If I truly wanted to leave, I would have left already...aka I go but to return...aka The Love Elf saves the day

You know all that stuff I said about outgrowing the FT 20k…that I was better suited to 75s and 109s and would camp there permanently as soon as I could?

You all knew that was self-delusional bullshit right?

This blog is good for me. In these recent lengthy posts outlining my self-perceived weaknesses and then receiving feedback that highlights other, subtler holes in my game, I have been able to make some important mid/late game adjustments. Deliberately made over the past three days and to great immediate effect. No it hasn't just been luck - I have played specific hands very differently these last four days and the results are clear. An improvement has occurred.

No final tables. Yet.

But I cashed in the FT 2pm DS 6k Guaranteed two days ago, and cashed in the 30k on both Saturday and Sunday (75th and 99th respectively). The 30k is boasting a field of 1500 these days. I am pleased by the deep finishes, but even more pleased that both bustouts were beats on the magnitude of 3/1 or so. Sunday boasted the somewhat predictable QQ v A7o which made trip 7s by the turn. On each of these bustouts, if I win I am an average stack again. [NB: that wasn’t a badbeat story because like I said I am truly proud that once again I have found that spot where I am getting my chips in way, way ahead.]

Since I don’t really play poker for my hourly rate, the only results-oriented benchmark for me is depth of penetration into these big field MTTs. Not a bad week.

Actually moneying last night was a particular source of pride because I took a terrible hit to my stack when I made a tough shortstack call of a push from the cutoff holding a measly A4o. I had been watching the villain for over an hour and his range was wide open. I had also been leaving my blind undefended deliberately and he had taken it 3 of 4 previous orbits. It’s an odd habit of mine, but at times I will not defend even with playable (but not great) cards for a few orbits when the blinds are mid-range in the hopes I can then resteal with air down the road when it counts. This trick is surprisingly effective, esp in late stages, but it depends on an observant but greedy opponent – which villain clearly was. The move also predictably widens the range the CO and button will try to steal with. Which is why I felt ok with busting if I was wrong, but felt good he wasn’t packing an ace or much of a hand at all.

I call and he shows 67s. Sadly for us dear readers he manages to cripple our hero down to less than 2k with blinds about to hit 200/400. Say what you will, that was not a random, “let’s gamble” call. That was simply (for better or worse) the best poker I can play. I have long since learned in my real job to trust my instincts at all times, and as I start to do it more and more in poker I am noting they reliably come through for me.

The board is another matter, of course. But rather than tilt, I just start picking my spots and stole two sets of blinds uncontested. The power of being the shorty is that the bigstack is sometimes loathe to double you. Then came Hand of the Night v1.0, with the eponymously lovely Love Elf watching no less, when I get JJ.

Home free, right?

Nope. QQ.

As I am literally getting ready to go to the fridge for a drink of ice watah to detilt, Tina types “J!” in the chat and BOOM! not one but TWO Jacks appear by the turn. Right back in it. To his credit, the player who took this sickening beat (the same guy who crippled me earlier) took it like a gentleman – observing it was oddly fair. Fucking Good Form.

From there I played it strictly by position, folding even 33 in MP to EP pressure, preferring to go for postional pushes with fuck all as holdings. Worked very nicely, and that brings us to Hand of the Night v2.0. It was a push at the exact moment the bubble was about to burst. I am dealt Q3o in the CO-1 and decide fuck it, I have both blinds almost covered (my 9k to 9.5k and 10k). The big stacks in between me and the shorties will assume I am packing a premium to push right on the bubble and get out of my way. They do. As for the shorties in the blinds, they will fold up to AJ (at least) to a push rather than bubble. And fold they do, taking me to 11k, and getting me to believe that the comeback was just getting started. It cracked me up that Hoy, who I guess had been quietly watching for a while recognized this instantly for the move it was. I'd point out where I picked up such MTT delicacies, but if you've read this blog at all, you can probably work it out for yourself. On the other hand, I chuckle to think how dumb I'd have looked if I ran into a premium... But that's actually the point: with only 4 to act in front of you, and with that much pressure on them - you're golden way, WAY more times than you're not.

So as you might have guessed by the time I saw those queens, I had already begun to think about my midstack strategy and who would be the victims of steal attempts now that I would have a stack to work with. I admit was ecstatic to call UTGs push knowing I was way, way ahead. Until I wasn’t. I appreciate Hoy, JJ and Tina hanging in there for me – it was good to play my A game with friends watching for a change. It slightly ameliorated the bitter taste of almonds.

Honestly, as idiotic as it sounds, I believe it’s just a matter of time. I will be at that final table before I go back to work. If not, it won’t be for a lack of me bringing my best game and enough shots to let the math open the door. I take no small pride in the fact that I have played this tournament a fair bit, and am positive dollars for the effort. When I hit that big one, it will look goot, goot, goot.

FT 20k – I love you, darlin’. I have decided I must have you and make you mine. You will love every minute of it baby. You know you will.

Laytah.

Idylls of my kings...aka Tennyson never open-limped monsters...aka The unexamined life hand is [probably] not worth [re]living

Yes Kids, It's Time For Yet Another EDIT:

First up: I need 49 more bloglines subscribers in order to drive Jordan nuts. C'mon people, doesn't that sound like a war effort worth making? Thought so. Fuel will run the numbers for us.
Next up: Horn tooting 101 [quelle surprise, no?] I have serious doubts hdouble reads this thing - but just in case; thanks, brotha. I clicked over to FT's guest blogger callout from your post on it. I've recently read Fuel's and Jordan's posts and they're just what you'd expect from them - rational and interesting strategy and tactics. Actually I just noticed that Wes the Big Pirate beat us all to the punch with a great piece on resisting the temptation to trouble deaf Heaven with our bootless cries when AA/KK go south. Reasonable foreshadowing for this post, no doubt.

I think mine is also in line with what you'd expect me to produce. I wrote it a little on the fast side, and yeah, I could be accused of pandering, but I meant every word. Anyone who knows me or reads this thing knows - I fuckin' love Full Tilt Poker. I'm happy to advertise their phenomenal site whenever I get a chance, and yup; it's nice to get paid for it this time. Thus, if you've found yourself wondering lately, "How can I have access to even more of Iakaris' inner, most deeply personal thoughts?" all I can say is: Your Chariot Awaits.

Well hope you enjoyed that spiritually uplifting exercise. Now back to Regicide: An Essay with Many Words.
____________________


Here’s a hand I’d like to share with you and get feedback on. It’s one that demonstrates the value of Conventional Wisdom but also one that draws reference to one of the ideas in Absinthe’s last strategy post – The Roshambo Defence (Which reminds me: how the fuck did you Americans come up with that name? Internationally, ever since we stepped out of caves and sequentially invented paper and scissors the rite has been known only by its weapons of choice. Gotta do everything yer own way, eh?) . Proving great minds (with too much time available) think alike, cmitch recently put up a nice piece on thinking about what the other guy thinks you’re up to that also struck a chord.

