Time flys

It has been over 3 years since I posted here and I have to blame a lot of it on my sheer lack of poker playing. Although I had never really intended this blog to be only about poker, it appears that when the poker stopped, so did the blogging.

To drive the final nail in the coffin and all that, I decided to revisit online poker playing last week and sure enough the urge to blog about it came with - the proof being this entry right here.

Given the challenge of getting money into poker sites now days I finally figured out the trick and used the eCheck mechanism that Pokerstars supports. My original intent was to use a check from one of my Canadian accounts but I discovered that Pokerstars assumes that if you live in the US, you would only have checks from US accounts. They are wrong but after a conversation with support, I realized that this was too difficult a thing to ask of them. They do support checks from Canadian banks if you live in Canada tho. :P

So last week I managed to get $100 into my Pokerstars account (which is the max you can write your first eCheck for) and decided to get back into the game. I had always liked S&Gs, so I tried a couple of a format I hadn't seen before. They are called Double or Nothing - basically 10 person S&Gs where the top 5 win double the entry (minus the rake). I found I had mixed success with these - people actually played quite tight (which was surprising) and I lost more than I won.

I then moved on to cash games - given my big bankroll I decided 0.10/0.25 NL was a good place for me to start. I put a few hours into this over a couple days and managed to eek out about $7/hr which I guess is pretty good given the limits I was playing at. It was fun at any rate.

Yesterday I decided to try one of the larger tournaments. They didn't have addons or rebuys but they had what they called extended registration which is really just rebuys by another name. Registration stayed open for an hour and you could reenter as often as you wanted. This took us from about 2100 original players to a total of 4791 when the first hour was up. I don't remember the numbers after that but by the end of 3 hrs I was in the money with 720 people left. After 4 hours we were under 100 players and I had actually been as high as 12th place at one time. During that 5th hour it was obvious my luck was running cold at the wrong time. I couldn't get any cards and the blinds were now in the 3k/6k to the 5k/10k range. I went out in 51st place at about 4hrs 40mins.

It was kind of neat to play the bigger tournament, especially when you are winning. It turned out that 51st place was worth $8.86. The tournament after all had only cost $1.10 to play. ;-)

By the sounds of it I am back playing poker, slowly, and back writing my blog.. Slowly..

No, I'm not dead..

It is kind of hard to believe it has been 6 weeks since I last posted. However between having no internet at home for about a month, it took me a little while to get back into using the internet at home again.

Apparently a lot changed in the online poker world since I last posted anything. I won't make much of a comment about it other than to say that I closed out my pokerroom account (thanks to them wimping out) and still am playing at pokerstars.

I haven't played much poker tho. I played a couple tournies over the last couple weeks and managed to actually make the WWdN: Not last week. So this week I decided to play again (that is actually more of a choice than it sounds - I just haven't been into poker much lately). Of course while I was waiting, I discovered CC's Bash.

I hadn't played last week in it, and in fact didn't know much about it other than it appeared to have some of the regular crowd there so I signed up. So while waiting for the tourny to start (actually both of them since I was also signed into the WWdN: Not) I noticed that the Bash was Limit! Awk! I don't like limit, don't do good at it and limit tournament seems just painful. Unfortunately it was already too late to unregister.

So I fumbled my way along for the 1st half hour, then the WWdN: Not started. Now it got confusing - playing limit in one window and NL in the other. I struggled on.

We seemed to play in lockstep which each tournament - 8 players in one window, 8 in the other.. Then 7 and 7, 6 and 6, etc.. It was eerie. I couldn't follow the conversations in each chat window - I had trouble clicking on the fold/bet button at time.

As an aside, I have no idea how people actually play multiple tournament at the same time - my hat's off to those who do it successfully.


Through nothing more than pure luck on my part, I managed to break the bubble on the limit game and make it into the money. I moved up and before I knew it, I was heads up with the Doctor himself. I actually managed to come back and have a huge chip lead and force him all-in a couple times before my cards turned cold again and he returned to trounce me. We did manage to beat on each other for what felt like half an hour (it was probably 5 minutes).

Somewhere in the intensity of it all, I managed to be the bubble boy on the WWdN: Not tourney - not bad for really not paying too much attention.

