No I Wasn't there when we got hit.

Date: Tue, May 27, 2008 Tournament Women

I should have been but I opted to go down to the club Friday night for a new tourney that was moved from across the river over to Albany-Salami. The dude running the Friday night tourney was being jerked around by the venue he was running his game out of and he wanted a place that could host him on a weekly basis. That is now tabled after Sunday nights robbery.

Sunday, I watched a bit of the Indy 500 and I ran around to a bunch of garden centers and then I decided to stay put and watch the Nascar race and catch re-runs of Top Chef. I also railed Snake and his brother Silo in a couple of PokerStars tourneys. I was on the phone with Snake for a bit Sunday night but hung up with him when I decided to eat my Italian Mixed Sub appropriately called the GOOMBA.

Last nite I got an email from "Action Hank" telling me the club had been rolled. He was there when it happened call him for details and let Snake5970 know. I didn't read his email till about an hour after he sent it, as I had been reading about the No Stranger Land dude's and doing some research for my upcoming trip to Mountain Jam IV (which I will be covering over on Coventry). I emailed Snake went off to read my Robert Ludlum Covert I book and figured I'd find out in the AM.

Snake called me about 8:30 AM today to see what was up. It was something I always thought could happen but didn't worry too much about. Snake and I had talked about being prepared for anything but in the end I felt you would have to be dumber then a box of rocks to hit an Italian Social club. That, and possibly needing a fix just might do it. I never brought more money in then I was prepared to lose, and since I don't play cash it was never really more then my tourney buy-in. Snake told me he'd put a call in to Hank to get the details since I'm a working stiff and he is not. Actually those are my words not his.

Snake caught up with Hank. Snake then caught me up briefly by email of what went down. Just after 7 PM my phone rang and Hank gave me the full low-down. I'm just glad no one was really hurt and that a couple of these guys will probably be ID'd & pinched and yes there were stupid enough to drive over to another location where a game was being held on the same night and were caught on video tape and refused entry. Right now no one knows, if they were locals although it sounds like they may be, NYC residents who came in for the score or gang members. Yes Smallbany has gangs probably figured easy pickings, a bunch of mostly white folk playing cards let's roll them.

Read about it here and here.

And my feed is showing a higher number of Albany-Schenectady-Troy hits today so I'm sure people are looking for info.

Like a few others have said, I'll return as soon as things calm down and a new location is found/scouted out. How about someplace up my way!!! I liken underground poker games to the rave scene . Although I wasn't a part of the that scene, it was very common for the raves to move around from spot to spot and be advertised word of mouth.

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No Stranger Land - The Journey

Date: Mon, May 26, 2008 Tournament Women

Some people drive across country to their destination. Others choose a different path. Denny Clark and Brian Triplett are recent University of Iowa graduates and they are walking across the US this summer (the journey began May 20th in Maine).

In their own words:

We will spend the summer of 2008 traveling coast-to-coast across the United States, reaching out to the people we encounter along the way and observing how people react and reach out to us. Our adventure begins on the Atlantic coast in Maine on May 20, and we hope to conclude our trip on the Pacific coast three months later.

We will live minimally by hiking with our supplies on our backs, camping and cooking our own food. We are allowing ourselves a $10-per-day spending limit, including food and any other expenses. We will not seek out luxuries, trying our best not to pay or ask for accomodations or transportation. That said, we're open to any good fortune that may come our way.

In an adventurous, extreme approach, this is a study of how Americans interact with one another in today's society. We will document the trip through our website - www.nostrangerland.blogspot.com - with writings, photos, and videos, allowing people to interact and follow along with us on our journey.

Why We Are Doing It:

We want to get to know our country, its people, and ourselves with the hope of inspiring others with our stories. We are tired of so much negative news in our world and want to do something uniquely positive to counter it. We hope to create a movement of peace and make America a bit better of a place. We believe kindness is contagious and don't want to live in a society in which people are skeptical of strangers. We want to live in NO STRANGER LAND.

Godspeed Brian and Denny!!

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Bubble Bitch even as a Horse!!!