“Never limp monsters”, we are told by pro and schmoe alike. “That guy deserved to have his Aces cracked the way he slow-played ‘em.” I know something close to that quote has crossed my lips and fingertips a few times.

But if we all feel that way and act accordingly, you have to admit, it opens a hole in the front five an intrepid back might exploit. If we play for a while at a table and come to feel our opponent possesses a sound understanding of strategy and tactics, we may give him credit for an unwillingness to limp monsters. If others at our table have in fact formed that opinion of us, they may begin to turn off the suspicion of the UTG limp and just put the player on a mid-strength that will fold to same pressure one was planning on applying to the blinds anyway. On the other hand, you are playing with fire, because you are praying even for a min-raise to give you a chance to spring the trap.

Sometimes you get singed and other times it’s all seven layers of skin, and deep into bone.

Full Tilt. $109 6max 25k Guarantee – lately more like 30k. Becoming quite fond of this MTT for its size (280) to payout ratio. Nonetheless, despite four nice runs (outlasting half the field or better in all) I have yet to make dollar uno and my roll is screaming for mercy. I honestly should’ve cashed in 3 but got delusions of grandeur in the late game and overplayed my hands all the way to the rail. My new plan is one or two of these a week because the competition is knowledgeable enough to fold hands and small enough that a red hot night could make someone familiar with MTT success a lot of money for about four hours work.

UTG - Our Hero (clad in azure cashmere pajamas and matching size large men’s nightsocks) is dealt KK. Blinds 500/1000, my stack is just shy of 11K which is good for par. I have been at the table for a while and believe I know my 5 companions fairly well. UTG+1 is a shorty 5k and had been playing pretty aggro before getting stung. Early on he pounced on weakness. He’s been quite for a while and with the blinds coming by again I had the impression he might be ready to try and push me off, as he had done twice earlier. CO is a big stack raising and calling a lot preflop but a very good player postflop. The Button is another large stack 20k+ and numbers look like he likes to make moves. The BB is also a guy with a midsize stack and VP$IP of 44/22.

Let me end the suspense and note I don’t fare well this hand.

I limp KK UTG, specifically because I am 80-90% confident it will be raised pre-flop. I am trying to squeeze extra value out of the hand because I’ve played a little too tight and my raises are being respected to the point I can’t get any action to save my life. Shades of junior high, no doubt.

I get 4 of five people limping to the flop.

Flop comes about as bad as you’d want: A Q T with two diamonds (you guessed it - my kings are black).

The SB had folded and BB checks to me. Pot is 4500. Your move?

I fire 4k into it. I doubt AQ, AJ are out there. AT is possible, pocket pairs I would’ve thought should’ve reraised preflop. Any weak ace is poison. But I still have a shot here. I limped UTG with a monster…perhaps I can sell a different kind of monster.

I fold out two, but big stack smooth calls. Your guess as to what he’s holding? Weak A is possible but he should be able to fold it – he’s not a maniac.

Turn brings me more ugliness with another T. Your move?

I try a short (but not too short) wait and fire out 3k in the hope it will look like a value bet.

With zero hesitation, he puts me all-in. Your move?

I have bet off 8k of 11k holding a great starting hand and trying to make a move on this guy. It’s clear to me it didn’t work. Instead, as Wes noted recently, it seems I turned my good hand into a bluff.

I’m done. I fold. He doesn’t show.

Destroyed a very deep run – and I find this hand interesting (I allow you may not and if so, Apologies: I will resume my Limited Poker Thought policy in due course) because it’s layered with transgressions against Received Instruction that were deliberately made in the attempt to represent a winning hand.

Mistake 1: I limp KK
Mistake 2: I bet at an A high flop with three in the pot
Mistake 3: I bet the turn when it likely improved my opponents holding
Mistake 4: Folding when you have bet off 75% of your stack because you finally know you’re beat?

Was this hand a mess from the get go, or is there some method to this nebulous tactic. I still don’t hate the limp in context, and am ambivalent about my flop bet. The turn bet likely falls under the heading of Wishful Thinking.

Okay. Still alive in the 2pm deep stacks: 16th with 100+ left after the second break. Just trying to relearn how to cash in a deep field MTT – a feat outsmarting myself has made a challenge lately.

Laytah.

EDIT:
Be careful what you wish for if you're posting to a MWGB while actually in a tournament. Took my foot off accelerator just long enough for bubble to burst. Switched to new table but had tracker running on it so knew what everyone looked like. Huge stack who was pretty loose had 3Xd from UTG+1. I am 39/45 but ITM and find TT in MP. To me this is a no-brainer: I push accepting 4 hands will make this an early and minimally profitable exit, a bunch will have me racing and a few might make me smile. I double here and I am a midstack and a definite factor.

QQ.

Oh well, I finish 45/250+, just barely ITM and go out on a play I don't mind one bit. That's pokah, baby.

Impression of an Idiot (and a good impression at that)...aka Through the looking glass for 26 bucks...aka Who says losing isn't entertaining?

Another poker first for me last night.

Anyone who stopped by my table at the FT 20k (yeah she’s that girlfriend I just can’t get ovah, I know) however briefly really got see me put on a clinic. In donkitude.

But deliberate donkitude.

I had just busted out of the Aussie 75er sat to the 20 seat guarantee when QQ went down to A4 (naturally). I brushed it off and started to focus on the 20k for the first time in about 40 minutes. Dnasty was at my table, extending the already lengthy list of bloggers I’ve started the 20k with. I played a couple of decent hands and chipped up a little then pulled off a successful overbet with just T6 on a T high board to double early. Why the fuck the guy with A2 and bottom pair called this I have no idea. This got me moved a different table, and with it came a change in my thoughts on the 20k.

Frankly…I was bored; which as we all know is cancer to a deep MTT run, no? But then I got dealt KK with about 2k in the first level. I push the low flop and get called by a short stack with AA. Cooler. No biggie, but in conjunction with a series of QQ, KK abuses of late I was feeling extra ready to get the fuck out of dodge.

So I tilt-pushed the next hand with QJo. AK and KK look me up. Done right? Nope. Donkaris finds the low straight and triples up to a point that he is better off than before the KK/AA hand.

And then it is on.

I decide – and I mean consciously decide – that I am going to find out how the other half lives. I decide I will play like those LAGtards we all fear as we try to make solid moves through these things. Felicia has written great posts on trying to understand your opponents' mindset, and this was my chance to live their life. I’d be damned if I was going to pass it up.

My first mastermind move? I 3x the BB from MP with K8o. He pushes 4k at me. Easy fold no?

Well…I know he doesn’t have a hand – he’s just telling me to fuck off. But can you call him with K8o? If that’s gonna be your policy, it’s going to be high variance to say the least.

Then I check myself and remember that none of these considerations apply. K8 is almost K9 which sounds a lot like canine – and who doesn’t love dogs?

Bingo! I call and he turns over KTd. LOL. busted!

