Live Tournament Win!

So yesterday afternoon I got a text message from Matt, inviting me to join him at a local casino's weekly Thursday evening deepstack poker tournament. Being intrigued, I promptly inquire with the roommate about his interest, and we quickly decide that we're down to take part. Call Matt and get the details of the event, skip out of the office a little early, jaunt home to let the dog out, (literally, not a metaphoric reference to ghey activities with Joshua... we had to let his elderly pooch relieve himself before lockin' him indoors for another ~4 hours,) and we were quickly off to the live game with plenty of time to spare before the 6:30 start.

Well, fast forward a few hours, and ... I won! Took down 1st place out of 29 entrants for a $615 score on the $60 buy-in! Since I apparently love the bulletpoint format, following are some miscellaneous details & thoughts about the experience, (my first ever non-home game live tournament cash... let alone victory)...:

• Never underestimate the incompetence of humankind. While there was definitely a handful of players there that knew what they were doing... there was far more that certainly did not! To me, as far as skill level is concerned, ~$50-$100 LIVE tournaments are similar to the $10 buy-in MTTs online.
• My reads rock! People don't seem to try very hard to mask their holdings. I was surprised by the number of physical tells that were easily picked up on, not to mention betting patterns being very easily decipherable. (Pardon my floating my own boat here, but that's my arrogant nature, and if you visit this blog you're used to it by now.) Every single time I made a move that was due to a read, it worked out exactly as intended. Love it when a plan comes together.
• Some people just don't have a clue! This one OLD bitch, (who actually started the tournament giving Matt an angry earful about his bad attitude / poor etiquette, for his choice to only show one of his hole cards after winning a pot,) couldn't understand the game if she was Doyle Brunson's mistress! The old hag (who wore a nasty looking perpetual scowl on her face, as if someone had put poison ivy in her Depends,) had just 9k in chips w/blinds at 1,500/3k, and she chooses to LIMP from MP... her and the BB see a flop of 389, BB checks, she shoves for her other 6k into a pot of 8,500, and the BB makes the call with 73o. She turns over AJo... and after bricking the turn & river she vents about her bad "luck," and the big blind's "gamble" of a call!!!??? WTF?! Some people should stick to Pinochle!
• It's my belief that building one's own table image, or at least understanding of what one's own table image has become, is as much, if not more important than getting reads on villains themselves. After purposefully illustrating a very weak/tight nature throughout the first couple levels, I was able to easily exploit the tables' belief that I only played top holdings.
• And, (in this week's note from Captain Obvious,) winning tournaments does require a bit of luck. While I cannot recall ever getting it in behind, I did have the fabulous good fortune to be dealt QQ and JJ while five handed, and in the cash... each held up to knock out competitors' Ax hands that had pushed into me, and this catapulted me to a massive lead going into the final three. Without these two huge pots, taking down the tournament would've required much more of a grind.
• Taking first place not only won me the $615 prize, but also entry into the casino's monthly $1,500 freeroll, which takes place this Sunday. That's where I'll be to watch NFL games this week. Evidently the handful of tourney winners, and those with the most hours logged at their live games for the month get free entry into a 3table tourney where the top 9 make the cash in a monthly giveaway.
• I suppose I really didn't "net" all that much, considering I did tip $75 to the very friendly dealers, and gifted my two buddies a return on their buyins, to make it a freeroll for 'em... and, of course, spent a decent chunk on contraband before the night was over. But still, I've got ~$350 I didn't have at this time yesterday! Good enough to put me in a good mood going into the weekend.

Curious of readers' thoughts on the dealer tip after the tourney win. Any insight into what's standard? I was informed ~10% is considered pretty decent, so I just sort of picked an amount a little higher. But after tipping the $75, the staff seemed almost overly appreciative... lead me to think I may have gone overboard, although didn't think this was the case. Maybe they just weren't used to a nice guy winning, I don't know.

Hope all is well with you and yours. Have a great weekend...

'Til next time...
Respect is all you have left in the morning,
~RaisingCayne

Mookie Win

I won the Mookie last night! So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.

Unable to provide any real recap of the tourney, as I wasn't paying any attention. Played from a buddy's house and just donked it up during sessions of bong hits and bad television. Fun time gettin' down to head's up versus Donkeypuncher. Won a key flip when I shoved AJ into his 77 and sucked out, and that was pretty much it from what I recall. Gettin' me into position to compete for the win was a wicked 4-outer at the Final Table when I over-shoved KK on a 299 flop against 4 villains, and one havin' 22... rivered King was nice.

Thanks to Zeem for hittin' me up on the IM with a reminder/inquiry about the tournament just minutes before it started! Would not have remembered to register without the reminder! (Not sure if this merits a financial reward, or share of the winnings, but it at least deserves a blog post thank you.)

Well, 'til next time...
In the immortal words of Jean Paul Sartre, 'au revoir, gopher,'
~RaisingCayne

October Update

Long time no post, and lots of recent happenings. So, here's a long personal rant, with zero poker content. Read at your own risk.

I quit my job! ...

• A little while back I received my formal offer to transition to Memphis, TN, and suffice it to say, my employer was not willing to make it worth my while to consider a cross country relocation. Realizing my future wasn't in the organization, I lost the necessary motivation to dedicate myself to time in a cubicle, and decided to quit my job in favor of other opportunites.


• Provided 8 weeks of notice when I presented management with the news of my decision a few weeks back, and am working through the end of this month. My last day, fittingly, being this Halloween.


• Looking into a few different specific local opportunities, but updated my resume and just gettin' it out there in general as well. The future is really up in the air with no even vague plan yet reached. Que Sera Sera...


• Considering 'going pro' by just playing poker for a living. Yes, a ridiculous, laughably unreasonable idea, considering my four figure bankroll and all. But hey, a guy can dream!
  
• So... let me know if anyone's aware of a need for a lazy, unmotivated financial analyst in the area of South King County, WA. (I swear my resume is more selling.)
  

Went to San Francisco a few weeks back...

• Went with ten friends down to the Bay Area for a weekend adventure. Pretty fun city.


• Stayed in the most ghetto hotel I've ever passed out in. A buddy arranged the trip, and booked us at the 'Grant Plaza' in Chinatown. It was ridiculous. It didn't spoil the trip or anything, it was just hilarious how poor the accomodations were.


• My friends drink, a lot! Vacationing with them to states where hard liquor is sold on every corner is likely not a great idea for my liver. It was ridiculous how many bottles were bought and polished off immediately by simply being passed among us.


• Cocaine's a hell of a drug. Just for the record.


• "Exotic Asian Massage" establishments have nothing to do with massage. There wasn't a single Ashmead Degree in the place! One would think illegal brothels would go about their business a little more nonchalant, but evidently that's not the case. (Don't judge me!)


• Street performers sure are an odd lot. Crazy what some people will do to not have to "work" for a living.


• The San Francisco warf was real entertaining. Some great food choices, neat tour & activity options, plenty of killer shopping opportunities, etc.


• Unfortunately did not have opportunity to hook up with LJ, Lucko, or Bayne while in the same city as they were over the specific weekend. Hopefully I'll get to meet 'em in Vegas over the weekend of 12/13.


• For the record, taking co-ed vacations to celebrate forthcoming weddings is nothing like the traditional bachelor/(ette) party! My friends kept trying to refer to the trip as a bachelor/slash/bachelorette party... but this does not exist! I'm very confident that had I been in charge of the itinerary, the trip would've been a bit more memorable. But I digress.
  

My country, tears of thee...

• The proposed "bailout" that worked its way through legislation is the worst idea since I tried to patent the DVD-rewinder for video stores. It wholly defeats any remaining idea that this remains a laissez-fairre economy. Free market my ass! The government is attempting to charge taxpayers for the mistakes of a specific industry. Ridiculous. John Adams is turning over in his grave.


• I've always been a very liberal democrat in most all senses of the terms, and this bailout makes me sick! I'm damn near a Socialist in my basic idealogies and this level of government involvement in the economy seems despicable. A presidential candidate with any party label that would've stepped up and questioned this thing's logic could've won my vote.


• While I do hope Barack Obama is our next President, I again feel like my vote is simply picking between the lesser of two evils. But dude a better choice to me if only for the minor benefit of possibly salvaging some international respect for the US. After the last 8 years of that fucking monkey 'Dubbya' representing our masses, this seems necessary, and I'm afraid the rest of this world would see McCain as simply more of the same.
  

Miscellaneous notes...

• Missed Al's "Bash" in favor of my San Fran adventure. All the many writeups out there make it sound like a great time was had by all. Maybe next year.


• Evidently a couple of bloggerment regulars had HUGE scores recently. Jamyhawk's buddy 'closerx5' took 3rd place in Full Tilt's Sunday $750k, for over $50,000!!! AND, sprstoner took down FTP's $109 rebuy for ~$58k!!! While I don't know either of these guys personally, it's still pretty freakin' cool to just know of their stories, and I can at least share in the excitement a little bit.


• Watched Ironman the other night. That movie Rocks!


• Tried to break up with that slut I've been sleeping with for awhile now, but, like George Costanza, evidently it didn't take. Despite my consistent, blunt, repetitive communications that I'm uninterested in any real relationship with her, she remains adamant that she'd still like whatever company I'm willing to offer. So yes... I'm going to a special place in hell for this one. ... Now I've got a gal coming over every other weekend, buying me pot, cleaning my house and preparing meals and shit, all between passionless sex sessions. (Don't judge me!)
  

Well, 'til next time...
Yes, that will be all, Ms. Potts,
~RaisingCayne

LPR Win. ... And a PokerStars Weekend.

