had more outs at the river but the river was the Jack of hearts and I was felted. I got up and walked out.

Any thoughts on this hand? On the way home I thought a lot about it and was actually impressed that I was able to play it in much the same fashion that I would in a tournament......when in the past I had trouble getting over the fact that those chips are actually money and I looked at them this time as simply chips to be used.......good or bad?

Insight is needed.....HELP!

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Baz Out.

Results........

2005-11-06T21:27:00.000-06:00

It was a long day.......I don't have the time or the energy for a major recap. I am very happy with the way I played in the WSOP live Rockford tourney today.......I built a big stack early and picked spots to use it but the structure of this tourney had the blind levels catch back up with me before too long. I had the Hilton Sisters twice and they held up both times.......one time tripling me up from around T3000 to around T9000......I was called in two spots with the first caller having pocket Jacks and the second caller having pocket tens. Two Kings came on the flop and I turned a Queen sealing the deal for me. I pushed all in from MP when folded to me with the blind levels at 2000/4000 and about to go up........I had just over T10000 and had two beautiful looking ducks in the hole.......I was hoping to pick up the blinds but was called by the big blind with AJo. The flop was all low......turn was low......river was a Jack......ouch......I went out around 60th of the 250 in the first session.....was the last person out before the second break and the tables were combined from 6 to 5.

Had a good time and am happy with the way I played today. Didn't fare too well in the side games and after losing $150 there as well decided to call it a night and get home in time to help get the kids bathed and in bed.......only missed an exit and added 1/2 hour to the trip causing me to miss it..........next time.

Here's wishing everyone a good week.

Baz Out.

Thoughts.....

2005-11-03T14:08:00.000-06:00

I turned 32 on Tuesday. Birthday's at this stage are simply like another day except the best thing now is my little ones love the fact that it's someone's birthday.....my two year old daughter was pretty bummed however when she realized later that evening that we weren't going to Chuck-E-Cheese. That's only for the kids birthdays (although I have a blast there with them)......she doesn't fully grasp that just yet. When you have a 2 and 4 year old you don't even get to open your own gifts......which is quite all right with me. They have a blast doing it and I have a blast watching them tear it apart. Our 7 month old even wanted to get in on the action.....next year little buddy.

I got NCAA Basketball 06 for PS2 along with Tiger Woods 06 and the network thing to hook up online.......except I'm an idiot and didn't fully think about the fact that the dsl modem is upstairs and the PS2 is downstairs and I have to be able to hook the two together to play online. I don't have a wireless router/network so I think I'm going to buy a 100' ethernet cable and simply run the wire when I play. It will always be in the evenings after all the kids are in bed so the cord won't really affect anyone but the wife. We'll see. Also got an Urlacher jersey which is a gentleman that plays a little football for the First Place Chicago Bears. Lastly I got a wireless remote for the PS2 which is sweet.......my wife definitely had a theme working and it was nice to get such things that I don't normally buy for myself but love to mess around with.

I had missed the first two showings of the main event and have them all TIVO'd so I watched the first two last night. I was on the broadcast........only you couldn't see me. If either of you two that stop in here from time to time remember I had a stake in MicroBob (sorry...can't link from work) for the 2005 WSOP and volunteered to update his blog as the day went on........if any of you remember the show when Johnny Chan sat down at his table they showed a gentleman talking on his cell phone stating "Johnny Chan is at my table." That was MicroBob and he was talking to me. I saw the good Dr. Pauly and looked for AL but missed him if that's the show he was on.

I stayed up and played in the $6000 gauranteed tourney on Full Tilt which started at 12am on Nov. 1st as a birthday present to myself. 288 players and I went out uneventfully around 122. I will be playing in the WSOP 2006 tourney in Rockford this Sunday and am looking forward to it. Not making it to Trump this Friday night so will hopefully get some online poker in. Maybe I will look to play some MTT's to get ready for Sunday. Played a bunch of HUSNG's on Full Tilt anywhere from $10 - $30 and have been doing quite well. Not sure if those count towards my bonus but I needed a change of pace.

Anyway.....gotta run.

Baz Out

Happy Halloween!

2005-10-31T16:03:00.000-06:00

Just a quick post to say Happy Halloween. I am looking forward to getting home in the next hour and taking the little Baz's out trick or treating.......they've been dying for this day to get here and here it is.........my favorite holiday of the year.....no individual gift giving......no traveling to relatives houses.......just being at home with my family......handing out candy to the little ghosts and goblins that come knocking.......setting them up for a scare here and there and enjoying the evening from start to finish.

Next definite online session will be Friday night......no Trump for me this week. I have the WSOP Rockford tourney on Sunday so I'll try and get in another online MTT or two prior to then.....we'll see if I get the chance. Finished down $50 or so at Trump last Friday night playing 6/12......I was happy with my play.....stayed aggressive and solid never slipping into weak passive mode like I can do from time to time.

I'm one of 5 people left in my NFL Last Man Standing (Survivor) Pool so I'm getting pumped about that week to week.........getting tougher.......and got a win in my Fantasy Football league this week as well bringing my record to 4-4. It'll be a miracle if I get into the playoffs with my injured and beat up squad but I'm not giving up hope just yet.........

Enjoyed watching my First Place Chicago Bears beat the Lions on Sunday as well. Talk about the piss poor division all you want......it's not Da Bears fault the other teams suck.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Birthday Shout Out to Felicia!

Baz Out

PokerStars Blogger Championship Result

2005-10-23T15:48:00.001-05:00

Not much to report.......I was done 45 minutes into the thing exiting 1200th. I had picked up KK and AA and each time won minimal amounts......I was down to just over 1000 chips when I had AdKd and I raised to $300 with the blinds at 50/100 bringing along two callers. The flop came Kxx and he bet $300 into me and I of course pushed.....we lost one and he called me with K 10. The turn brought a 10 and I was sent packing.

It was short lived and I would have liked to have represented better but I look forward to the next one all the same.

I was at the same table as Joanne (sorry Joanne....couldn't get your link) and received a chat visit from the good doctor Pauly.

I hope a poker blogger represents and takes down first.

Good luck to all......I plan to check back in after my Bears game is over. They are up 7-0 early in the 2nd quarter.....we shall see.

Baz Out

PokerStars Blogger Championship Result

2005-10-23T15:48:00.000-05:00

Trump 10/21/05

2005-10-22T07:49:00.000-05:00

I made it out to Trump for some more live poker action Friday night. I was torn between playing in the 200max NL game or sticking with 6/12 which had been fairly rockish the last couple of times I played. I decided to put my name on both lists and look at the 6/12 lists when I arrived and decide from there.

I got there around 9:15 pm which is earlier than I normally get there. After a quick check of the 6/12 tables there were lots of new faces with a sprinkling of the old solid players here or there so I decided 6/12 was where it was at for the evening.

I played a solid game but didn't get much of anything unless you count small pocket pairs, of which I got plenty........they were all pocket 5's and less and the first time I connected for a set was with pocket 4's the only problem being I turned the set after 3 diamonds hit the flop and it checked around.........my two 4's were black and the turned 4 was......you guessed it.....the 4 of diamonds.....easy release with a bet.

I was down almost $300 at one point but battled back leave around 3 am just over $100 up. The following hand helped......pocket 4's again in the small blind with 7 people seeing a flop which came 3 4 3 with two to the flush.......beautiful! I checked and a MP tight player bet with a raise by another player and I simply call and four of us see a turn for two bets. The turn was an offsuit 8 and I checked with another bet and raise of which I simply called again (probably should have re-raised here) and three of us see the river for 2 big bets. The river was the 9 completing the potential flush and the MP lead out bettor fires out a bet before I even have the chance to check. I say, "Isn't it my option?" To which he apologizes and pulls his bet back.......I check (I planned on betting originally so as to not take the chance of it checking around but with him so eager to bet I changed my mind), he bets, we lose the 3rd player, and I say, "I'll raise." He pauses and studies the board again quickly before calling and I show him my full house.......he mucks his cards with an aggravated look and there are some ooohs from the table and mumblings of "he flopped the house".....while the drunk kid across from me states, "He slow played the nuts."........I simply reply, "I loved my hand.....but it wasn't the nuts."

My favorite hand of the night came after I hadn't played a pot in AWHILE and hadn't had a hand to raise with for a LONG WHILE.......the table overall had gotten a little squeaky tight and I thought my image was a tight one....but was everyone paying attention.....Let's find out......I'm UTG and am dealt the hammer....."RAISE" and I toss out twelve. It then proceeded to fold around to the Big Blind who looks at me and says, "You haven't raised since I sat down over an hour ago." "You must have a monster, take it."......he then mucks his cards and as the dealer pushes the blinds my way I slam my cards face up in the middle and state, "A Monster Hammer!"......the table went nuts and couldn't believe I raised UTG with the "worst hand in poker". Needless to say that one hand caused me to get additional callers later in the evening and there were constant comments about it the rest of the evening.......it was awesome :o)

I am looking forward to playing in the blogger tournament tomorrow afternoon and was glad I could help point out to Decker that it was in fact on Sunday and not Saturday.

Hope to see many of you in the tourney....it will be interesting.

Good luck and have a great weekend.

Baz Out

2006 WSOP Satellites

2005-10-17T08:46:00.000-05:00

Last June I played in one live WSOP Satellite event for the 2005 WSOP. It was a good time and the play was mostly donkyesque..........

For you Chicago area bloggers.......they are starting them again for 2006. The first one is November 6th and then one per month from January through June. They are in Rockford and there are two starting times creating two final tables that play after the second session. There is also a room with limit hold em games up to 5/10 going on as well as single table sit n go tournies in the main room.

The structure isn't the best in the main tourney but the play is horrible overall from my June experience. The sit n go structures are horribly fast as well but I had a good time playing 5/10 once I was out even though the table I was at was tight and fairly aggressive.

I will be playing in the November 6th tourney for sure with my Dad and brother. Last June I took the whole family up and stayed the night before and the night of the tourney in a hotel that had a fun water park area for the kids......I may do that again in a future one but this one is a hit and run.

Another thing I like about this one is you get $10,000 worth of WSOP tokens to use for any events you want. The question is would you use it for the Main Event or split it up for several smaller events and if you cash you can decide whether or not to buy into the main event. My first instinct is to play several of the smaller events and spread out the potential.......what would my fellow bloggers do?

Here's a link to any area blogger/readers that might be interested.....let me know if you're going as I'm sure we'll be going to several.

Baz Out

Registered For The Stars Poker Tourney

2005-10-14T16:45:00.000-05:00

I am running later than most..........

but here it is.......

looking forward to it.

I have registered to play in the
Online Poker Blogger Championship!

This event is powered by PokerStars.

Registration code: 7099017

Busy....Busy.....Busy

2005-10-12T07:28:00.000-05:00

Quick post......been swamped lately......NO ONLINE POKER in several weeks.

I did cash out of my Empire account until the dust settles from all this Party skin hoopla.

Just learned I will be in town the weekend of the 23rd for the blogger poker tourney on Stars after thinking I would be out of town so I'll be registering for that here by this weekend and looking forward to it.

I did make it out to Trump for live poker with my Dad Friday night after a two week hiatus.......ended up down only $40 for the night after being almost $400 stuck halfway through playing 6/12. Nothing memorable to note. Then got hammered Saturday night in a dealer's choice home game for $300......rough one.

Looks like I'll be heading back to Trump Friday night late again. Friday nights seem like the only night in the week right now I can get any poker in and if I get the chance to head to Trump for live action I'd much rather do that than play online. My online roll has been suffering due to it but I've really enjoyed my live Trump nights and hope to continue them.

Still haven't gotten to meet up with Shelly or Maigrey...........hopefully soon.

I'm keeping a curious eye on what's going on with Party and the skin situation........will be interesting to see how it all plays itself out......we shall see.

I'm one of six guys left in an NFL Survivor Pool.....started with 28......getting tougher and tougher week to week....we shall see.

I'm also not one to put my picks out there but anyone else think 11 1/2 points is a lot for Notre Dame to be getting against USC this Saturday.......especially with having last week off and two weeks to prepare. I think USC will win but Notre Dame will cover.......I'd take ND and the points.

Thoughts?

Hope this finds everyone well.