Date: Sat, May 24, 2008 Tournament Women

Shamanalix sent me an email that said poor Iron Girl:

6th race - Indiana Downs - May 23, 2008

Race Name: Shelby County S.
Off at: 9:00 Race Type: Stakes
Age Restriction: Three Year Old and Upward
Sex Restriction: Fillies and Mares
Value of Race: $50,000
Distance: Six Furlongs
Surface Type: Dirt Track Condition: Fast
Winning Time: 1:11.40
Pgm Horse Jockey Win Place Show
7 Brean Can Orlando Mojica 5.80 3.20 2.40
1 Fueledbymoonshine Thomas L. Pompell 2.80 2.20
8 She's a Red Devil Victor Lebron 4.00


Also ran: 2 - Iron Girl , 9 - Missy's Queen , 3 - Little Waki , 6 - Classic Ramona , 4 - Shadow Bear , 10 - Jazzy Jewel , 5 - Rollin Bridle

On a live poker note, I had another final table last nite but finished 9th with only 5 paying. That makes 5 final tables in my last 6 live outings with three cashes. ITM 50%. Not bad at all. I'm getting myself into position for the big one.

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When Last we Left Our Heroine

Date: Wed, May 21, 2008 Tournament Women

I opened up the back of my Dell and blew dust and cat hair out of it and used that wonderful can of compressed air that freezes to your hand and that seems to have done the trick. The fan still hums, unlike my work computer which is quiet. But the tower has pretty much hummed since I've had it. It will be four years old at year end so I'm sure Ill be due for a new one. In the meantime I think I need to get myself a zip drive to save and back-up all the shit I think is important to save but probably isn't.

Last Friday I took the Day off and road tripped with mama IG. We headed down into Litchfield County CT to White Flower Farm. My second trip to Connecticut in 8 days. I grew up where NY, CT and MA meet. My home ski area of Catamount where I spent most of my teen winters would see me skiing across the NY/MA state line and back. Litchfield County is that NorthWest corner of Connecticut where it meets NY and MA and is full of charming little towns and prep schools.

I had some ideas of what I was looking for but the day was miserably cold and rainy and flowers weren't on my mind. Plus a lot of the plants weren't blooming yet and its hard to buy something when you have an idea of what you want it to look like but aren't sure it will grow into just that. But Tomato-mania was going on and I did buy some tomato plants, actually about 4 or 5 different varieties. I got some nice San Marzano plants which are great for "gravy" aka sauce another type of Roma tomato, a yellow tomato plant and some regular old Beef steak type tomatoes. I also bought pepper plants and herbs (dill, basil (regular and purple), and sage and a Rosemary tree.

Now, my mom and I are very good friends and very close but we are two very different people. I am not sure if it is her age or what but she has this awful habit of talking about people she sees like they are invisible. For example, we were seated near the french doors of Tosca grille on Mothers Day. A man walks towards the door, kind of heavy and he's leaning forward as he walks and kind of shuffling. He's like right in front of the table and my mom says...."See that man?" I immediately cringe and give her the look and mutter 'Mother, people can hear you!" I'm thinking she's going to be critical about his weight but instead she says. "No, he cant. and I wonder if he has spinal stenosis?" . My mom has been diagnosed with it but it hasn't effected her yet. "That's how people get when the stenosis gets bad"

I am happily cavorting in the rain looking at tomatoes and herbs (not the smokeable kind you potheads out there) and my mom is complaining that I told her to leave the umbrella behind in the car. Anyway she comes out from under the tent to look for some tomatoes herself. She announces: "I want a patio tomato" and "Do you have patio tomatoes". One of the worker bees, a woman about my age or so, brings her over to the regular tomatoes and says any of these varieties would be good. They are early tomatoes (meaning they have a shorter time to maturity which means to the table quicker and better for a short growing season like we have in the NorthEast). She points to one and my mom snorts. "UHHH, I won't buy anything that says BUSH!!! " I had to stifle a huge laughter because the woman's mouth just about fell to the grass. I looked at my mother and said. "Good one mom, you know we just happen to be in Republican territory (Litchfield County is horsey rich, second home to NYC executives country)."

Later that weekend I am catching up with Snake. I'm telling him about my road trip with mama and make this statement. Well shes not really a bad driver but this is what she did -She takes her hand off the steering wheel on a rainy day to dab her lipstick and I see the guardrail on my side looming very very close to my window on a twisty part of Rte 8 near OTis. And I have to tell her how she should have two hands on the wheel (I want to live to see another day!) So, Snake says to me.. IG that does not make sense. You just said she gets sidetracked just like my father does and my father is not a good driver therefore your mother isnt a good driver because she doesnt keep her mind on the driving. I immediately felt like I had to defend my mother till I realized he was right.

On Sunday I run into my old neighbor Terry who has just retired. He tells me his wife is driving him crazy as she will always say. 'Do you remember....?" and Terry tells me he looked at Linda and said. 'Linda, I'm a man we invented Instant Replay. I cant remember what I had for lunch and you expect me to remember something from last week?" So I look at Terry, and chuckle and say. "Well, men are like dogs Terry you only have a small 200 word vocabulary. I totally realize that when we women start yapping you men shut down after about 5 sentences."