EIGHT! I yell at the screen. EIGHT! EIGHT! EIGHT!

Now it takes to the river to find that fucking eight, but when I do I am laughing my head off in a way I never do when I make successful moves during deep runs. Sick as it is, taking that guy out so horridly made me happy. Very, very happy.

And it provides all the encouragement I need. I find a paired board SIX of us limped to. When I turn the straight, I automatically rule out the possibility of flushes and boats, and proceed to donate half my new stack to the guy to my right who has to stop from laughing in my face. Others I have wronged come screaming down on me, and I really start to have fun. I tilted half that table before I find a hand I think Waffles and cc should find vaguely familiar.

AJc on button. I call a 3x and find 2 more clubs on the all low flop. The solid EP player (acesonwrists) checks, so I raise, and he reraises 3x to my 3x. My turn. I shove, happy that he’s likely holding TPTK and I have two overs with the nutflush draw.

Until he turns over the bottom set.

CLUB! I scream – and sure enough the turn busts him good. I am cheering and laughing at the thing and having a blast. Now I don’t know about you guys, but I rarely laugh or cheer when I am playing my usual game. Usually I am making tough decisions and then when it turns out my money is in way ahead, I have to force myself to watch to see if it can just hold out for five more flips. Not exactly a hobby I turn to for joyous exuberance.

Until tonight. I am at 10 fucking K. I am 31st with 200 left. Playing the worst MTT poker I have EVAH played – and believe me that’s saying something.

You know what I learned? I learned it’s fucking fun to hope for the unlikely. FUN. And it’s very tough to hope that nothing sexier than the expected will arrive. If it does, what joy is there in that? It’s leftovers for dinner – no surprises. But waiting on your unlikely salvation and having it arrive? Well, entire religions have been founded on less.

I have never been a gambler, and I really don’t consider poker gambling. At least no more so than I think stocks are a gamble. They are and they aren’t. It depends on who you are, what you know and who you know. Over the long haul, I accept that skill negates luck – even if I am not the one benefiting in any given example.

But now I get it. I really, truly get what the fuck these guys are up to. I have long wondered how I could outlast 1000 people and then meet someone close to the final table or at it who plays like a moron. I know now. It’s because they probably are a moron, and have been relying on just such moronism to get where they are.

If I had just reverted back to me at the 10k point, man could I have done some damage. But if there’s one thing people should know about me, it’s that I stick to my game plan. And so I did. When I got my money in very, very bad with Q8c, I still managed to hit a flop that gave me a fighting chance. Because I still had 11 outs by the river I was chanting away, and laughing like a nut.

In all honesty, it was happily reassuring a retard like me was put down once and for all. And in this vein of revelation I’ve also realized it’s not going to be anywhere near as fun to play MTTs in my old mode.

Sucks to be us, no doubt.

One last thing: Big Game 2 is up for early enrollment. CracknAces is on board, as am I. Let's hit 50 this time. Also, about the last game, one thing I regret is not suggesting to the final 6 that we each chip in 14 bucks to ensure the bubble got their buyin back. Don't know why this occurred late to me, but it would've definitely been in my midstack interest to pop that bubble sooner than later (if you have to ask why - welcome to your first visit here at Flights...can I recommend the post just prior?).

Laytah.

In Excess of Expectations...aka Waffles' out first and none too happy...aka A bubble and its surface tension

An EDIT Important Enough I want it in front of everything that follows:

A guy should not play a great tournament and as L'artiste rightly noted "school the living crap" out of the final table in big stack play, then after winning feel he is being accused of collusion or cheating. Let me state again I honestly don't think lucko played anything but a ball-bustingly strong big stack. Blinders also deserves a lot of credit for managing to survive running as dead as he must have at the end. I was just trying to give you all a sense of what was going through my head initially - you all know the deep paranoia poker players are capable of in moments of pressure. I took lucko at his word in real time, and since then have been turning the concept over in my head again and again - hence a post focused on his power poker game rather than my typical "here's how I got third - yay me!" crap.

The comments have been excellent; they got me re-reading Sklansky this morning and I definitely learned something from all this. The beauty of poker is it is an apprenticeship, and no matter what you read, you still need to cut teeth too. This is the first time I've seen that big a chip differential short-handed, and it was instructive to say the least. Lucko, I 100% agree that I should have preflop pushed with AQo - I pussied out, and I will hopefully learn this lesson well. Again, I appreciate the comments - the feedback keeps my game growing, and I am a little proud that good players take the time to craft thoughtful responses to questions I pose to advance my understanding. Even in disagreement, the tone is that of civilized discourse. What more could you ask from a bunch of degenerates?

Yay us.

Now back to your regular deprogramming.


Well that was enjoyable. 38 runners first time out. Fucking incredible. Imagine when this thing hits the 50's. Kudos to big D for setting up an MTT that felt a lot more like what you see in the field. I think the structure was great and there was no denying the payouts made it worth the while, in addition to the usual bloggery good fellowship.

With perhaps the exception of the first hand exit by Waffles who correctly put cc's push on a draw holding mid pair to Waffles' bottom set, then was slightly displeased to see the turn create the nut flush. Absinthe surprised me a little with his parting comment for Waffles - it wasn't the end of the world or anything, but knowing our boy even a drop of kerosene is prolly one drop too many in the immediate aftermath. Waffles now states he won't post for a month, but as I write this he is about to win another 75 token, which likely means he'll be there to saddle up and do it all again in two weeks. All's well etc. etc...

And of course the bubble - which I knew going in could be the stage for some relative drama, because the payouts in this thing were nice. Maybe not college fund nice, but first paid as well as a 7th place finish in the FT 30k, so that should give you a frame of reference. The bubble play was interesting and I am going to just state my impression and would love for the players in question (and anyone else who wants) to chime in. When we got down to 6 handed and 5 paying, we had blinders and kitty as shortish stacks, me and kajagugu as midstacks (though by no means safe) and CracknAces with 22k to Lucko's 50 or 60k. Now I know we all gave lucko a ton of shit at the final table, and it's true he caught a lot of big hands early at the FT, but he also played the big stack strong. I was constantly under pressure to decide if I was comfortable gambling or going in way behind. When he did get called he had some nice breaks help out [I wouldn't count on Chad sending you a Christmas card this year], but his play exploited the bubble well to his advantage.

Yet I initially had some difficulty grokking his play, because I had the impression he was playing Blinders pretty soft. This didn't look great because I also had the impression they are friends. Let's be absolutely clear - I am NOT saying I think anyone colluded. And I am definitely NOT saying I think there was anything resembling cheating involved. It just looked like he did not put pressure on blinders, who sat to his immediate left with a miniscule stack, but would put it on everyone else. At worst, I might say that's soft playing a friend: which ain't kosher, but ain't the same thing as breaking the rules. However, the discussion in the chat illuminated for me a completely different line of reasoning that I would be interested in having people weigh in on.