Took down the LPRT last night! Good times. Don't go giving me too much credit though, as I did have some wicked suckouts go my way to get to the victory. Most notably was my hammer besting big slick AIPF. (Sorry Closerx5!) Also had QQ overcome AA at the final table to knockout Neo3gs. Not to mention turning a Queen when my pocket ladies were heads up against Waffles' K5s on a 55T flop. I run good. Other than those three suckouts for huge pots, also contributing greatly to the victory was the fact that I dropped the hammer like fifteen fucking times. I had 72o so many times it was funny. Given it was a bloggerment I of course took these hands as opportunities to represent monsters, and I was fortunate enough to not get called out on my shenanigans too many times, and these bluffs helped build and maintain a decent stack throughout. Thanks again to IT for hosting!

Got an insane amount of online tournament play in last weekend, as I probably logged twenty hours of play between Friday evening and Monday morning. I 4-tabled various PokerStars MTTs all day on Saturday, with very "meh" results. Netted a couple hundred bucks over the weekend, but was without any real decent scores. Won another (my 3rd) seat to the Sunday $1.5million which I promptly again cashed out for the tourney dollars. (Double shootouts rock.) Also ran real deep in a $40k tourney, but ended well short of the Final Table for just a ghey cash. Didn't get anything going in the Sunday $1.5 million, and fell out far short of the cash. (Although the donkey play witnessed did make me optimistic for future chances, and ambitious to make this big tournament a weekly routine.)

Well, 'til next time...
BOOOOOM!
~RaisingCayne

PokerStars... and James Lipton

PokerStars rocks! I had another halfway decent night at the online felt last night, cashing in both the tournaments I played, albeit for petty sums. Again just squeaked into the cash in a $11 180seat SnG, and did the same in the ~$33 23:00 MTT, netting around ~$50 on the night for the small cashes. But more valuable than the petty profit is what my recent PStars success has done for my confidence. I'm back in that cocky frame of mind where I expect to win when I register for something. Really looking forward to the Sunday $1.5million now! And without many other big plans for the weekend, I hope to get lots of MTT play in over the next few days, and am optimistic of my chances for some decent results. We'll see...

-----

Unapologetically ripping off Riggstad's recent blog idea, below are my answers to James Lipton's ten routine questions from Bravo's Inside the Actor's Studio.

1. What is your favorite word?
~Pontificate.
2. What is your least favorite word?
~Religious.
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
~Nudity.
4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
~Hypocrisy.
5. What sound or noise do you love?
~Applause. (Stadium sized applause like concert or sporting event... NOT the faux-plause heard after a coworker's speech, or manager presentation, etc...)
6. What sound or noise do you hate?
~Small dog's bark/yap.
7. What is your favorite curse word?
~Cockfag.
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
~Broadcasting... sports announcer, radio dj, or just a voiceover guy.
9. What profession would you not like to do?
~CEO.
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
~Welcome!


...'til next time,
Welcome!
~RaisingCayne

Problem Solved

So I discussed a small quandary yesterday regarding playing in this Sunday's $1.5 million guarantee tournament on PokerStars, given my lack of sufficient bankroll it was difficult to justify not unregistering to get the tournament dollars despite my significant ambition to play. Well... I solved the dilemma last night, by simply winning another seat! Took down the identical satellite tournamant two nights in a row! I rock.

...I'm humble too,
~RaisingCayne

Tuesday Evening Poker

Quick rundown of last night's session...

• FullTilt blows for me lately. Didn't cash in a single thing yesterday, failing in: both the Daily Doubles, the $28k, the $4k HORSE, and the Skillz game.
• Regarding that Skillz game, evidently I still suck at Stud. While I love me some Razz, I just can't ever seem able to find a comfort level with Stud-high, and last night's Skillz game was definitely no exception.
• PokerStars rocks for me lately. Was out of all five of my tourneys on FullTilt by 8:30 last night so switched sites to my lesser bankrolled option. Played a ~$12 satellite and an $11-180-peep SnG... took down the Double-Shootout satellite for a $200+$15 seat to Sunday's $1.5 Million Guarantee, and squeaked into the cash in the SnG for a tiny profit.
• While it's completely irrational for me to justify playing in the big Sunday tournament, given my PStars bankroll is under $200, and I can unregister for $215 in tourney dollars, I still really want to play in the event. The tournament was the source of my biggest online score ever (20 months ago,) and I haven't taken part in this huge Sunday tournament in a long long time. Got plans to play nearly exclusively on PokerStars the rest of this week in hopes of increasing my bankroll there to a point where I could at least feel less guilty for not taking the $T. I got five more days to think about it. We'll see.
• Got a call early this morning from the poker-incompetent uber-donkey good buddy of mine, HitmanBobby, bragging about his 3rd place finish in FullTilt's Daily Double A last night for ~$1,050! The biggest online score of his brief online poker career! I'm completely happy for him, and ecstatic to hear he finagled his way to a four figure score, albeit I do have to admit a level of astonishment. While the dude's a great friend of mine, our routine poker discussions consistently display his lack of real insight into fundamentals of the game as well as an unwillingness to improve via any other means other than personal experience. Don't get me wrong, I've witnessed him become an exponentially better poker player over the last two years, it's just I was not yet predicting a Final Table finish in a significant MTT... let alone 3rd place finish in a ~1,100-person tourney. (Insert blind squirrel/broken clock analogy here.) Nice work Bob.

Hope everyone's doin' alright in their own adventures on the online felt. 'Til Next time...

...I'm RaisingCayne, and that's news to me.

Running Good...

Contrary to assumptions reached from the title, this is actually NOT a poker brag post. Oh, it's a brag post alright, just not really poker related. ;-)

1. Got a surprise visitor last Friday, and kicked off my weekend with some hot sex. I should maybe apologize for my unruly aggression post-rebuy period in the donkarama, and my lack of "gg" as I exited, given my attention to poker was stolen away by an exotically robed enchantress. (Okay, I'm not "sorry," but you get my point.)
2. Went to my 10 year High School reunion Saturday and had the awesome pleasure of fooling around with the girl I had the wicked huge crush on a decade ago!! W00t!... Boom!...etc. I am still on an ecstatic high from the experience. Didn't nail her or anything, but had a hot time fooling around, and we did part ways with each other's number and plans for a future rendesvous, as she evidently resides in my fair city of Federal Way.
3. And speaking of my fair city... I just got pulled over by Federal Way's finest on the way home from work today. Like a douchebag, I totally rolled through a stop sign and deservedly got nailed for it. Provided my license, registration, and 13-month-ago-expired proof-of-insurance certificate. After being told to "hold tight" the officer returned very quickly to review ~$450 worth of fines that could be charged, (as my front license plate simply resting on my dashboard was also a big no-no.) He then went on to state that he confirmed on his computer that I hadn't been pulled over in years, and that I had been living within the city limits for over five years without any interaction with the local police force... and evidently that was "worth receiving a warning." Fuck yeah Federal Way FiveOh!
4. Got home and opened the bag of Peanut M&M's that the roommate's girlfriend left in my living room... first one out of the pouch is a double-peanut! (Okay, so I'm not sure this point is really brag worthy, but it sure felt like proof of my continued good fortune.)

So, I'm going into this evening's poker session on a good luck roll of sorts. Hopefully I can turn into some tournament results in my MTT game.

The reunion was a total blast, and is well worth a whole post given the incredibly entertaining occassion. (Complete with Springer-esque white trash bitch fight! VERY High School.) Another time I hope, as this evening I just wanted to get this good-luck-gloating out of my system...

'Til next time,

Take care of yourself, and each other,
~RaisingCayne

The Ides of August

With little specific things in mind to share, and even less time to share my random ramblings this afternoon, I'm again going with the miscellaneous bullet-point format... Here we go:

