Tighten this muther up...

So I'm in a bad way lately. Can't make it happen at the tables. Made a tilt move that cost me a substantial % of my UB account balance. Okay, so the world economy will not feel the blip, but believe you me...I felt the loss. I relived some of the long forgotten sick gut-wrenching feelings of loss over it. Yes, it was only $300, and I have much of the loss to blame to ONLINE BLACKJACK which is still evil. But this is the direction of Tilt...and that way lies madness. Last night I played for a while and did absolutely NOTHING wrong, and for my trouble I lost nearly $50 on two tables after a couple of hours of play. I couldn't even chalk the loss up to my own stupidity...but even better (i think) I couldn't attribute it to the stupidity of others. All in all, I played a solid game and lost...and the table wasn't suckin' out on me, the night, the table, the pokerverse just was not orbiting in my direction. So how to live through these crappy revolutions around the Poker Sun? I did some reading, surfing aimlessly really and stumbled across some "lessons" on GameMaster Online. They had posted a listing of NLHE starting hands, that YES I've seen a thousand times just like the rest of you. But I printed it out and brought it home tonight. No, I'm not magically winning now. I'm actually realizing how few hands I should really be playing if the "gamemaster" is to be believed! I mean DANG!!! I'm dropping some hands that I might have given a drive around the block. And early on I had this douchebag named "phiduke" that got me to lay down my pocket 10's. He knocked me down to $85 in the process, when I saw a King come up on the flop. I decided to show my lay down, to which he showed me his flippin' 9-4os! I should have tilted, but didn't. I said some rather unflattering things about his mother in my notes about him. Then, for the rest of the game he tries to goad me...own me like I'm some kinda fuckin' tourist. (whoa stop channeling Mike McDee) He raises my BB every time it comes around. And I do mean EVERY TIME. I watch him suck out on some other guys at the table with his SOOTED SHIT over and over...and then...I...busted his dumb ass, when he decides to push against me and the Big Stack at the table, and I go way the hell over him. Which he calls for all in on me, he gets to show me his pocket Nines...and I get to flash my pocket Rockets, which turned into Aces and Queens by river time. And he sloughed away, never to be heard from again. I'm up over $55 thanks to the aforementioned douchebag, that I simply had the good sense THIS TIME to wait out, and lay waste to when given the opportunity. Also, it should be noted that these were pushy, arrogant bets and reraises that I was making when I was in. The kind that put me off with others, but I'm realizing that maybe there is some sense to this when coupled with SOLID PLAY. I'd just always seen it demonstrated with dipshits who didn't know the value of a hand. Charter members of the any two will do club. I still hate those guys. I know there's more than a fair share of swearing in here, but there's a lot of angst to blow off, so induldge me. Ahhh, I feel better. Thanks for listening...and I owe the swear jar...okay? But man these donkeys have been getting an unfair piece of me lately, and it felt good to strike back even a little.

Well now I should quit while ahead, and get my son in the shower, and ready for bed. Besides I'm up to over $157 now, despite that I only won 8 out of 101 hands, and saw the flop only 14 times, a whopping 13%. Small numbers but good return!

Gotta run!

Regards,

cheer_dad

P.S. Okay I gave $10 of it back on pocket jacks, BUT I did lay 'em down to a pair of Queens on the board. So it wasn't ALL BAD!

NDPT chips

I don't know why I took so long to do it...but I finally took some pictures of the NDPT chips. What prompted it was a fellow HPT'er who asked a question about chip labelling. He was tossing the idea around of labelling, but didn't know if he could justify the idea of spending all the coin on his "Dice" chips. And I could sympathize with this thought process. I mean the chips now are cheap. (They weren't that cheap when I first bought 'em but heck they are now. And the original question kept coming back to the guy's mind, of why would I want to spend over $100 to label 1,000 dice chips! So I offered up my situation and experience as an example. I was late in getting the image posted, but since I finally uploaded it to HomePokerTourney.com I thought I should share it out here as well! I'm still very happy with my chips...and I just ordered the final set of labels to complete the labelling of EVERY chip that I have for tournament and cash game play. Whew! I think everyone that plays at the house really likes the chips too. Eventually I will graduate to a high end set, but for now, I kinda like these, so I'll hang on to them for a while! :)