When I finally couldn't take Lucko fucking up my attempts to put pressure on Blinders' BB (he would reraise in position every time I tried to 3X blinders' BB) and I called him on it in the chat, he provided a rationale that I had never encountered in final table play before. Initially he just stated he wanted to keep blinders in. As my eyebrows were going through the roof, he then explained that it was in his interest to have the bubble continue and to continue to use his big stack to resteal essentially from anyone trying to generate pressure (not his words, but the gist I think - again, please comment lucko, because I found your rationale fascinating, and I am trying to learn something from this). Not so long after we had that interchange he called along and checked down Kitty's short stack push. When her KK was rivered by CracknAces straight there were more than a few of us who thought it just as easily could have been Blinders bubbling. Looking back, I can see the logic in what lucko was doing from his point of view, and it may well have just been my frustration as a midstack on the bubble that was clouding my impression.

So again, all I am asking is whether this is standard big stack strategy that I was unaware of (I can't deny it was wonderfully effective - I made the mistake of the evening to this pressure when I folded AQo I had dumbly 3x'd when my M was well below 8) and what do you think of it?

Nonetheless, it's an honest and sincere congrats I offer Lucko who managed to pressure (and occasionally beat) his way up to 100k by the time we were three handed. I felt outplayed at the end, and that's not a bad thing, because it gives me things to think about and an opportunity to improve.

A sincere congrats to blinders too, that was a tough table to short stack through. I have to say, I think the deep stacks gave me the opportunity to make moves, and regroup and recover when some of those moves blew up in my face. I was up and down the leaderboard all night. And that said, the play was just about the same level (although we were fortunate to have some MTT heavyweights show), so if you are mulling it over, i would just say Go Fer It.

Laytah.

I all alone beweep my outcast state - no, wait; that was last post...aka Today's CallOut has nothing to do with Star Trek...aka A broadspectrum appeal

PLAY DADI! [Best. Banner. Evah. Nice work J. And Congrats to JX3 on his Mookie redux. Nice, brotha. Nice.]

PLAY THE BIG GAME!

Popularize the word Uberboo – it’s at least as funny as truthiness and look where that wound up!

Now quietly mock my inability to properly post graphics on my blog. Blogger hates me, but I still got a chubby for her.

The last post may have been the most cathartic thing I’ve written about my play since I documented finally breaking even as an online NLHE player a few months ago [If you’re inclined to look it up make sure to read Jordan’s comment which still makes me smile. Sign of things to come, no doubt. Edit: too dumb to link it but it was mid May: called In praise of [my] Mediocrity...] I appreciate all the feedback, I always do. I think I have to take the extra step of specifically pointing out that while Steve felt the need to apologize to me, there was absolutely no need. He had no fault in my hubris-driven exit and if there was any uncertainty about that in what I wrote let me correct it here.

I played poker all day two days ago and was roughly used from start to finish, but managed to end the 24 hour period in a very good headspace. Usually I could look to credit a loving spouse and three pretty entertaining freeloaders. This time I would credit my friends in this invisible little world of ours. Jo – your insights appreciated as always. Fuel, getting me back on the horse after having been batted around by sequential beats (none too horrible on their own, but in context a little hard to take) and sequential lost races in both The Mookie and The 20k (whadya want; some love affairs end slowly!) was the best thing for me. I’ll file the not inconsequential hit to the roll under Miscellaneous Expenses: Therapy.

On exactly this note, mah boy D has a post that hits it on the head. I truly feel sorry for people who play poker without a network of people they can count on and discuss strategy/hands with – or just bitch to when it feels like the Wheel of Fortune is crushing them beneath its roll.

Now to today’s Big Game preview. Currently sitting at 16 warriors (nice to see our boy Waffles is in and who is Mike Maloney?) and counting. 18 would make me smile, and 27 would blow the mind. I saw CracknAces is posting the banner so here’s hoping he’s in too. I’ve missed the chance to meet Chad twice now in Vegas, but I have busted to him in spectacu-donk fashion once in the 12k, so maybe it’s payback time. Some might argue that they would rather have weaker players playing for better EV. I personally think the whole point of the Big Game is to put the best game you can bring up against the best MTT players in our extended circle and see where you end up. With deep stacks and full rings, skill should hold the day. That’s not to say suckouts won’t abound – they will; it’s just that unless you are a push monkey, you should be able to survive one or two and mount a comeback. Leave it to a cash game specialist to come up with an MTTers dream come true. First is already worth more than 400 clams – so get registered and do it early to build “momentum”, as we spin doctors like to call it.

So far I’m 1 for 2 with these CallOuts as Percentile Doom (what the hell does that mean, Wes? It sounds badass, but I’d like the backstory.) has signed up. It’s possible he did so before I posted, but being the egomaniac I am, I’m happy to take the credit. I am still waiting on my favourite Ex-D girl to work some token magic, but I’m keeping the faith. Does it go without needing to be said that No One should care who the hell I call out here, especially those called out? It isn’t even my tournament! And Don hasn’t sanctioned any of this in any way. Good. It’s quite simple really; if you don’t see your name here you should assume only one of three things:

1. I know you well enough to be certain you will show up or have a good bankroll/outside commitment reason not to.

2. I think I have incredibly bad luck against you and want to minimize the chance you will sit to my left.

3. I despise you/I don’t respect your game/I don’t think you’re good enough to donate 69 bucks to the prize pool/I am completely unaware of you/I think I am better than you as a human being.

Now if you are going to take guesses as to what is going through my head, I’d just ask that you lean heavily towards #1 with a sprinkle of #2. Number 3 is not in play at all – but being the sweet souled folksinger I am, I just thought I should put it to rest. Kumbaya and moving right along.

Since we went Old School (don’t take that the wrong way Change!) the first time out, and New School the next, I thought I’d try something a little different this time.

Wish You Were Here: Wil Wheaton Edition (anyone who knows Wil, do me a favor and point him in this direction today or tomorrow, eh?)

Prime Reason Wil should play The Big Game:
We already have a certain degree of hipness inherent in any event smokkee registers for, however it would be just cricket of you to lend your celebrity and good name to this worthy charitable cause. Mmmmm? What charity? Excellent question. The entire prize pool minus the complete prizes for first through the last paying position and excluding rake in its totality will be donated to Habitat for Inhumanity – a recently formed NGO dedicated to building houses for war criminals and seal bashers. And people who don’t recycle. The ribbon is mauve, if you were curious.

What Wil has to gain from The Big Game:
Unadulterated Glory – unless of course you prefer your glory adulterated. We here at the Flights of Iakaris Control Tower & Command Center have a strict No Questions Asked policy in regards to how a winner’s glory is deseminated. [Subtle etymological joke there] What happens during and shortly after the Big Game stays there. That is until the 20 or so writers who played all give their versions of how it went down to that mass of plugged up inter-tubes known as the blogosphere.