• Got a 10-year High School reunion this weekend. Making the trip to the tiny hometown to see if I can pick up any naive ladies that may have managed to forget how big of an asshole I am. Never underestimate the gullibility of the female gender!
• While on the subject of my chauvinism... I have actually had a pretty consistent gal in my life of late. A single Mom that I really have no place being with, given my lack of affection for anyone under the age of 18, and my inability to commit to anything at all. But what am I going to do, tell her to stop swinging by for hot sex?! Haven't YET started feeling too guilty for my lack of emotions, so I'm figuring there's not too much harm in continuing the status quo. (And it's not like she knows this blog exists.)
• It's been quite the experience being with a gal that is so wanton in her sexual desires as this one... each of her visits have been exhaustive Fuckfests. I was actually thankful she had a family she needed to get home to after our last Fuckapalooza '08. I'm evidently no longer too proud to admit fatigue in bed. An unfortunate sign of aging I think.
• Spent Wednesday evening at home alone playing the Mookie and chatting it up on the radio with a bunch of folks. Good times. (Pardon the lack of individual links/thanks, as I'm afraid I'd forget at least one of the many of us that crowded the on-air room.)
• And, FYI, ScottMC decided to come out of the closet with a very "UN-ScottMC-like" admission to recently discovering a fascination with the completely man-tastic game for geeky adolescents, World of Warcraft. ??!!?? WTF?! Just in case you needed a recent sign of the apocalypse, here it is! I mean I can almost sympathize with Waffles having this homo hobby, and I wasn't even too surprised to hear of Chris' cock-filled forays into this ghey subculture, given their apparent penchant for the pubescent... But, ScottMC!? I thought this was one blogger who actually had a pair. Who knew?
• For the record, my above opinionated remarks regarding specific bloggers' sexuality are completely made in jest. (I provide this disclaimer wholly out of fear of physical repurcussions for my big mouth.)
• It's evidently Matt's birthday this weekend, in case you wanted to shoot him a well wish over on his blog. (Old age jokes would be preferred.)
• Oh, and speaking of local bloggers... I just learned that Chris evidently has NEVER experienced the joy of a professional lap dance.!? Here's hoping this isn't the case after this calendar year!
• The roommate's dog got into ANOTHER fight with a skunk on my backporch a couple weeks back. Again while my sliding glass door was open! (An identical experience was had last Summer!) If you've never smelled the wrath of this malodorous rodent you should definitely knock on wood, as the aftermath of getting this vermit fired up is a disgusting experience that doesn't go away in a small amount of time. The fucking mut spent a couple weeks banned from the indoors.
• Recently told my Doctor I was trying to quit smoking pot, (really with just the intention of cutting down,) and without batting an eye he handed me a heavy duty prescription for Xanax and told me to take 1/4 or 1/2 a pill just when I was feeling in the mood to get stoned. Turns out the pills freaking rock! (Already got a few refills called in to the pharm.) I don't know why I ever doubted the good Dr. Pauly's previous references to this fabulous form of entertainment, but, like MickeyD's, I'm lovin' it.
• The acquisition of the business in which I'm employed has been complete. As of 08/04/08 I'm now an employee of a company whose name rhymes with intern-rational-caper, rather than a local organization whose name rhymes with darewouser. (I'm obviously committed to a consistent strong work ethic considering this post is going up late on a Friday afternoon from my desk here at the office, and was started directly after lunch. SHHH!)
• My commute tripled in size, and is now a ~6 mile trip down the hill to Auburn, rather than a simple across town jaunt. Rigged.
• Still wholly unsure about the future. While it's pretty obvious my position is moving to Memphis, TN on or before next Summer, I still can't state with any confidence whether I'm going to move with it, or seek a different option. I've got quite the résumé with all my work experiences now, and am real confident I could find something else. (Am even partially considering an entire career change given a recent awareness that a new casino is being built within a reasonable commute from my current abode. Even the rigged gaming industry needs financial analysts I imagine.)
• No poker details worth mentioning. Really just seem to be treading water of late, with no big recent scores or any substantial bankroll movements. I have managed to build a ~$150 bankroll over at PokerStars off of just the $11 Jordan gave me awhile back. (For winning a punny nickname contest over at his blog a month or so back. Thanks again HoP!) I'm real glad I'm quasi-back on PStars as it's just been a refreshing change of pace to the poker grind to have more than one site option. (Still need to find my way to BoDog, but I digress...)
• For the first time in nearly a decade, the Maddenoliday came and went Tuesday without me dropping ~$60 on a new video game purchase. For a brief moment I thought it may have been a sign of my growing up and maturing... but then I realized I still giggle at childish innuendo, so that couldn't be the case.

Well, it's after 5 on Friday, wonder if anyone's in the Donkarama...

'Til next time...

...it's in the game,

~RaisingCayne

50th post

(*EDIT!!! As Schaubs so diligently pointed out, this is NOT my 50th post!? Rather just lowly no. 39!? Evidently this dumbass author decided to count the 11 'saved' ramblings that never made their way onto the site as blog posts. Hmm. Cayne having problems with prematurely completing celebrations... hmmm... weird!)
----- ...

In recognition of this minor blog milestone, and in keeping with the 'random ramblings' theme of this pointless website, provided below is an aimless listing of completely unrelated, desultory things on my brain:

• Was sent a link to a video that put me in a good mood the other day. If you have a few minutes, and need a smile, check it out. (But just for the record, ladies, contrary to some opinion I do NOT resemble the main figure in the video, as my dance repertoire is much much smoother!)


• This weekend is the 25th anniversary of the Tenino Motorcycle Drill Team's annual fundraiser biker rally, the Do Wa Diddy. I don't expect that to make any sense to anyone that reads this, as I've never previously mentioned my talented Father's awesome past time on here before, and don't want to explain more at the moment. But suffice it so say for now, there's a huge, wild, fucking awesome bash all day and night this Saturday. I look forward to it every year and anxiously await the weekend!


• The following Friday, July 18th, is the roommate's birthday. In celebration of the anniversary of this donkey's birth, a group of us are headed to Emerald Downs, to enjoy the pony races. I've never been before and am really looking forward to it. The lazy ass roommate (whom I really don't know why I bother linking to, given he never posts on his ghey ass blog,) hasn't e-mailed out the invite with details yet, but we do hope many others will consider joining us. Should be a great time.


• Still don't have television at home. Just can't bring myself to willingly sign up for another ~$50/month bill after stealing free cable for the last decade. It's sort of funny how little I've missed it after never imagining being able to live without it. The roommate is pissed about it though, so I'll likely have to give in to the very un-comcastic local service provider soon.


• Felt like shit last week, and spent the holiday weekend sick on my couch. I watched the entire first season of Magnum PI on DVD. Grew a mustache. Not on purpose, it just sort of sprouted as I watched the episodes, it was weird. That show rocks though. (And I'm starting to understand the Doc's love for the Ferrari.)


• Ran real deep in the $28k on FullTilt the other night, but it was just to drop out from a top ten stack in 50something place by running kings into aces. Rigged.


• Bought tickets for a weekend trip to San Francisco with a small group of friends in September. Not much of an itinerary, just a couple nights at cool locations celebrating some close friends' forthcoming nuptials.


• Definitely planning on being in Vegas in December over the weekend of the 13th, (someone has to dethrone the cocky current champ!)

Well, I hope all is well with you and yours. 'Til next time...

Zeus! Apollo! ...
~RaisingCayne

Fuck the $750k...

Bad beat whining... seriously, not worth reading. Just venting...

Full Tilt Poker Game #7022937938: $750,000 Guarantee (51046204), Table 227 - 80/160 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:46:32 ET - 2008/06/29
Seat 1: thewizard033 (1,800), is sitting out
Seat 2: Rufus Cash (9,884)
Seat 3: RaisingCayne (2,800)
Seat 4: zupman (5,456)
Seat 5: mrrussian (3,232)
Seat 6: dartjam (5,253)
Seat 7: parlaypaul (15,684)
Seat 8: threeven (3,991)
Seat 9: StaroTequila (5,569)
mrrussian posts the small blind of 80
dartjam posts the big blind of 160
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RaisingCayne [Ad Ah]
parlaypaul calls 160 ~ the utg limp from the complete donkey toolbox that's attempted to see every single fucking flop since the tourney began. Scmuck's played like a fucking clown, and his large stack was only due to a wicked suckout he had just scored when he called a raise with KJo and overshoved a QTX flop, and was called by QQ... just to suckout the straight.
threeven folds
StaroTequila folds
thewizard033 folds
Rufus Cash folds
RaisingCayne raises to 550 ~ just intended to get the blinds out, as I know the donkey assface limping from utg is gonna see the flop.
zupman folds
mrrussian folds
dartjam folds
parlaypaul raises to 15,684, and is all in ~ k, let's just get it in pre. The utg limp reshove, fucking classic.
RaisingCayne calls 2,250, and is all in
parlaypaul shows [5c Ac] ~ WTF!???? Ace fucking five!?
RaisingCayne shows [Ad Ah] ~ villain's been running like god. I feel like I'm drawin' dead with the best hand in the game all in pre.
Uncalled bet of 12,884 returned to parlaypaul
*** FLOP *** [7s 2d 3d] ~ you fucking know the gutshot's coming...
*** TURN *** [7s 2d 3d] [8s] ~ wait for it... ... wait for it...
*** RIVER *** [7s 2d 3d 8s] [4s] ~FUCK POKER!
parlaypaul shows a straight, Five high
RaisingCayne shows a pair of Aces
parlaypaul wins the pot (5,840) with a straight, Five high
RaisingCayne stands up ~ ...and looks for something to punch.


So I fall out just in time to register for the daily $32k... and I shit you not, the second fucking hand of the tourney I'm all in with 77 vs. Qs4s on a 2s7sKh board, and of course the flush hits for the dildo that calls raises with Q4 sooted and over shoves the ghey draw.

AUUUUGGGGHHHHH!!! FUCK POKER! I'm going to Grand Theft...

Running Well... and a Cash Game Hand History

Even with the fear of jinxing myself, I'm still going to proclaim that I apparently am running well lately! After my winning last weekend, I've had some good results this week as well: with two $75 tokens earned, a satellite win for entry into the Sunday $750k Guarantee, AND last night I double-cashed the Daily Double tournaments, and finished the "A" in 4th place for ~$680! That's my second final table in a 1,000+ person tournament within a week, and has me feelin' pretty good about the state of my game.

Will do my best to keep up the little win streak, and have plans to get lots of tourneys in over the weekend. And I do NOT plan on cashing out the $T from my satellite win, and rather, I will be competing in the weekly big tournament this Sunday on Full Tilt. So I've got that goin' for me... which is nice.

Anyway... change of subject. Very similar to what Matt's recent posts have discussed, I too have been making a little foray into the realm of online cash games (despite a serious lack of experience, and a very unsuccessful record in previous attempts.) So with the intent of soliciting any and all help I can get, I wanted to post a hand history from last night that I believe really illustrates my inefficiencies at getting the most value out of cash game poker. Any and all thoughts are welcome...

