Bobby Flay, Lingering Winter Days, and My New Bookie... Jimmy Ray

"Boredom is just the reverse side of fascination: both depend on being outside rather than inside a situation, and one leads to the other." - Schopenhauer

12 March 2005...

A cold, bitter, windy Saturday morning greeted me like a angry kangaroo before I could even stumble out of bed. It's supposed to be March and yet, it felt like January. I had one of those rollercoaster sessions on four different websites (with servers and support staff spread out over a half a dozen countries). By the time you woke up on Saturday, I was already in the hole playing $3/6 on Party Poker. I made two sketchy plays early and lost to a few clowns who got lucky. Suckouts of note: I flopped set with TT and lost to J8s and a river flush and my pocket Hellmuth were cracked by QJo. I definitely felt I was the best player at the table. Instead of walking away and cutting my losses, I held my ground. I fought my way back and finished a few bucks above even! That was a wild run and it was still not even 11am.

Saturday afternoon was ugly, like boil-on-your-ass ugly. I played on Check and Raise and was outdrawn by a few lucky Canucks. Brutal was a poor description of what happened. Imagine getting kicked in the nuts six times within an hour by a fresh-out-of-rehab Courtney Love. That's what it almost felt like, except you lose all of your money too.

By early evening, I had an awesome run on Full Tilt. I ended up at the same table as a guy who regularly reads my poker blog. Matt S. even participated in my football pool and took 3rd this year. He ended up taking 3rd in the WBT Horse event. It's always weird when I'm recognized for being "that poker blogger." But shit, it still feels pretty cool for sure. I doubled up my buy-in and my overall loss for the day was cut in half.

Derek signed for a WSoP event on Poker Stars. The top 200 players won seats into the Qualifier. If you win the Qualifier, then you get a $10,000 seat into this year's World Series of Poker. Well, he outlasted over 1500 players in the first round and won a seat to the Qualifier. There were over 500 players in that event with almost a $50,000 prize pool! The top four places would win seats to the WSoP. Derek ended up coming in 220th place in the biggest tournament he's ever played in. He almost turned $66 into $11,000. You can read his story about his run here.

When I get back from Vegas, I'm going to try a few of those. While I watched, I played and ended up down $2. Helix saw me get knocked out on the first hand of a Turbo SNG on Poker Stars. My Hilton Sisters lost to AKs. Ouch. Prior to that, my Hiltons held up 12 straight times. According to Poker Tracker... the hotel heiresses are my most profitable hand since the Super Bowl ended. I think it all has to do with the alignment of the planets. I play my pocket pairs much more aggressively and for profit when Venus is in retrograde.

Four poker sites in one day. Not too shabby. Maybe I am a degenerate gambler or just a bonus whore?


Will the real BG stand up?
I decided that after being routinely called "America's favorite amateur pharmacist" by BG that I needed to come up with something witty. I caught Bobby Flay and his crew on The Iron Chef and that's when it hit me harder that a Roy Jones jab... "BG is the Bobby Flay of poker bloggers."

14 March 2005...

Someone sent me this video and I thought about Iggy.

Last week I began my quotidian of playing $3/$6 on Party Poker in the late morning and during lunchtime. I'd take the profits and play a few SNGs. Well, my losing streak in SNGs continues but I'm posting several winning sessions playing limit again. About a year ago, I was on the $3/6 tables grinding away. That's when I made the decision to play more No Limit and work on that aspect of my game. Last summer I drastically improved my NL game. I had a nice streak at the $25 and $50 NL tables on Party Poker. But then this fall, those tables were no longer profitable. Actaully the correct term is that... I was no longer profitable. Those tables are and always will be full of fish, dead money, and virtual ATMs. Yet in some weird head-trip out of a Kafka short story, I found myself giving my money away in large chunks while losing small pieces of my soul. My incongruous play became sloppy. And my over-aggression cost me several buy-ins.

The switch back to the $3/6 tables is an attempt to rebuild my bankroll that I lost playing SNGs and making retarded moves at the NL tables. I also want to prove to myself that I can consistently win at that level before I jump up to $5/10. I'm comfortable playing $5/10 at Foxwoods and $6/12 at The Mirage, but I'm not as confident playing anything above $3/6 online. Plus my bankroll could not sustain a losing streak at a higher level. I'm actually going to do the wise thing and wait until I have a healthier bankroll instead of jumping into a shoot out at the OK Corral with only six bullets.

At nights, I can be found working off my bonuses playing NL on Poker Stars and Full Tilt. At this rate, I'll clear my Full Tilt bonus by Thanksgiving.... 2006. I played with Sir Waffle and Aequitas on the NL tables. I took all of Sir Waffle's stack when his Hilton Sisters ran into my Hellmuths. I raised reflop and he cold called. He checked on a ragged flop and I bet the pot. He checked again on the turn and I put him all-in. Ouch. He obviously put me on JJ or AK or possibly 2-7o. I also dropped with The Hammer twice at the table. I sweated Bad Blood and Bill at the $3/6 tables along with watching MrsCantHang and Maudie. We had Glyph, Derek, and High Plains Drifter on the rail.

Recent Poker Playing Music...
1. Medeski, Martin & Wood
2. The Band
3. Solomon Burke
4. The Radiators
5. Billie Holiday