Anyway, it was a great game CC and Pauly. I will certainly try to come back next time and add to my points (now that I have some). Please try not to make it limit again tho. ;-)

Staying in touch..

After last weeks adventures, I figured I was all done. But oh, no, there is more to come.

As I discovered last week, my EVDO card which I use for internet access didn't like the area I was living in. That should have been all fine and fixed up when I returned to my normal location last Sunday. However, I found that a problem I was having with the EVDO card last week was the precusor of more problems to come. I managed to get connected once on Sunday and after that, it gave up the ghost. To the point where the computer doesn't even recognise it as a PC card anymore.

Of course I went to the Sprint store on Monday, and after spending 1 1/2 hrs "helping" the support guy realise that I really did know what I was talking about when I said it was dead - he insisted on having me bring in the laptop, uninstall the software, reinstall the software, etc.. All to get to the same conclusion I had. He then went on to say that since it was out of the 30 day warantee (and I didn't pay for the insurance), I would have to contact the manufacturer to have it replaced under their warantee. The card is about 60 days old.

So I am now in the process of waiting for an RMA number, so I can send the card in and wait for a replacement - regardless it means probably at least another week+ before I get internet at home again.

Huh? What do you mean the government banned online gambling? I guess I won't know anything about that til I get my internet back at home and I try to get to any of my regular sites. Amazing what happens when you lose your internet access for a couple days.

Anyway, I obviously won't be there again this week for the WWdN: Not, but if yesterday's WWdN turnout was any measure, we may have record crowds. I would be there if I could, but since I can't, now is the time to set the record! Good luck everyone!

Long time gone

Amazing how time flys when you are having fun. I have to admit that poker has been pretty far from my mind that last couple weeks - and other than trying to set a record for the most consistent first person outs, I have played little poker.

I have not received much in the way or logos for the WWdN: Not. I am not a huge fan of the "knot" image - but it does seem fairly popular. Keep sending me logo suggestions and I will post something and then let people vote in comments. At the current rate, there wouldn't be much voting.

On a completely different note, this weekend was moving weekend for me. When my wife and I came down here to Southern California 2 1/2 years ago, we brought our 5th wheel trailer with us as a place to live. With only the two of us and our dog, this is more than enough room for us and it has the benefit of allowing us to live in park (fortunately not one of those parking lot type RV places).

The downside is that the place we are living is a county park, and every 7 months we are required to leave for a week - to prove we are not permanent or something. That was this weekend and we move back in next weekend. Now that wasn't enough - oh no.. The place we stay when we take our week out is nice and close, so it is a quick move. This time however, they are having power problems and the park is generally closed to RVs. Unless you have a reservation, and then there is no power there. Well, we did have a reservation and decided it was actually cheaper to buy a generator, than pay for some of the other alternative locations.

So yesterday morning, we get on the road and moved into the new park. Get the generator going and everything seems to be chugging along happily (literally - the generator chugs along..). The next problem I discovered was Sprint doesn't have as good of EVDO coverage as Verison and my internet access was down to 10 minutes at a time (at best). So I don't think I will be playing any online games this week - including poker. Oh well, beer drinking doesn't need internet to work good.

So while drinking beer and listening to the generator for about 4 hours, the generator started to sound really funny - it seemed unable to idle consistently and when under load, it couldn't handle it at all. I headed out to the truck (the generator is in the back of the truck) and noticed gas running out of the truck bed. About this time, the generator quits and with some small investigating I find the fuel line has come off the carb. I suspect it was loose to start with, and the vibration finally released it. With a little persuasion, I get it all hooked up and look at the air filter (which is soaked with gas). I wring it out and let it dry, then put it back together and fire it up. Back in business and back to the beer and tv. After all, what else can go wrong?

Well about 9 pm, the generator starts to run rough again - I am seriously starting to doubt this plan at this point. I head out with the flashlight, expecting to find fuel all over the place again. The generator sputters to a stall, but no fuel to be found. In fact I seriously figure, that was the problem - with the leak earlier, I ran out of fuel. No problem, I have another 5 gallon container, all ready to go. Except, it is one of those new fangled spouts which for the life of me, I can't figure out. It is supposed to prevent spills, which I suspect it does, since I couldn't get it to pour anything. At this point I considered pouring without a spout at all, but given the arrangement, I figured that would make my earlier fuel leak look like nothing at all. We decided that it could wait til today, in daylight, when we could get a proper funnel and just remove the spout and pour into the funnel..