After chatting it up with the retirees: Terry and Snake and exchanging some emails with Rob in California who told me he liked what we were doing on Coventry but he wasnt going to listen to that Franti dude because he cant stand him, I was left wondering and thinking about how does this all work with men? How is it that we ever find that common denominator. And I already no that one or more of my male readers is going to type into a comment the answer is..........

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Where' s the Donkey?

Date: Sun, May 18, 2008 Tournament Women

The above cartoon is from the Albany Times Union. I haven't decided which berg I'm on yet. I think I feel like the Polar bear because I'm not a registered member of the GOP. But the captions on the elephant sum up all the things that I have been thinking about of late. I've always been a Democrat but after the UIGEA I started leaning Liberterian and I cant get warm or fuzzy about Obama or Clinton. Hence Where's the Donkey. My personal opinion is that there are Democrats who wont vote for Obama because he is a person of color and Clinton's failure to exit the race spells major agita for the Dem's. Prediction: John McCain. Wonder what the Bodog Racebook is laying as odds on our election?

This is a poker blog at least it started out that way. But I have no poker-ee goodness or badness to post about because I played only one MTT in the last 8 days and that was a $2.20 qualifier to the Pokerstars 25,000 player donkfestivus known as the $100k guarantee. Did I win a seat? Nope, I tripled up in the first two levels and probably could have coasted to the seat with a little selective stealing but I made a bad call and lost almost 2/3 of my stack. I went out on a typical IG beat. I raised UTG with ATos 3x BB with only 7 I think at the table. I got called by the BB the board came down T baby baby. I decided to jam right there with top pair only to get called by the BB with KT. I was on the phone with Snake who had returned from Florida and who was railing me and said..... "The king is going to hit might as well turn off the computer right now!!" And I was right. Snake couldn't believe it as I said. "Okay that's enough online poker to last me another 8 days." That's the way I roll online.

I still had a profitable day as I bet small on Big Brown on the Preakness and won my WPS bets placed thru the Bodog Racebook because I'm now too cheap to get in my car and drive to OTB ( btw that's win place show for you horse-racing noobs). The horse looked incredible and all I can say is he definitely had another gear.

Now Snake had a horse story of his own which was pretty funny. He had a layover in Baltimore on Preakness day and was hanging out between flights and the talk of course was of the Preakness. Some dude comes in and starts spewing about and unknown horse etc etc. Everyone looked at him like he was full of doo-doo. Snake asked him, whats the horse's name? Reply "I don't know", Jockeys name? "I don't know". So Snake pulls out a newspaper and starts reading off names. The first name he read the dude says: That's the one! (Macho Again).

So Snake looks at the papers that he has and decides that the guy must be drunk stoned, full of shit all of the above because the horse doesn't seem that good with what he sees. When he gets home he decides to dig a little deeper. Like me when he gets into something his OCD behavior kicks in and he does his in depth research and analysis. Low and behold he finds out that the horse doesn't really look that bad. So he bets him with Big Brown keyed on top in his exactas and trifectas and hits his exacta for the tune of almost $400. Bad info that turned out to be good or just a crazy hunch!!

I will be back to entertain my viewers about a day trip with mama IG and how I spent part of my stimulus check as soon as I figure out why my computer is making a grinding noise. I think the fan is trying to tell me something. Time to get out the compressed air and vacuum out the inside.

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Where in the World is IG?

Date: Mon, May 12, 2008 Tournament Women

Wow, doesn't seem like its been a week since I last posted. I did have a lot going on with work, some vacation days, mothers day and only a little poker.

I did cash in an undercard race for the Kentucky Derby but that was it. Only one horse in my exactas made the top two (Big Brown) and the others were 5th and 6th or around there (Pyro and Colonel John). I do feel only a little bad for Snake5970 who missed out on a big trifecta payday when he failed to put Big Brown (the favorite and eventual winner) on top and wheel his other horses. Oh he had Big Brown in the mix all right, but he put Z-Fortune on top and wheeled Tale Of Ekati, Eight Belles, Big Truck, Colonel John, Monba, and Dennis Of Cork in the duece and trey spots.... Can i say that about horse racing positions or is it ghey?