Some of us played at the house last night, actually squeezed in two tournaments. I started everyone off with $2,000 tournament chips this time, which actually changed play styles and strategy, and was a refreshing change. BUT, I can't say that it actually improved anyone's play. JR and I opted to chop the prize pool at the end of Game #2, for $80 each, which broke Big Red and I even for the night. I'd like to count the win of $40 to myself, though seeing as I friggin' TILTED my way to an online loss of about $300!!! A lot of it BlackJack inflicted. Man, will I never learn. But that's what happens to a weak mind when Kings get cracked, then a set of 6's by a set of 9's...and finally my 9's getting bested by a slow player of Q's. The horror people...the horror. Now, $300 might seem small to some of you, though probably not any of the miscreants that I play with, but some of my fellow Poker Bloggers out there, I'm just a penny ante chump! Eh...so be it. I like my poker like I like my women...cheap...oh uh wait, sorry Big Red, I didn't mean it! I should be bothered more by the loss than I am. But it taught me a lesson...and one that I hope I remember for a long time. Be aware of the table and those playing it. The pots that blur by which are small potatoes, that bore you to tears, then you get involved and the pot size grows exponentially, maybe the poker gods are telling you something. Maybe the peon on the other side of the table is too. He's got the monster, the hand killer, the stack depleter and in the morning he's gonna be telling all his buddies about the "DONK" he spanked in the online game last night. Don't let it be you. Also, more importantly. I need to learn to bump up my betting levels. What seems like a respectable "go away" raise to me, is just an invitation to rock my world to a lot of the players I'm running into these days online. Either they're getting better or they're getting worse. I should tighten down, take the small pot wins in position...and accept when my big cards get cracked, and move on. Get you money in when you've got the best of it...and protect it when you don't. Words to live by Mike McDee. Listen to Big Daddy Kinish and profit from the trail he blazed with his own bad beats. Read and follow the playbook he has laid before you. Sheesh, maybe I've been watching Rounders too much lately!

Well that's an uber post, from my perspective and rather than continuing to ramble on, I'll bring it to a close! :)

Regards,

cheer_dad

Scanning time

I'm killing time between hotfixes and patches on a BUNCH of customer workstations, that I'm getting up to par using HFNetChk. Sometimes the GUI seems to go to sleep on you, and the minutes tend to drag out while you're waiting for the reboot of 20+ remote workstations. But I've caught up on a lot of my desk cleanup (well sorta.) I've caught up on my email, and actually got to read a few Blog entries from some of the rest of the Blogosphere. There are a lot of truly insightful folks peddling their written wares out there, especially in the poker ranks. You didn't honestly think that I was going to let this post go by without mentioning it did you...really? Sorry to have let you down, dear reader! It's been a trying day at work today, with the team seeming to be at each others throats at least for the pre-noon phase of the day. It settled down a bit after that, and a few whimsical moments actually presented themselves to us all and allowed a little collective steam to be blown off. Somewhere here in the building, I know it's being collected though to give power to tomorrow's speed-bump du jour. Wow, I'm really throwing out the cliches. I really must be tired. Thank goodness it's almost over now, looks like we're coming down to the final stretch in the patch-a-palooza. Oh look there's another one!

And with that, I bid you all good evening!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Bad Beat Me, and make me write bad checks...

Sometimes, you just can't hit water even when you fall out of the friggin' boat. That is a story of my current run. In Saturday Rubi busted my Cowboys with his SIXES when he flopped a set and went on to make a BOAT. Ouch, as if the set wasn't defeating enough Mr. Cheer_Dad have this for good effing measure. OY!!! It has definitely left an interesting mark on my poker psyche. And no, not just one bad beat, but a series of lackluster performance, nominal wins, coupled with incredible losses. Yesterday I sat in on two $2/$4 Limit tables on UB, and just proceeded to give it away on one table. I started with $200 on each table. Got away from one when my Pocket Jacks got busted and left me with a total of $86 on the table. I won only 4 hands out of 120 dealt, seeing 30% of the flops. And one of those wins, was all folded to me preflop...and the other I got to keep the Big and Small blinds only. You cannot make money at poker like this folks, I just know it. Now as for the other table, I cashed out up on it. I made $58 on it. But in the same strech of about 120 hands, I hit QUADS twice, and a Straight Flush once. I know this is NOT the norm. I was flying high, but really look at the profit/loss statement. It was still a monstrous losing session! Think back to me blowing it all on Full Tilt Poker a while back. Donating $50 of the recovered money from GamingClub (now PokerTime), donating on Poker.com, and CDPoker.com. Heck, maybe I should just face facts and admit, that I really just SUCK at this friggin' GAME! Whew! I'd apologize for venting but I'd be lying if I said anything else. So, it is what it is. A big ole heaping helpin' of Self-Pity coming at you from yours truly! This variance thing really sucks...and it'll take you down to the depths of dispare in its whirlpool like pull. I'll just have to wait and see where it spits me out in the end. Round and round up and down...INDEED!

Calling it a day!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Baseball season

Tonight was the skills demo, for Youth Baseball. As Coach for One Community FCU, it was my duty to show up and evaluate the new crowd of players. A lot of good hitters their, and on the whole they seemed to be a good bunch of kids. In talking to the other coaches, it sounds like there aren't as many kids playing this year. It may be a little lean down on the ole field this year. So, that means the ones that do show up, better bring the "A" game, cause everyone's going to be playing and having to give their all to the game. I think we'll all do just fine.

Work has been unrelenting. More hours, more difficulties, and now even fewer people. We already had one team member off to have her baby...and now another team member is going to be gone, while his wife has her baby. So the techies who remain are going to be swamped, overworked, and generally tempers and nerves will be exposed. It may not be pretty, so hang on gang it's gonna be a bumpy ride!