So if you are actually still reading this, I have no idea why. Thanks tho, just in case I did have anything worthwhile to say. So this will be a noisy, week for me, with only internet at work. Enjoy the MATH, WWdN, Mookie and WWdN: Not, and I will try to keep up with the events during my lunch hour at work.

To logo or not to logo, that is the question.

Mookie recently pimped our favorite tournament and he included an logo which I assume he created. It raised the question for me as to whether we should have a logo contest of some sort.
(Blogger won't let me upload the image right now)

And of course the obvious question 'Who is the woman?"

So since I really suck at creating logo type banners and such, I will make the following offer.

Send me your logos (for the WWdN: Not) and I will make a post in a couple weeks with all the received logos. Whoever has the most popular one (vote in the comments), will get a free entry into the following WWdN: Not.

You can send the logos to me (rgduff) at my favorite email place. (gmail).

See you all tonight!

A little late?

Alright, I was tired Thursday night - L0K1 and I raced to see who could go out first. And we had Wil !!! there for the first time in quite a few games. He played very well and unfortunately managed to be our bubble boy for the night.

Now I admit that I cheated and didn't actually stay around to watch the end. I do know that our final 3 were playing a very strong game for as long as I was around. It was interesting that both Mungo36 and mookie99 were the ones who took out L0K1 and I, giving them a very early head start - and we all know how important that is.

Anyway, a little late, but congratulations to Mungo36 for winning and more importantly L8Bloomer for NOT winning. mookie99 rounded out the top 3.

Stay tuned for next weeks WWdN: Not The L8Bloomer Invitational!

Time flys

It seems like just a day ago when I took off for Pechanga for the weekend. Time flies when you are having fun I guess. I did discover they have a nice structured, cheap to enter, tournament there. Apparently it is a regular 10am thing, with $20+5 entry fees and $4000 in guaranteed winnings on Saturdays. Might have to go back for that again.

Anyway, even tho I didn't make the WWdN: Not last week, I wanted to make sure everyone was thinking about this week. Come join us tomorrow for it!

What: WWdN: Not The hacker59 Invitational
Where: Pokerstars
When: Thursday, September 7th, 7:30PM PT
Which: Tournament: 31053234
Cost: $10+1 NLHE
Password: monkey

I knew it was going to be an interesting night...

... when I decided to play in The Mookie. I used to play 3 regular tournaments a week - the WWdN, the Mookie and of course the WWdN: Not. I got to a point where it just seemed too much (or perhaps too much poker in general was the problem), so I cut back. Over the last month or two, I have only been playing the WWdN: Not, and the occasional other game - nothing regular.

So I decided this week that since I wasn't going to play in the WWdN: Not tomorrow (I am going away for the long weekend), I would play in the Mookie instead. The first hand I was dealt I had pocket 5s. I called and the button, SB and BB all join me. The flop comes 10104 and I bet out 40 - a test as much as anything. I get two callers and one fold. The turn comes a 5! for my baby boat. It is checked to me and I bet 40 again. The button (willwonka) raises 80 to 120 and the SB (surflexus) re-raises 160 to 280. I think about it and decide to push. willwonka folds and surflexus calls. Surf shows Q10 for trips. The turn is a 3 and that is it for both surflexus and the late registration (which ends when the first person is eliminated). 2:18 minutes! Sorry about that one Surf.

Anyway, it was the start of an interesting night for me - mainly because I actually managed to get cards often enough that I never really was hurting. Oh I had dry spells, but never long enough to seriously hurt my stack.

The first break came and I was doing well - the second came and I was competing for chip lead.
When we finally broke that damn bubble, we were at about 2:30 hours in. We played for a few more rounds after that and someone suggested we chop the pot. The chop was a good deal for everyone but 1st and 2nd place, but since we were all pretty close in chips, we all agreed to chop the money and play on for the title. This is my first time I have ever chopped a pot - kinda neat actually.

