Pledge

Date: Thu, Mar 6, 2008

Oh, and I've been losing my ass in SnG's lately. w0rd.

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Pledge

Date: Thu, Mar 6, 2008

Oh, and I've been losing my ass in SnG's lately. w0rd.

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What happened to Shana?

Date: Tue, Feb 12, 2008

I finally finished watching Heckler's Week on Poker After Dark. (Yeah, I'm a bit behind on the TiVo. Haven't been watching much TV, since nothing has been on due to the writer's strike). I've been meaning to ask - what happened to Shana Hiatt? Well, I googled it, so I don't need the answer anymore. Wikipedia says Shana left Poker After Dark because she's pregnant. You go, girl!

Is it just me, or was Gavin Smith the most reasonable and intelligent sounding player at the table that week? Color me impressed. I've always liked him, particularly for his support of the charity auctions For Peyton, but watching how he conducted himself at the table really impressed me in that game. I guess I'm just used to seeing snippets of him on poker shows with less "verbal" formats.

And, what makes Shawn Sheikhan a good poker player? I see no redeeming value in the guy, from my perspective as a consumer of poker entertainment. When Hellmuth told him that the "push or fold" strategy is appropriate for less skilled players who feel they're weaker than their opponents, but that no great players employ that strategy, I think that was a very strong point.

I just won me a SnG on Full Tilt Poker. Sweet.

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What happened to Shana?

Date: Tue, Feb 12, 2008

I finally finished watching Heckler's Week on Poker After Dark. (Yeah, I'm a bit behind on the TiVo. Haven't been watching much TV, since nothing has been on due to the writer's strike). I've been meaning to ask - what happened to Shana Hiatt? Well, I googled it, so I don't need the answer anymore. Wikipedia says Shana left Poker After Dark because she's pregnant. You go, girl!

Is it just me, or was Gavin Smith the most reasonable and intelligent sounding player at the table that week? Color me impressed. I've always liked him, particularly for his support of the charity auctions For Peyton, but watching how he conducted himself at the table really impressed me in that game. I guess I'm just used to seeing snippets of him on poker shows with less "verbal" formats.

And, what makes Shawn Sheikhan a good poker player? I see no redeeming value in the guy, from my perspective as a consumer of poker entertainment. When Hellmuth told him that the "push or fold" strategy is appropriate for less skilled players who feel they're weaker than their opponents, but that no great players employ that strategy, I think that was a very strong point.

I just won me a SnG on Full Tilt Poker. Sweet.

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The Story of Stuff

Date: Tue, Feb 12, 2008

I've traditionally been content to take the "ignorance is bliss" approach to the footprint I leave on the environment with my consumption and disposal of goods, but since I've started watching birds and interacting a bit more with my natural environment, I'm beginning to see the importance of the natural resources and the environment around me, with all its wildlife and beauty.

This isn't your typical "go green" propaganda video. It paints a very clear picture of how we got to where we're at, and the core of why we need to change. It's worth 20 minutes of your time. I promise.

The Story of Stuff

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Quads

Date: Fri, Feb 8, 2008

I had quads 3 times in the last SnG I played a few minutes ago on Full Tilt Poker, and still managed to bubble.

Ran my AQ into AK. (AK limped in, we both flopped our Ace, and I played the aggressor thinking AQ was good). Don't you hate it when it actually crosses your mind that a certain situation might be happening, and you dismiss it only to find out that your gut was right?

I had no reason to think this guy would slow play. He hadn't at any other point in the tourney.

Oh well. I'm in another SnG right now - probably my last for the night. Took 2nd in one earlier today.

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Not enough stamina to handle the Trojan Wars

Date: Sat, Feb 2, 2008

Yeah, fine, so I couldn't come up with a clever title. The name of the game is just begging for one, though. How about: Trojan Wars: I Sucked

The strangest thing about that game was that I did not go to showdown with a losing hand - not one single time - except of course for the hand that knocked me out. Not one bad showdown! If you asked me if that was possible, I'd probably have laughed and deemed it an impossibility. I saw a decent number of flops, and either connected with them and won, or missed and folded.

With that in mind, I can't think of anything I'd change about the way I played. Scott had early criticisms for me with regards to not getting enough value from a good hand (I had something like 10-2 in the big blind and flopped trip deuces). I check-called all the way down with a kid at the other end of the table betting 3/4 of the pot at me the whole way. He was betting enough that I figured, I was happy to win it, while simultaneously cutting my losses if he had my 10 outkicked or worse, flopped a bigger set. It was early in the game, and I had no clue how this kid played, so I had no choice but to play the cards. I wouldn't do it any differently today - unless maybe I had unlimited rebuys in my bankroll, which was not the case last week.

I went out bubble + 1 - made the final table of 10, and 5 places paid. I went out 7th out of 30. There's no dramatic story to tell of a stack-crippling hand or anything like that. The blind structure of this game increased EXTREMELY quickly (much more quickly than I prefer), and by the time we were down to 10 players, literally 3/4 of the final table sat down with fewer than 8 big blinds. At that point, it's a crap shoot, and the game disintegrates into a luck fest.

I'd love to see a game with a more conservative blind structure hosted by Ryan. Playing at his house is like walking into someplace off of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. The house is gorgeous (which, yes, is totally unrelated to poker - but I will never complain when surrounded by marble and fine woods and to-die-for floor plans!), and the food and open bar are always fantastic (though I tend to stick to diet cokes). The best thing, though, is the comfort level of the chairs at the "final table" table. Nothing - and I mean nothing - makes for a more miserable poker experience than an uncomfortable chair. I am a girl that really appreciates a comfortable chair.