Full Tilt Poker Game #6988060701: Table Anza (deep 6) - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 2:49:52 ET - 2008/06/27 ~ I'm new to all elements of cash game play, including table selection decision making. But, I feel my game is best suited for 6max, and I enjoy the ability of sitting with 200bb to begin, so have preferred these "deep" tables. And I've been experimenting at the $0.50/$1 level, (although I should probably be at the $0.25/$0.50 games being as my bankroll's still well under $5k.)
Seat 1: Boots2323 ($129.70)
Seat 2: jbellis71 ($194)
Seat 3: RaisingCayne ($230.05)
Seat 5: peragroo ($206.90)
Seat 6: Pokerlusky ($101.50), is sitting out
peragroo posts the small blind of $0.50
Boots2323 posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RaisingCayne [5s 5d] ~ I heard somewhere that this hand is gold.
volition380 sits down
jbellis71 raises to $2
volition380 adds $100
Pokerlusky has reconnected
RaisingCayne calls $2 ~ Definitely calling a min-raise with position and presto. Haven't even seen a single preflop 3-bet in the half hour I've been at the table, and didn't feel the need to bump it here with just a small pp, and the open min-raise was very non-standard, and possibly representative of a monster.
peragroo calls $1.50
Boots2323 folds
*** FLOP *** [4c 4s 5c] ~ Boom!
Pokerlusky has returned
peragroo checks
jbellis71 checks
RaisingCayne checks ~ Table has been playing UBER tight, with NO big pots and NO hands even going to showdown. I thought here that there was WAY too big of chance that ANY bet wins me the tiny pot as is, and I wanted to find a way to get the most out of my flopped full house.
*** TURN *** [4c 4s 5c] [Tc]
peragroo checks
jbellis71 checks
RaisingCayne bets $3.05 ~ I've only got so much patience, need to do something to build the pot.
peragroo folds
jbellis71 calls $3.05 ~ K. I guess that's SOME action.
*** RIVER *** [4c 4s 5c Tc] [Ah]
jbellis71 bets $7 ~ Okay, so the turn completed a flush, and the river's an ace... and villain bets into me. So he's holding something that I need to reraise to get value out of my monster flop.
RaisingCayne has 15 seconds left to act ~ I'm slow. Had to calculate what I thought would be called by either a naked Ace, or a turned flush.
RaisingCayne raises to $20 ~ Advice welcome here as in hindsight think I could've re-raised a bit more, but this is the amount I went with. Not even sure why... was close to ~3x villain's bet.
jbellis71 has 15 seconds left to act
jbellis71 raises to $40 ~ And here's where I get completely perplexed! ??? WTF does this mean? A min-re-raise river 3-bet.? Hmmm...
RaisingCayne calls $20 ~ JUST call.(!????!) WTF!? I didn't even tank either!? I guess I talked myself into being scurred of TT or AA given the min-re-raise 3-bet post-river, but with hindsight I'm thinking this is just pussy poker and I totally should've re-popped. I guess I was just contemplating the scenario of seeing villain shove in response and me not knowing what to do, (read: me making a crying call for a more than I really wanted to risk,) so went with the 'just call' option here.
*** SHOW DOWN ***
jbellis71 shows [Ac 6c] a flush, Ace high ~ JUST a flush! A min-RE-raise river 3-bet on a paired board with JUST a flush!? Fawk I should've gotten a lot more out of a villain here.
RaisingCayne shows [5s 5d] a full house, Fives full of Fours ~ Yeah, Presto is gold. Why did I ever even consider that there was any chance it wasn't after how the hand played out?!
RaisingCayne wins the pot ($91.10) with a full house, Fives full of Fours
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $93.10 Rake $2
Board: [4c 4s 5c Tc Ah]
Seat 1: Boots2323 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: jbellis71 showed [Ac 6c] and lost with a flush, Ace high
Seat 3: RaisingCayne (button) showed [5s 5d] and won ($91.10) with a full house, Fives full of Fours ~ ... but is now kicking himself as he should've gotten A LOT more out of a flopped full house!???
Seat 5: peragroo (small blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 6: Pokerlusky is sitting out


Thanks in advance for any and all advice you may have. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

'Til next time...

...Stay classy San Diego,
~Raising Cayne

Something to Talk About

A month between posts again as I just haven't had much to share. Work has been overwhelmingly busy, and poker has just been an uneventful grind lately, so I've had few adventures worthy of mention. That is, until this last weekend...

Friday night I was home late from the office and was 4-tabling a bunch of random tournaments throughout the evening, and I managed to take 2nd place in the Midnight Madness! Turned $11 into ~$1,850 for my first four figure score of the calendar year. Huge thanks to Joanada, Numbbono, and OhCaptain for the railing! It was just an awesome experience playin' the tournament down with the live company, and it was far more entertaining than I expected to get use out of the microphone and headset Joanada talked me into pickin' up. That teamspeak thing is pretty cool I will admit. The one bad thing about having the railers is I can't get away with claiming my superior poker prowess was due all the credit for the score, as they were witness to a couple suckouts that were key to getting me where I went. (Two specifically for gigantic pots, when all in preflop with my QQ > AA, and my AQ > AK. Although neither spot was for my whole stack, both were very crucial to the tournament.)

The final table played real odd, as I feel I was really gifted the second place finish. Still at 9seated there were two players that were head and shoulders above the rest of the field, and for some donkey reason they get it AIPF against each other, after a back and forth raising war no less, with just AQ vs. 77 (?) and the winner (the AQ) held an incredible chiplead from there on in. And after he began appropriately applying lots of pressure on the the table, each of the rest of the field subsequently picked awfully mediocre hands to play back at him with. And it seemed like before I knew it I was head's up with a gazillion:one stack deficit. While of course I really wanted to take down first place, I'm thrilled about scoring the second place prize and my first decent score in far too long.

So I send a text message at 2:30 in the morning to a poker playin' buddy of mine just gloating over my little score, and the prick has the nerve to call me and wake me up when he reads it at 9 in the morning. Tells me it's good I had the win 'cause he's headed out to the Muckleshoot and now I can afford to join him for some live action. So... he's able to talk me into it, (obviously,) and I head out on too little sleep for a day trip of pokering. Played the $3-5 "spread" game (it's NL, but w/ a $500 max bet for some legal reason,) at the casino from 11-5 and turned $300 (which was actually and oddly the max buy in) into $812 before I took off in the late afternoon. (Even stopped by the 3Card Poker table game and left up another $40 after a half hour there.) I won't now delve into all my poker pwning that netted me the ~$500, but may post some details of the local live game another time. (Real juicy tables, definitely +EV for the decent player.)

So I get home and shower the casino funk off me, and by 7 in the evening I'm feeling good, with a pocket full of cash, and no specific plans on the evening's itinerary. And oddly enough, before I'm able to call a hooker to arrange some good old fashioned hate fucking, my cell phone rings. I get a call from a sexy cat, that's actually NOT a pro, with an inquiry if I wanted to go out and party with her. So I meet her at a local bar and proceed to get all sorts of shitty with some sexy company that I was somehow able to con into findin' me attractive. We hit up a couple locations, enjoyed far too much to drink, and really had an awesome drunk evening at the bars together. I'd say that I'm not one to 'kiss and tell', but I'm gonna 'bang and blog' here as I did take her back to my place for some hot drunk first-time passionate late night fornication. An excellent addition to an already killer weekend! The only thing I like better than pussy is new pussy.

So that was my killer weekend in a nutshell. It did have an all too too somber conclusion as I had to make my way into the office today, on a fucking Sunday, for some work. Which I expect to continue to keep me real busy into the near future. And I do still have to come to a decision as to whether to follow my organization to Memphis, TN or look for another employment option. But being the procrastinating pothead that I am, I'm sure I'll continue putting off the life choice for the time being.

Anyway, 'til next time...

I'm rich bitch!!!
~RaisingCayne

Thursday Musings...

A lot of different musings on my mind today, so, going with bullet points...

• Spilled a 16 oz. coffee ALL OVER MY DESK here at work this morning. I blame the obnoxious, incompetent colleague that was in my office driving me crazy with a repetitious meaningless review of facts I'm far more aware of than she is... causing me to unnecessarily shuffle paperwork with the intent of illustrating my discomfort with her presence... leading to my spilling the coffee EVERYWHERE. Really a horrible way to start one's day!
• Had a nice poker win last night, taking down the 23:35 $2rebuy on FullTilt for ~$200. It did keep me up 'til 1:30 which also didn't help this morning go too well, but well worth the fatigue. I really wish I knew how to do screen shots for the blog here, as there was some portions of the tourney I really wanted to show off. Specifically, my being in 13th place with 13 remaining and the top 12 making cash... then being in 1st place with 12 remaining, and when we hit the Final Table I had over three times the 2nd place stack! I molested the bubble like it was my job! It was really ridiculous how both the cash bubble and the Final Table bubble were treated by the competition, and I was able to rape the bubbles like my name was Gary Ridgeway. Coasted into head's up play where I ran over villain who thought any hand worth a stay in blackjack was worth jamming in head's up hold 'em. GG me!
• Had a meeting earlier this week with the upper management of the new company taking over my organization, and was really delightfully impressed by their honesty. Long story short, my job function IS moving to Memphis, TN on or before August 2009, and I need to make the corresponding decision whether to find other employment or move across country. Leaning toward the ladder, but I'm sure I'll have more quasi-internal debate between now and decision time. Que Sera Sera.
• Made another BBT3 Final Table earlier this week with a 5th place finish in Tuesday's Skillz game. Really enjoyed the experience, as I feel I picked up some learnings about OmahaHiLo, as I had only played the game a handful of times in the past. Congrats to LilKimmer, the FTOPS OmahaHiLo winner for taking down this event as well. I was really impressed by his aggression throughout the tournament and especially at the Final Table where I again played like a pansy, never effectively vying for the top spot. (For example, with 7 people left, I get AA67 utg with just ~13 BB left and I make it 3x to go instead of jamming, !??!... get 3 callers and fold to an all in on the flop where I felt I was beat.!? Live and learn I guess.)
• Mookie last night... hit a brutal suck out river 2-outter vs. Lucko in the first half hour to get to a decent stack, but gifted half of it off to a shorty's KK push vs. my 99, and then lost the remaining half when my QQ lost to AK, aipf. Ehh, standard. On a related note though, I was thrilled to learn today that Mookie is reverting back to the 3,000 chip starting stacks, rather than the shorter amount. Hopefully this will cut down on some of the donkeyrrific play witnessed in the first hour of this thing over the last couple months. (I.E... Last night's eventual 2nd place finisher Pureprophet getting it all in preflop in the first fifteen minutes with sooted 79 to oust NewinNov's big pocket pair.) It would be nice to see some semblance of actual poker strategy in this thing again in the future.
• Got some horrible news Monday night that I had been dreading for the last five years! Came home from work to see the Comcast van in my parking lot, and sure enough, my illegal cable that I've had since early '03 finally got turned off. That's $50/month I've enjoyed not spending for a long time now, and am not excited for the prospect of a new monthly bill! (Long story, but I no longer have the means to reconnect the service myself.)
• On a fairly related note, I watched an awesome movie last night, Michael Clayton, starring George Clooney. Really enjoyed the flick and would recommend it to all.

