The Greatest Ever?

In my completely biased opinion Brett Favre is the greatest quarterback to ever suit up and take the field. This should come as no suprise to most of you who know me... I did spend a great majority of my life in the frozen tundra.




I've been thinking pretty clearly lately (in a poker sense) and also alot has happened since I last updated. First and foremost I almost went broke. Yes.. it did suck almost as bad as it sounds. I've recovered to some degree but I still consider my bankroll to be code red. I've taken the necessary action of stepping down a level or two and building to a comfortable level wreaking my vengeance on the 2-4 and 3-6 NL games.

My play has been consistent and i'm extremely comfortable at these levels which provides a big advantage for me.. I'm still amazed at the much lower overall quality of play at these games in comparison to the bigger games which helps alot too.

One thing that irks me a bit is in order to keep a proper bankroll online i'm probably going to have to cash in a bunch of stocks I own in sysco foods from when I worked there.. that sounds great except that is they are my last "safety net" incase things turned sour on me. After this there is nowhere to fall back except getting a "job". I don't consider that an option so I will make this work. I will keep you guys updated on the progress. I'm working on figuring out a number where i'll consdier myself out of the red zone and in a slightly more comfortable yellow zone. *shrugs* i'll keep in touch. until next time..

I pray bad....very bad

The title says it all... At best I give myself a C- for my play today. I was very edgy all day and broke many of the cardinal rules of good poker in the first hour of my session. A good quick way to get down on a session is make plays at people in non pots and get played right back at.. oops

After going down a quick 2.5k I decided I was playing so poorly my best bet was to quit for the day.. but of course I need to play until my big blind. I had a little gamble in me after getting down to quickly and decided to make a play (with outs this time) and won a big pot when I cracked someones kings with my overcard and nut flush draw. I managed to take down another medium pot before I called it quits after only an hour session and being down a much mor reasonable 600. I will be back at it tomorrow with my head on straight.

Since poker was out of the question I sat down to watch the final table of the world series on ESPN. I became increasingly annoyed during the first hour as Jerry Yang pleaded with God when he was all-in to let him win. Then there was Lee Watkinson's fiance dancing around with her hands in the air praying to Jesus for a 7 to beat Jerry Yang in the same hand.. come on people... really?

Can what your religious beliefs and poker mix? Sure they can.. I think a great example is Daniel Negreanu.. He knows what he believes but doesn't preach it to everyone.. especially at the tables. If someone asks he will tell them i'm sure but he lets how he acts and reacts be a witness to what he believes.. The day I see Daniel dancing with his hands in the air praying to God for a 7 on the river.... i'm quitting poker. that's my rant for the day. Catch you tomorrow

A Bad Sports Weekend

What a bad weekend in sports for me.. My Badgers and Gators both lose in nailbiters and then the Packers blow it against the Bears of all teams. ridiclous At least the Bills-Cowboys game was a good cap to the week.

Aside from that all has been pretty well in the poker world. I played close to 10 hours today and had some decent results. I feel like my play was overall about an A- and the biggest pot I lost was a situation where I don't know how I can lay down. I called a raise with 77 in the SB and catch the A73 rainbow flop. After much betting and raising my opponent turns over AA. oops

I spent last wednesday and thursday in San Francisco helping a buddy of mine move the rest of his stuff to vegas. It was an interesting trip and the city is absolutely beautiful. I now consider myself a wine connoisseur after just two days. I'm not... but I like to think it.

I did manage to get a few hours of poker in since our hotel room had wireless. The trip wasn't a complete waste of time.

My trip plus weekend session results +2000

Monday session results +2400

Confidence Mirrors Results

A week or so ago I realized something. I'd been playing for the previous month or so with very little confidence in my game. Of course I did have a good reason to be hesitant.. every move I seemed to make at the tables seemed to blow up in my face.

Forgetting the two years of positive results that was a result of grinding it out and playing solid poker I went into what i've come to call my poker depression. I am over that dissapointing phase of my life by the way..

The question then became how to get my confidence back. There were two parts to this that I will try and explain as briefly as possible.