Baz Out

Online play....finally...and a DIFFERENT night at Trump

2005-09-18T22:27:00.000-05:00

I played online twice this week after not having played since the end of August. Playing mostly on Empire now with one table of Full Tilt for the time being. I got hammered at Full Tilt since making my initial deposit losing the majority of my $600 deposit......now working on slowly building that back up and continuing to try and release that bonus. Nothing remarkable to note.....just been busy with work, family, and playing live once a week at Trump.

I made it out to Trump Friday night but did not play one hand of poker........Why you ask?

Well.....I hadn't taken my wife out in a LONG time....not just the two of us.....having 3 kids 4 and under will tend to do that.......she had been wanting to go gamble and the last couple of times she had plans to make it out they fell through for one reason or another. Now we could have gone to a couple of establishments closer to home but she wanted the option to play poker so after putting the kids to bed Friday night....my mother was kind enough to come stay at the house and we heading to Trump. We got there around 9:30pm and found ourselves a blackjack table with two seats open next to each other. My wife is really starting to get basic strategy for blackjack down pat and is getting more and more comfortable at a blackjack table.

After sitting there for two hours we were both up almost double our buy-ins and my wife told me to check the lists up in the poker room. They were basically non-existent which surprised me and when I got back she said she wanted to play a little longer....get up just a little bit more before trying her hand at poker. Of course....things went downhill from there. We never made it up to play poker....I lost my full buy-in by the end and my wife ended up just a little. We played for 4 hours and had a great time. I would have liked to play some poker but this night was about the lovely lady I share my life with......and the bottom line was she had a good time.....and so did I.

I plan on heading to Trump Friday night again....this time for some poker possibly with my brother. It will be late.....probably not before 10pm.

I sure wish I could make the WPBT this time.....can't happen. Sounds like it will be another good turn out......I know it will be a blast.....maybe someday.

Til next time...

Baz Out.

Trump...and languishing voyage.

2005-09-03T15:14:00.000-05:00

I headed to Trump for yet another live poker session Friday night. I had to work late so I didn't get there until almost 11pm missing a fellow area blogger. If anyone who visits here hasn't found this hella cool poker blog it'd be worth your time to visit often.......Shelly has a great and entertaining writing style.....I'm sure you'd enjoy it.

I played 45 minutes of 6/12 and was plus $100 when they opened a 10/20 table. The 6/12 table I was at was a must move table so I took the seat at 10/20 (I would have stayed 6/12 if the table would have been in tact). The 10/20 table had about half that were ACTION junkies and half solid aggressive players. I nearly doubled my stack in the first couple of hours courtesy of these players sitting with almost $950 in front of me.

A couple hands of note:

I was dealt the Hilton Sisters in MP and raised it up. I got respect from a couple players who noticed I didn't play alot of pots and when I did I was raising. Had a two callers. Flop came 6 2 6 rainbow. I bet out after both EP players checked and was called in both spots. The turn came another duece and it was checked to me where I bet out....was called.....and then was check-raised by the second EP player.....we both called and I knew he had a duece. The river was another beautiful 6 giving me sixes full of queens......he bet into me and I raised him....we lost the first guy and he called me where I took down a nice size pot.

I had pocket 7's in MP..... raised and was called in 5 spots....(yuck). The flop brought a beautiful 7 J 2......a player in EP bet out.....was called by me and in 3 other spots. The turn brought another duece......the EP player bet out and the player to my right raised.....I re-raised and the EP and player to my right both called. The river was a 4.....the EP player checked....the player to my right bet.......I raised.....the EP folded....and the player to my right called. He turned over 2 9 suited for trip dueces and I tabled my full house.

Everything went downhill from there. I held K Qs and raised......4 callers with a flop of Q (one queen had been exposed and burned by the dealer) 6 7........I lost a big pot to a Gambooooler who called two bets cold pre-flop with 6 7 offsuit. This same gamboooooler stacked A LOT of my chips (along with a lot of other players) by the time I left around 3am. He was a very nice a pleasant fellow who was obviously a regular and having a good time. I was determined to play until I was broke or he left as the game was perfect and I just needed variance to swing back my way......well......it didn't swing back my way and I got up when this gentlemen left with several racks of red......$500 or $600 of which had been in my stack at one time and I left $50 down overall ($100 total since I filled up with gas).

It was a great game and I look forward to getting back to Trump on Sunday....hopefully finally meeting up with one hella poker blogger.

Sorry for the lack of posting......I haven't played online in almost two weeks......hopefully will get a chance to before too long. Been busy with work and family......not a bad thing. Look forward to getting back to a regular type online playing schedule.

Til then....

Baz out

Not much to note.....

2005-08-16T14:32:00.000-05:00

Not much to blog about as of late. Played a couple of hours on Empire Sunday night and it was my first online session in a week. Won a couple hundred with 3 tables of 2/4 and 1 table of 3/6. I stopped my Full Tilt play for the moment as I've lost about $450 there since I did my intitial deposit. I need to focus on my decisions and play instead of the results and until I have the time to determine what has caused the downswing I'm holding off. I may play a little 1/2 there this coming weekend.....maybe running into a hella hold 'em playa that I hear is frequenting those tables.

I've definitely got the live poker bug eating at me weekly. I made another run out to Trump on Friday the 12th and logged another nice session at 6/12. I then switched to the 200 max NL and broke even at that table after a couple hours there. I need to log a public apology to a certain Poker Princess for not stopping over at the 1000 max game to say hi. My shyness gene kicked in and it never seemed like a "good" time to bother her while playing. I thought ahead of time that it would be great to finally meet some bloggers but when faced with the situation I bailed. Sorry maigrey......it won't happen next time.

Speaking of next time. I will be heading to Trump again this Saturday night....not Friday this weekend as my wife has "girl's night out" so it's just me with the kids. Any Chicagoland bloggers interested I'll be there and will do my damndest to at the very least hunt you down at some point and say "Hi". If not able to sit in the same game and chat.

Gotta run.

Baz Out.

Another Friday Night at Trump.....

2005-08-07T20:05:00.000-05:00

I went to Trump again Friday night......it was last minute so apologies to the area blogger who I didn't get a chance to holler at beforehand to let know I was heading that way. I had thought about it all week but didn't know for sure I was going until that day.

This time I went with my father. It was his first time making the run that I am growing to love. It is such a nice change of pace from the online grind......and I just LOVE live poker. It was his first time simply because I don't usually start heading that way until after getting the kids to bed around 8pm so by the time we get there, put in some table time, and get home the sun is usually on it's way up or getting ready too anyway. My brother couldn't make it this trip and was not all that happy about it.

We got to the poker room a little after 9:30pm and even though I had called ahead to get us on the waiting list (albeit a little later than I should have) we were both a good ways down still. I was on the 6/12 list and it was considerably shorter than the 3/6 list my Dad resided on but both were lengthy.......and the room was jumping! Much busier than I previously remembered. The next dealer shift came on at 10pm and they needed them there then so they could get the last couple of tables still open up and running. They actually had supervisors start dealing the games on an open table or two around quarter to ten to get them going. I put myself on the 200 max NL list when we got there as that list was CRAZY long and I figured I'd play 6/12 for awhile and see how my table was and decide when my name was called if I wanted to move or not. I had been watching the NL tables in my previous trips and there was definitely some money to be made there with people way too willing to put their stacks at risk.

I was seated at a 6/12 table around 10pm which was earlier than I expected. I was in the 2 seat and my end of the table was filled with solid players who were chatty and friendly. The problem was the other end of the table was the other end of the table was filled with mostly solid players as well.....except one lady. She played EVERY SINGLE pot to at least see the flop. The gentleman next to me said she had been every since she sat down. He said she had been catching flops and taking down some pots too which surprised me because she didn't have that much in front of her. I found out why a few minutes later.......the lady ended up all in and busted out. She asked the dealer to lock up her seat and stated she was going to get more money. After she left the man seated two to her right told the dealer she had been taking money off of the table and giving it to her husband as he kept coming around talking to her. A couple of the guys on my side got aggravated and asked why he didn't say something before when he saw her do it as it was their money they wanted the chance to get back. Around 10 minutes later she wasn't back yet and they opened her seat up and it filled with yet another solid player. Around 20 minutes after that the lady showed back up and was pissed that her seat was gone. She called the floor over and wanted to know why her seat wasn't still locked up. Apparently she had gone and gotten something to eat thinking her seat would be locked up for 45 minutes. The floor explained to her that the seat can only be held 10 minutes with no chips left and she wasn't happy. The good news was about ten minutes later the 1 seat opened directly to my right and she got it. She sat down with a full rack of whites ($1) for the 6/12 game....I chuckled but the guy who had seen her rat-holing chips and not said anything voiced his displeasure loudly. This sent her into a tirade in which the F-Bomb was dropped several times and and I do now know her bedroom is painted pink. After she lost that rack she re-bought in $100 from the dealer asking for $60 white and the rest red looking directly at the gentlemen who voiced the displeasure.

Unfortunately I only got my hands on a couple of those chips. Early on I was dealt pocket 3's in MP and limped with 4 limpers. The flop came J 6 3 rainbow and it was checked to me where I bet and the man to my left raised.....I should have re-raised here but I simply called even though everyone else had folded and I planned on check raising the turn. The turn was an 8 and I bet even though I had planned the check raise. He called and the river was the final 3 giving me my second ever live quads. I bet and he called with me taking down a decent pot that could or should have been bigger.

I hadn't heard my name called for the 200 max NL game and checked the board to see where I was and I was right.....I simply hadn't heard it. I put my name BACK on the list and told them my table this time. Luckily it wasn't that long of a wait and my name was called. The 6/12 game wasn't looking overly promising so I took the seat. I left the 6/12 game up around $30 or $40......put all but $200 of it in my pocket and took my seat in the NL game.

I have to admit I was a little nervous as I am not a NL ring game specialist. I am very comfortable with my tournament game and have gotten to the point where the chips are only chips in tournament play so I'm not afraid to risk them. I am a solid aggressive limit player and was afraid that it wouldn't transfer to the NL game and if it did transfer I was afraid it would cost me my whole stack.

So I sat down in the feeder game which was a must move table where hopefully I could accumulate a few chips before getting moved to a table where some of the stacks could be huge. It was 11:45pm and I planned on doing some nut peddling and seeing how things went. Everyone's stacks were fairly equal at $200 as there were a bunch of 200 max tables running so it wasn't taking long to pull from our table. Everyone was fairly tight and seemed to be waiting for solid hands....no maniacs. I won a few small hands and was up almost $100 when it came my turn to move.

On my walk over to the new table the thought crossed my mind to pull the $140 in chips from my pocket to add to my stack........but I thought that to be unethical (though I wonder how often it happens) and didn't do it. I was seated in the 5 seat immediately to the right of a monster stack which I wasn't thrilled with at first but soon thought it might be good as it will get me to really think before entering a pot about whether I should or not and how to enter it (limp, raise, re-raise). The good news was he was the only real big stack at the table. A couple of guys had around $400 or $500 and everyone else was at or below me in chips with a couple of them having been at my same feeder table.

My first hand I had pocket nine's and called a $15 bet by the big stack to my left with everyone else folded. The flop came Jack high rainbow and I checked to him.....he bet $15 and I called. The turn was a blank and I checked......he bet $30 and I called. I had the feeling he didn't have a Jack and thought his betting was funny. The river was a blank and I checked.......he bet only $30 again and I called. He showed Ace little suited and I took down the pot. It was a nice feeling and a larger bet would have gotten me out of there.

I did a lot of folding or raising with only a handful of limps even though the rest of the table liked to limp. I was dealt A 8 suited and limped from middle position with a couple having already limped. The flop came with two of my suit along with the King of my suit. In limit I play this fast and hard like I have the flush already and wasn't exactly sure how to best proceed. It was checked to me and I bet $25 which was roughly the size of the pot. I was called in two spots and the turn gave me the nut flush. I was first to act and checked. The player immediately to my right bet $75 which only left him around $35 and I called hoping to bring along the other guy but he folded. Looking back I think it was still the right thing to do as the most I could still get out of the bettor was $35 more so I wanted the other guy to overcall which he didn't. A fourth diamond came on the river and I bet $50 which would have put him all-in. He mucked face up and had turned the second nut flush with Q 10......mumbled something about the stupid river. I simply mucked and raked the pot. I couldn't believe he didn't call his last chips off with the second nut flush especially since he put them all in blind on the next hand. Looking back I should have just showed him the 8 to have him guessing if he mucked the winning hand. It was a nice size pot and I was glad to have won it.