Online poker continues to suck for the most part and I've become to think its a big joke. So much so that other then Sit-n-go's I have lost a lot of my desire to play an online MTT and my performance in Blogger tourneys has been pitiful so I'm just not playing them. Of course they are all on full-tilt so that may have something to do with it. I cannot tell you the beats I have been subjected to on Full Tilt. I'm almost Bankrupt on FTP and wont reload this time for a good long time. I'm an immediate gratification girl. I can only make the right moves so many times and after a while I just say FAWK IT and move on elsewhere when I put in the work and get bent over. I really don't know how it is possible for me to be so bad online but play as well as I do live. The only thing I don't have online is the ability to read people's verbal and nonverbal tells. Of course my average buyin live is about 8-15 times higher then it is online and maybe that's the issue. People don't give a rats ass about $10-$25 tourneys since its pocket change (although I think Lucko et al. takes that $27.50 pretty seriously) but they think twice before making a redonkulous call or move when the buyin is $80-$200.

I have a ton of other things keeping me busy. I put up three posts over on PhishCoventry this weekend and with overtime going away soon at work Ill be able to spend a little more time following my music muse. A big thank you to Dr Pauly for bringing me in. I'm having fun checking out music sites like Jambase, Rolling Stone and Relix as well as different band websites and seeing where it leads me. In fact although I've heard of him for years, I finally got to downloading some Keller Williams. If you haven't been over to PhishCoventry check it out. The Joker has some kick ass coverage of Radiohead and Coachella Music Festival and Boy Genius added a great Jazz post. Pauly is really excited in the direction the blog is taking and its exciting to be a part of it. In fact today was a record traffic day on the site with over 1000 visits when Pauly emailed me this AM. God forbid it gets bigger then Tao of Poker and we lose the good Doctor to covering music full time!!! I think a big highlight for me was a post I did about a new Grateful Dead archival release and David Gans of the Grateful Dead Hour who was there pretty much in the beginning with the boys posted the answer to a question I had asked on PhishCoventry and emailed me.

As you can see I'm pretty excited about contributing to something that is on the verge of breaking out. All the contributors have similar, but different interests and tastes musically. So if there is something you think we should be listening too or you would like to see coverage on, let me know and I'll check it out and give you props too!! Just don't subject me to Death Metal or totally Redneck Country music (ie. the word double-wide appears in the lyrics) or something that makes me go what the Fawk!!!


Thursday I took off and papa IG and I headed down to Westport CT to visit my younger sister Suzanne. Pops is doing quite well on his generic Prilosec and will still take liquid iron for about 4.5 more months. I've never written about this before but my sister lives right across the street from Martha Stewart's former Westport aka Turkey Hill home. No I have never met Martha myself, although my mom and aunt did get a really nice tour of her house and gardens one summer when they were down visiting. And no my sister isn't incredibly wealthy. She happens to be a Culinary Institute of America Grad with an incredible knack for decorating, cooking and gardening herself. Years ago when she needed a new apartment, she happened to fall into a great situation with the friend/bridge partner of a former business associate of my dad's. It developed into a great friendship and my sister also serves as a house and pet sitter and associate gardener for the owner's of the house (okay it has an elevator in it so its more then a house). And the owner's of the house have become "cousins" to us all.

A trip to Westport wouldn't be complete without a trip to Trader Joe's or Costco neither of which Smallbany NY have. We have BJ's and Sam's clubs but you just cant compare the two to Costco. Trader Joe's is a gem in and of itself. I cant believe I drove three hours to grocery shop but I did and my fridge is stocked with all sorts of good cheap food. I got almost two lbs of shrimp salad at Costco for only $11.38. The salad was just shrimp and celery and some grape tomatoes on a bed of lettuce in a light mayonnaise base.... YUMMO. I got some frozen panna cotta at Trader Joe's along with falafel and some other prepared food dishes which will keep me lunching and dining for the rest of this week. Much better then the crap that goes into Lean Cuisine's and Smart One's etc. The only thing we didn't have time to do is go to Whole Foods Market, Stew Leonard's and Billy's Bakery, my other favorite places to go down there.

The WSOP will soon be upon us in like 18 days. Since I'm not going to Vegas this summer I'm only mildly interested. For me to do Vegas right with dinners, a show or two and tourney entries, (not to mention airfare and lodging for a full week or so) and to go for more then the in and out trips Ive done in the past I need a good $7500-$10000 which I don't have in a live poker bankroll right now. With the price of gas and everything else I'm frankly more concerned about paying my bills. Plus I have my homeowners and car insurance coming up. I'm sure my escrow will increase, we are going to have an assessment to do our driveway and parking lot at my condo development early next year. I'm going to need new tires for the gas guzzling Santa Fe. I can also see the replacement of my hot water heater coming up in the near future. I would love to redo my floors in hardwood (Bamboo will probably be used) paint the inside of the condo, do new kitchen counters in granite, and add a mantel to the fireplace. As a friend said, Vegas will be there next year or the year after.