Well, 'til next time...
I am Sheeva the God of Death,
~RaisingCayne

Better Mood

May be on the way out of my recent funk, as I've found myself in a better mood recently. I've realized a bitter tone really seemed to persist over my last few posts, (especially the recent rant I decided to delete shortly after posting,) and I feel this was simply a by-product of my recent gloom. I'll save all the details, as I never intended for this blog to get too personal, but wanted to simply share that things seem to be slowly turning for the better, and I'm feeling a bit more optimistic recently. Plan to have more positive posts up here rather than negative rants going forward. (Although, I'm not sure which are deemed more entertaining.)

On the poker front... I did finally final table a BBT3 event in last week's Riverchaser's, taking 4th place. Looking forward to a repeat performance this week, with the tourney having JUST kicked off. I also was able to cash in last night's Mookie before my donkey exit. I decided to go for what I thought was a resteal attempt with my AceNine in the BB, just to run up against Evy's AceKing on the button. Yep, that's right, I went all out with AceNine, the exact hypothetical holding I bitched about on here recently for villains' overplaying. My hypocrisy indeed has no bounds! (On a sidenote, Evy seems to really be running well of late with some solid bloggerment finishes... and also seems to be becoming quite the nemesis for me, dispatching me from a few recent events. Best of luck to her going forward, as I root for all non-TOC seat holders to win one of these last few events as the BBT3 comes to a close.)

In other poker news... I had a DEEP run in the $26, $9,500 KO tourney on FullTilt last week that was incredibly frustrating! Lost out in 21st place when my KK < AcTc AIPF. At the time I was dispatched I had a 3rd place chip stack too. I got the tourney chip leader to commit over 70% of his stack preflop with AcTc, but couldn't manage to come out on top. This was the closest I've came to a four figure score in at least six months, so the ~$100 I did cash was little consolation for me. Winning in that 67/33 spot would've put me in a dominating first place position, but, it was not to be. (I didn't even fault villain too much, as I was completely running over the table at the time with constant preflop raises, as NO ONE was playing back at me whatsoever. The chipleader understandably went for the re-steal from the button with a hand that he had to think was good against my range. Of course, his call of my re-re-raise jam was quite iffy, but I digress.)

In other other poker news... I seemed to have found a means to replenish my FullTilt bankroll via the morons that seem to frequent the 4-seat HU SnG shootouts. If you enjoy HU poker, and haven't gave these a shot, I really recommend 'em. The $6.50+$0.40 token satellite options have proved to be a great way to stock up on those tier one tokens. On a similar note, if you haven't heard already, Loretta has just started another weekly bloggerment, with the Sunday Head's Up tournament, a $26 64-person HU shootout at 21:00 hours on Full Tilt, password: shovemonkey. Should be good times.

Hope everyone's running well, 'til next time..

...I'm a talkin' donkey,

~RaisingCayne

Can't Abide Stupid

So I've again been feeling like it's better to keep my mouth shut than to share much recently, but I felt it might not hurt to go on a vague rant. (Evidently I've came to the conclusion that I'm okay with running the risk of offending groups of people, just not any individuals specifically.) I've bit a fucking hole in my tongue lately to keep from filling this blog or the ghey poker table chat boxes with opinions on the outrageous incompetence witnessed of late. The only poker I've really been able to play at all lately are the Monday through Thursday BBT3 tourneys, which seem to have a consistent theme of seeing me lose out to lesser holdings. And since my venom is fueled by others in this little blogger community of ours I've thought better of illustrating individuals' ignorance publically. But... FUCK!!!

(Ha, I just said butfuck.)

It's just getting obnoxious to not be able to Final Table a single fucking time despite feeling that my play has really been improved and focused lately. Each and all of my tourney exits lately seem to come from nearly identical situations: I re-raise one of our group's uber-aggro-donk-habitual-raisers, they moronically put me on a "re-steal" (despite this play barely being in my repertoire) and jam despite (or to spite?) their ghey holdings... I call with my better hand and get prison style anal raped by their sooted bullshit. WTF!?

I won't call anyone out individually, and I'm not even referring to this week's tourneys specifically, in case anyone's attempting to jump to conclusion about my thoughts. And in fact, I'm not even referring to one, two, or even three individuals, but more just to poker incompetence in general. I can't abide stupid!

My Full Tilt 'notes' on other bloggers are getting entertaining. Given my restraint from using the blog or the girly chat, I use the 'notes' as a means of spewing my acrimony. The notes on a few tools out there have novel length rants now, it's sort of funny... sort of.

I'm just really curious when/how it's justified to jam preflop on top of a pot committed RE-raiser with AceFuckingNine?!!? Seriously!? WTF!? These donkeys don't even consider that the BEST case scenario in that spot is that they're on the badside of a coinflip, and there's a HUGE probability of their being dominated, and ZERO chance of them being ahead! I guess they just get overly drawn to the pretty matching suits on their cards, and that oh-so-attractive Ace, I don't know...

...I suppose I could understand the sexiness of the top card in our game though: that irresistable "A" in the corner of the card; with the come-hither-hole at the top of the open-leg-like lines down each side. (But for the record, I believe when people say "Fuck an A" they mean "Fuckin' A" ... they're not advising literal intercourse with the top of the alphabet, just making a reference to their being upset.) And we all know how those sexy Aces love each other's company at FullTilt... like stoner chicks on the way to a High School party, we know if we have one there's always a good chance she's gonna be lying with another before we get to the river.

Anyway... "Wooooo-saaaaaaaawwwww". ... "Serinity Now." ... "Ohmmmmmmm." .... I should really take up yoga or something. ...

Alright, I suppose I got my malice out of my system. I must be coming across like Hoy though, with an arrogant, perceived poker superiority. Please take this whole post with a grain (or tablespoon) of salt, as I suppose I'm really just venting recent frustrations. I'm just wholly embarrassed by my spot on the leaderboard, and I suppose I'm just trying to shift blame away from myself. Before anyone calls me out on my hypocrisy, (and yes, I'm a hypocritical ass at times,) I'm well aware that my play is not without the occassional suckout! In fact, yes, that was me calling off my entire ~35bb stack in the first hour of the Mookie last night in a blind battle (vs. pureprophet I think) with just AQo, vs. villain's AK, and, like that siren scene from O' Brother Where Art Thou, we saw a bitch on the river bring the other guy down. Yeah, my hypocrisy has no bounds! It's my blog, and I can whine when I want to.

With every intention of discounting my earlier conceit, I will share the fact that this BBT has really humbled me after witnessing certain players' consistency and success. I won't kiss specific ass again, like I did in my last post, but it's just abundantly clear that my game is not at as high of level as many others. And for those that know me well, (and know I'm really a much much bigger conceited prick than I even come across as,) know that this was a difficult epiphany to come to grips with! (Cayne's not exactly known for his humility. ... And he also enjoys a third person reference to himself now and again, evidently.) Seriously though, I've taken a lot of pleasure recently from watching a few others' play, and feel like my game's improved just by witnessing more successful game plans than my own be executed. But again, I don't want to sound like a kiss ass. (Although I think I am now considering a name change to TuscaloosaCayne.)

In other poker news...
A huge congratulations to Matt, who has proved that even Just Another Donkey can finagle a decent score! Great job man. Well deserved. (I won't even make any broken clock or blind squirrel references.)
I would also give more congrats to Lucko too for his latest scores, but those statements are just getting repetitive so I won't bother. Seriously though, what an amazing run of late. This guy knows how to play poker!
And a big congratulations to the folks at BDR, Live Poker Radio! Their coverage of the Borgata event was outstanding. If I didn't know any better, I would've almost considered y'all a respectable media outlet. (Almost. And, I know better anyway. I jest!) Riggstad, BuddyDank, Instant Tragedy, Perticelli, et al... all deserve recognition for the outstanding set of broadcasts! Not to mention Cheryl Hines interviewed!!!!!!! Woooot! Boom! Suh-weet! (IMO, when it comes to celebrities that occassionally play poker... she's the nuts.)

In other other news...
The roommate and I are throwin' a big party next weekend, Saturday the 17th. I usually have at least two big shindigs per year at my place and hadn't hosted one in awhile. Really lookin' forward to it. (Just in case there's any readers out there that I haven't previously invited, and that will be in the area that day, please hit me up, as I would hope you could make it over.) Gotta spend all of this weekend playing clean up in preparation. Gotta scam the lady friends into thinking my home always looks nice ya know.

Well, Riverchasers is tonight! Can't wait to see who's sooted Q9 bests my re-re-raised JJ. Good times. On a quasi-serious note though, I have enjoyed this tourney much much more than the Mookie for awhile now, and do look forward to it every week. I don't know if it's the different stack sizes or the different player pools or what, but for some reason the Wednesday routine seems to play ultra-loose and plays down much much faster compared to the other BBT3 events. I prefer the deeper stacks and earlier start time that Thursday's game provides. (Although I do completely understand the Mookie's current structure. Especially given the late start time.) Anyway, good luck all...