Thanks to Ryan for hosting another great game (now titled, The Trojan Wars). Sorry I couldn't stick around for the cash game. Funds are kinda tight around here. It looked like one wild night, though!

I hear Scott's next Diamond game will be in March, and I have yet to host my "housewarming poker game." (Let's just pretend I haven't been living here for a year and a half already). Pencil in a weekend after Tax Day. I'll host a spring poker game.

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The Trojan Wars

Date: Sat, Jan 26, 2008

Poker!!!

I've got a date tonight with the glorious game that so birthed this wonderful blog.

Ryan, a frequent attendee of Scott's Diamond games, is hosting the second instance of his own game, from now on affectionately referred to as the Trojan Wars. You see, Ryan hosted this game last year, but I had made such a donkeriffic move in that tournament that I never got around to naming the game. In a combination of verbal and written discourse that I could never do justice to by explanation alone, Ryan mistakenly referred to his game as the Diamond game, much to the dismay of Scott (who has been running the Diamond games for years).

Suffice it to say, when I received the Trojan condom in the mail along with the official papers declaring Ryan's game as the Trojan Wars, I just about lost it in hysterical laughter.

So, I'm heading off to the Trojan Wars tonight. Randy will be joining me, and I expect to see a few familiar faces from the Diamond games. I haven't seen the guys in a while, so I'm looking forward to that (aside from looking forward to actually playing poker).

I think this is a rebuy NLHE tourney, though I only have enough scratch to walk in with one buy-in. The proverbial "money is tight around here" complaint hasn't changed a single iota. I'm flying in on a wing and a prayer for a little luck, and the wisdom not to do anything completely stupid.

I don't have a game plan, really, in terms of playing. I've had a tendency in the past to play entirely too weak-tight after a long stretch without poker, so I suppose my initial emphasis should be on shaking off the rust and avoiding my timid tendencies.

There are rumored to be 25+ people attending this game, so the prize pool should be ripe. If anybody's got any luck to spare, I'm humbly but gladly accepting donations!

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Gracie Rules!

Date: Fri, Jan 18, 2008

Can you tell I'm catching up on my reading?

Thank you, Gracie, for your post about tilt-shift miniature faking. It goes quite well with my photography hobby. I love your shrunken dogs!!! Now to shrink my felines, mwahahaha.

If I have any success, I will be sure to share.

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Thanks, Waffles!

Date: Fri, Jan 18, 2008

I don't know why, but every time this chick pops onto the radar, it's like I'm driving past a car wreck and have just GOT to look!

Cliff's Notes for Brandi's latest, by Waffles

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Happy New Year!

Date: Fri, Jan 4, 2008

This here blog turned 3 years old the other day. Ringing in the new year is always a time to reflect on the previous year and look forward to new possibilities.

My 2007 Year in Review begins with the first few sentences from the first post of each month of 2007:

January: Tomorrow, this blog turns 2 years old. The cliche thing to do around this time of year is to draw up some resolutions for the new year. I thought I'd first look back at last year's resolutions, and see how many came to fruition.

February: Empress has live poker again!

March: Chances are slim that I'll play poker tonight. I'm sitting at Empress right now, on the list for 5/10 holdem. Ninteenth on the list.

April: No posts

May: Learned an interesting lesson last week at a poker game. NLHE, hosted by Ryan (a regular attendee of the Diamond games).

June: If you haven't watched the WPT Mandalay Bay episode yet, or don't want to know what happens, stop reading now! Spoilers ahead!

July: "Run over" does not begin to describe the past hour or so I've spent on Full Tilt. 4 SnG's. Four 8th or 9th place finishes. Ouch.

August: Welp, it took a while (5 hours or so), but I doubled my buy-in tonight at Majestic. If ever there was a session that qualified for the label "grinding out a win," this was it.

September: I'm back to an empty tank in terms of my bankroll. I spent what I'd won in July on fantastic weekends seeing Dave Matthews Band in Indianapolis and in Milwaukee (close enough). I pulled out most of my Full Tilt money to pay off the October Vegas trip that I charged.

October: Ever had one of those yawner sit n go's? You know, the kind where you're fold fold folding because your cards suck THAT bad, but nobody else is doing anything?

November: I drank the Apple Kool Aid.

December: I hope you're all enjoying Vegas! Wish I was there!

And thus went 2007 in my world. Let's see how I did with my 2007 resolutions:

My poker goals for 2007:

• Reseed my B&M bankroll and continue playing $5/10 limit holdem - Nope. Never got there.
  
• Learn to play the player and not just my cards. - Still working on it.
  
• Make it out to Vegas at least once this year. - I did, but it wasn't a poker trip.

Last year, I wrote that "Sometimes, life, family and work have to come before poker - but that doesn't diminish my love for the game." That holds true today.

As I look forward to 2008, poker remains a hobby, though it is no longer my primary passion. 2007 saw me add photography and birding to my list of hobbies, and one of my goals of 2008 is to add meteorology and weather photography to the list. I still intend to play poker each chance I get, but like last year, my financial situation doesn't lend itself well to seeding the bankroll I'd need to play poker seriously. And I'm OK with that. I spent a chunk of change on new toys in 2007, and I'm going to spend 2008 enjoying them (and paying them off!)

I may not see as much live poker as I'd like to in 2008, but I still get my fix via the TiVo :)

I suppose my resolution for 2008 is to continue to enjoy and improve my skills in ALL of my hobbies - including poker.

Here's to a happy, healthy 2008, and the hope that everybody finds something to love and enjoy and feel passionate about.

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Copycat

Date: Tue, Dec 25, 2007

Turn Loose The Shelly.

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