What Wil has to lose in The Big Game:
Only your dignity – and if you’re anything like me you put precious little stock in that; hence our careers as bloggers. Mmmm? You say this isn’t either of our careers, but instead a creative outlet and medium for sharing the vagaries of the web? Indeed. Nonetheless, I stand by Only Your Dignity. And I think with deep stacks and this prize pool you’ll find tactical liberation from any one making dumb moves against you in the hopes of naming/bragging rights. I thought that would appeal to Pauly too, but he’s on a road trip, so maybe next time.

Only Acceptable Excuse Wil will pass on The Big Game:
Ya know…the whole religious/conservative antigambling stance he’s been espousing for months now. I agree playing the Big Game might strike some of your neo-con base as hypocritical. Just tell them you are donating your winnings to Habitat for Inhumanity. Charity is teh shit these days.

Alright that’s it. I’m running out of days, so let me hit a few people in brief it would be fun to engage at Wolf 359.

Troublecat: I’m a little surprised he hasn’t signed up, but it may not be a big enough game. Should be goot dimes, goot dimes, Absinthe – mull it over.

The Wandering Gnome: Planning on arriving fashionably late? No harm in that, just remembah FT has no truly late registration.

Marxst: By far one of the best table talkers I know and 100% reliable for moves that defy all mathematical/logical sense but work like a cobra flute.

Drraz: Not a blogger, but a MATH original and abso-fucking-lutely hilarious. Get yer ass in the game – the ensuing meltdown when someone busts you with a low flush over your straight should make the night regardless of how things work out for me. Besides Jeci is playing.

Okay – enough for now. I was saving tomorrows Call Out for Waffles, but apparently there’s no need. Good Job, man.

Laytah.

Illness of Mind...aka I trip my AutoDestruct (again)...aka I trip my AutoDestruct (again)

With less than nine dollars I bought myself a bowl of Tilt Soup hotter than anything I have ever tasted.

The meal began when I used those 9 bucks to win a 26 buck token. Yay me. I am a successful token whore, with about a 66% win rate on a small sample size. I took that token and entered the satellite to FT 14k Guaranteed – my first $150+13. Deep stacks, full ring. So far, so good. I used my typical blogger MTT strategy and managed to win my seat without any major fireworks. 9 bucks transmogrified into a 163 dollar buy-in just like that.

Now, the 14k tourney itself is beautiful – great structure, only about 160 playahs, very leisurely in the early going. To be clear, I am happy with my play in this MTT. I doubled and doubled, survived a dominated queen making me frown and continued to plug away. With 65 left I was in the top 15 when I decided to kill myself off.

In recent days I have exited like a quasi-donkey from the last two 75ers I’ve played, but today I exited this tournament (whose smallest payout was 180 bucks – great ROI on 8 no?) like a fool. An impatient boy. Not good.

Uberboo.

Sheets, the well known online mastermind was at my table when I found AKo in MP and 3x’d for 700. He came WAY over top me with 3500 (almost half my stack). His play had honestly been pretty loose and I didn’t know what to make of this. Rational Me, not just Outcome Aware Me wishes I had folded.

I didn’t.

But I didn’t play strong either. I called, then pushed a flop I missed completely. His Queens called and I was done. I started that hand with T1100. This is after 2 hours of play where I held my own and played good poker, risking my stack a couple of times to create the necessary momentum to push people of hands. After all that, I chose to play as dumbly as possible against the most dangerous guy at the table.

I still believe I am capable of making the leap to becoming a successful higher buy-in MTT player, and I believe in the power of written/stated goals. It is my goal to be playing profitably at the 75/109 level consistently by the end of next year. However I am 0 for my last 3 tries despite having put myself into very strong position to at least money all three of those. My game in broad brushstrokes is looking strong. It’s just that I am destroying my own runs. If you have never done this to yourself, I envy you, because when you’re as competitive as I am, it hurts to know you’re defeating yourself.

In order to make the leap I want to, the most important hurdle before me is not improving my mathematical analysis or reads. It is to look deep within myself for those impulses that are driven by ego and neutralize them. I believe I called pre-flop because I didn’t want to be pushed around by Sheets and I had a hand that could reasonably be ahead of his range. There was clearly the desire to bust him circulating in my head too - perhaps for the illusory bragging rights that would afford. If that even was the real Sheets. In any case, anyone who knows anything about competition knows that the successful mind is the cleared mind. Mine was anything but.

Another adjustment I will be making is that I will be closing out the table chat at least for a while to measure if this is affecting my game. There was a player at my table who really got under my skin successfully – and online there is just no reason to let that be a factor. If anyone is stopping by and says hi and wonders why I don’t respond, it’s not cause I am going being rude, it’s cause I won’t see it. Shoot me an IM if you want to chat, although depending on the state of things, I may or may not be in the right frame of mind for it. It should go without saying that I would appreciate if anyone watching could refrain from engaging my table in smack talk and the like – I am new enough that I find it distracting and it throws off my reads on what they are doing. It certainly doesn’t explain why I chose to play like a fucking moron every 170th hand in these things, but every little adjustment may help advance the chains.

One last note: Jo watched me fuck this MTT up royally. In my experience NLHE MTTs are exercises in boredom (mostly), pressure (far too often) and reward (rarely, but often enough to keep me coming back). I am certain I play better when I have people I respect around to bounce things off. Nonetheless, it is embarrassing as hell when you do something like this and don’t have the anonymity playing online should afford you. At moments like that part of me wishes no one knew it happened. Of course, it’s good there’s a witness if you can learn to shame yourself into playing less like an anemone. Let’s see.

Laytah.

Current Big Game CallOuts: Boobie-Lovah, Change100
Next Up: Your Name Here.

I call out the Mammary-phile...aka Why are so many poker bloggers named Wes?...aka Boobie Lovah in Dah house?

Five Days to The Big Game and with 12 players we're looking at a robust prize pool for the effort. It'll be an interesting beginning because it will start with two short-handed tables. The beauty of the tokens is that for the first time, NonBloggers are funding the tournament prize pool.

Not much else new but I've put out more posts in the last three days than all last week so I feel I'm making my creative minimum. With that auspicious target in mind, I give you today's edition:

Wish You Were Here: - Boobie Lover Edition.

Prime Reason Wes should play The Big Game:
He is my most reliable source of chips in blogger MTTs. Well, maybe second after Kitty, but man it's a CLOSE second. Besides I figure he's blown that phat roll he withdrew from Party on A grade strippers and Film School, so this will provide a welcome opportunity to fill the coffers.

What Wes has to gain from The Big Game:
Unadulterated Glory - and my sincere promise I will return his book on Stud in short order. Okay, okay, I'll return it regardless: I appreciate the loan, but gotta admit it's not for me. On that note, can I just say I am impressed by all you jacks who can ply various trades (except you smokkee - i was impressed until Hoy laid out for all us Razzmophobes what a heeeeeeeawwwwwwwww you are).