'Til next time...

I'm a talkin' donkey!

~RaisingCayne

If You Don't Have Anything Nice To Say...

... then don't say anything at all.

At least that's what I've been thinking. Not to appear to be making excuses for having a month go between posts, but my mama taught me better than to share negativity that didn't have any chance to reap benefit. So I've been figuring why would I bother posting on here when all I seem to have to say is a bunch of expletive filled whinings.? I'm not just referring to poker either, but I've been filling bummed out in every facet of my apparently inane existence lately. I never had the intention to share my depression though, so please pardon my persistent pessimism displayed here.

On the poker front... a quick perusal of the BBT3 Leaderboard clearly illustrates that I evidently suck! Haven't had one single final table appearance in 17 fucking tournaments!?!? WTF!? And while I mean no offense to those that may be running worse in this series, (and oh yeah, they're out there,) I don't think it's reasonable to blame any bad luck for such a persistent lack of success. My results are ridiculously disappointing and while 17 tourneys may be a small sample size, it's still enough to illustrate tendencies... and my tendency is to lose! I've had some really strong first two hour showings on a couple of occassions but just can't seem to last between the points bubble and the final table bubble!?. (Read: "at crunch time Cayne crumbles like a house of cards on a fault line.")

Last night's Riverchaser's game was a ridiculously disappointing example of my BBT results! Lost out in 11th place after running my flopped nut straight into Evy's top pair, and watching while a runner runner full house ends my night. (My QTo vs. her JTo on flop of 89J... all in on flop... turn J... river 8!?!) I'm not pointing any fault at my voluptuous villain here, as the hand really played itself before and on the flop: she hit top pair w/ OESD in a limped pot and was committed to call my all in after her 3/4 pot bet on the flop. I'm just still completely frazzled over losing in that spot, as the double up would've provided me with a top 3 stack at the final table bubble, and been my first solid shot at a TOC seat. But, like the majority of opportunities I've had to better my position, it never came to fruition. Anyway,... hopefully donking it up in this evening's $1 rebuy madness will change my poker mood, who knows.

In other news...

• My best friend got married last weekend. And for a guy that's adamantly against the insitution of marriage, I sure do love a good wedding! Any experience to wear a tuxedo and dance like it's a High School's Homecoming is good times in my book. (Note: if you come across a performance on YouTube that looks like me doing the lawnmower, please don't advertise!)
• The roommate's on vacation! While he's off on some wild golf adventure through the Southeast of the country I got the place to myself this week/weekend. ('Naked Friday' is back in effect... visit at your own risk!)
• My employer recently announced the sale of our business to a competitor. While I've been informed that I will still have a position here in South Seattle through the acquisition transition, 'til at least next Summer, I'm afraid there's a very significant chance of my getting a job offer (read: ultimatum) to move to Tennessee within the next year.?! Ehh... que sera sera. We'll see.

Well, that's about it I suppose. Hope all is well with you and yours...

I would like to wish a congratulations to those individuals that really appear to be running well in the BBT3, as their respective perfomances really deserve recognition beyond my silent envy. (I'm green with jealous rage right now...) TuscaloosaJohn, Waffles, Lucko, Loretta, Corron, TwoBlackAces, jeciimd, hoyazo... seriously, well done thus far, and good luck going forward! This group appears to be playing head & shoulders above my weak ass, and the rest of the blogger brethren. I'll have to start paying more attention to their strategy posts I guess!?

'Til Next time...

I'm a talkin' donkey...

~RaisingCayne

Trip Report

With the intent of keeping this post under a novel's length, I'm going to attempt to provide a trip report via summary format. So below is a rough outline of the last few weeks in the life of RaisingCayne:

• Group of ten degenerate 25-35 year old males arrive at the Vegas airport late on a Wednesday evening. (Note: United Airlines' staff need some training on the risks of over-serving their passengers, as a few in our group are able to start their vacation off way too rambunctiously hammered.)
• We promptly pick up two rented minivans and hit the road to Lake Havasu. Arrive at destination hotel around midnight. (Note: playing designated driver, while on vacation with a rowdy group of drunks, sucks! Sometimes responsibility requires a level of maturity I'm simply not that familiar with.)
• Pick up rented houseboat Thursday morning and hit the water (and the alcohol) before noon. Spend the next six hours drinking way too much, and offending women way too young for me. (Note: 25-35 year old men have NO place at a Spring Break location meant for a younger generation! Sadly, it turns out I don't have as much in common with 19-22 year old girls as I liked to think. A very depressing epiphany, believe me!)
• In what will likely be considered the highlight of the trip years in the future, our debaucherous group get 15 minutes of fame with an entertaining appearance on TruTV's show Party Heat, a reality show that follows Lake Havasu police's beach patrol. Good times! You know, as it's just not a bachelor party without an appearance on COPS! Fortunately our party avoided any trouble, as our group had a designated driver. But tune into the former CourtTV channel sometime to watch my friend pass a sobriety test with flying colors, and then be thanked by authorities for "responsible partying."
• Head back to Las Vegas early Friday morning for a couple nights of unruly behaviour in a city that was apparently built around a bachelor party theme. Arrive at Bally's Hotel & Casino after rental car return by early afternoon, and promptly check in to five adjoining rooms that are bound to be complained about very soon. (Note: room location turned out to be very fortuitous, as an adult movie was being filmed just down the hall! Our group had the distinct pleasure of meeting some big-haired, big breasted, overly made up adult film stars directly after their completing what I'm assuming were oscar-caliber performances in epic films.)
• POKER: I promptly make my way to Bally's petty little poker room for some $1-2NL action. And boy, was it full of action! In just a few hours my mood changes from giddy to irate, as two horrific bad beats sway my bankroll by a four figure amount! The Cliff's notes: one hand I call off my ~$300 stack on board of QQ8 holding QT, to see villain's Q9.... turn J, river 9... my straight loses to full house, villain scoops ~$700+ pot. Grrr. And the lead-weighted straw that broke my camel's back: I have the pleasure of calling off another ~$300 in chips while holding the stone cold nuts, when my T8o flopped a painted board of 79J, and some old local jackass re-re-raises me all-in with the monster QJ... turn T, river K! My flopped straight loses to runner-runner higher straight. I watch another villain scoop another ~$750 pot after facing another wicked suckout. In just two hands my trip's bankroll is changed by at least $1,500 as I leave the tables down a net of $400, after I "should have" scooped a four figure profit! (Note: my relationship with poker has really changed in the weeks since, as I've let my tilted state persist, and I seem to have lost the ambition required to play with the necessary passion & purpose. But more on that another time I hope.)
• So by then it's Friday evening, and I've turned my casual cocktail consumption into a full out binge drinking marathon, to drown my bad luck sorrows.
• Meet a beautiful young African "provider" that's able to hook up quality companionship and decent cocaine at a reasonable price! (Mood begins changing for the better.)
• Spend the next 36+ hours on a drug & alcohol binge that would make Chris Farley blush from his grave. All of Friday and Saturday sort of blur together in memory. Gambling fortunes turned for the better though, as I hit a 3card straight flush at a table game for a ~$400 win... and the best friend bachelor hit a slot machine prize for a ~$600 win himself.
• Late Saturday night it's decided that many in our group can't afford the trip to the fancy Vegas strip clubs, so we just opt to catch 'Oooh La La' at the Paris. It was a decent show, (especially considering the cute ticket clerk opted to give our large group over 60% off the cost of the tickets. I learn from a friend that well placed $20 tips can be used profitably!)
• I catch a couple hours sleep late Sunday morning just prior to heading home. Notice the sore throat I felt hit me earlier in the week has developed into a nasty illness, as I wake up feeling a bad fever, with a nasty cough, and a serious shortness of breath.
• Get back home late Sunday night and feel ready to make peace with God and find a deathbed to rest on. Go to the doctor Monday morning and am diagnosed with bronchitis that developed into pneumonia! (Evidently an extended unhealthy binge spent in smoke filled casinos is a decent means of spreading infection through one's respiratory system. Who knew?) I proceed to go on a diet of Codein cough syrup and heavy duty antibiotics for the next week.
• Am unable to go to work ALL of last week, as my illness kept me completely immobile and bed ridden. This extended absence fueled all sorts of fun speculation amongst colleagues as to which STD I picked up on vacation! (Note: winner in the office pool was Sandra, with her choice of "The Clap." ... I'M KIDDING!!! I swear, even after the debauchery, I remain proudly STD-free for 27 years and counting. ... I think.)
• Regain my health after a solid six days of bed rest, and am finally able to return to work this last Monday. And I come home Monday evening to find that someone fucking kicked in the door to my fucking condo in an attempted break in!!! In the middle of the fucking day!!?!! Very fortunately my ADT system and my roommate's big ugly dog were together successful in keeping any actual burglary from taking place! I report the ordeal to the police, (get chastised for not using my deadbolt lock,) and am told that it appears something promptly scared away the would-be-thief, be it the dog and/or the security system. As it was obvious the schmuck was able to gain entry, but didn't bother getting away with anything, despite the visible presence of significant valuables, (not to mention a bunch of weed and other contraband and paraphernalia... which was quickly hidden upon my awaiting the officer's arrival for taking a report.)
• Ordered a replacement door from Lowe's. Given the apparent funky size of my ancient doorway had to special order and wait a week and a half. Ordeal is gonna cost me a couple hundred bucks and a few hours to repair. But, I suppose it could've been A LOT worse! My roommate is away on business this week too, I couldn't imagine having to tell him his shit was stolen! I guess I shouldn't complain about his old mut dog anymore! (And I suppose I can get in the new habit of using the deadbolt too.)

