Cross Lanes last night

A little +EV and positive outcome last night at the Mardi Gras Poker Room in Cross Lanes, WV. The tight game and aggressive when necessary paid off in the end. I even got spanked around a bit with pocket Kings. Man there are truly some horrid players out there in the wild! Action junkies get paid off far too often than should be legal! I made a nice pot with pocket Aces for once, so I can't trash talk them in the future. I thought I'd announce it here to tell it to the world. Anyway up a couple of hundred after a good night at the tables. Hope to do it again soon. Nice seeing some of the typical morons getting pounded by their own sloppy play for a change.

Tonight, dinner with my lovely wife, for her birthday (Sunday.) Lotsa friends coming along. See you all soon. Happy Birthday Big Red!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing you all a Very Happy Thanksgiving. Be safe in your travels, enjoy the company of friends and family, and eat yourselves into a turkey coma! Let the feasting begin!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Mommy is Gone

Mommy is Gone

My sympathies go out to Daniel Negreanu on the passing of his mother. He writes a heartfelt dedication/testament to the life she led and the family she touched.

Regards,

cheer_dad

NDPT 2009 Points Race, and Year End Planning

Greetings all fellow NDPT'ers! The points race for the 2009 year has nearly drawn to a close! We have only one more qualifier tournament left for the year, which will coincide with the Eagles Tournament in December. You know the drill the extra $5 that has been collected from the members of the NDPT. We need to begin planning now for when we will hold the Year End Tournament. I know that the holidays get VERY hectic for us all and I don't want this to sneak up on us and leave anyone out in the cold! So be thinking about when you would like to have it. This tournament will return to OUR basement. The points that are shown below are the current standings, and reflect what each of you will be issue in tournament chips. Of course the December qualifier will add to this as well, so the totals are not yet carved in stone. We will be playing for an approximate $600 prize pool. That's not bad for a total of 14 qualified players! So, plan on being there! If you have some preferences on time and dates for this little game, please start replying here or to my email. I want to be sure to dodge the many other games and other holiday type functions too. Remember only those who have paid in and qualified will be playing in this event. Thank goodness I qualified for my own tourney!!! Check out the points standings below:

JR Ruble 2,940
Teresa Murray 2,280
Eric Freed 2,130
Brian Murray 2,040
Del Minturn 1,985
Julie Wolfe 1,930
John Johnson 1,700
Steve Allman 1,625
Vince Post 1,550
Matt Hensley 1,050
Mike Westbrook 953
TJ Sellers 630
Julie Miller 480
Dennis Rempel 315

Regards,

cheer_dad

In training... and it's Monday

Just a quick note... heading off to training in a couple of minutes. I'll be out of touch from the world. A lot of taskings this week, and a lot of outside appointments later in the week, and a whole slew of meetings on the calendar too. So, of course I'll accomplish very likely ZERO! Looking around here, I wonder if I can request maid service?

Oh and UGGGGGHHHHH, it's Monday! Gotta run gang...

Regards,

cheer_dad

Eagles Poker Tournament TONIGHT!

Don't forget folk and folkette, that tonight is the Eagles Poker Tournament. Registration begins at 6:00pm, and cards get in the air at roughly 7:00pm. $25 gets you in the game. Uncle June forecasts attendance to be VERY high tonight (yeah, he's got crazy mad prediction skills!) So, don't be late!!! If like me, you find yourself "felted" early, don't get all dejected because JINX'D is playing tonight, and they ALWAYS put on a fantastic show for us. Songs sure to be sung, will be "I hate my life..." and the EVER popular "Crazy Bitch!" Hmmm, there's a telling statement in there somewhere, I just know it.

The work day is nearly over for me. I have to make a quick run by the high school to pick up Whit's assignments that she's missed while oinkin' it up with the FLU. So not only has she been sick, and dealing with my smart alec remarks, now she gets to do school work over the weekend. Yes, baby girl, daddy gives... because he loves! : P

I'll see Y'ALL tonight.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Follow up questions...