Another time I was dealt A Q suited in the small blind, I just called, and the flop was Queen high with no straight or flush draws. I checked and called a $30 bet along with one other player. The turn was an Ace and "cha-ching" went off in my head. I checked again and he bet $75, I called, and we lost the third player. The river was a blank and I led out with a $100 bet (should I have checked here and went for a check raise?...what if he didn't bet?). The other guy sat back in his chair and said out loud, "$100?". I stared at my bet and didn't move....statuesque. He thought and thought.....a guy at the other end called a clock on him. He finally called and I took down a big pot. It was sweet.

When it was all said and done....the monster stack immediately to my left had lost more than half of it on some crazy plays......and when the table broke up around 3 am I was up $476 and happy to be heading home. My dad more than doubled his buy-in at 3/6 so he was happy as well.

Can't wait to make another run to Trump in the not too distant future.

Til then....

Baz Out.

Tidbits........

2005-08-03T23:03:00.000-05:00

I hosted a home tourney following my oldest son's party Saturday night. It ended up being only 7 people (after I thought 12 would make it) with 5 being family members. We paid top 2 and nobody in my family cashed.....that's right.....the only two non-family players took our money and ran. On top of that.....my wife knocked my father and me out of the tournament which means every tournament I've hosted that she's played in she has knocked out not only me.....but my Dad as well. My Dad's was brutal as he hit a full house with A 2 in the big blind with a flop of A 2 K and turned another 2.....only problem was my lovely wife didn't raise her pocket kings pre-flop and her Kings full took out his 2's full.......that was that. My wife is excellent until it gets short handed and then she is not aggressive enough......if she doesn't catch cards then she's dead....she'll keep improving though.

I've been playing RAZZ on full tilt for a change of pace while I play a SNG or something......it's brutal. I need to get back to hold 'em for now.

I'm looking at possibly making another run to Trump Friday night......might be the last chance I get to go for awhile. I might try the 200 max NL game.....we shall see.

I used a portion of my last Trump winnings to give my wife Friday morning off......that's right....I have ALL 3 kids and she's going to the salon for a facial and pedicure. Sometimes I think she thinks it's more work once she gets home because we tend to get rough and make messes......I will make a conscious effort to clean up BEFORE she gets home this time instead of AFTER. I know she enjoys the small window of time away and I'm glad to be able to send her......of course it doesn't hurt my chances of going back for live poker more often when I share my winnings in ways like this but it's not my motivation......she busts her ass at home with the kids and deserves reward/payment.......it's things we wouldn't be able to afford otherwise....enjoy it honey.

Til next time...

Baz Out

Juicy 6/12 at Trump

2005-07-30T08:42:00.000-05:00

Made a run to Trump Friday night to get in some live poker.....6/12 to be exact. This was the first time we didn't run into a ton of traffic due to accidents and/or construction and before we knew it we were at our exit and hadn't even called in to get on the waiting list yet. That was at 9:30pm. The room was hopping when we got in and just about every table was running a game......by the time we were seated at 10pm every table had a game on it.

We were seated at a brand new 6/12 game. My brother and I locked our seats (me the 4 seat and him the 6 seat) and went to buy chips. We were at a table on the side of the room that doesn't have the automatic shufflers which I didn't like at first as it meant we would get in fewer hands in our time there. It never ceases to amaze me what people sit down with to play.....the 1 seat had a rotation of several people in the first hour sitting with less than $100 to play......the 2 seat was a solid player who was loose aggressive.....the 3 seat was a solid tight aggressive player......I was in the 4 seat......the 5 seat was tight passive.......my brother was the 6 seat and is tight passive (we're working on that)......the 7 seat was LOOSE PASSIVE......the 8 seat was tight passive........the 9 seat was LOOSE PASSIVE.

It was a good table that I got a good read on fairly early. There was a ton of calling with 4-6 seeing flops most of the time. There was only one time all night that the blinds were chopped. I looked down to see pocket 4's early on and saw a flop with 4 others of K 5 4 rainbow. It was bet, called, and I thought of raising but decided to call and we lost one. The turn was a King and I prayed at least one of my opponents had a King. I wasn't worried about pocket Kings because it wasn't raised pre-flop. It was bet and called and I sat there for a moment as if deciding what to do before raising.......as I was saying raise the dealer already had burned and was turning the river card up.........I yelled Whoa! She was very apologetic but I wasn't happy.....She called the floor over and both players called my raise as it was decided the river card would be shuffled in and a new river card would be produced. The "dead" river card was the 6 of hearts and the new river card was a Jack. I still didn't think this helped anyone and bet when it was checked to me with both players calling. They both had a King and I turned my full house taking down a nice pot.

I was folding a lot and chatting up my side of the table. About halfway throught the session I noticed my raises were getting solid respect and I started using this to my advantage selectively. The one Loose passive guy would call down anyone with any pair from the board except he started folding to a bet on the river from me if he didn't improve further. He was the typical....play any ace...any paint player.

The big hand of the night came when I held 7 8 clubs in MP and called....5 saw the flop. The flop was Q 10 9 with the 9 and Queen being clubs. Any comments on how I played this hand are very much appreciated. It was checked to me and I bet. The player on my immediate left raised and I put him on a straight draw or made straight right away. The loose player in the 7 seat then re-raised which meant he had any two cards and paired the board....most probably a Queen since he re-raised and was mostly oblivious to the draws out there. I debated folding for a minute or two but was confident that if I hit my flush it would pay off. I called. The player on my left then capped it which told me he made his straight and most probably K J which would have my straight draw dead. The loose player called and I called. The turn was an offsuit 4 and I checked....the 5 seat bet....and we both called. The river was the 2 of clubs which completed my flush. As I was going to bet, something nagged at me that the player to my left could have the K J of clubs and I checked. It then checked through and I took it down with my flush. The 5 seat did indeed have K J for the flopped straight but only had the King of clubs.....the 7 seat never showed but I'd bet he had top pair.

I was mad at myself for not sticking with my read and initial instinct when my flush card hit. It was still a huge pot but could have been slightly bigger. Any thoughts or comments on my play here?

All in all it was a great night and the table broke up around 1:30 am and I cashed out up $513. My brother didn't fair well as he was card dead and the couple of hands he hit were outdrawn.

I definitely look forward to my next excursion to Trump.

Baz Out.

Floundering???....Reflection.....

2005-07-25T14:31:00.000-05:00

I don't feel I've been playing my best limit game lately......kind of like a rut I guess. I've been mixing in 3/6 to go along with my 2/4....usually will have two tables of each running. It's not the results.....even though I'm down over the last week.....it's the poor decision making. I need to dive deeper into my PT data to be uncover any new sprung leaks. I've gone on downswings where I still know I'm making solid decisions before and that doesn't bother me.....this has a different feel however. For the very first time since I started this journey it began feeling like a grind....and I wasn't enjoying my time at the virtual felt. I've always enjoyed it and I'm sure it's just a current rut....we shall see.

Since I started this journey I have only pulled a little money out once........right before my last Vegas trip for my Dad's surprise 50th birthday. I had made several deposits when I first started.....they'd last a little while at times and then eventually I'd be down to nothing. No single deposit was ever more than $100. My total deposits totaled somewhere around $550. (I wish I knew the exact number) When that last deposit went in I had told my wife that was it if it got back down to nothing. I used some birthday money I had received some in cash and some after returning a couple of oddball gifts. We don't have a lot of "extra" money......my wife stays home with our three kids who mean the world to us. I decided at that point I wanted to get serious and study the game. I knew I could be a good solid player and make some side money playing this game. I hoped (and still do) to be able to use some money to help pay down some bills and debt to help us get ahead of the "game".

That was last August. I don't know the exact date but I know I'm approaching the one year anniversary of it. It's been a good year. My game has improved immensely and I love it! My goal back then was to build my bankroll up to $3000 starting at the .50/1 limits and working my way up. I told myself I wouldn't withdraw a penny until I reached that $3000 mark and then I would evaluate where I was and decide if I wanted to start pulling out a percentage each month I was above that mark. I broke that when I pulled out $500 to help fund my Vegas trip. That was for my Dad's 50th birthday surprise and it was well worth it. I realized with that withdrawel that I was almost fully funded online with pure winnings and the next withdrawel would put me there. That has happened. Am I at my mark of $3000? No. Without this latest withdrawel I would be within a couple hundred of it. That's twice now I've broken my promise to myself. I withdrew another $500. My oldest son has his 4 year old birthday party this Saturday and he loves those giant moonwalk jumpers so I am using $200 to rent one all day Saturday for his party. It's even a spiderman jumper and his party has a spiderman theme. I can't wait to see the look on his face. It will be well worth another withdrawel. I decided that even though I wasn't at my preset goal.......so what. I'm a family man and love being a Dad....what better way to use some of that money. The other $300 is for me (this is the selfish part). I am using $120 to buy-in to a satellite tournament at Trump on Thursday as a reward (a little early) for one year of successful online play and the rest I am using to buy my wife a special little gift for being so wonderful....just because.

This means I am now officially playing with 100% winnings. Not all of that is winnings per se as I did a lot of bonus whoring early on to build my roll quicker and I'd recommend it to anyone. If any of you out there are "stuck" at the low limits and keep having to re-deposit stick with it and committ to studying the game. One thing I stopped doing was playing SNG's and MTT. I didn't play ANY for 6 months. Now I mix some in from time to time for a change of pace from the limit grind but early on with a minimal bankroll it did nothing but siphon money from my roll. I know there are people who are successful at strictly SNG's or NL ring games and that's great.....my point is to pick one game and stick with it. I plan to dabble more in NL as time goes on as I feel I am solid now and am interested to know how good I can be. Time will tell.

I hope to get a tourney together Saturday night at the house following the party and will be playing in the live satellite at Trump Thursday followed by some live limit action with my brother. We have some out of town guests coming in Wednesday through Sunday so online poker will be minimal at best. I'll probably play tonight or tommorrow night but have been thinking about taking the week off from online......we shall see.

Hope this all flowed ok.....felt like I was all over the place but wanted to get some things down....til next time.

Baz Out

2005-07-20T20:32:00.000-05:00

Updated the blogroll today and boy oh boy.......it was long overdue. My apologies to those of you I've read for a long time and failed to link up......unexcusable.

I tried logging into Empire and it was giving me all kinds of problems.....anybody else have problems tonight? I was able to log into Party no problem....but Empire....no good. Lately I've been playing two tables of 3/6 at Empire and two tables of 2/4 at Full Tilt together. Have been happy with the results thus far....we shall see.

I'm playing cards of some type Friday night....live that is......either heading to Trump with my brother for some 6/12 or playing dealer's choice at a buddy's house......waiting to hear from my brother to find out for sure as he may have an obligation to tend to instead.

Anyway....til next time...

Baz Out

Great Cause

2005-07-17T22:39:00.000-05:00

I got to the Charlie tournament tonight just in time to see the final four players battle it out....about 10 minutes and it was over. I was surprised to see I finished 60th despite not being able to make it. Hope it wasn't too aggravating dealing with my being blinded off......it's a great cause and I was glad I could make the donation....just wish I could have gotten the chance to play.

Just played 5 sit and go's on Stars as I needed a break from limit for a night. Took second in one bubbled out in 2 and went down in flames in the others.....not good for the Stars bankroll.

Looking to get some time at the tables Tuesday night and planning on live poker Friday night.

Baz Out

Home Game

2005-07-16T13:36:00.000-05:00

I tried to get a home game pulled together last night and failed miserably.....everyone had something going....birthday parties....weddings....you name it. We played anyway but it was just myself, my brother, my dad, and my wife. We played two shorthanded NL tournaments with the first being a $20 buy-in and the second being a $10 buy-in. Later we realized we should have made each one $15 but it was too late by that point.

Being that it was a "friendly" family game I had a lot to drink and don't remember a ton of hand specifics but my wife won both games.......and she's been gloating. She played a solid game and is getting to the point where she can value her own hand versus what the board is showing and what other players may have. She successfully bluffed me out of two pots by coming over the top of me when I had been betting strong the whole way with nothing or close to nothing both times. I was both aggravated and proud at the same time. She's improving....definitely.

I haven't played online as much as I thought I'd be able to this summer. Between swim lessons, tee ball, and a zillion family gatherings I've been exhausted or just plain not home. I did play in the Empire evening freeroll and took third with like 390 entrants. A nice $50 pay for the freeroll but almost not worth the time required to get through it. I was a little disappointed as I was the chip leader going into the final table by a good margin and got overly aggressive allowing myself to get trapped. I definitely learned from it and played a solid game to get in that position in the first place. We'll see if I can keep it up.