I am not sure everyone was playing as serious after that, but it certainly didn't last long and we finished in less than 3 hours with yours truly in 1st place.

I do have to say that winning this is actually much more important to me that most the MTTs I play. I have a lot of respect for most the regular players, and winning something like this is worth more to me than the money in any sense. I certainly would like to thank mookie for all the effort he puts into this every week and I am sorry to see him move it to Full Tilt. I don't have an account there and am not prepared to create one at this time. I hope everyone continues to have a good time and I wish it all the success.

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Don't forget, even tho I am not here tomorrow, you still need to come play the WWdN: Not The Anithri Invitational.

What: WWdN: Not The Anithri Invitational
Where: Pokerstars
When: Thursday, August 31th, 7:30PM PT
Which: Tournament: 30611882
Cost: $10+1 NLHE
Password: monkey

A little poker for a change

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I have been playing a lot less poker over the last month or so. I can't really say why other than I needed to do something with my life other than play poker 5 nights a week and on the weekends.

I decided to play in a $10+1 tourny on Sunday at PokerRoom. PokerRoom has always had a sweet spot in my heart as I have made my best wins there. The biggest was a $1600 win earlier this year (I think it was this year).

Part of the attraction, I think, is the level of play is not quite as good as PokerStars. This makes it slightly easier to do well.

Anyway, as I was saying, I got into a 518 person, $10+1 tourny there on Sunday. I wasn't really getting any cards, and I usually play reasonably tight in those circumstances. I made it past the 1st break with less than average chips. As the game progressed, I was slowly getting chipped away at until I got to that point where you have to stand up and be counted, one way or the other.

I actually survived that phase and when we crossed the 100 people remaining boundary, I was in around 30th place or so. Unfortunately my cards turned a little better. You know, when you are getting bad cards, it is easy to play tight and avoid any confrontations. You only lose big, when you have big cards (and the other guys has bigger).

In this case, I had AQo - not great, but certainly better than what I had been seeing. The bad guy raises to 3 or 4 BB and I call. The flop comes Qxx rainbow and I bet out about pot sized (realising that I was pot committed if he called). He raises enough to put me all-in and I call. He turns over JJ and my Queens are looking really nice. Of course the turn comes a Jack and I am out in 90th place. The money started at 60th place.

This is not a bad beat story (it only sounds like it). I was quite happy that I had made it that far and lost to a 2 outer. (well, I wasn't THAT happy).

I took a small break, and then tried another tourny with much, much worse results (but it took a lot less time).

So that was it for Sunday. I got home yesterday from work and after a couple beer, decided I would look for more poker (I am not sure that is a good idea). Around 830pm, I found a $20+2 tourny about to start. There was 128 people to start, so it looked easier than the 518 from Sunday (hah).

Like Sunday my cards sucked and I chipped away at my starting stack. Nothing spectacular by the 1st break. I was in 17th out of 42 remaining . Nothing scary by this point, just a little blind (and pot stealing) and playing it tight.

The game tightened up considerably and somewhere in this hour, I found myself with pocket Kings. This was my best starting hand in a long, long time and I decided to play it fairly cool with a 3BB raise. I was in fairly good standing with lots of chips (2nd at my table) and not overly threatened by anyone. One player decides to call. The flop comes xQA rainbow. The other guy bets about 1/2 his stack (which I think was less than pot sized) and I think about it for a second then I clicked all-in! Oops - serious brain fart or something as that was not the way I wanted to play this. Of course he had an Ace, which held up and I was now hurting. We were at that point of the tourny where you can go from last to first and back again without trying hard. I was now in 17th out of 18. Because of the tight play, and big blinds, everyone was really close in chips and any move was significant.

I did however manage to squeak out some more steals and grind my way back to 4th out of 13th place standing at the break. Only the final table paid and we were in hand for hand play trying to break that bubble.

The tight play continued past the bubble and finally we were in the money (not that it was that much). I was about middle of the pack with 2-3 players with less than me when I called an all-in by the short stack with A9o. I figured he was desperate and it "seemed" a good idea at the time.
One of the big stacks called the all-in after me. The flop came 97x and I checked on the big stack bet 4k. Given this was 2/3 the pot, and it would definitely pot commit me if I called, I thought about it and decided to fold (cursing the big that he had better have this guy beaten). It turned out that they both ended up with the same straight and split. So at this point, I was the only loser and now the new short stack.