What Wes has to lose in The Big Game:
Only your dignity – and if you’re anything like me you put precious little stock in that; hence our careers as poker bloggers. Speaking of which - how bout some strategy posts or interesting hands, dude. I seriously give an upraised finger to everyone who has put the deep freeze on either of these things. There are a lot of us who like to read that stuff and experiment with other people's ideas. Generally I like to borrow my ideas from winning players - so get tah steppin' brotha. EDIT: I have mind control powers over Wes - I just checked his site and lo and behold - strategy and hand history post right on cue. Now Sign Up For The Big Game. Cue eeire music...

Only Acceptable Excuse Wes will pass on The Big Game:
Could not crawl out from under his three siliconized escorts in time to logon to FT. Nonetheless - you should conduct your charitable act of the week and register!

I am becoming a believer we'll hit two full rings, so Old Schoolers and New Schoolers alike should git thar funk on, and get in the Game.

Laytah. [sorry P - I tried, but I'm a creature of habit...]

Is this still a poker blog?...aka Read Fuel...aka Does Change100 read this - and more importantly - will she admit it?

Welcome Back. Mmmmm? Where the hell have I been, you ask? Places dark and rainswept within the human heart. But the storm has passed and in passing, cleansed. And by cleansed I mean I had time to brush my teeth this morning before the hamster wheel of diapers and mealtimes began to turn for me.

So it turns out I have a few things I’d like to say. I just read this biotch over, and if anyone happens to read every damn word of this, say so in the comments and I just might send you steak knives. Probably not, but you never know.

First Up: It surprises me someone would have me on bloglines, but not have Fuel55. Now don’t misunderstand: the main reason I continue to stage this Theatre of the Absurd is that I know it’s not prose as solitaire. I like the fact that people come by, and feel only a little bit like a girlscout admitting that. But Fuel’s blog has made me a better NLHE player and I strongly believe it could help you – at bare minimum give you food for thought and the actual names of some real donkeys out there playing as we speak. I raised an eyebrow when Fuel posted that he had 20-something subscribers and I had 50+. Now I don’t really know how to use bloglines – I think it’s cause I can’t stand the light blue shading, but even I loaded it up specifically to subscribe. If the higher-limit players who actually post thoughts on strategy and play don’t feel the effort is worth their time, the rest of us schmucks would lose a lot. Thus, if you have bloglines, I yet again recommend you add http://www.fuel55.blogspot.com/. Hell, add me too while you’re at it: 50 is great, but like all good capitalists I’m a devotee of More. Not to worry: I give Flights of Iakaris my independently certified Seal of Approval too – at least through 2008, when it comes up for re-cert. No free passes for anyone kids, least of all this hobo.

What else? Token Hunt Update: 8/11 in $75 tokens in last week, including this morning’s barely unsuccessful attempt. Not hard, amigos, not hard at all. In what may be a first here, shall I share my well defined Token Strategy? [Capital Letters Make Things Look Important.]

Lean in.

Closer.

I am playing for fifth. All my decisions, my hand selection and betting are based on the goal of making fifth or busting ITM in 6th.

Obvious, you say? A sign it’s your first time here, I say. But my point is this - and Stev-o has watched me in action on a bunch of these and should back this up – there are a LOT of players who think they should be playing for first or second. I don’t know if these thumbsuckers just crave the security of a big stack in order to make up for the fact mummy didn’t breastfeed them long enough, but they create in their wake many an opportunity. They do things that make no tactical sense to those of us who could give a fuck about coming in first as long as we come in fifth. Thanks to them, you can just lay back and wait on your spots, steal a few times from position and shoot for a goal of about 3000 chips. With this game plan, you are going to win a lot more of these than you will lose. I also almost always try one or two EP steals after developing a tight image, when it’s still two tables, and if you’ve been out of the action for a couple of orbits, that’s an easy money steal in these things. If I should happen to double up early, that’s it – those 3000 babies will be defended by steals but I am not going broke with Jacks, and opt to check/fold AK on unhappy flops. The token race is not to the swiftest of foot, but to the guy who knows how to find shelter and wait the bezerkers out. At least that’s my take and with my miniscule sample size this is proving a workable strategy. I have even managed to win one when I had less than 400 chips left at the final table because I folded out the orbit and the impatient fuck to my immediate right decided to make a stand on the hand before I became an autopush BB. What can you say to such a fundamentally suicidal play? Not even at my most gracious could I manage a thankyou or a GG. Unlike the MTT itself, Tight/Weak is not a cardinal sin in these things, depending on your table.

Bad news about all those tokens? I only have three left, and nada to show for it. Spent three on satellites to bigger games, unsuccessfully. From now on, I will try to win the baby tokens and use them to try the 250k/500k satellites. Spent two buying into juicy MTTs and played inadvisably after getting to within 10 players of the bubble both times, got caught stealing and went home OTM. Had I opted for a more conservative route, or just been let alone to steal that would have made for a terrific ROI on my $26 buy-ins. As it is, I take some comfort my C-game is still good enough to get in range for a run just about every time out. Yes, I know that won’t last but I may as well enjoy it while it does. I have to learn to overcome the Ego’s resistance to folding when the fight can reasonably wait for the bubble to burst. I will be making regular goes at the $75 MTTs this week, and if I can just ITM a couple it will replete some of the pummeling my roll is taking as I switch tactical gears.

And not that this is of any interest to anyone but myself, but having cashed in the 20k about a quarter of the times I’ve played it (and coming within a hair’s breath of final tabling a couple of those times) I find myself falling slowly out of love. I think I’ll use most of my would-be 20k buyins on tokens to the 75ers, where the field runs about 300, for very close to the same reward. I’ll still play the weekend 30k, but I had a close look at my MTT stats and noted all my big scores came from this size MTT. I was also happy to see I have a positive expectation in MTTs, and am hopeful the path forward for me is to take a leap up in buy-ins. I am strongly considering the occasional $109 too. I moneyed in the only one I’ve played, but can’t deny the cost of the buy-in was in my head while playing – a fact as you know that actively erodes a TAG/LAG game. As always, let’s see.

Now as to the paucity of posts of late, consider me back in business. The wife is off for two weeks, so I am moving happily to the bullpen for a well deserved reprieve from the starting lineup on Team DiaperPatrol. Change100, indeed. This last month has felt more like Change100 000. Babies make a lotta poo, in case any of you were wondering. It’s a medical fact. A truth that reminds me it’s time for a new segment here at Flights in honor of the imminent BIG Game. Without further ado, I give you:

Wish You Were Here: A daily request for the presence of people I think I would enjoy taking money from, or losing it to at The Don’s Big Game - Change100 Edition.

Prime Reason Change100 should play The Big Game:
Dramatic Opportunities Abound (I smell screenplay potential – ideally I’d play myself as the mysterious ethnic with the brooding eyes, shaky hands and OCD. Oscar Gold. And I ain’t talking Steve Austin’s boss.)

What Change100 has to gain from The Big Game:
Unadulterated Glory - and the satisfaction of listening to me haze the people you bust with “You just lost to a GIRL!” Naturally, I’ll deliver the line with excessive irony, and we’ll chuckle knowingly in that way only the insanely self-referential can get away with.