I'm hoping to get out again this Friday to play some live poker.....let me rephrase that....My brother and I are definitely going to play some live poker Friday night.....it's just a matter where. If it's just us going we will be heading back to Trump for some 6/12 action. If my Dad decides to go we will be most probably checking out Hollywood in Aurora which is spreading several tables of limit hold em the lowest being 5/10. I don't believe they spread NL but I could be wrong. I'd like to check it out sometime but have heard not so nice things.......less than half the size of Trump.....long waiting lists as a result....rockish tables....blah blah blah.

Anyway....gotta run......til next time.

Baz Out

Trump 7/8/05

2005-07-09T09:11:00.000-05:00

Went to Trump riverboat casino in Indiana last night for some live poker action. My brother and I left the house around 8:45pm after getting the kids to bed for the night. We hit major traffic due to (what we finally discovered) an accident and didn't arrive until just before 11pm (twice as long as it should have taken). I had called and got us wait listed for 6/12 at 9:50pm and you have an hour to get there from the time you call. We obviously were late getting to the poker room around 11:05pm and checked in......the supervisor was cool and simply checked us in stating we were next up for 6/12 and we went to buy chips. The room was mostly full with only a couple tables not being used which surprised me for a Friday night. I was seated first in the 3 seat not 5 minutes after getting chips with my brother getting a seat at the same table in the 8 seat not long after.

It was a decent table with most of the players being weak passive. Overall it was fairly uneventful....I was up about $100 for awhile then went down almost $200 before going on a rush right before the table broke at 2:45am to get back to even......exactly even. I cashed out for the EXACT DOLLAR amount I cashed in for so after tipping I guess I made a tiny bit of money. I got several mid pocket pairs that never hit with my pocket 8's and 10's actually taking down pots with fairly harmless boards. My pocket Queen's got beat when a new loose aggressive sat down around 2am immediately to my left. He called my raise (two bets cold) with 8 9s and the flop came 6 7 J.....he caught a 10 on the turn for the straight and hit his flush on the river. I had bet the turn and he raised me.....I re-raised him and he re-raised me back and I figured I was in trouble but thought he had a set (although it seemed he could have top pair with the limited info I had on him) I never put him on the straight or flush draw since he called the two bets cold and bet into him on the river when the third to the flush hit.....he didn't like his flush because he just called and took down a nice size pot.

I wasn't happy with my play overall......I am way more aggressive with my online play. I think I look at my live poker chips too much like "real money" and when I'm able to make that seperation I'll probably see an improvement in my live game. I don't have that problem in live tournaments and think it's just a mental thing that I can hopefully get over.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Baz Out

Gambooool.....

2005-07-07T23:13:00.000-05:00

It's been too long since my last post.

Hasn't been much to report...was out of town a bunch and have only just gotten back to playing online since returning on the 5th.

Over the 4th weekend I gambooled it up with my two brother-in-laws and a friend of one of theirs who was in visiting from out of town. We played $5-$10 games of bocce ball and washers (teams and individual), blackjack tournaments, and....of course....Texas Hold 'Em.

I won two out of three (first and third)hold 'em tournaments coming from behind as the short stack both times....the third game I was severely short when we started heads up action. Both times my brother-in-law (the one I always play heads up when at the in-laws house) won $20 from the friend I was heads-up with because he bet him I would beat him even though I was short stacked.

I lost about $35 playing blackjack all weekend but made around $150 between bocce ball/washers/hold em. It was a GOOD weekend.

I'll be heading to Trump for some live poker Friday night. Shelly from Hella Hold 'Em was supposed to be meeting us but something came up and she can't this time.....next time girl. Donkeypuncher can't make it this time either......one of these days we'll get out there together.

Anyway....take care.....til next time.

Baz Out

Sweet New Home Poker Table.....

2005-06-27T21:27:00.000-05:00

My Dad builds sweet poker tables and I became the proud owner of one awhile back and neglected to post pics......all I need to do is purchase the drink holders and add them which is a minor thing.

Hosted one game on it already and hoping to get some more once things settle down from summer

What do you think?

Live Tourney for a WSOP Main Event Seat.....

2005-06-25T23:53:00.000-05:00

I played in a live tournament Friday night with first place paying a seat to the Main Event plus $1,000 spending money. They paid top 20 and there were 500 players split into two sessions of 250 players each with the top 10 from each session playing to sort out the money spots. I played in the 7pm session along with my Dad and brother. The buy-in was $60 and everyone had a $30 re-buy or add-on. You could take the re-buy if you dropped below T500 or could get an add-on at the end of the first hour if you didn't use it.

We started with T1500 and the re-buy/add-on got you another T1500. The levels were 15 minutes long and the blinds started at 25/50. My strategy was to be aggressive early and either accumulate chips or lose my first T1000 and re-buy in the first level or two. The structure was pretty much a turbo and you had to get chips one way or the other to survive the ever increasing blind levels. Oh yeah....the tables were 12 handed.

I started out well and had accumulated T4800 by the end of the third level without ever showing down a hand (except the pocket Kings I raised 3X the BB and it folded around to me so I only picked up the blinds). I should have stayed aggressive in that last 15 minute session leading up to the break and the re-buy but didn't....mistake #1. I added on at the break and had around T6500 with the blinds going to be 300/600 when we got back from break.

My table had been broken just before break which I wasn't happy about as I had gotten a pretty good read on the players at my table.....who was a solid player....who would call with any Ace or any paint.....who would lay down their draw to the big bet and who wouldn't. Ah well....time to start fresh. I felt like I was working hard for my chips and yet the blinds kept pace with me keeping me at around 10X the big blind. The key was having a dealer that was good and quick........and players at your table that didn't think they were all ready in the main event. My first table was great.....the second....not so much. The dealer was fine.....but there was one guy at this table that took forever with every decision. It was crazy and our table grinded to a halt. We didn't even make one full orbit at 300/600 when we had been getting in 1 1/2 - 2. It was horrible.

Long story short......I kept just ahead of the blinds for awhile.......then the blinds caught up with me. It was just before they were going to go up to 2000/4000. I was down to T6200 and in the big blind for T2000 with A 10 offsuit. The guy UTG was short (about the same as me) and pushes. Two callers in LP and the small blind pushes over the top. I know that my A 10 is not good currently and suspect several of my Aces are dead even if my 10 kicker would be good. With the blinds getting ready to go up the next hand and I'd be the small blind I decide I have to take my chances here to quadruple up rather than get a random hand the next time. I call as do both players in LP. We flip them and I see an A 6, A 9, and JJ none suited. My first thought was my 10 would be good if I could see the case Ace until I hear a guy in MP state he folded A 3. I then hope for A LOT of diamonds (since I had the Ace of diamonds) or several 10's which never came and I went out around 72nd of the 250 in the session. The jacks held up. My brother had gone out 10-15 minutes prior and my Dad went out 15 minutes or so later around 60th so we had a decent but no cigar showing. If anyone thinks I shouldn't have made that call please leave me a comment and a reasoning why......every little bit helps.

We then played a $40 sit and go and I went out rather quickly.....can't even remember the hand. I think I was the 4th or 5th to go out. The other room had cash games.....1/2....2/4.....3/6.....and 5/10 so I headed there for some 5/10 action hoping to make back what I had put in so far. After 2 1/2 hours I cashed out exactly $5 less than what I bought in for....uneventful. I did hit my first ever live game 4 of a kind which was nice even though the pot was a small one. It was a very tight game and I might have been better off playing at a smaller limit that was a looser game.....maybe next time. The 5/10 game I was in was the only one left running as the other table broke shortly after I sat down.

All in all it was a great time and I'd definitely do it again even given the structure. I'd probably even take a few more chances early than I did this last time. I even took the wife and kids with me for two nights at a nice hotel with a kids waterpark and we all had a blast on the mini-vacation that included a night of poker.......next step.....getting the wife to agree to a poker cruise.

Hope everyone has an enjoyable and safe 4th.

Baz Out.

R.I.P.

2005-06-23T10:27:00.000-05:00

Rest In Peace....

It's wonderful how the poker community got behind Charlie and showed love and support for him even though they didn't know him personally. They were able to put smiles on his face at times when he didn't have much to smile about. I'm glad the book Max Pescatori sent to Charlie got to him before he passed......to put another smile on his face.... and I hope his passing was as peaceful as it could be.

R.I.P. Charlie.

Baz

Still Here....

2005-06-20T13:57:00.000-05:00

I'm still here but haven't had a chance to play in the last couple of weeks. I played for a couple of hours Saturday night and that was my first online time in several weeks. We were out of town for just under a week and had some out of town guests at the house the other week. It has just been busy since summer hit.

I did make it over to Trump Indiana for some live 6/12 action on Wednesday June 8th and didn't fair as well as the first time. I was absolutely card dead. Should have moved over to 3/6 with my brother-in-law halfway throught the evening. I basically lost back everything I had won the previous visit. We also went to a home game on Friday the 10th.....typical dealer's choice stuff with all the crazy games like B52, 3/5/7, anaconda, bidding wars, 2 of 3, and the such. It wasn't a good night for me as I lost a little over $100 while my brother-in-law won three times that which was nice for him.....although I don't think the guys will let me bring in another out of towner.

I will be playing online tonight.....taking a shot at a quadruple shootout on Stars followed by some ring action on a Party skin if I'm out. I'm playing in a live tournament this Friday. It'll have 500 people split into two sessions of 250 each with 10 coming out of each to play the 2 final tables for the prize money. Top 20 pay with first place being a seat in the main event in July. My brother and Dad will be going as well. We all are playing the 7pm session. I'm taking the family over a day early and staying through Saturday. The hotel has what looks to be a nice little water "park" for the kids so we'll spend Thursday night and Friday there before I head over to the tournament.

In the summer I will post more sporadically as my play becomes just that.....sporadic. I spend A LOT of time with my wife and kids over the summer enjoying things outside and traveling. Plenty of time when the weather turns to log more time at the tables. I will, however, try to get to Trump several times for live action in July so if anyone's up for it in the area let me know and we can meet up.

Til then I've been enjoying the Vegas trip reports and still have a LONG way to go to catch up with all my blog readings. Thanks to HumanHead for remembering my description of the MGM poker room and giving me the shout out on his blog. Wish I had updated in case my hits went up that day....need to check the sitemeter stats.

Til next time.

Baz Out.

Vegas and Event #2 Thoughts

2005-06-03T07:23:00.000-05:00

My thoughts this morning are on Event #2 and the 9+ bloggers that are entered. Also on the bloggers that are overtaking Vegas as I write this post. I sure wish I could have made it out there this time.......maybe next time.

Good luck to all the bloggers in Event #2 and in the WPBT tomorrow. I can't wait to hear/read all of the trip reports that will be popping up over the next several weeks (I'm guessing).

My gut says that a blogger will represent at the final table and another will bubble out. That would be a solid showing with 2000 entries.

Good luck all.....my thoughts are with you.

Baz

5/27/05 @ Trump

2005-05-31T07:35:00.000-05:00

I went to the Trump Riverboat Casino in Gary, Indiana Friday night for some live poker action.

I'm definitely glad I checked it out. Thanks go out to DP for the info and recommendation.

My brother and I got there around 9:15pm. Per DP's advice I called when we crossed the Indiana border and got put on the waiting list. I put myself on the list for 6/12 and my brother on the list for $200 Max NL. Calling to get on the list was crucial. It was crowded. It's a good size room, however, bigger than I expected and it was alive.

I was seated at 9:30pm in the 3 seat. My brother was seated about 10 minutes later. So all in all not a long wait time so I'd recommend anyone to call ahead to get put on the wait list. They will keep you on the list for up to an hour after you call. So you basically have to get there within the hour and check in after calling. This seriously cut down our wait on this Friday night.

I sat down right as it was my big blind and posted. First hand dealt.....AA. It was raised by a player in MP two players in LP called two bets cold, the small blind called, I re-raised, an EP caller called two more bets, and everyone else called for 6 players to see the flop. The flop was Jack high with two clubs. SB checked, I bet, and everyone called. The turn was a rag. The SB checked, I bet, one MP and one LP caller with the SB dropping. Three to the river which brought the 3rd club. I checked, MP bet, LP called, and I called. MP raked the pot hitting his flush at the river holding AK of clubs. LP showed pocket Queens. I mucked my Aces and thought to myself......."self....if this is how the night is going to go I'm in trouble."