The next hand, I got JQ and decided that 2 face were as good as it was going to get before the blinds (at 1k-2k) were going to get the money anyway. I pushed and was called by an AQ. I don't recall what happened other than I didn't improve and went out in 7th for $128. Not bad, but it just seemed very disappointing in that I didn't play as well as I had hoped.

Oh well, it was fun. ;-)

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On another note (if you are still reading this far down), don't forget the WWdN: Not this week.

What: WWdN: Not The Anithri Invitational
Where: Pokerstars
When: Thursday, August 31th, 7:30PM PT
Which: Tournament: 30611882
Cost: $10+1 NLHE
Password: monkey

No Threepeat tonight, but

a good try none the less. TROPHYHUBBY went out in 6th place of a nice 18 person turnout. NOT a record by any means, but a good turnout for a great game. slb159 managed to hurt me enough that I went out slightly afterwards in 8th place. BlkBltJones who won the tourny two weeks ago went out in 7th.

The fight for the bubble appeared to start with 6 left with everyone being pretty evenly split except for hoyazo who had about twice the stack of his nearest competitor. Anithri hurt slb159 and the final blow was delivered by L0K1 to take them down to the real bubble.

L0K1 raced with his 66 against Anithri's all-in AK to lose out when a K came on the flop. He managed to fight back with another 66 against Anithhri's AQ to win this time and get back in the game. The fight for the bubble was fun to watch, but finally L0K1 sacrificed himself to let the remaining players make it into the money. Of course no-one plays this for the money, but the right to say they are most capable of NOT winning in Thursday nights.

Congrats to the final 3, hoyazo, Anithri and NewinNov and we hope you will all come back next week for the WWdN: Not The Anithri Invitational!

Next week, I will be away for the long weekend and not here to contribute money to the game. It will be set up tho and hopefully we can find someone to report on it so I can see how everyone did.

Time flys

I have been busy this week, away from my office doing some training. In fact this is my first computer use in 14 hours - which may not be a record, but it is a little unusual for me.

L0K1 is off HORSE'ng around and writing about his experiences. One of these days I will have to give it a try and see how I can do. I have only managed to play one game of poker since last week, and that was with my usual lousy results. I am going to head down to Pechanga at the end of the month, so maybe I will see if I do more in person.

Anyway, I wanted to make sure I mentioned the WWdN: Not The TROPHYHUBBY Invitational tomorrow night. This is the first time someone has NOT managed to win two weeks in a row, so I thought it was worth special mention - we won't want to let that happen three times or anything like that.


What: WWdN: Not The TROPHYHUBBY Invitational
Where: Pokerstars
When: Thursday, August 24th, 7:30PM PT
Which: Tournament: 30188246
Cost: $10+1 NLHE
Password: monkey

A quick one

Tonights tourny was quick, with only 9 people showing up. My partner in crime, L0K1 sacrificed himself on the bubble to enable surflexus, TROPHYHUBBY and slib159 to finish in the money. suflexus was on fire and it allowed TROPHYHUBBY to be our first double winner (or is that loser?) with TROPHYHUBBY Not winning twice in a row.

So stay tuned next week for the WWdN: Not The TROPHYHUBBY squared Invitational!

It's time again

Hmm.. Quiet week for me - at least in terms of blogging and poker. I don't think I have played since the last WWdN: Not tourny. Last night I got distracted by the Mrs who wanted to go out for dinner. She actually had the audacity of using the fact it was our 26th wedding anniversary as an excuse.

So when I logged into blogger today, they had a link up about trying out the new beta version, will all new bells and whistles and such. I am still looking for those, but at least it seemed to have moved my blog over to the new servers without problems. If you notice anything different or weirder than normal, let me know and I will look into it.