Alright, well, that's that I supppose. There's the last few weeks in the life of RaisingCayne. Livin' the dream... Keepin' Princes & Kings jealous...

...I'm a talkin' donkey,

~RaisingCayne

Vegas, Baby

Again, long time no post. I've came to the realization that I don't have it in me to post on here more than once or twice a month. By no means can I blame a busy schedule, or anything other than a simple lack of ambition. I'm just going to stop lieing to myself. (and my one or two readers,) by saying I will be "posting again very soon" when I know that's likely not the case. I will post routinely, just not yet sure what that routine is going to consist of!

Anyway, on to the important topic of this post... I'm headed to Vegas for an extended bachelor party in under ten days!!! Will be in Sin City livin' la vida loca from 03/12-03/16! My best friend's bride-to-be isn't too happy with me for the length of the plans, but I figured she'll get over it eventually, and I've arranged for my best friend and his 9 closest pals to spend almost a full week of debauchery in my favorite American city! Although in my previous visits I was not at all impressed by the place, we will be staying at Bally's Hotel & Casino given the smokin' deal we got for group accomodations. With plans to NOT spend a lot of time within hotel rooms, this was the most affordable option that had us in an acceptable location on the strip.

Could use some help with planning the specific festivities in case any readers have some Vegas advice/insight for me!?? Of course, at least one trip to 'The Spearmint Rhino' is in order, so I don't need that obvious recommendation. (When in Rome...!) But any and all other advice would be greatly appreciated! Including, but not limited to, the following:

• Advice for 'How best to NOT get rolled by hookers!!?' (Odds of there being a late March blog post containing details of my being ripped off by Vegas' "exotics"... 7:1.)
• How to get the most bang for our buck, for a group of TEN dudes planning to spend a significant amount of time and money at the World's largest strip club?. (Over/under on group tab... $1,500.) EDIT: As Fuel pointed out, this over/under was drastically understated! I've had similar tabs with smaller groups in Portland, so TEN OF US, IN VEGAS, at the world's foremost strip club!??... New over/under on group tab... $3,000!
• Which casino bar on the strip most easily can accommodate room for TEN guys to drink heavily for hours on end, at a reasonable expense, while also providing ample opportunity to play "working or not working" in regards to the female patrons? (Over/under on bottles of 'Seagram's VO' consumed from bar... 4.)
• Which clubs/bars/casinos/poker rooms to AVOID, if any.? As much as I'd love insight on where we SHOULD spend our time, I'd also love to hear of any places where we should NOT give our business, just in case anyone has some Vegas "must avoid" advice.? (Note: The chance of our group paying a cover charge for a "night club scene" that we could get while staying in Seattle... slim to none!)
• Any other strip joints, or other bachelor party venues that should not be missed!? (Chance of returning from trip and hearing "I can't believe you did Vegas for a bachelor party and did NOT go to ____!?" ... 85%!)
• When/where I might be able to squeeze in a $40-$300 poker tournament that's not a complete crapshoot in structure. While I did tell my friends I would NOT spend the whole trip within poker rooms, I do foresee me taking time out to play at least one live tourney over the stay. (Chance of my getting annoyed with the large group of friends and dissappearing to perform my own lengthy tour of Vegas poker rooms on the strip... 49.9%, despite my statement to the contrary.)
• Which Sportsbook on the strip is best for a group of ten rowdy fanatics to spend an afternoon drinking and watching & gambling on random worldwide sporting events? (Over/under on wagers placed on sports for which we don't even know the rules... $500.)
• How to best score/transport 'party favors'?! Is it best to carry with us on the plane, or try to score down there? Or is it best to just refrain from drug use? LOL, "just refrain," that's funny. (Over/under on number of us, out of ten, that make it out of SeaTac airport and on to the plane... 9.)
• How to NOT get kicked out of a hotel that has an apparent demographic of 'retired and over 65'??! (Odds of Bally's Staff asking our group of ten 26-36 year old alcoholic degenerate males to find an alternative lodging option... 3.5:1.)
• Best means of arranging private party with exotic entertainment.? Is it possible or worthwhile to arrange for exotic entertainment to be provided within one of the suites, or better to keep the exotics at the clubs? (Odds of at least one of the group of ten of us being arrested for propositioning an undercover... 4.5:1.)
• Best travel option for a group of TEN to get from here to there in the city?. (Van cabs only fit so many, is limo rental worth considering?)

Well, thanks in advance for any and all Vegas advice left within the comments! I t is appreciated! This isn't going to be any real life version of 'Very Bad Things,' or anything too crazy/wild. Just a few days of partying like we were somebody else before we come back and attend another penis funeral... Oops, I mean wedding.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If ANYONE that is going on this trip is actually reading this, (I'm lookin' at you DUSTIN!,) DO NOT utter a word!!! The entire group of guests do NOT know of the bachelor party plans, and I MUST keep it this way! (Sorry you're finding out this way, but I thought posting a request for some Vegas advice from bloggers was necessary in advance of the trip!) Please please please, do NOT let on that you're aware of anything!!! The group of us going is completely unaware of the specifics of the lengthy itinerary, and I do NOT want anyone knowing that you were able to get some details where they could not! Thanks in advance for your complete confidentiality! And for your peace of mind, there's ample other activities in the itinerary that I have NOT divulged... so there will still be plenty of surprises in store.

Anyway,... onto some poker topics. Just in case you've been living under a rock for the last couple weeks, the BBT3 has begun!!! Last night's Blogger Big Game kicked off the first of FIFTY FIVE different tournamants in this latest Series of events! (Which will culminate with multiple WSOP event entries being awarded!!!) Congratulations to FTP professional Scott Fischman on capturing the first seat into the Tournament Of Champions, by taking down 'The Blogger Big Game' last night! I know many poker bloggers out there are likely frustrated that a "pro" took down this "blogger event," and now has a chance to "steal" one of the grand prize WSOP Tourney seats via the TOC... but I for one am excited about Scott's involvement! To me it reflects the popularity and sheer 'awesomeness' of Al's latest arrangement with Full Tilt. Plus, if our group of bloggers want to whine about there being pros within the player pool, why would we then even consider WSOP events anyway!? I believe the involvement of "pros" should be welcomed, and treated as providing an opportunity for us bloggers to compete with the best... not as another reason for some of us amateurs to bitch & moan about taking away opportunity.

And a little personal poker news, I managed to take down Kat's Friday Nite Donkament last Friday evening for a little bankroll boost prior to the BBT3 kickoff! I love that game... good times! I quickly took the winnings and registered for the Big Game... just to think better of the bankroll devestation that I was contemplating, and unregistered prior to yesterday's start! Spending $75 online, out of pocket, seemed a bit idiotic for my petty bankroll, and after going 0 for 2 in $14 attempts at a tier two token, I gave up any thought of taking part in the BBT3 kickoff event. However, I did already register for tonight's Monday's At The Hoy tourney though, and am looking forward to my first attempt at a TOC seat this evening, with the $26 6-max NLHE DeepStack event! Hope to see everyone there!

'Til next time... (And again... thank you thank you thank you, in advance, for any and all comments containing Vegas Bachelor Party advice!!!)

...I'm a talkin' donkey,

~RaisingCayne

Blogger Home Game

Like my arrival at most social functions, I'm also fashionably late in posting a little recap of last weekend's fesitivities. If you haven't already read a recap from one the guests in attendance, there was a small gathering of Pacific NorthWest bloggers at my humble abode last Saturday evening. In attendance was myself, my roommate Joshua, my good friend Andre (non-blogger, but owner of a real nice poker table,) Mrs. Chako (the wife - Michelle,) Meanhappyguy, Matt, and SeattleJohn. (Zeem was not able to make it.) It was a real good time in all, and I'll be looking forward to similar home games in the future.

We did just two small stakes seven seat NLHE tournaments, (and one failed attempt at micro stakes cash Mixed Limit games.) It was pretty obvious from the get go that there was some actual poker players in attendance, with few, if any, irrational plays being made. (Which was a new experience for me, as I'm used to frequenting petty stakes online tourneys and the occassional random home game that are filled with donkeys unaware of basic tournament poker strategy.) Fortunately for me I was able to hold my own in the first game, and played half way decently, taking 2nd place to Joshua. I'm pretty bitter I allowed the roommate to win outright, as I feel it was primarily due to a case of awwfuckits once we were heads up. We knew we were gonna get in a 2nd tourney, and I didn't want to have the guests have to wait us out for long, (and didn't want to consider a chop thinking it would've raised a conspiracy with the two hosts splitting the whole pot,) so I decided my K6o was worth calling off my whole stack. Ghey. Next time I won't be so quick to concede.

I felt I played a real strong first tournament, making some big laydowns and well timed pushes. Pulled a jamyhawk in one hand, check/folding KK after a flop of AT4, (and having Joshua show me his TT.) Also made a big laydown against SeattleJohn, when his persistent aggression scared me away from my 9c9s on board of 2d3d4d8h. (Although not seein' his holdings and after witnessing his level of aggression throughout the rest of the evening I'm doubting that it was a smart play.) After becoming the chip leader early on, (after taking out Andre with my ATo vs. his 99 after a Ten high flop,) I was able to pretty much coast into the cash without having to make too many "moves."

The second tourney was a complete different story, as it got started well after I was more fully inebriated. Anyone that has played live poker with me before knows how I move from shark to fish in direct relation with my intake of alcohol, and by the 2nd game's start I was much closer to resembling Nemo than I was Jaws! I fittingly don't recall much specifics from the 2nd game. Andre took 2nd place to Matt, with the Wife bubbling both the first and second games, out in 3rd place.