So my Aces were cracked on hand number one. 6 people saw the flop with several calling two bets cold. This is how the night would go. 6-8 people seeing the flop was a regularity. The funny thing I learned later that night was my brother was dealt AA on his first hand as well (crazy) and his were beaten by a rivered flush as well. Except it cost him a little more as it was no limit.

A couple of hands later I was dealt KK and they held up for a nice pot. The table was very very similar to the online 2/4 tables. There were 4 solid players. There was two loose passive players. One ROCK.......and one LOOSE AGGRESSIVE player. Luckily for me the loose aggressive player was seated immediately to my right. He was frustrating the hell out of the two players sitting immediately to his right. He would raise every street sometimes and after the river show down NOTHING........And he would say in his thick oriental accent, "I got nothing!" It became a joke at the table. The thing that started to piss me off about him is he wouldn't show down his hand at the end......He'd wait to see what you had first before deciding to show or muck. Even when I called him down. The dealer had to get involved a couple of times and ask for the players to show their hands.

A couple big pots I won were when I turned the nut flush holding A4s out of the blinds and when my pocket ducks flopped a set although I didn't show them down because the only player left at the river laid his hand down to my river bet.

I played until 1:10am and cashed out up $247. It was definitely a good time and I will defintely be going back. I'm looking at a possible trip again this Friday night but will have to wait and see. Unfortunately my brother didn't fare so well. I told him I didn't like the max $200 NL game with blinds of 2/5 giving you only 40BB from the start to work with but he loves the NL game and will probably stick with it.

We shall see. Overall, my first $6/$12 experience was fantastic and it will be my limit of choice for awhile while visiting the Trump. I'm curious if there's a big difference between the 6/12 and 10/20 as far as skill level goes.

Haven't played much online.....cleared the Party bonus Saturday night. Will be having out of town guests getting in tonight through the weekend so will get in little to no time online this week.

Good luck to all. Hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday weekend.

Baz out.

$6/$12 Live

2005-05-27T08:42:00.000-05:00

Tonight I'll be heading off to Trump Casino for some $6/$12 live poker. My brother will dip his toes in the $200 max buy-in NL game. The blinds for the NL game are 2/5 which seems high to me. That's only 40BB with the Max buy-in. We'll see how it goes. This will be my first 6/12 action and I'm looking forward to it. The only limit lower is 3/6 and I'm guessing it's a donk fest. 6/12 will probably play similar to the 2/4 and 3/6 online. I don't know for sure......merely speculation. I won't be afraid to change to the 3/6 games if it's not a good game and the 3/6 looks to be. My old man isn't going to make it this time as he's afraid we'll be out all night which we very well may be depending on how it's going. That's the thing about going to the boats or a local "live" casino with someone else or a bunch of people. If you're sitting in a good game and doing well while one of your buddies gets hammered and is broke early I always feel bad and tend to get up from the game earlier than I would have otherwise. That's one of the great things about Vegas........there's a room not too far for your partners in crime to go up to if they aren't faring so well.

I played some more 2/4 last night working on clearing the Party reload. Have about 125 hands to go and I am down about $90. So basically if I brake even over the next session I'll brake even overall with the bonus. Most of it is due to Tuesday night where I lost close to $150 total. I played horrible. Reminder......When I get check raised or raised on the turn by a previously passive player my hand is no good. Release my hand!

I am definitely envious and wishing I was able to make it to the blogger gathering next weekend. I'll be looking forward to all of the write-ups and stories that are sure to come from it.

Til next time.
Baz Out

Live Poker Friday

2005-05-24T13:53:00.000-05:00

It looks like I'll be heading to Trump Casino in Indiana for some live poker action Friday night with my brother and maybe the old man. They spread limit and no limit hold 'em along with the occasional stud/Omaha/etc......It will be my first trip there and I'm looking forward to it.

Any Chicagoland/Indiana bloggers out there drop me an e-mail if you can make it Friday night.

I'm trying to decide between playing no limit which has a min/max of 50/200 with 2/5 blinds or staying with my bread and butter limit and deciding between 3/6 or 6/12.

Here's a question........If I normally 4 table 2/4 online wouldn't one table of live 6/12 be an equivalent bankroll? I believe 3/6 live (being the lowest limit they spread) will be and tends to be the most varience ridden. I can't believe they don't have a limit between 3/6 and 6/12. Oh well.

We shall see what happens. It'll be a nice kick off to the Memorial Day weekend.

Baz Out

Rake Back?

2005-05-23T08:37:00.000-05:00

Looking to get feedback from anyone that gets rake back from any site they play on.

What site are you signed up through? Or is it with a single person affiliate?
Are these sites actually just single people that set up a site?
Are you happy with it?
Has anyone ever contacted a site they are currently on (Party Skin) and get added to or changed to an affiliate for rake back purposes? It seems that they would rather do this than lose your business.....no?

I feel like I'm missing out on some money and have been checking out reviews of rake back sites. I have been considering registering at Full Tilt anyway and figure why not sign up through a rake back deal. If I end up playing half the time there and half at the Party skins I'll at least see some rake returns from the play there. I definitely want to take advantage of the $600 deposit bonus and think that over time they will be a major player in the online poker room world.

Additional thoughts?......Ideas?

Hope all is well.

Thanks in advance for anyone's thoughts and input.

Baz Out.

Vegas Trip Part 3 (Final Part)

2005-05-18T14:24:00.000-05:00

Monday morning came fast with a phone call from my parents for dinner early (around 7:30am). They wanted to meet for breakfast and my Dad, brother, and I planned on going to a tournament or two so we wanted to determine which one (or ones) to go to. We hadn't been able to talk to my Dad about it previously due to the surprise so we had a little catching up to do. Over breakfast we talked about our options and settled on checking out the 11am tournament at the Sahara. I had heard good things about the structure in relation to cost and wanted to check it out.

At 9am we got to the Sahara by way of the monorail and signed up for the 11am tourney. It is $42 for T2000 with one $20 rebuy that you can take anytime during the first hour which gets you T1500 more. So for $62 you get T3500 with the blinds starting at 25/25 and going up in 20 minute levels. A great structure for the money in comparison to what else I saw out there.

While we waited for the tournament they had one 2/4 game going with 3 seats available so me, my Dad, and my brother sat down. Three players at the table had been there all night. Two were buddies and they were feeling REALLY good. They were still putting down Corona's and Budweiser's one after another. The second guy was an oriental fellow and wasn't drinking but would fall asleep for whole orbits at a time. They simply folded his hands. Once in awhile he'd wake up......Play a pot......and usually won it which brought about more razzing from the two younger drunk guys. It was a fun light-hearted table and we had a good time playing while we waited. I sat to the left of a dealer that was playing until he had to be on for the tournament (or until someone else wanted a seat). His name was Paul and someone had called him from beyond the rail while we were playing. The one young drunk kid thought he heard the guy say 8-ball and gave him a sideways stare.....with a big smile.......and said, "Eight ball, eh, I see how it is". We all started cracking up and he was known the rest of the time we were there as 8-ball. So if you're ever at the Sahara and have a dealer named Paul......Call him 8-ball and see if he remembers that day. He's a very nice guy and I can't say enough good things about the staff there at the Sahara and how they ran their tournaments. Nothing eventful happened in the 2/4 game and I cashed out as the tournament approached up $25.

During the 11am tournament there were around 40 players that day. I simply got no cards what so ever. Every time I got a small or mid-pocket pair I didn't hit my set and the flop was a monster action flop with Aces and Kings everywhere. I doubled up when I got fairly short with 55 that held against AK and then dwindled from there. I re-bought before a card was dealt and was happy to start with the full alottment of chips. Some people did this while other waited until they went bust or never re-bought if they were happy with their chipstack. My Dad, brother, and I all sat at different tables and we all busted out one after another within 10 minutes of each other with me being the last one in. We enjoyed it very much and as we walked to the monorail decided to definitely come back to the 7pm tourney. If we had really been thinking we would have signed up before we left but we weren't.

My brother got off at Bally's and my Dad and I continued on to MGM to play more poker (it was around 3pm). My brother had been getting hammered at the limit games and wanted to take a break. My Dad and I got to the MGM and got seated quickly at two separate 4/8 tables. My table was a rock garden and no one was having any fun whatsoever. I played there for maybe 45 min. to an hour before getting a table change to my Dad's table as there were several people there with monster stacks and it seemed really action oriented the couple times I walked over. Boy was I right. I got the seat immediately to the right of my Dad which he was pleased with due to the fact that he knows how aggressive I play. There were two ladies in seats 8 and 9 that had stacks of chips in addition to a rack each. The guy immediately to my right also had a huge stack but what I didn't know (and wasn't thrilled with later) was that he had pulled two racks off the table in addition to what he had. I'm not an expert but aren't you required to keep the chips in play and on the table (visible?) until you cash out and get up? Anyway....This game was action packed and the two women bled their chips away with my Dad and I getting a good chunk of it. They played any Ace and any face sometimes catching and taking a good size pot down but more times than not losing by getting out kicked or running with their top pair to the river on a coordinated paired board to get hammered by a straight, flush, or full house. It was unbelievable.

We did not want to leave that game but my brother was waiting on us to go back to play in the Sahara's 7pm tourney and we didn't want to disappoint. So we reluctantly cashed out at 5:30pm with each of us tripling our buy-ins. My brother called and said......what else.....The monorail was broken down and he was grabbing a taxi and would meet us at the Sahara for dinner before the tournament. So that's what we did.....Grabbed a taxi and headed to get a bite to eat.

The 7pm tournament had the same structure (they all do) and had 95 entries. I played a solid game and went out around 10:15pm 23rd. My Dad didn't fare so well and was planning on heading back when my brother and I started increasing our chip stacks and he wanted to stick around to root us on. Mine took a nose dive when my pocket 10's got a ten on the flop to go along with a K x and ran into someone with slightly less chips than I and slow played pocket Kings on the flop giving them the pot with trip Kings over my trip 10's. I had the blind plus T25 UTG and went all in blind losing knocking me out. The good news was my brother was stacking some chips and reached the final table being top 3 in chips. He played a nice tight game and let several players get knocked out but failed to change gears when it got down to 7 or 6 left ultimately getting knocked out 5th when he got aggressive and ran into a bigger hand. It was a nice run for him though and he was very pleased with his play. I'd definitely recommend the Sahara tournaments for anyone looking for a great structure with a LOT of chips for the money and a friendly staff. I'll definitely play it again when in town.

Tuesday May 3rd was our final day and we wanted to make the most of it. My Dad had spent the majority of time with us boys playing poker so he was going to spend the afternoon with my sisters doing some -EV gambling. But the ladies were spending the morning at the pool so that meant we could get some poker in prior to their plans. We went to my new favorite Vegas poker room......MGM. It was 8am and they did not have a 4/8 game running so I put my name on the 4/8 list and sat in the current 2/4 game. The 2/4 game had an oriental guy that had three racks of white sitting in front of him with at least another racks worth stacked he was playing with. He straddled everytime he was UTG and raised from late position many times in the dark. I don't know if he had won those chips or bought them but in an hour and a half he had lost it all and had reached into the well for more. Unfortunately I didn't get any of it. It was a typical wild 2/4 game and my Dad didn't fare well at all practically busting out and bailing by 10 am heading back to catch up with the girls.

I moved to a new 4/8 table with $5 less than my $100 buy-in at 10:30am. At 12:45pm I cashed out down to $65. There were two guys that saw just about every flop AND CAUGHT. It would have been worse but my cards were worthless for the most part.

I made it back to Bally's where I found my Parents and sisters playing craps and roulette. I jumped on the craps table and in 15 minutes dropped another $75 as the table cooled fast. I jumped on the roulette wheel with my other sister and the $25 that survived the craps table losing all but $8 of that. I then stopped by the poker "room" to see what games they had going. They had several 2/4 games and a 3/6 game going. They had a list as well and were looking to start a 1/2 no limit game. I put my name on the list and pointed to the blackjack seat I was sitting in. I played Blackjack for 30 minutes before they called the names for the no limit game. I broke exactly even.