What Change100 has to lose in The Big Game:
Only your dignity – and if you’re anything like me you put precious little stock in that; hence our careers as poker bloggers.

Only Acceptable Excuse Change100 will pass on The Big Game:
Screenplay completed, Change retires to her Fortress of Bongitude and is unable to penetrate the paralyzing fog for nigh on the next three years.

Okay. That’s all I got for now. Hurry up and sign up for the Big Game, or look for your name here next. And be careful out there. Little old lady got mutilated late last night. Werewolves of London again.

IWP

In late, but hopefully In Time...aka The Ideal Type...aka Profiles in Courage, The MTV Edition

Edit: Forgot the shoutout to Doc for putting this bean in my head!

For every injured and aspiring soul, an avatar exists. Mine, exquisite and fully realized, bore a moniker belying her transcendent nature. Sporty, she was called by the cretins of Fleet. And there was truth in it, although a truth as incomplete as it was refracted. I cannot deny her physique is an ode to the Platonic ideal of Amazon Unbound. Yet much is missed in this opaque etching.

In Sporty we had Woman as Testament to the Ambiguity of Gender. Was she in fact a woman? Am I in fact a man? Are you truly a hermaphrodite or is that just your idea of a Phuket pickup line?

With Sporty we had a welcome liberation from the traditions that a woman should have an air of feminity, an adversity to sweating, grunting, smelling like a thoroughbred, and well, er…a rack, so to speak. The speculation her undescended testicles had, truth be told, descended remains unverifiable, but I for one am a believer. What more could the transgender community hope for in a de facto spokesperson? I looked to Sporty and dared to hope someday my brothers and sisters in the normal genotype/phenotype community would learn from her that rarest of virtues: comfort in ones own inexplicable skin.

As for me, if given an opportunity – say perhaps during a Transporter accident as part of an away mission – I would be proud to switch places with Sporty and do all I know he/she would to carry the banner of tolerance, mutual respect and ego integrity. Mmmm? You say ego integrity is a separate banner altogether? Very well, I could try to carry two, but it’s been months since I’ve seen the inside of a gym so I’m not making promises. I should be familiar with most of the working parts given past experience with auto-eroticism and a fondness for the fairer sex in general. And I know I would grow as a person while struggling under the heavy mantle of Role Model, PopStar and Chromosomal Anomaly.

Besides, Posh is a billionaire crack ho, Scary has no street cred, Trip has dibs on Baby, and Ginger is one bad day away from a career in adult theatre.

Sporty: The Thinking Man’s Seasoning.

In payment of a debt...aka Oz treats me Rough (just the way I like it)...aka Haiku Made [by a] Simple[ton]

For any who are wondering, the $75 tokens play no tougher than the lower limit ones. If anything I think my success rate in them is a little higher using the same poorly organized game that I bring everywhere else.

Like, MATH for example.

Where I went out on Hand Number 5 I think against Jules. Jules is to me like I am to Kat – a walking, talking Eviction Notice. Your glee in my early exit was well founded Kitty; you better have won that thing. Basically I picked up Queens on the button (fuck do I even need to go on?) she UTG 3x’d with KK. I 3X’d her and she smooth called.

Here’s where it gets a little interesting. Ace on the flop which she min-bets. This does not seem like a Jules move if she hit her Ace. Thinking TT-KK is likely, I push hoping to fold her out. She mulls and calls me. Jules states she put me on exactly QQ preflop, which is why she called my bet. Smells a little fishy, but I love her and respect her so I won’t accuse of the more human move of being unable to get away from Kings. Thus I say with an honest voice: nice call, darlin.

But that exit (just after Donkey Puncher and just before Hoy – good company any way ya look at it) brings me to the difficult task of having to note that for the FIRST TIME EVER IN RECORDED HISTORY your hero (and mine) lost the Last Longer MATH bet I have running with Jo. Now I have to admit she out-me’d me when she lost, so I guess if I am to do her justice I will need to write a new page.

Kitty suggested a Haiku, which while not my forte has the benefit of only being 3 lines long. I countered with a limerick, but negotiations were tough and a Haiku it is:

Jo outlasted me
Thanks to a certain Aussie
Who’s now On Notice!

What? Too Ill-tempered? Not exactly a tribute you claim? Very Well, I will offer this as well:

I exited fast
And furious at the fact
Jo beat me at last.

No? Last chance, then:

Blondie got it done
With a little help from Oz
Girl on girl can hurt!

PERFECT. Okay. We’re square Jo-Jo. Same time next week. Jules, I’ll be looking for ya Contessa.

Laytah.

I wear panties. (Ask P – he thinks it’s an improvement…)

I am a ping pong ball the 20k loves paddling...aka truth is hotter than fiction...aka biting the helping hands

EDIT:

This is teh shit. Don gets ALL the credit, but with his permission I am using ye olde blog to pimp his brainchild: The Blogger Big Game.

October 22nd. Sunday. 9:30pm EST. Full Tilt (yes, the Full Tilt of the Brilliant Fuck You Frist Reload Offer). NLHE naturally (FYI: real card games have only two cards in the hand - any more and you resemble Aunt Edna while you play)

Deep Stacks...aka Room to Play...aka this MTT is the solution to the "blogger MTTs are a joke" debate.

$75 Buy In. Yes, you can use a token (they are dreadfully unlucky, but feel free to do so). Don is considering creating a token race specifically for it, perhaps following WWdN - check with him for details. Don't mention me - he has a volatile temper when put upon.

Am I wrong in betting Hoy, Smokkee, Wes, Fuel, and Surf will regularly show for this? Who else? Don expects it to hit 30, which would be pretty fucking mind blowing. Let's see.

Someone (Trip? Mookie? Duggles?) please make a banner for this biotch.

Okay now back to one of the most uninspired posts I have ever put up. On rereading it just now I had to fight the desire to delete it. Ah well, it can't all be pulp for the Pulitzer.

Let me be brief. I have nothing meaningful to add about the current situation. Nothing at all. The mark of a good specialist is that they have a clear understanding of the limits of their expertise and a healthy respect for their ignorance. As I said, I have nothing to add. Except that I will keep playing and posting until I absolutely can't for legal or time management reasons.

Hmmmmm? That didn't strike you as brief?

Welcome to your first visit here at Flights of Iakaris. I am your host, Iak, and I hope you enjoy your stay.

Evidence of a strange week? My Muse is back in charge of her blog again - J's imminent demise turns out to be a fabrication of his own making. There's some unintentional humour in that the bloggers and J actually shared a moment enjoying the tale of his maiming. Anyway, as far as I'm concerned Mel is in the clear on this one. Besides, you guys are my boyz and have to be nice to my virtual goomah: all part of this thing of ours, no?