Well, one reply did come in from Uncle June (look down below to the longer of the previous postings.) I started a follow up comment to him, but then recognized that some of these additional thoughts were at least curious (to me) and worth sharing, and doubtful that any of you might actually wade through all of the comments out here. So, here's what I ended up saying in response to his comment:

No, I didn't feel that I was beat at that moment. (It became abundantly clear when he rolled over his pocket 6's though, for a flopped set.) I'm just trying to decide if this was my rookie mistake or if it was just one of those situations where I was destined to lose a lot of chips (which I did.) BUT, if I'm suggesting that when you bet out TPTK after the flop (with a hand you raised with preflop too) and get raised post flop, that you should be folding... I'm afraid that sounds as if I'm playing like too much of a NIT! Or should I always assume that to be at that point a weak holding when raised?

I don't want to rationalize this away if I screwed up, I'm really trying to heed the lessons of Alan Schoonmaker's book, Your Worst Poker Enemy. Losers will continue to blame bad luck and rationalize away their own poor plays. Those trying to become winners, will analyze and reflect and learn from mistakes. Here, though I want to make sure I'm learning the correct lesson.

I don't want this "story" to come across as a bad beat story (it wasn't,) or that I always lose with a particular hand or good cards, because frankly of course I always lose with good cards, as I try not to play trash hands in the first place. I also win with good cards.

BWoP, if you stumble across this mess of postings, I'm particularly interested in your thoughts on this, if you're willing to share. My reason... I think you have more cash game experience than a lot of folks. You're not the type to offer up cure-all poker advice which we all know doesn't exist in the first place, as the answer to most questions continues to be "it depends..."

Also, in other unrelated upcoming events:
Don't forget tomorrow night, November 13th (yes, Friday the 13th) its yet another installment of the Eagles' Poker Tournament. Registration begins at 6:00pm, game at 7:00pm. $25 gets you in it, to win it! Also JINX'D is playing starting at 9:00pm, so those who bust out early will have some great music to listen to while they console their egos with copious amounts of adult beverage. Hope to see you all there! Be warned cheer_dad's looking to replenish the bankroll. Only with your help can I make that a reality! : P

Regards,

cheer_dad

Thanks for listening and for living with the broken posts but sometimes i ramble beyond the confines of a text message.
Regards,
cheer_dad

Now if i am rationalizing MY bad play say so! I use the analysis and re-hashing of hands to try and get something positive of something that went badly.

I think if i had resized my betting i would have avoided getting it all in on the flop...but by the river i think if he had any sense at all he owned me.

Well he was and he wasn't. In hindsight i believe he would have been equally capable of making that move with rags. Just this time he had the goods.

A pair is not the hand to put your entire stack at risk for, albeit tptk. My analysis leaned more toward the assumption that he was pushing me around.

It worked to eliminate 2 of the callers. But the guy that hits is the only one who calls here. The raise should have given me more pause than it did.

Further contemplation on the hand that broke me. Him hitting his set of 6s was good fortune. My bet post flop was pot sized designed to get take it down now...

It went downhill

You see a few of the mobile texting posts from yesterday, as I had joined Frank and headed south to the Cross Lanes Poker Room. The tournament brought me stale cards, but I had glimmer of hope briefly when a stolen pot beefed me back up. Unfortunately the blinds and antes just slowly chipped me out. No pairs, connectors, or face cards for that matter. Busted out 33 out of 95 players. sigh...