My brother had been whining that he sucks at limit and wanted to play no limit so I kept telling him to play a 1/2 No limit ring game. I called him to let him know they were starting one and that we had seats available and he said he was heading over to give it a shot. It was 2:30 pm and we had to head to the airport around 4:30 pm. I cashed in for the max of $200 as did my brother. We were seven handed to start with and gained an 8th before too long. I sat in the 1 seat with my brother in the 10. There was an older gentlemen in the 9 seat who called 1/2 and full pot sized bets with next to nothing.....Bottom or middle pair. Another guy played alot of hands but didn't get to showdown more than a couple of times. He showed down monster hands those couple of times but couldn't have had monsters every time unless he was on the biggest rush of cards ever. I played tight aggressive poker and cashed out at 4:30 pm up $70. My brother cashed out at 4pm pretty much even......FOR HIS TRIP. He won the majority of it on one hand. It was around a $600 pot that saw raises being called by 3 people pre-flop. Three people stayed to see the turn after a pot sized bet. Then there was a large bet followed by one caller and they lost one. The river brought the third of a suit and I thought my brother got ran down by a flush when the old man pushed his last $60 in to go all-in. My brother thought for several minutes before stating he had to call based on the pot size (and what the old man had been showing down up to that point). He took it down with his pocket eights to go along with a third 8 on the flop.......The old man had top pair weak kicker. It was a sweet pot and I was happy for him.

Everyone that goes to Vegas for the first time I always wish they win or at least come close to breaking even. Then you're hooked for life. If you lose I think you'll come back if you got some gamboool in your blood but you might not rush back. If you win I think you'll come back with too big a chip on your shoulder thinking you can win and "pay for your trip" everytime. It's always nice to win or break even as your time to get the airport approaches. That's what my brother did. Good job man!

To my Dad: Happy 50th Birthday! I had a blast playing poker with you in Vegas. That semi-regular poker trip to Vegas your talking about......let's set it up! Hope you had as much fun as I did.

Sorry for the lack of specific hand details. I took notes to the best of my ability and will work on better details for future trips. I kind of get in a zone while playing and at a break or something I jot down times, amounts, and what I can remember of hands which is usually very little.

I also put some money on some horses for the Kentucky Derby. In a field like they had this year it's anyone's race so I always pick 2-3 long shots and 2 mid-range odds horses I think have a good shot. I put $10 down on each to win. My horses this year were:

High Limit
Afleet Alex - 3rd
Giacomo - 1st
Closing Argument - 2nd
Going Wild

Closing Argument actually went off at 72-1 by race time so that would have been that much sweeter but I wasn't complaining at the $500+ win. Gotta love the Derby.

If you made it this far.....thanks for stopping by.

Baz Out.

Vegas Trip Report Part 2

2005-05-10T06:47:00.000-05:00

Sunday morning around 10:30am I fought to shield the sun from my eyes as I stirred from my poolside slumber. The desk had told us early check in was at 11am but my thoughts were this had to be close enough and headed to see if a room could be had. The front lobby was bustling with people that had flown in that morning and the check-in line was growing fast. As I waited in line I noticed a few people leaving the counter with room keys........A good sign. I had been told to ask for a room in the North tower as they were nicer. I had been told to try the $20 tip trick for an upgrade. At that point, all I wanted was a room with two beds. A place to call home for a couple of days. By 11am we were checked in. We received a room in the South tower. It was a good size room but nothing special to note. We finally were checked into a room and that was all we really cared about at that point. My sisters did a rotation to put their pool gear on and were able to save their pool side lounge chairs. Their plan was to stay there resting for the afternoon. I showered, feeling refreshed by my poolside nap and the fact that I had a bed to get into.....eventually. My brother was out cold by the time I was done cleaning up so I left him a note to call me when he got up. I was heading for the MGM and their new poker room.

1pm Sunday I made it to the MGM's newly opened poker room. I was immediately impressed with it's size and the space between the tables. There is more than enough room and you definitely do not feel cramped. They could actually add several tables and still leave plenty of room for comfort. It's basically shaped like an arc with the cashier in the middle and they try and hold all limit games on one side with the no limit games on the other side. They have a table up top overlooking the sportsbook for high limit games that may come together. There was a waiting list for 4/8 so I put my name on it and took a seat in a 2/4 Kill game that had an opening. I cashed in for $100 and had doubled it by the time 2:30pm rolled around and my name was finally called for 4/8. I moved over to the 4/8 game and continued my steady climb. One particular hand stands out during this game. I was dealt AQs on the button and raised two limpers. The BB called as did the limpers. The flop came 9 Q 4 with two of my clubs giving me TPTK with the nut flush draw. It checked to me and I bet with the BB calling along with one of the limpers. The turn was an offsuit duece and it was checked to me again where I bet and was called in both spots. The river brought the 8 of clubs giving me the nut flush. This is where it gets interesting. The BB leads out so I immediately figure he's got the King and second nut flush. The MP limper calls and I raise. The BB re-raises me and we lose the MP limper. I re-raise him back and he re-raises me again with little hesitation. I re-raise him back and he re-raises me AGAIN! At this point I pause, double check the board to be sure I didn't miss a straight flush possibility, peek at my hole cards to be sure I didn't misread my hand and was sitting with the Ace of spades instead. I did in fact have the nuts and re-raised him back. This happened a total of six times from start to finish before he simply called. The table was into it and couldn't wait to see our hands. He actually beat me in turning over his hand and had the 6 and 7 of clubs giving him a baby flush one card from the straight flush. I turned over the Ace high flush and he just shook his head and I dragged a monster pot. I couldn't believe what had just happened. He re-raised me six times with a baby flush! Needless to say I was fast falling in love with poker at the MGM. At 5:45pm I cashed out with a little more than 4 times my buy-in.

6pm Sunday night the Monorail was broken down with a sign that read it will be open at 7am Monday. So I walked back to Bally's from the MGM.......It wasn't the last time this happened either. I don't get it. They spend gabillions of dollars on this monorail system which is quite nice when working.....I don't ever remember the monorail being broke down when it ran between MGM and Bally's. Why all the problems now that it is extended to the Sahara?

7pm Sunday evening was Siesta time. I napped hard until 9pm and it was much needed.

9:45pm we caught the limo to the airport to surprise my Dad for his 50th birthday. He had no clue we were there and Mom told him she got the limo to pick them up as part of his birthday trip. The driver was let in on our little surprise and went inside with one of those signs to snag them. We waited inside the limo for them.....Waiting for the moment to spring the surprise. While we waited another limo pulled in next to us. It wasn't unusual because there were several in line. All of a sudden eight, how should I say, larger women came up to it with at least two suitcases each. I looked at my brother and said, "there's NO WAY they're all getting in that same limo." The poor driver struggled stuffing their luggage in the trunk piece by piece and tying down the lid and they piled in one by one. Two of the larger ones played a quick game of rock/paper/scissors to see who got to take the seat up front and after some maneuvering and shuffling around they were off. I couldn't believe it but they all fit. I wouldn't say comfortably but they seemed to be having a grand 'ol time already.

Finally my parents were on their way out and they were beaming and excited.......My Dad excited to be in Vegas and my Mom the same with the addition of knowing that we were waiting in the limo and Dad had no clue. My brother had cracked the door on the opposite side we thought they'd come to as it was getting pretty damn hot in there while we waited and wouldn't you know my Dad headed to that side which was opposite of the way they came. I said, "He's coming your way." My brother pulled it as closed as he could while ducking down to stay out of view as my Dad grabbed the door handle and pulled it open while joking with the driver. His initial look was stunned as he saw us sitting there and we yelled surprise and happy birthday. He was truly surprised and couldn't believe what he was seeing as he climbed in and saw all of his now grown children sitting there ready to spend a couple of days in Vegas with him. It was priceless. Once back at Bally's they checked in and since they were out of "regular" rooms for the night they put them in a suite for the first night which was in the North tower and really nice. We talked for a short while and then made our way back down to the casino to do some gambling for a little while.

1am Monday morning I was sitting at a $10 minimum blackjack table and dropped $200 by 1:40am. I lost $120 on one hand where the dealer had a 6 showing and I split my 7's. I got another 7 and split again. I got another 7 and split again getting a 4 this time which I doubled down. I ended up with eight bets out when all was said and down between splitting and doubling down. My highest total was 18 which I wasn't thrilled with especially when the dealer turned over a 5 under that 6 and of course hit that 11 with a face card for 21. It was brutal. I then had to make my way to the craps table at 1:45am to drop another $240 on $5 minimum craps by 2:30am. It was time to get some sleep.

Next part will find us entering a couple of Sahara poker tournies with some ring game action and a straddler at MGM.

Baz Out.

Vegas Trip Report Part 1

2005-05-09T14:31:00.000-05:00

Saturday April 30th seemed like it simply dragged on and on. We were leaving for Vegas baby and that time seems to never get here quick enough. I was traveling with my brother and two sisters our Dad had no clue we were going to be there. We were surprising him for his 50th birthday. Mom had surprised him with the trip to Vegas to celebrate this milestone in his life and we thought it would be awesome to be there as well. After a clearance through Mom we made plans and couldn't wait for the day to arrive. It was finally here. Originally it was just my brother and I but it didn't take long for my sisters to join the fray. We had all gotten the same flight which was good. We were supposed to get into Vegas around 9:50pm Vegas time. I made reservations at the same hotel my parents were staying so we could all be at the same place.....Bally's. I had never stayed there before and am always up for trying out a new hotel. When making the reservations Saturday night was double what I could get Monday night for and quadruple the Sunday night rate. After some discussion with my brother we decided not to make a reservation for Saturday night and simply wing it. My brother works third shift so he's used to staying up all night anyway and I remembered countless times I've gone to Vegas, dropped my bags in the room that first night, and didn't see the room again until well into the next morning. It was also my brother's first time in Vegas which would make everything that much more heightened once we got there and he started exploring and checking things out. When my sisters were added to the mix several days later I told them about the plans and offered to reserve us a room for Saturday night as well now that there were four of us sharing the cost. After some discussion we left it as it was and decided to see what happened. So that's how we left it and now it was finally April 30th and we all gathered at my sister's house waiting for the car to pick us up for the airport. The car and flight were on time and we were off on our Vegas birthday surprise adventure.

Upon arrival we took a cab to Bally's and checked our bags with the bellman. Even though we had no room to check into I was walking abnormally fast due to my excitement of being back in Vegas. We took a quick look around the casino floor at Bally's and found the "Poker Room" to be nothing more than an area slightly seperated from the floor with a couple of velvet ropes and a podium with a small cahier window in the back. It was also in a noisier area of the casino which I didn't like. Since it was my brother's first time in Vegas and we had ALL NIGHT to kill we decided to walk around to some neighboring properties to take a look around. I loved the idea because I was looking forward to seeing the Bellagio's new remodeled poker room. I have to say I wasn't overly impressed with the Bellagio's new room. It is big and looks very nice. I'm not sure how many tables they have but I'd guess 27-30. The problem is everything looks crammed together. In the 5-10 minutes we railbirded I saw several people's chairs bumping into the chair of a person sitting at the table behind them. And the cocktail waitresses looked to really be battling these chairs to get from table to table to serve drinks. That's not a problem for Doyle and the rest as they have a nicely enclosed area with several tables. I could see Barry Greenstein playing what I guessed to be a mixed game and a new table was starting with Jennifer Harman in there as well. It was, after all, Saturday night around 11:15pm. I'm sure there were others in there I would have recognized but simply couldn't see. It definitely was packed and even though I planned on playing there I new I didn't want to wait on the wait list for that night......Even though I had ALL NIGHT.

We didn't stray too far before deciding to split up for awhile and do whatever we deemed appropriate. My brother and I headed straight to Bally's "Poker Room" and told the ladies that's where they will be able to find us. I was hoping to find a 4/8 game going but all they had was 2/4, 3/6, and 1/2 No Limit running. It was 12am and the 3/6 list was several people long while there was immediate seating at 2/4. My brother and I sat 2/4 immediately and were pumped to be playing live poker in Vegas. The session was uneventful for the most part. I lost the majority of my buy-in by 3am with the norm being 6-8 people seeing flops. I learned that I didn't like playing at Bally's on a weekend night with the live music just across the table game area in the bar. It was sooooo frickin loud you couldn't hear a thing. My brother lost a little but fared slightly better than I and it was then our sister's hunted us down and we did some more walking around.