Tough 2 weeks MTTing. Taken 7 very hard to stomach MTT exits (3 while I was deeper than midway) within five days. Even the grissled amongst you would have to admit thats a little painful. You'd think online poker would try to be nicer to me, given we may be parting ways for a variety of reasons in the near future. Still, I allow it's just the price of doing business if you multi-table: you will see more of the universe's beguiling indifference, and every once in a while she will put knee to throat just to see what you can tolerate.

Can't deny I have made some tilt induced moves after a few of those soulsuckers - but on the whole, the process is relatively sound, so I press on. I admit I am possessed with the conviction I will go very deep at least once more before I head back to work. I don't know where that certainty is coming from, but it will be interesting to see whether that voice in my head is right or wrong. Is it quantum mechanics that suggests an observer-created reality? The game should be so simple.

Also on the note of this run of hurts, I now believe players who tilt easily and heavily at an unkind exit or a rewarded bad play should play more MTTs, not less. For me, it's been painful repetition that's made getting fucked over in series and in parallel understandable, if not altogether acceptable.

To put a good spin on things when there's nothing more than a few tokens to show for it [and I fully agree counting tokens as earnings is like placing your lottery tickets in the asset column], I have still managed to run patient when short and made 2/4 blogger final tables last week: The Mookie and The (K)Not. Nope, no cash in either. Speaker recently commented on slb's gently worded missive regarding the quality of blogger MTT play and it struck a chord. He noted that he is getting back to playing them because he plays better in other MTTs when he is doing well in the blogger events. Although my experience and results make for a smaller sample size, I concur. If nothing else, they are a good bellweather as to the health of your thought process. Yes, I promise that's my last word on the subject. It's been a slow week - what do you people want? Blood? [oblique in-joke at Noel and Liam Gallagher's expense]

And lastly, a note on helpful feedback I've read dispersed across the web. Bloody P objects to my stylized (ridiculous?) signoff. Waffles is concerned my vocab fetish may interrupt the narrative I may or may not be trying to craft. Duggles is convinced I have poor reading comprehension. At least I think that's what he wrote...

In other words, just another day in this highly dysfunctional neighbourhood.

Laytah.

Itemizing a modicum...aka The Record for the record...aka Late Game Dilemnas

You know how a lot of people will tell you that if you start a blog it should be for yourself? Yeah, I heard that a lot when I started. Yet do you ever stop by here and get the distinct impression I am writing more for a conversation with you? You are almost always right. I like to blog, even if it does oscillate wildly, and even if it is pointless silliness. It is amazing to me over a thousand people have stopped by here, however briefly, and stranger that a few have hung around and we’ve gotten to know each other. After a bit of a drought, I have succeeded in connecting with a group of people who don’t do the same thing I do for a living. It took me a decade, but it has been worth the wait.

Now would I still post if no one read this thing? Likely I would, but they would read distinctly different. Perhaps a little more like my early posts. Perhaps a little more like today’s post. I’ve been meaning to do put this down for a while. I can make no apologies if what follows sounds like more Yay Me! crap. Fortunately I have fed you all an incremental diet of Yay Me! crap that most of you shouldn’t even blink as your eyes move over this. Well, that and the fact it’s really not that much of a Yay.

Forewarned is forearmed, or so says the gun salesmen I met yesterday.

Today’s post is inspired by the questions Blinders raised about MTT players. I haven’t been tracking my progress as closely as I should have been. Luckily, since I haven’t cashed anything out since Day 1 – I know exactly how positive I am. For a recreational player who plays mostly low buy-in MTTs, finding that I’ve managed to keep head above water to the tune of about 3k is satisfying. It’s too soon to know if I am truly a winning player or still running hotter than the mean. But at least my previous winnings are funding my next tournament buy-in. It’s not Hoy, Wes or Fuel’s roll - not yet anyway, but it feels like progress. I don’t know if this whole internet gambling issue is going to bring this experiment to a preemptive end, but given I am moving next to three huge casinos in about a month, maybe this summer has been the crucible to learn some fundamentals before going live.

Anyway, I am posting most (I missed a few in the early going) of my MTT cashes below. Feel free to ignore this entirely, it’s for my own benefit, which is after all, the whole point of a poker blog, no? Yeah I know a spreadsheet is prolly the way to go – maybe next month. Baby steps…baby steps…

Date Tournament BuyIn Finish [yeah, yeah, i know i know]
6/19 MATH $22 2nd/20 (cc beat me like a gong)
7/13 The (K)not $11 1st/18 (heads-up with Wes = helpful suckouts galore)
7/19 FT 3.5K $26 7th/195
7/21 FT 6.5K $26 2nd/202 (even chop btw 1&2)
7/25 FT 3.5K $26 3rd/248
8/1 FT 15K $109 20th/295
8/2 FT 20K $26 11th/1037
8/16 FT 20K $26 69th/1208
9/12 WWdN $11 3rd/60 (wherein A7s becomes my signature hand)
9/13 FT 20K $26 10th/1054
9/18 FT 20K $26 18th/1037
9/19 WWdN $11 4th/55
9/20 The Mookie $11 1st/42 (the Jewel in the blogger tourney crown)
9/24 FT 12K $75 3rd/222 (I find the final table again)
9/30 FT 9k $26 21st/514

I am missing a few blogger cashes that I didn’t screenshot at the time. And frustratingly, I think I might be missing two FT cashes, but it is what it is. An encouraging beginning. And yes, I realize there is no denominator. I did some rough calculations and figure my hourly rate at these things is just better than minimum wage, but I’m cool with that. I’m enjoying myself, and occasionally putting myself in position to do damage. I’m also up 3k so who am I to complain? I am preparing for a run at next year’s WSOP where I will definitely be taking some shots. The goal is to see a lot of hands and run deep as best as online will simulate. Any thoughts from more experienced players are of course welcome and a big part of the point of this blog.

A quick note on my run in the 9K last night. First off a big thanks to my GL charm and font of great advice, Jo. Also, the usual suspects were hard at work in the wee hours too. But despite dying when I finally went completely card dead, I have to say this might have been my strongest MTT run to date. I had no more than 5 premium hands the entire game yet I managed to outlast a big field, including a lot of the brethren. I took two tough beats early on and scored no suckouts. I ran as a micro-shorty until 3 of my 5 big hands came in close succession, then used the doubleups to intimidate the table. It was working beautifully until my stack got too big, the table broke and the new one had no love for me. Funny, cause I just cashed big a week ago, but I went to bed very happy with my play, despite making about 10 bucks an hour! Poker is odd.

And now I leave you with a question or two from the 9K:
Blinds 800/1600 antes are up. Your stack is 10k. Avg is 30K+. You are in the BB and wake to find TT. It folds around to MP where he pushes his 14k. You are new to the table but in three orbits have only seen him 3x the BB once, unchallenged. No other notes on him. It folds around to the SB, who pushes as well with 35K. He’s been somewhat looser but still solid. What do you do here? What do you think I did and why?

Okay. Cya at MATH, where I am freerollin' because 3rd out may be fucking terrible, but it beats the shit out of Gigli!

Laytah.