Then, on to the cash game. It was VERY loose. Suckout city... So, I played cautious. First hand I got involved in from the button, was 7-8os when it was only $5 to the flop, with EVERYONE in. Why not. The board shows two sevens on the flop. Ooooh goodie for cheer_dad. It checked around to me, so I fumbled around and threw out what looked like a steal for the pot. I got a couple callers. The turn was an 8. I think the table rose a little on my end of it. But the guy in front of me throws out a $20 bet. I feign to throw away (yes, transparent to most players but not these guys.) Then frustrated looking I throw in a raise. He called very slowly... more shrewd than I gave him credit for. He tables his 7-9s for trips. I table my 7s full of 8s for the win and a very nice pot. He had called from early position with a 7-9, in fact I think he's the one that made it $5 in the first place. Hmmmm. BUT, life is good, cheer_dad's actually up for the trip now, despite busting out of the tourney. I order a beer... You can see where this is going. Then, comes the hand. I'm in the small blind, and the whole table is limping in, it rounds back to me, and I finally look down at my cards. I have AQos. I make it $15 straight to go, just content to take it there. Instead I get 3 callers. Oh goodie...BUT as luck would have it, the flop comes out Q-6-4 rainbow. This is a great flop for me. So, I bet out $60, still just wanting to get this done and over... 1 fold, then 2, then wait... WTF, he pauses and looks doubtingly at my cards seemingly challenging that I have a queen in my hand. So much so that he grabs a boat load of greens (far more than enough to put me and my measly stack all in. I think he threw like $200 out there, where I had a lil under $100 left. Everything here pointed to him buying it, the pot had swollen now, a call by me is going to make it in the $360+ neighborhood. I've lost track, my mind, and as you can tell, I'm about to lose all my chips too. I make the call with my top pair top kicker, convinced that he's bullying me, like I've seen he and the other players doing so far tonight. I call it, and he says immediately I "just" got middle set... 666, the mark of the beast. I've just been owned. Nice hand sir, I'll call it a night after that. No, sense throwing good money after bad.

To any of my readers, where did I go wrong on this... other than actually showing UP in the card room in the first place? Did the chips inevitably end up in the pot, no matter? Anything I could've done? Was I just destined to lose it all here? Should I just suck it up, and quit the bitching, or what do I actually "learn" here? I await any comments you may have...

Regards,

cheer_dad

Wow... First win of the night for me with j9os. Wins me over 2,000. Bluffed after the flop... Level 5. 54 of 95 left in. Gettin' 'spensive

Frank ever the bad influence convinces me that cross lanes poker room is the place to be on this tuesday eve leading into the holiday... Tourney starts now!

Congratulations to Joe Cada on winning the 2009 WSOP Main Event! He claimed the title after an 87 hand heads-up battle with Darvin Moon.

Regards,

cheer_dad

WSOP Final Table (Day 1)

Action as promised got back under way yesterday at the Rio. Thus far, the players have been at it for over 16 hours! Yes, you read that correctly! Poker is indeed a sport, if you consider Raw Endurance as a sport... I feel for you guys. Hang in there. And "hang" they must as the goal is to play the final 9 down to the final 2, before anyone can call it a day. When play resumed on this "Day 1" of the Final Table, here's the tale of the chip stacks:

Seat 1: Darvin Moon (58,930,000)
Seat 2: James Akenhead (6,800,000)
Seat 3: Phil Ivey (9,765,000)
Seat 4: Kevin Schaffel (12,390,000)
Seat 5: Steven Begleiter (29,885,000)
Seat 6: Eric Buchman (34,800,000)
Seat 7: Joseph Cada (13,215,000)
Seat 8: Antoine Saout (9,500,000)
Seat 9: Jeff Shulman (19,580,000)

And now many hours later... the number of players has been reduced (at this time when I awoke to start reading up and post my own blog entry) down to 3 players left. As I read back through the coverage provided by PokerNews (no I didn't stay up to read and listen along, sorry cheer_dad's just not that dedicated from here in the hills of WV) here are some of the things which catch my eye and interest, including the names of those who have been eliminated thus far. So, if you want to keep it a surprise until it airs on TV... stop reading now! I'm serious, here we go... Last chance...

It was nearly an hour into play before a Turn and then a River card were even seen, at Hand #28. It was a check-down hand between Jeff Schulman and Eric Buchman. Buchman came up with the winner.

Just under 13 hours ago, James Akenhead was eliminated in 9th Place and thus finally lays claim to 9th place prize money of $1,263,602. Although, recall that everyone was already paid roughly that amount before the big break. Congratulations on having come so far Mr. Akenhead! And then there were 8.

Just over 12 hours ago, on hand #68 - Kevin Schaffel was eliminated in 8th Place ($1,300,231) with a gut wrenching hand! Schaffel got it all-in with his pocket Aces and found himself up against the pocket Kings of Eric Buchman. A gut wrenching King came out on the flop, only to have the only other King in the deck arrive on the TURN! Yeah, I think Quad Kings are good here! Ouch! Still, congratulations to Mr. Schaffel. And then there were 7.