We played cards on Saturday night at the house, with a small crew, of the regulars. I opted for a play style of playing darn near anything, and had a lot of fun...and recognized that a lot of opportunities are being missed by playing premiums only. You know the more I think about it, and watch poker on tv...the pros themselves do NOT play the way they preach. Not at all. The big starting hands, are good for starting, but more often than not the BIG MONSTER pots are coming from less than stellar cards, and very good reads on opponents. The Big Cards, are taking in small limped pots, and little more. Now on occasion, when you've got Aces and you're being bullied, preflop, then well, you know what to do. :) Make 'em pay to play...

This weekend is NDPT Tournament #3 for 2007. I'm in 3rd place...and I'm planning to move on up this weekend, so be ready everyone. I'm declaring war on the lot of you!

I have little else to say this evening, I'm just kinda blah...and stress has churned up the stomach tonight, so I think I'm going to go take a break on the couch. Maybe an uber style post tomorrow.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Hello, anyone out there?

"Where U Been, cheer_dad?"

I know gang, I've once again been remiss in my duties as blogger. And I apologize. I put in over 110 hours in the last 2-week pay period. Weekends, evening, and time in general seemed to be non-existent. Hell, even my poker play went on hiatus! The DST patches wait for no man though...and the magical date is coming ever closer, when the clocks will change as mandated by Congress, and we must comply! Just like ultimately we'll comply with that other crap piece of legislation which outlawed online poker! Eventually it will happen, and there's nothing you or I can do about it. "Sorry 'bout yer luck...sucks to be you!" --to coin a phrase.

I've been trying to eat a little healthier for a few days now. I've sworn off regular chips, potato and corn...and have been opting instead for the Baked Lays. And haven't had much pop either. Took a swig or so, last night during our maintenance, when there was nothing else on the desk to reach for. Instead I've been drinking water, some Sunny D, and regular orange juice. Also, when I've been hungry at night, I've opted for sliced apple. No if work slows a bit and allows me breathing room, I'll hop back on the treadmill either here or at home. But we are short handed, and I doubt it'll slow up, but I'm going to have to make some choices soon on it.

I got an old movie/music/documentary that I've been enjoying again. Sting's Bring on the Night. It documented the creation of and performance by the band Sting put together on his "solo" album Dream of the Blue Turtles. Heavy jazz influence, which takes me back to those Edison Jr High stage band days. Made me think of the old Sammy Nestico A Warm Breeze album which I haven't been able to find online for download. But I guess it is a niche item, huh.

We were invited to Shuman's for a cash game on Friday, that I'd like to attend if Big Red will allow. Please oh please... OH and speaking of Poker...WV legislation just passed to make provisions for "table-gaming" in the state at specific dog/horse track locations, in addition to the accursed slot machine/video lottery machines. Each county may vote the issue themselves. I would have to guess that there may be overwhelming support for such a move. Poker room opportunities may be just around the corner people. This is BIG people...REALLY BIG! I'm psyched! Can you here the joy in my words!?!?

Anyway, I've rambled on for long enough. Hope this makes up for my extended blog absence. Until next time...

Regards,

cheer_dad

What're U Thinkin'???

JJ stops by my desk this morning to inform me that "The Outback" has lost their mind!!! He and his wife went there last night, sit down, she orders he frozen concoction, he opts for the old standby, Killian's Irish Red. (Probably one of my MOST favorite beers, ever!) And he's informed by the powers that be that they no longer serve it on TAP! WHAT!!!? Are they crazy? When JJ asked why, the answer was it wasn't very popular, and they weren't selling enough. OOOOh, let me guess it'll allow for another keg of flippin' Bud Light or some such domestic, pale wimpy beer. Killian's had bite...but not too much. In the right light it gave off the perfect "RED" glow. So, now JJ and I have had to decide that we're not going back there, ever again in protest of this attrocity against the human race. For shame Outback. Guess I'll have to spend even more time at El Ranchero's Mexican Establishment, where recently they just put Dos XX on TAP, which is a nice change of pace. Still can't believe it.

I am so tired today. The rest of the Intel side of the Team and I stayed last night for OS patch maintenance. I started the day off at 6:30AM, and walked out the doors last night at 12:00Midnight. And now, my body is slowly shutting down, since I got home, grabbed a bite, slept for 5 hours, and got back in here at 6:30AM this morning again. The paycheck'll be nice one of these days, but that is small concellation for how I feel right now. I AM TIRED! Borerline exhaustion. And the bonus plan...we've got work on Saturday and Sunday this weekend. But what'reyagonnadoo.

I'm still a bit staggered by the online losses lately, so it's probably been for the best that I haven't been playing poker online. I was close to Tilt...and it would have taken very little. I think Big Red and I are heading back to the Yanok's on Friday for another evening of tournament poker. BUT...right now, I am SLEEPY, and I'm rambling and writing nothing useful or meaningful. IN fact I wasn't aware that I could type with my eyes closed. Didn't even spell check.

Time to go...

Regards,

cheer_dad