We found ourselves at the Imperial Palace from 3:30 - 4:30 am. I love to play poker but also love to gamboooool it up with blackjack and especially CRAPS. I've payed for many a Vegas trip on Blackjack/Craps winnings..........don't get me wrong......I've lost my share as well.....But getting on the right craps table is an awesome feeling. My one sister loves to play craps as well and the other one is learning. My brother doesn't have a clue how to play and I really believe he is more confused after the trip and me trying to teach him than he was going into it. Maybe that says something about my teaching? Anyway.....$5 Craps at IP was brutal and I dropped $200 in that session which I didn't realize was going to be the norm for me this trip at the 'ol craps table.

5am Sunday morning I tried like hell to sweet talk a cute asian lady at Bally's to let us check in giving her the full sob story and making up a bunch of shit to make it really good. No luck.

6am Sunday morning we were eating breakfast at the Sidewalk Cafe picking out who had just gotten up for breakfast and who was STILL up for breakfast. It was obvious where we fell. At this point we were thouroughly exhausted. If I was by myself or with my brother only I probably would have been playing poker still but I felt bad that my sister's didn't have a room to go to if they wanted so we decided to go check out the Wynn.

7:20am Sunday morning we were at the Venetian and I lost $10 in a Jacks or Better 5 cent machine when I really just wanted to sit down. I lost another $10 in a 25 cent Double Diamond Deluxe slot machine but we had recouped enough energy to finish the walk to Wynn. I thought along the walk how I had stayed up all night so many times before without much thought or problem and why this time was so brutal. The differences: Little to no alcohol this time versus A LOT of alcohol the other times and having the OPTION of going to your room. There's something to be said for knowing you have a place you CAN go to versus knowing that you have no place to go for awhile.

7:45am Sunday morning we finally made it to the Wynn and it was.......In a word.....Nice. I wasn't overly impressed. Maybe it was the fact that I had been up all night and was exhausted but it simply felt like Bellagio to me. Of course, I guess it should in a way since it was Mr. Wynn who built both but I really thought he would seperate himself from that "feel" and go a totally different direction. In my opinion......He didn't. The poker room was very nice but smaller than I thought it would be. There was no seperation for Daniel's high limit area other than a small riser to a seperate table (or it could have been tables). There were only 4 tables going this time Sunday morning. A 4/8, 15/30, 1-2NL, and 2-5NL. There is no maximum buy-in for there no limit ring games which I thought was interesting and I think will fail miserably in the long run but they are trying it. They have a shuttle to the monorail from Wynn but it either wasn't running at all, wasn't running yet that morning, or we missed something somewhere because we couldn't figure it out so we caught a cab back to Bally's. The best $5.60 I spent yet up until that point. Once back we set-up a limo to pick up my parents at the airport that evening through VIP services.

Approximately 8:45am Sunday morning I visited my first pool EVER in all of my trips to Vegas. It was at Bally's and while the sign said POOL CLOSED........The door was open. My sister's and I each made our way to a lounge chair and slept until 10:30am. I'd wake up once in awhile and have the strange feeling like someone looted me while I slept.......tap my pocket to be sure everything was present and accounted for......Then fall back fast asleep. People gave us strange looks as they came to the pool in their suits......Us in our jeans with no shoes or socks and various non-pool wear tops. It didn't matter.......We were tired. I loved the pool for that hour and 45 minutes.

The next Part will find us getting a room, more poker in my new favorite Vegas poker room, and more.

Baz out

I'm Back

2005-05-04T07:05:00.000-05:00

I'm back from Vegas and it was a BLAST! Unfortunately I am also back to work first thing this morning after getting in at 2:30 am last night so a trip report will have to wait.

Some things to come.......

First night and no room......
The Wynn.....
My first visit ever to a Vegas pool.....
Poker......
Random betting.....
-EV games craps and blackjack.....
Birthday surprise.....
Sahara poker tourney......
The straddler......
More Poker......

Til then.
Baz Out.

2005-04-29T21:54:00.000-05:00

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

Bummed

2005-04-26T14:23:00.000-05:00

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

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

2005-04-24T21:31:00.000-05:00

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

Home Game And Blogger Satellite

2005-04-22T14:02:00.000-05:00

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.

Vegas Countdown

2005-04-20T10:57:00.000-05:00

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.

Neteller Freak Out

2005-04-19T21:24:00.000-05:00

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.

DSL

2005-04-19T16:07:00.000-05:00

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.

Weekend Tourney

2005-04-18T13:45:00.000-05:00

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.

Quick Thoughts....

2005-04-13T12:57:00.000-05:00

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.

Up In Limits

2005-04-09T13:20:00.000-05:00

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

My WPBT

2005-03-30T20:27:00.000-06:00

My WPBT was over before it pretty much started...........first I got to the table 5-7 minutes late due to the bath for my 3 and 2 year old running late and just when I think they're in bed and we're home free they both state they have to go "poopie". I feel them out for a minute because as many of you parents know this is a classic toddler pre-bed stall tactic. I determine it's for real and took them to take care of their business....................And had to take the time to make a big deal about my two year olds feat as she is in the potty training phase so actually asking and going in the potty chair is a huge deal.......Again........All you parents out there know what I'm talking about.

Wait a minute...........This is supposed to be about the WPBT. Well, by the time I got to the table I was on toddler tilt. I lost a slight chunk of my chips and then built back to around T1400 at the start of the second level. Then I just got stupid. There was one limper and the button raised a standard raise while I was in the small blind. I have AQo and re-raise doubling the bet. The BB and limper drop and the button calls. The flop came A 10 x with two hearts and I check, he bets, and I check-raise which he calls. The turn is a third heart and for some reason I decide to push and am instantly called. He had a K high flush and I went out in 100th place. It was a whirlwind and I definitely wasn't playing even close to my C game much less my A game.

I'm pulling for a blogger win and will look forward to the next event. Enjoy my donation this time.

Good Luck.

Baz Out

Odds and Ends.....

2005-03-29T12:43:00.000-06:00

Took our newborn to the doctor today and he's almost back to his birth weight which is FANTASTIC NEWS! He's eating like a champ now and as long as he continues to do so he should be just fine. I don't know what it is with my wife and giving birth to boys......Our first son was born a month premature and spent the first several days of his life in NICU with an IV and feeding tube......Our daughter was perfectly fine besides being crabby all the time and wanting things her way on her terms all the time......But I attribute that to her being a girl as well :0).........And now our second son had to be re-admitted to the hospital in the first 2 weeks of his life and had an IV as well......Unbelievable. It could be worse and we are counting our blessings.

My good thoughts, prayers, and well wishes go out to Felicia in her dealings of the moment. Take care of yourself and get well.

A huge congratulations goes out to doubleas for winning his seat to Aruba! Good Luck!

I hope to be able to make the WPBT tomorrow evening. I'd like to come out with a good showing and see a rise in the WPBT standings. Good luck to all whether or not I am able to make it.

I was actually able to clear the Party bonus last night.........I'm dragging even more than a Dad with a newborn and 2 other kids 3 and under should be but I couldn't let the bonus go without an effort. I had to be up last night for the 1 am feeding anyway so why go to sleep.....Right? The plan was to work it off over the weekend but as you know that went out the window with spending two nights in the hospital.

Besides, I need to prep myself for an upcoming trip. I wish I was about to say I was going to be making it to Vegas for the WPBT Live in June but I'm not. I am, however, going to Vegas. My Mom is taking my Dad to Vegas for his 50th birthday this year. My brother, two sisters, and I are going to surprise him there. Mom knows but it will remain a surprise to Dad. Can't wait! We leave the evening of April 30th and return May 3rd. We will be staying at Bally's because that's where my parents are staying. I've never stayed there so any info or insider tips is appreciated. I saw online that they have a poker room which I didn't think they had before. I'm curious if it's an actual room or they took out some table games and added some poker tables with the recent poker boom. I'm also pumped to be able to check out the new Wynn hotel and casino as it should be open if the opening isn't delayed.

It's my brother's first time in Vegas so he's pumped as am I.......But I'm always pumped when there's a Vegas trip looming. We will be doing something that I've never done before........we aren't getting into Vegas until around 11pm or so and the Saturday night rates at Bally's were ridiculous so we basically don't have a room to check into until Sunday. I don't know how many times my room was mostly wasted anyway because I boozed and gambled all night anyway so we figured what the heck.......We'll simply check our bags at Bally's and hit a club, the poker room, or a club and then the poker room for the night. My folks don't get in until Sunday evening and are staying until Thursday so we'll be able to check in and get a nap in before they arrive.......If we need one.

I'm looking for some suggestions, tips, and information.

Best low buy-in ($100 or less) tourney's Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday? Anyone play in the Flamingo's $55 30 player's Max weekly tourney? What about the Aladdin's weekly $35 with the $5 add-on for 50% more chips and one $20 re-buy? My Dad wants to play a small tourney or two and we'd like to find a decent one for him.

Anyone play in the Golden Nuggets weekly 7pm tourney? It's $125 but I don't like the unlimited $100 rebuys with a $100 add-on.....Not great for our bankrolls unless we've been winning decently up until then.

The only place I've played poker in Vegas has been at the Bellagio. After reading a lot of blogger trip reports I'm looking forward to checking out the games at Aladdin and Excalibur at some point during our stay. Any other suggestions?

Anyway......I'm pumped we're able to surprise my Dad for his 50th. He'll be blown away and it'll be great to be able to play some live casino poker with my old man and brother. Can't wait!

Take Care All......And thanks again for the well wishes and support! Hope to see you at the tables tomorrow night for the WPBT.

Baz Out.

Thanks.....

2005-03-29T00:48:00.000-06:00

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to stop by and wish us congratulations. Things have been crazy here. We just spent the weekend in the hospital with our now 2 week old son. He wouldn't put on any weight and lost over 10% of his body weight since birth. He got soooo sleepy and looked way skinnier than any baby should. The doctor had seen him and wanted us to call if he wouldn't eat much by Friday evening and we had to call. Straight to the emergency room we went and the poor guy had to go through the ringer with IV's and the works. If you've never seen a nurse put an IV in a dehydrated newborn you don't want to.....especially if said newborn happens to be yours. Finally getting admitted around 3:30am and spending until Easter Sunday evening in the hospital. Luckily things are looking on the up and up and moving the right direction. Let's hope we can keep them going that way.

I plan on playing in the WPBT Wednesday night but won't register until last minute just in case I'm needed around the house. Hope to see you there.

I'm up for the 1am feeding so gotta run. Got a lot more to share but it will have to wait.

Appreciate the link from BigPirate stating he enjoys my blog. Thanks Man! Hopefully content will start coming a little more often.

Til next time.
Baz Out.

It's A Boy!

2005-03-17T06:51:00.000-06:00

The newest member of the Baz household entered the world on Friday March 11th. He is happy and healthy and both him and Mom are doing well. It's been crazy and hectic but I'm loving every minute of it. Two more days of work and then off for three weeks. Not sure how much poker I'll get in, if any, but there are more important things to tend to for the moment.

Lots of blog reading to catch up with.......Looking forward to it.

Take Care.
Baz Out.

Warning! No Poker Content...

2005-03-08T14:00:00.000-06:00

Human Head left me a comment in my last post concerning baby #3 that stated:

3 year old son.
2 year old daughter.
New addition due Friday.
Bakzar=A machine.
Congrats!

Thanks for the congrats HH...........but I'd like to expand and get slightly personal for once.

To clarify......My wife is the machine. In these three contributions to society I spent probably about 8 minutes......ahem......contributing......And that's giving myself one minute credit for each of our children that were conceived in Vegas (which was two of the three). She did ALL of the work and continues to do the majority of the work as she is a stay at home Mom.......and a FABULOUS one at that. I was lucky enough to have a Mom who stayed at home with me growing up, as was my wife, and we wanted to be able to give that to our children if we possibly could. It wasn't, and isn't, easy at times but we get through it. In today's society people need "things" to show off to other "people" to show they are "successfull". What does that mean? People think we're crazy to only have one car............I think they're crazy for taking their kids to day care every day.........Who's right? Who's wrong? It's all in who you are and what you think is important in my book.

Thinks are definitely busy around the Baz household.........I wouldn't have it any other way. The feeling I get every day I get home from work and am greeted by two kids who think I am the greatest........Kisses and hugs for no reason.......A son who wants to be wherever I am and do whatever I do. I cherish these times. I know......I know.....Just wait until they're teenagers you say. I can't wait! Do you know why? My wife and I feel we are giving 100% as parents and if we do that we can be confident in the fact that they will turn out right and make the right decisions. Does that mean they won't get into trouble ever? Heck no! Of course they will.......didn't we all?