This snippet update from PokerNews.com's "donpeters" made me laugh,
"Ivey Color Blind?

Phil Ivey just found an orange T5,000 chip mixed in with one of his stacks. Those chips were colored up a while ago and are not in play anymore. Ivey simply took the chip off the table and gave it to the tournament staff. Who needs an extra 5,000 anyway?"

At the Dinner Break (9pm Las Vegas time) they were still at 7 players and Eric Buchman was now in first place in the chip counts, instead of Darvin Moon, for a change of pace.

Tournament Directory Jack Effel reminded the crowd that it took 169 hands to get the final table down to a heads up match at last year's WSOP. Clearly that record is going down...

Hand #175... ugh! Two of my favorites come clashing together. Phil Ivey gets it all in only to be called by Darvin Moon. Phil rolls over AK to Darvin's AQ. Unfortunately for Ivey a Queen would peel off on the flop and that was all she wrote... Phil Ivey is eliminated in 7th Place ($1,404,014.) Congratulations to Phil, I know it's not what you were looking for and I had high hopes, but it happens. The crowd in the Penn and Teller theater begins to disperse. And then there were 6.

Not long after on hand #187 Moon would once again thin the field. And again he has AQ! Darvin would move all-in and get a snap call from Steve Begleiter, who rolled over QQ! Another gut-wrenching card rears its ugly head this time on the river as an Ace is displayed, dashing Begleiter's hopes and putting Darvin back on top of the chip counts. Steve Begleiter is eliminated in 6th Place ($1,587,160.) And then there were 5.

Things tightened up a great deal after Begleiter's departure, and snails were seen zipping by...

It would be hand #236 that would claim another victim, this time in the form of Jeff Shulman who was unfortunately eliminated in 5th Place ($1,953,452.) This time, Antoine Saout's A9 goes up against Shulman's pocket 7s. Again, fate is sealed when a stray 9 hits the board on the flop and Shulman doesn't improve. Congratulations to Mr. Shulman.

Hand #271 would claim another casualty. Eric Buchman was eliminated in 4th Place ($2,502,890) when he gets it all-in versus Darvin Moon. Buchman with A5os vs Moon's KJs. This time a King peels off the deck on the turn, sending Buchman to the rail. Congratulations to Mr. Buchman, but then there were 3.

It should be noted that last year's WSOP ran only a total of 275 hands, including heads-up play.

Hand #276, would bring things to a close for the Day 1! Antoine Saout was eliminated in 3rd Place ($3,479,670) at the hands of "21 year-old-youngster" Joe Cada. Saout would shove all-in with pocket 8s and get the call from Cada's AKos. This time, suspense reigns and a King comes off the deck on the RIVER! The crowd (full of Cada's supporters) goes wild. Congratulations to Mr. Saout on having come so far. And then finally there were 2.

And now... we are down to heads up and things wrap up quickly as two clearly weary players will now get some deserved rest (well maybe.)

Chip stacks of the two are now at:

Joseph Cada 135,950,000
Darvin Moon 58,850,000

Go get some sleep guys, honestly! Don't even think about the difference between 2nd place and 1st place, although it's $8,547,042 to the winner and a mere $ 5,182,928 for the other guy... Oh and don't forget some shiny jewelry!!!

My personal special thanks goes out to the phenomenal blogger/reporters of the PokerNews.com Team, who continued their coverage of Day 1 for 17-1/2 hours. They have done an outstanding job with their coverage of the WSOP 2009 and I for one greatly appreciate ALL their efforts!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Who's BEST for poker?

A very good article over at PokerNews from yesterday: http://www.pokernews.com/news/2009/11/pokernews-op-ed-the-november-nine-who-s-the-best-for-poker-7490.htm I know, I know I'm behind. Work has truly kept me hopping as of late. But idle hands and all that... The article by Nicole Gordon discusses which of the World Series of Poker's November Nine will be BEST for poker. It's an interesting read, check it out.