And finally, more than anything else, go get signed up for the WWdN: Not The TROPHYHUBBY Invitational:

What: WWdN: Not The TROPHYHUBBY Invitational
Where: Pokerstars
When: Thursday, August 17th, 7:30PM PT
Which: Tournament: 29778434
Cost: $10+1 NLHE
Password: monkey

aNOTher fun game

Just a short note tonight. We had about our average turnout (18 - 2 full tables) and the game was fun as usual. Hoyazo went out early and was not impressed. We got live updates from Jules as she watched the PPV from the ME final table. The rest of us kept reloading Pauly's pages so we could get his updates. Congrats to BlkBeltJones, TROPHYHUBBY and my friend Quatloos for making it into the money in 1st, 2nd and 3rd. BlkBltJones told me this was his first WWdN tourny - nice way to start. I didn't have the heart to tell him this was NOT the real thing. Stay tuned next week for the WWdN: Not The TROPHYHUBBY Invitational!

The Big day in Pokerdom

Today is the day that we will probably see a person who is reasonably unknown ascend to the throne of Pokerdom and be crowned the new King. (There is also a good chance that poker pro Allen Cunningham will make it too -- here's hoping).

We couldn't get the coverage that those of us who can't attend demand if it wasn't for the famous (or is that infamous) Dr. Pauly has been presenting us. Unlike some coverage, he cuts through the BS and gives us a great view into all aspects of the WSOP. My hat's off to you Pauly. We can all show our support to him by linking his blog and seeing if we can set some sort of view record for him during his coverage today.

--------------------

On a much more normal note, I hope everyone plans to attend tonight's WWdN: Not, even if Kat isn't around to defend her title:

What: WWdN: Not The Katitude Invitational
Where: Pokerstars
When: Thursday, August 10th, 7:30PM PT
Which: Tournament: 29328119
Cost: $10+1 NLHE
Password: monkey

NOT again

My last post about suckouts and what is a suckout and what is not actually got my friend Jay/L0K1/Patch to make a post on his new blog about it. It is interesting that everyone has a slightly different definition and they all tend to be colored a little by the level of tilt that the victim is feeling at the time.

I have said before that I play a small, nickel and dime, game on Sundays. Basically if we can get three people together, we play. We do $5 buy-ins and it tends to get a little crazy at time, but usually in the end, not a lot of money changes hands. Well, yesterday, we had a friend from Canada visiting and of course my wife, Sherry, and I made him our 3rd so we could play poker. He had certainly played before as he spent a year down here working on a contract with a local company.

It was getting later into the evening (we play outside and the sun was pretty much set) and the following hand came up. At this point I was down one buy-in, but probably had enough chips to be considered break-even. Sean was not having a good day and was down about $20. Sherry obviously was doing good with all our money. I had 910h and called a 2BB raise. It was a family pot and the flop came 6s7d8s. I bet out 5BB (which was just over 1/2 the pot) and got two callers. You have to understand the level of bluffing that goes on in this game - so no information was given or gained by this play. The turn comes a 5h. I am happy so far with the nut straight and just bet out the same 5BB (deliberately underbetting). Sherry calls and Sean raises it to 15BB (almost 1/2 his remaining stack). Hoping to stack and isolate him, I call all-in. Much to my surprise (well, maybe not), Sherry calls the all-in with her stack. At this point Sean thinks about it and realises there are serious pot odds if he thinks he can win. So he calls. Everyone turns and they both have a 9 kicker and my 9-10 is in the lead. We look at everyones cards and try to figure out the remaining options. Sherry's cards are both spades, so she has a flush draw. A 10 on the river will give us a three way split.

We wait for the river, and as expected, it is an 8 of spades, giving Sherry the flush and everyone's money. Now given the way Sherry plays, I would call this a suckout. I seriously doubt she looked looked at the flush draw as a possibility. On the other hand, she's got my money and in theory, could have thought we all had 9s, and was going for the split with the flush draw as backup.

At that point, we decided it was a good time to quit for the night. I ended up down $10 and Sean was down $25. (But we all had a good time and that is really what it was about)

--------------------------------

On a completely different note, don't forget to get signed up early for this weeks WWdN: Not The Katitude Invitational. Even if the star herself will not be available to defend her title.

What: WWdN: Not The Katitude Invitational
Where: Pokerstars
When: Thursday, August 10th, 7:30PM PT
Which: Tournament: 29328119
Cost: $10+1 NLHE
Password: monkey

Suckout or NOT?