Head over to the others' blogs for other recaps of the festivities. The Wife even has some pictures up if you cared to know what some of the Seattle blogger brethren looked like. And I really enjoyed Meanhappyguy's post here with his thoughts on each of us that were in attendance. I won't delve into any specifics myself, but I will say that it was a very friendly, very entertaining group, with NO exceptions. I believe a good time was had by all, and will look forward to doing it again down the road.


Onto other poker news... I've resumed my routine of playing at least two hours of online poker a night lately, after a prolonged hiatus earlier this year. I've had some decent successes lately; double cashing the daily doubles again the other night, and owning the $5.50 90 seat DeepStack (NONturbo, NONknockout) tournaments all week. (This SnG on FullTilt is a nightly routine for me, and is VERY +EV for anyone with patience and a decent poker IQ. I recommend it highly.) I've been feeling like my tournament game has really been on fire lately, and am looking forward to putting together a decent finish in a bigger MTT soon! (Especially after reading about Hoy's recent significant score in FTP's 50/50.) Hopefully my good results continue at tonight's Mookie. See ya there!


On a different topic... I recently humiliated myself by leaving a very rude comment on another's blog, clearly illustrating a lack of respect for one specific individual that frequents the bloggerments, (although I don't believe maintains a blog him/herself.) Anyway, without going into any details, as I'm still incredibly embarrassed by my actions, I would like to communicate a humble apology...
I'm completely embarrassed about being a fucking tool with the dipshit comment I made about not respecting one specific player. I'm an ass! I made a completely dumbfounded, moronic leap of an assumption from ONE hand a long time ago. (As I can only recall ONE experience even witnessing the individual play, and I let one fucking tiny experience lead me to draw an ignorant, and plain fucked up assumption.) And then I confound my ignorance by making the humiliating decision to share this stupid unjustified opinion with another!?... within a fucking public forum no less!? I can only communicate my sincerest apologies. I'm utterly embarrassed, and hope I can find a way to communicate this to the individual that I so rightfully offended!
My foot tastes disgusting! I feel like an ass for my hypocrisy. I always emphatically clown on the bloggers out there that seem to get so much enjoyment for berating other blogger's play, then I go and do the exact same thing... and not even on my own website, but within anothers' comments section. I'm an ass! And anyway... Evy, I'm sorry... evidently I'm a shit-talkin' donkey! Hopefully I'm able to garner some forgiveness.

Well, 'til next time...
~RaisingCayne

Home Game Talk

Yet again I've really got no good reason for the extensive delay between posts, but I won't apologize as this time I can at least list excuses. I mean I didn't play any poker in weeks before just last Friday, so haven't had much to put on the ol' poker blog lately. Two primary excuses. First, Full Tilt and I had a little falling out after the first week or two of the year. We got angry... both said some things we shouldn't have... decided to take a small break from each other. I believe it's for the best. Thinking of communicating again soon though, we'll see. And second, a couple weeks back the roommate got his PlayStation3 online. It's a means for demoralizing random invisible internet villains, without the frustration of facing an aggro lucksack's rivered two outer for your tournament life.

Was able to get in some pokering this last weekend. Went down to my buddy Andre's for the game at his place Friday night. It's the home game tournament I've mentioned before; filled with dead money buy ins, without anyone that knows even basic strategy for the game. I'm pretty damn sure I won't be invited for the next one, after completely dominating the tourney again. It was a lot of fun, and really just a social occasion with just a $20 buyin and lots of booze flowing. I seriously almost started feeling bad after raping the whole table throughout. Almost. It did give me a lil' $100 profit after 2nd out of the 9 got $60. None of the competition ('cept for my buddy Andre) had any idea what they were doin'. I found it incredibly easy to separate each from their chips, (but I will admit I did have to suckout to finish off the host.) I won't post about any hands of note, as the game had lots of weird play, and my notable monster pots involved my being called by laughable holdings. It was a great time, although winning always is.

And speaking of home games. I'm excited to say that we're having a home game filled with bloggers at my place in under three weeks, on Saturday February 9th! With the help of Matt for putting it together, the roommate and I are hostin' a little game for local members of the poker blogger brethren. Matt, myself, Joshua, Meanhappyguy, Mrs. Chako, Zeem, and SeattleJohn are hoped to be in attendance. (Plus my buddy Andre, and his awesome poker table.) Lookin' forward to the game.

Good luck all...

Trying To Stay Positive

Had a tough first week of the year at the online poker tables, without any wins of note. It's been tough to not let tilt set in after facing numerous beats lately in MTTs. Been playing at the donkeyesque $5-$20 levels, and the suckouts are sickening. The other night I lost out of BOTH Daily Double tourneys early on, each with what I felt were wicked beats. (Warning: skip down a paragraph to avoid bad beat whinings...) First, holding AcAh in mid position I make it 5x BB preflop after UTG+1 limped in... folds around to the donkey limper who calls, and we see a heads up flop of AsKc2c... and he insta-jams his whole stack (a massive overbet of the pot,)... I call off my stack with my top set "nuts", just to see villain's 8c4c, and, of course I fall to the flush that hits. Then I get deja vu just moments later in the other Daily Double tourney... holding AdAh in late position and a bunch of limpers in front. I bump it up to 6x BB to go preflop... folds around and I get only one caller from EP... heads up flop comes Kc7d8d, and just like before, EP insta-shoves entire stack on the flop... (a massive overbet of the pot,) I call off my chips with my over pair, just to see villain's 6d9d, and one of his outs to hit on the turn. WTF?!

(Warning: skip down another paragraph to avoid explicit derogatory rant directed toward anonymous internet poker donkeys...) I just can't believe how the assclowns that play at these donkey low-level stakes could possibly rationalize some of the idiotic decisions that are made! People that jam with 8-high flush draws deserve VD! Those that call 6x BB preflop raises with 69soooted deserve to have a family member find their body sodomized by a pineapple. The average douche nozzle that plays in the $5-20 scheduled MTTs on FullTilt has the poker IQ of a housefly, I swear. It's fucking ridiculous how bad the play is at these levels: Every fucking hand has five limpers with ATC... every fucking two-suit flop results in an all-in from the fucking flush draws... ace rag is the fucking nuts pre-flop... etc...

Alright, now that my little mini-rant is out of my system, I am going to do my best to stay positive. And I believe despite my recent little losing streak, there's still ample reason for optimism. Specifically, while I hate losing to moronic play, it's important to remember that facing incompetent villains is very +EV! As frustrating as it is when that bitch variance sends me to the rail from a funky beat, I should take some consolation in the fact that my game is head & shoulders above the average villain I face in these tourneys. I really should be able to consistently dominate in these daily double tourneys! I should consider adding another '08 goal, to specifically take down one of these fucking Daily Double things this year! We'll see.

Anyway, I got to thinking about the fact that there seems to be an infinite number of assclowns out there making up these tournament pools, and I wondered where they all come from. Then I remembered a little life motto of mine, to never underestimate the incompetence of humankind! In my personal and professional life I never cease to be amazed by some of the moronic decisions that I witness people make, so there's no reason for me to let incompetence witnessed during online poker surprise me either! Shit, I've witnessed executives make decisions that have had net effects involving six-figure losses... why then would I be surprised to witness some random asshat gift away $10 in tourney chips as a 5 to 1 dog? Simply put, I should not.

I have two friends of mine that play LOTS of online poker, yet are complete tools when it comes to anything resembling even the most basic of logic in their poker decision making. These two clowns consistently crack me up with their "rationalizing" their play ex post facto, and I've now finally given up all efforts on making them better players, given their apparent indifference. I stopped discussing poker play around them, and gave up trying to get them to borrow something from my poker library. It was just an epiphany of sorts when I finally realized that they were completely okay with the current state of their game! This lead me to a conclusion that the average anonymous online poker villain is probably not even trying to get better! The two penis wrinkles that took me out of the Daily Double tourneys I mentioned above were likely content with their getting the chips in behind! Ya know, 'cause they hit their flush draw, so folding wasn't an option.?! (And yes, I'm well aware that the latter straight flush draw may have actually been a tiny bit ahead post flop, but you know what I mean.)

Alright, so that's me trying to stay positive given a knowledge that I'm better than those I face in the daily MTTs that I frequent. And I should be somewhat consoled by the fact that I'm actively trying to make myself better every day, when the average retard is content with their level one thinking and donkeyriffic decision making. The analogy might be a stretch, but I suppose I now know how Bill Belichek might feel, knowing he should beat whomever is the competition, but still has to fade the variance involved in the NFL. I should consistently kick ass in low level MTTs, but damn that football sure bounces funny.

Anyway... I suppose I do have one positive result worthy of mentioning... I was able to final table the Mookie last night! Lost out in 4th place on a coinflip when my 44 fell to the AK of lucktruck, with it all-in preflop. The last twenty minutes of the game really had me understanding the rationale behind Monday's 4-way even chop in the MATH tournament! Going into 4-seated play last night, I actually had a tiny chiplead, but we seemed to simply pass the stacks around amongst us for a long while before I shoved my little pp into big slick. With 1st place taking ~3 times 4th place's prize, and the play really coming down to a crapshoot given the blind levels, I should've probably pursued or at least considered the option of a chop at that point. But at such small stakes, I really didn't want to be "that guy" that pushed for a higher guarantee. Anyway, congrats to CMitch for the win... and thanks to Mookie as always for hosting... and to the boys at BD, no scratch that, "MD/IT Radio" for the entertainment! Good times...

Well... 'Til next time... Good luck all!

~RaisingCayne

PS... GO SEAHAWKS!!!!!