My prediction (or who's my pony in this race?) Phil Ivey... I just like the guy. I enjoy watching him play. That vacant stare, and the darting eyes. There's a cold-calculating mind in there but I really think the guy is truly a phenom! He's an incredibly intuitive player. Phil is unfortunately on the short side of the stacks... If not Phil then my second pick for WSOP glory would be Darvin Moon. He's somewhat local! He hails from Maryland, but earned his seat by winning it at Wheeling Island, right here in West BY GOD Virginia! It makes for one of those great stories, of "Local Boy Makes Good!" Of course I can openly root for Jeff Shulman as well, he's well known in the poker community and it'd be a good thing if he took down the win too. Of them all, Phil would be BEST for poker's image. He's a talented, charismatic personality and a win by him would indeed elevate the idea that skill does indeed play an enormous part in poker and he'd be a good candidate to sell it to the world. I agree completely with the author's assertion there. As for one of the "unknown"-ish NOOB's winning it and sparking yet another poker explosion... I don't know. The game is very much alive in the U.S. although the UIGEA did put a big lid on it for folks. But I can't tell you how many games I can still find every week right here in my own hometown, far removed from the Vegas skyline. The specter of poker illegality simply put a dent in online poker for a season. I like many others still believe that at some point the laws will be repealed or just fade into obscurity. I have a lot of friends that don't play poker... and they could care less if I choose to do so or not. It is that which gives me pleasure and joy. And sensible human beings I think respect that and won't throw their weight and support behind the silliness that the UIGEA introduced. All that said, though I don't think a poker-splotion is in the cards again. Moneymaker truly did give hope to the huddled masses to climb to greatness in the poker world, but really all it did for me was get me logged on to a computer to play some micro-stakes. I haven't plugged any sort of hole in the poker economy. I guess some others did way back then.

Wow, but I've rambled on... Uhmmm tonight there's cards to be played at the Yanok's! Gametime 7-ish. Always a good crowd, always a good time. Big Red and I are still on the fence about going, since she has been sick for a while, albeit no longer contagious. I'm feeling like 70% that we'll be there, since she's going STIR CRAZY from sitting at home all this time. She's gonna want to go back out into the world if she can stand it. So, I hope to see you all tonight, but if we don't make it play your hearts out gang!

Oh and don't forget the WSOP's Final Table does come back together starting tomorrow at High Noon, Vegas Time! Leading up to a much anticipated/hyped showdown among the nine, which will culminate the 10th of November on TV. Yes, of course I'll be watching... but thanks to the fine folks doing the Live Blogging at PokerNews.com, I really won't need to now will I! : P

Regards,

cheer_dad

Splat, and some poker announcements too

Somedays even the coffee gets the better of you at work! Off to a wondrous start this morning, with one too many dramas to deal with. Everyone really gets overly freaked out over things that just don't get me all that excited. Folks, ain't nobody gonna die if this service isn't running for about a minute and a half. FFS, it even fails over to it's counterpart. BUT, I digress. Just a minor bump in the road, but unfortunately the "team" didn't all see eye to eye on the subject. But hey as the lead, I opted for words of wisdom, from Mike McD himself. "Yeah, it's one me!" Of course now who in management will likely by "Gramma" or "TeddyKGB" I have no clue. The thought does give me pause... mighta even thrown up in my mouth a little there! : P

Work is work people... it's just a job... don't let it define or encompass you're very existence. If our work defined us, we all most certainly have very short dictionary entries.

In other more positive pokery type goodness, the Yanok's are hosting this Friday, at 7-ish I think!?! Me thinks there will be Crown. Time grows short for additional qualifiers to pad the chip stack for the year end game. See you all there!

Also, Friday the 13th (November) the Eagles Hold'em Tournament is scheduled. Registration at 6, game at 7. $25 gets you in for all the fun. Limit of 50 players (for now.) As an added bonus Uncle June tells me that Jinx'd is playing in the Main room. Any of my erstwhile Facebook fanatical followers can attest to the "good" time I/we all had on Halloween when they played at the 5th Street Pub. The things I've seen, the things I've heard... Thank all your lucky stars that I'm pretty sure I lost some time there. There are some details that are pretty fuzzy. Anyway, I hope to see you all come out for the game. I needs a big win... and YOU can make it happen! : )

Regards,

cheer_dad