I had never played any 45 SnGs because it always seemed you had to wait too long before they started. Then I signed up for the 45 SnG Challenge and discovered another reason for not playing them. I apparently suck at it. The closest I have gotten to the money is a 8th, 9th and 10th place finish. Oh well, I will plug away at them some more and see if I can avoid being in bottom place of the 20 people in the challenge.

The following hand was my finale in a 45 SnG yesterday. I was pretty much short stacked (blinds 200/400) with 1985 in chips. I was dealt KK and pushed. One caller called with AsJs. The flop came 3dQs4s, the turn was a Jd and of course the river was a spade (10s). Of course I went home in 9th place and just missed the money (again).

We see this kind of hand happening all the time and usually we listen to the loser complain about how they were sucked out on. Pokerstars is often refered to as Riverstars as it seems to happen all the time.

I certainly agree there are many times when suckouts occur, but I believe people often think that hands like the one I described were a suckout. I certainly didn't like the hand, but it was NOT a suckout. Especially in a case where the decision was made preflop. The caller in this case had two good cards, we were on the bubble and he had me covered 4 times over. The fact the cards were suited added to this decision. I would have probably made the call even if they weren't suited given his opponent (me) was so short stacked.

My point is the fact the cards were suited added value (I am not the math guy - they can tell you how much value). This value was based on the odds of 3 cards having the same suit out of the next 5 cards dealt. The fact the last card that matched happened on the river doesn't make it a suckout. Even if he would have had to go runner runner suited to get the flush, it would not have been a suckout because he made his choice before any of the cards were seen.

Now I used a simple example (although painful for me) with a flush and the decision being made preflop. But the same thing occurs whenever someone makes a one way choice (going all-in, or even getting pot commited). If the choice they made was based on getting certain cards and it was a valid choice, the fact the cards happen to come out on the river, or even turn and river, it is not a suckout.

Now this isn't to say that suckout don't occur. They do - all the time even. It is important to remember that it isn't a suckout if the decision made by the player included odds on remaining cards filling their hand. Of course nobody should be depending on runner runner odds to make their hand and if they did, you can call them a donkey instead.

Not a record, but a good turnout for us

We had 22 intrepid bloggers and readers out tonight for a good game. The game was obviously too hard for me, so I went out in 16th and joined some of the others in playing a cheap cash game.

I shoulda quit that while I was more than doubled up, but I still managed to quit ahead enough to pay for the NOT tournament.

Anyway, back to the main event, as usual it was a feisty game and those who were knocked out or just late, railbirded (is that a word?) for those still in.
I had high hopes for fellow Canuck Guin, but he managed to be the bubble boy and allow last weeks bubble boy slb159, fellow Canuck Katitude and rspr41 finish in the money. rspr41 went out next with slb159 going on to win the event. Hmm.. There seems to be a Canadian theme going here.

Kat managed to NOT win, so next week you will all have to come congratulate her for NOT winning in the WWdN: Not The Katitude Invitational!

New blogger!

I'd like to welcome my friend, and co-host on the WWdN: Not, Jay to the world of blogging. I know for a fact he has a lot to say about poker (not that you judge by the original post on his blog) and now all we have to do is get him to write about it on his blog. Feel free to head over to his blog and welcome him. You could even try asking him about his opinion on some poker, but look out if he is in a curmungeony (is that a word) mood.

With a little luck he will remember to play tonight at the WWdN: Not. Let's see if we can get the numbers back up to the 25 or so level. If we don't, I might just have to win it again.

What: WWdN: Not The chipperdh Invitational
Where: Pokerstars
When: Thursday, August 3rd, 7:30PM PT
Which: Tournament: 28896393
Cost: $10+1 NLHE
Password: monkey

More NOT this week

As mentioned in the last post, slb159 and chipperdh have slightly different versions of what happened last week. Quatloos has managed to post some screen shots of various stages of last week's game as well.

Let's see if we can get back to breaking our record this week (although I don't really mind the smaller games - especially when I win).

What: WWdN: Not The chipperdh Invitational
Where: Pokerstars
When: Thursday, August 3rd, 7:30PM PT
Which: Tournament: 28896393
Cost: $10+1 NLHE
Password: monkey