People ask me all the time..........."how many more are you going to have?" My answer is always, "at least six." Most people can't believe it. Some ask if I'm serious. To tell you the truth I don't think I'm serious but who knows. We'll just hope and pray this one gets on the ground healthy and safely Friday and go from there. Life's too short to worry about what "other people" think is the right size family.

I come from a family of 4 and my wife a family of 3 so it will probably be one or the other. I tell my wife all the time that if this one's a girl we have to have a 4th to try and tip the balance of gender power back to even.......if it's a boy and I regain power than I leave it up to her. I can't imagine my current two year old daughter not being my "baby girl" any longer.........unless this ones a girl I'm sure. We don't know if it's a boy or a girl and didn't find out on any of them.......There are too few "true" surprises left in life anymore. We wanted to preserve a couple. I for one can't wait until Friday when the doctor takes our new life into this world and say's, "It's a boy!"......"or girl!"

I'm 31 years old and was fortunate to know ALL of my grandparents AND GREAT GRANDPARENTS not losing any until I was in high school. My parents are young. My Mom just turned 49 and my Dad turns the big 50 this summer. You can do the math. It was rough growing up but I wouldn't have changed a thing. My Mom might surprise my Dad with a trip to Vegas for his birthday this summer and my siblings and I might fly in for the double surprise.....at least my brother and I are in for sure. We shall see.

Enjoy your families.......whatever they may be. It's different for everyone. Not better or worse......just different.

Take care and please throw some prayers my way for my wife and newborn to be happy and healthy this week.

Take care.

Baz Out.

Baby #3

2005-03-08T07:05:00.000-06:00

I was sick again over the weekend. No poker but at least I was well enough to make it into work yesterday so I didn't use up any more sick leave of which I need here VERY shortly. Feeling much better today. I'm hoping to get some poker in tonight at the virtual tables but we shall see. My posts will most probably be more sporadic as they already are due to baby #3 scheduled for Friday. I'm very excited to be adding to the family and the in-laws will be in town for a week and a half starting Wednesday. Things will obviously be slightly hectic with the new baby added to our 3 year old son and 2 year old daughter along with out of town guests (helpers) in the house. I envision little to no poker for several weeks..........but I'm not going to mind it a bit this time.

Good luck to everyone in life and at the tables. Will report back when I can.

Baz Out

Party Bonus and Random Stuff

2005-03-02T16:50:00.000-06:00

I've been working on clearing my Party bonus.....first Sunday night for a couple of hours and then last night for several hours. It's been brutal to say the least. Four tabling 1/2 and simply brutal. I thought I was getting ready to bump up to 2/4 but I'll hold off on that for now. I'm down just over $100 since making the deposit with only about 400 hands left to clear. I guess we'll see if this becomes a break even proposition once I add the bonus.

I plan on finishing it off Thursday night as tonight will be spent with the wife and kids followed by the new WPT episode.

Once I clear the Party bonus and get some funds in Neteller I will be purchasing the Poker Tracker Guide e-book written by the blogfather and Hank. I am looking forward to it immensely. I have had all of this information at my disposal and have had minimal ideas (at best) on how to utilize it fully. Can't wait to get my hands on it.......The only problem will be when will I have time to sort through it and apply it. By next Friday a third child will be in the house and that will leave little time for other stuff.

I think I'm going to be using a portion of the winnings from my live tourney and take the wife and kids to Wisconsin Dells before I go back to work after the baby is born. My wife LOVES staying in hotels and it will get her away. The kids will have a blast because we will stay at one of those indoor water park lodges where you come down the elevator and are right there in the water park. The wife can come down with the baby if she feels like it or enjoy the rooms ammenities. I'll be looking into pricing and reservations this weekend. Would be good for the family and a great way to spend a portion of a win like that.

Speaking of my win.........I have a feeling I will ALWAYS remember it due to it being my first bigger money win. I don't know about the rest of you, but $1100 is a lot of money to me and my world. I will always remember it as my FIRST $1000+ win. I was lucky enough to get a visit and congratulations comment from Felicia on my win and how awesome it feels. It made me think about everyone else out there........does everyone remember their first "landmark wins"?

First $1000?
First $5000?
Etc......Etc......Etc.

Curious.

Some of the money will be funding my live poker for awhile and I'll probably order those two additional kitchen chairs that we sorely need.

I wish I could make it to Vegas June 4th for the next live WPBT event but with the baby due to hit the ground any day now that's not high on the priority list. Another time.....another place.

Baz Out

Tourney

2005-02-28T06:55:00.000-06:00

I played in my bi-monthly NLHE tourney this past Saturday. It was the second time I played. I couldn't make the last one due to work although I did show up late and got in the side games as tables opened up and allowed it. There were 52 or 53 that showed up for this one which is an excellent turnout and about all they can realistically handle.......probably 56 max. I stuck to a solid strategy of being tight aggressive early and it paid off. I won a bunch of little pots and got caught only a couple of times with my hand in the cookie jar which wasn't a big deal due to the slow build up of chips I had acquired. There were 3 solid players at my table, a couple of average calling station types, and a couple of very passive weak players.

The blinds were at 30/60 when I was dealt JJ in MP. I raised to $180 and was called by a player in LP and the button. The flop came 5 5 2 rainbow. I led out with $180......one fold and the button made it another $180 to go. I called and the turn was another 2. I bet the pot which was basically 2/3 of my stack and he went in the tank. He was one of the solid players at the table and I definitely didn't have him on a 5 or a 2 unless it was pockets and I didn't think he would have called the pre-flop raise with pocket 5's or 2's.....if he did and had quads he was going to get paid off. I put him on pocket 9's thru Q's. He finally mucked face up......pocket Jacks! As I raked in my nice pot I went back and forth on whether or not to show........I finally said...."Here are your other two" and flipped them up. The table exploded and he sat back in his chair taking his hat off in disbelief......standing up and walking around for a minute before returning and telling me nice bet. He went on tilt after that loosening up and lossing the rest of his stack within a few orbits.

That put me in solid chip lead position at my table and I was able to push a couple of people off of some hands. When we lost our next person we were all split up and moved to new tables. I had everyone outchipped at the new table I was put and immediately started putting pressure on the table with raises. After the first orbit couple of orbits we lost a player and the tables were being combined down to 3 tables. The player we got was seated to my left which was the only open seat. He was the chip leader of the tournament and I wasn't too happy about seeing him seated to my left......time to hunker down and get some hands while seeing how he played was my thought. The first hand after he sat down I was dealt A K o. I raised three times the big blind from LP and the chip leader doubled it with everyone folding it around to me. I thought about it and limited myself to two choices: 1) fold 2) put him to the test and push all in. I thought he could be trying to establish his presence at the table early with his chips although I put him on a pocket pair......9's, 10's, J's, or Q's. I pushed all in and after thinking for a few moments he called. After he called I said, "you're probably ahead." He replied, " I doubt it" and flipped over Q 7 s. I couldn't believe it! I had the Ace of his suit and he said, "let's see some spades" to which I replied, "as long as there are four of them." I hit an Ace on the flop and the board was rainbow with no flush to come. I had doubled up and was about even with him after that hand.

I rode those chips to the final table which ended up being 8 when numbers 9 and 10 were knocked out in the same hand. There were four of us fairly even with chips and the other four pretty short stacked. The short stacks were in push mode in relation to the blinds which were up there in relation to their stacks and the four short stacks went by the wayside fairly quickly. Three guys from my starting table all made the final table which was pretty amazing. I made a crucial mistake calling an all-in with pocket 5's four handed and he flipped pocket 6's taking half my stack when no 5 came to help. I got back to about even chips with the same guy in the next orbit or two when I looked down to find pocket Kings. I tripled the big blind and got only one caller. The flop came K rag rag and I was first to act......I checked. He pushed all in and I called instantly. He had middle pair and was drawing dead at the turn needing runner runner for quads to win. I had him out chipped.....Barely.....and practically doubled up. Another guy went out in third and I found myself heads-up practically even chip wise. We went back and forth for awhile both being fairly aggressive but not overly so. I had 9 8 s and saw a flop of K 9 8. He led out and I over bet the pot to make it look like I was trying to buy it and praying he didn't have a straight draw. He pushed and I thought about it for a few minutes before calling. He had K 3 o and got no help which put him practically to the felt. I won it a couple of hands later with A 8 o and got a straight using the 8.

It was a great feeling to win a live tourney of this size with lots of solid players. Very Very Gratifying. I will have a 5% bounty on my head for the next one. I hope that makes people loosen up some and gun for me......hopefully I'll catch some hands and acquire some chips.

All in all it was my first multi-table win either online or live........and my first cash of $1000 or more ($1100 total). Can't wait to defend my title in April.

Sorry the details are a little sketchy but I didn't take notes.......All from memory.

Baz Out.

2005-02-23T14:07:00.000-06:00

Finally got back on the tables Tuesday night......4 tabled Empire to the tune of 40BB overall. Edging closer and closer to a move up in limits. It's amazing how comfortable I am 4 tabling now. I believe I actually improve my play when 4 tabling now because when I 2 or 3 table I am always reading e-mails or blogs while playing and miss turns or click wrong plays WAY more often then when I 4 table and concentrate only on playing the tables. I'm sure I still miss bets here and there from reads I could have gotten if I only 2 tabled and paid attention but I still think that overall profits will be greater overall with 4 tabling if I can do it comfortably.

Looks like I won't have a chance to play again until Friday night........it's my daughter's birthday this weekend and we have Chuck-E-Cheese tomorrow night followed by Sunday family gathering of cake and ice cream. Bi-monthly NLHE tourney is Saturday and I'm looking forward to it. My game has vastly improved since the last tourney. While I play mostly limit online.....starting hand requirements and importance of position understanding has come along way since the last tourney. Should be around 50 people or so and we'll see how it goes. I'm planning on reading the no-limit section of Super System 2 before then if I can. I haven't had a chance to pick it up yet and really read it.

Anyway.....quick random post today.........hope everyone's well.

Here there's a live WPBT event on the calendar now.....wish I could make it but it's not very likely this year with my wife getting ready to give birth to our third child. Things will be even crazier around the Baz household.

Take Care.
Baz Out

2005-02-17T14:08:00.000-06:00

It was a long week with no poker. I wasn't able to play from Wed. Feb. 9th through Wed. Feb. 16th. We had my brother-in-law in town for the weekend which was a good time and work was busy the beginning of the week. My return to the tables at Empire last night was a good one. I played for two hours and finished up a total of 50BB. Well on the road to moving up limits again. My short term goal is to move up limits again by the end of March. I did so well I decided to fire up a sit-n-go over at PokerStars since I still have some money there from the deposit for the WPBT. I entered a 1-table limit sit-n-go and won it an hour and a half later. Not bad at all.

Unfortunately I won't get to play online again until Sunday night (hopefully). My sister-in-law and her husband are flying in Friday through Monday (they'll be elsewhere for the evening Sunday) and it should be a good time. Another weekend of PS2 wagering and heads-up Hold 'Em games. My Dad's monthly home game is this Saturday as well so I'll be playing some live home game poker which is a couple of hours of limit hold em followed by a sit-n-go. It's always a good time. Then to the bar afterwards to finish off the drinking.

My posting will even be more sporadic over the next month (I know....I know.....all 2 of you are thinking.....yeah right....like that's possible). My beautiful wife will be delivering child number three before I know it. It's exciting and I can't wait. Hopefully she makes it until the second week of March but you never can tell. We have a 3 and 2 year old now. It's a wonder I have time or money for anything much less poker. My wife does a fabulous job staying at home with the kids. I definitely couldn't do it.

Til next time.
Baz Out

2005-02-11T14:07:00.000-06:00

I won't get to play poker this weekend until Sunday night. I knew it was coming so I busted my butt to clear the Empire bonus by mid-week........Which I did. My brother-in-law is coming into town for a quick visit. He just moved back to Iowa from Texas. It's good to have him back close enough to see more than once or twice a year. The weekend will be filled with hanging out with the kids during the day and drinking in the evening. We'll most probably head out to a local drinking establishment Saturday night after the kids go to bed for some drinks and Golden Tee. My brother and a couple other buddies will most likely join us. Should be a good time.

I've got my Dad's home game next Saturday night and a home NL tourney the following Saturday so I'm looking forward to the next couple of weekends for live poker. My sister-in-law and her husband will be in town then so much PS2 will most likely be played as well.

Hope a good weekend is had by all. Til next week.
Baz Out.