1. My friends Mike and Chad came to Vegas for a week long vacation from the frozen tundra of Wisconsin. They stayed at the house for a couple of those days and one of the nights we decided to play drunk 5 dollar sit and go's. It's hard for me to comprehend how a 5 dollar tournament helped me to get my confidence back in much higher stakes games... yet it did.

I was able to take down seven of the ten tournaments we played and two of the three I lost I was all-in as an 80%+ favorite but was outdrawn. No offense to these guys if they happen to read my blog.... but they were just bad. I had a great read on both of them and I was able to call out their hole cards on several occasions. It felt good to helplessly beat down the weaker players... which brings me to part two.

2. I decided to step down a couple levels and try and have a couple winning sessions before sitting back at my bigger games. You would be amazed what pulling multiple buyin wins at the 1/2 and 2/4 no limit levels can do to you at the bigger games. Especially when your confidence at poker is at an all time low.

The players at these levels are alot more timid and thus can be ran over much easier. I assume the main reason is that the money mean alot more to players at these levels than at bigger games. An $80 bet at 5/10 or 10/20 is nothing yet at the 2/4 level it can be pretty intimidating.

In a search for inspiration one day I stumbled across this classic quote from the Texas Dolly himself that is now written on the dry-erase board on my wall. "Try to decide how good your hand is at a given moment. Nothing else matters. Nothing!"

Anyways.. I've been playing pretty solid the last few days. I've been running well in the pot limit omaha games on bodog. I consider this game to be more of my specialty than no limit holdem. The 3/6 game has been a solid choice lately. I really believe that players in this game are much easier to play against. My style in this game is simply either I have it or I don't. I won't draw at less than the nuts and I won't draw without the right odds. So many people get caught with the 2nd nuts or bottom set and can't let it go in this game that if you play solid and don't stray from a winning strategy it can be very profitable.

I did have one hand today that cut into my early profits I will tell you about.. then it's time to sleep for me. I played this hand like a complete chump.

Playing 5/10 no-limit I was two from the button with a raise to $35 by the second to act and 3 callers in front I made the call with As 9s.

Flop was 3h Js 8s.

It checks to the player on my immediate right who bets $75... a little less than half the pot. I make the call with the nut flush draw and player on the button thinks for awhile before calling also. Everyone else folds.

Turn 3s

This time player on my right bets out $110. I think for a moment before calling. I'm getting skeptical at this point and I figure the best thing here would be to see what this guy does on the river. The player on the button thinks forever before calling.

River 4d

Again he fires. This time $330. Everything in me is screaming fold. There are two reasons a fold is a no brainer here.

1. I have played with this guy before and I have notes on him. I know that he is able to give up on a hand and probably won't fire here without the goods. Absolute best case scenario for me besides a bluff is he has a hand like Ks Qs but would he really fire here with that hand and two people calling him on the turn?

2. Hello? Did you forget about the guy on the button smooth calling the whole way. He could be sitting on Jd Jh and laughing his ass off at both of us. The odds are against it since he could of and should of raised that hand on the flop. Yet the possibility is there and should be weighed in. If #1 isn't enough the combination of both these reasons is an EASY fold.

Instead... I make the call. The button thinks forever again and makes the call with god knows what but it doesn't matter because the guy on my right shows 3d 3c for quads and rakes in a nice pot.

Enough is enough... I'm off to bed. Hope my aimless ranting made some sense to you guys.

Until next time

Monday session results +1200

say whaaaat?!

That's right kids... Here I am! Alive and well.

Poker is a serious business and i'm finally back to treating it as such. One can only live off of self pity for so long and then the realities of life eventually set in.

I won't lie and tell you everything is great... its not. My bankroll is at the lowest number I can remember it being in a long time (around 20k) yet I don't believe this will be more of problem than it is at this very moment. I've been playing alot the last few days with alot of confidence and my results have mirrored that.

For those of you who claim to live vicariously through my poker... both the good and the bad. I apologize and regular updates should resume shortly. I'd like to thank you all for your patience with me.

Until next time..

......

F5


F5


F5


..........damn