So the week I still have off in July (7th-11th) I'm budgeting for a week of play in A-Vegas. I figure I can play the tourneys on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nites without driving far and I'll plan on doing a Borgata trip in the fall as well as put in an appearance at Al's Bash.

So who the heck has won a Main Event seat anyway? I read about Fuel55's Step 6 catastrophe. Last I heard from Snake5970 he was sitting on a Step 4 and 5 only. He's in Florida closing up his parents place for a week and the laptop he brought with him isn't connecting to the internet but it worked perfectly fine up at home. When I talked to him yesterday he told me I may see a laptop rising into the air similar to the shuttle launches at Cape Canaveral. I told him to enjoy his time off the internet and go buy some newspapers to read. I think he is a little anxious to return to the WSOP for round 4 and last year he had his seat locked up as he had qualified thru UB in December of 2006. His brother Silo hasn't had any success either. I can honestly say that I loved my experience last year but could live a happy life without playing in the WSOP again. I think there is a lot better value out there as well as tourneys with better structures, like that Borgata Deep Stack tourney they just had.

All for now time to delve into the Falafel from Trader Joes.

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Kentucky Derby Day

Date: Sat, May 3, 2008 Tournament Women

I've mentioned many times in my posts that I live outside of Saratoga Springs a town not only known for its mineral baths and springs (Saratoga Spring Water) but for its horse-racing legacy (it is the oldest continuously-operating Thoroughbred track in the United States). Many of you may not know that the potato chip as we know it today was also created in Saratoga at the know defunct Moon's Lake House.

While at the club Thursday nite (another tourney final table but a cash bubble, and more on that in another post), Action Hank and another dude (think it may have been Tom "The Greek" who chopped the win with Jamie at Soul-Patch Mike's tourney) mentioned the ten cent superfecta. My head snapped around as quick as Regan's in the Exorcist to hear about this exotic wagering. The carrot had been dangled and I could feel myself getting sucked back in.

When I got home in the wee hours I emailed Snake5970 with a "exhausted, final table, no cash, lots of stories, call me". Now Snake knows a thing or two about the ponies and he actually has a bit of ownership in two horses that should be making their debuts one late this year and the other early next year, so I asked him to give me the low-down on this super-fecta thingee asI had already asked him to handicap the derby for me.

I was tickled when I saw his synopsis and that he expects the winner to come from the West Coast. Snake5970's picks are:

1-BIG BROWN
2-COLONEL JOHN
3-Z FORTUNE
4-GAYEGO

IG's Picks: Colonel John, Pyro, Z Fortune, Adriano, Big Brown, Gayego, Visionaire

So far I've placed a single $2 across the board bet on Colonel John my outright winner thru my BODOG account. Working on my exactas. Snake emailed me his trifecta's Ill report back on results later. No Mint Juleps for IG just my usual Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks.

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Another Live Final Table and Cash

Date: Sun, Apr 27, 2008 Tournament Women

What can I say? I run goot live. What can I say? I run bad online. On Wednesday nite, I did cash in the Mookie for the first cash of 2008 in a blogger event. Of course I believe I have only played about 12 blogger events this year all in the BBT3. I jammed KQ into AK, SB me, BB my executioner and I went out 18th for the low cash . I cant remember who it was that took me out because lets face it, I'm always a "kill".

Riverchasers saw me go from hero to zero in about ten minutes flat. First off I was playing a turbo PLO8 Sng on stars . I was also talking to Snake5970 as riverchasers was getting going as he decided to call me up and call me a "Beyotch". Which I replied "and it takes a lot of practice to make a good one". Snake, said IG, "I now no how you must have felt driving home 40 minutes from Adirondack Poker League. You are one lucky Beyotch." Yes I am Snake (well I actually called him by another nickname I have for him) , yes indeedy I am lucky because I never have to play in that league again (nor does he plan on it either) and I live within 15-20 minutes of the numerous clubs that populate the Capital District and he is a good 1 hour away. I also pointed out something else to him which he can only kick himself in the butt about.

I may just have to call my little corner of the world "A-Vegas". It is a poker players dream. Anyway this was Snake's 4th trip down to the club in about two weeks and he wanted to see if I was playing the Thursday nite tourney as he decided to head down the Northway for some cash action after a meeting he was at. The action Thursday nite wasnt like it was after the WSOP satellite the preceding Sunday where he left up about $500 after giving back some of the $1100 he had been up to at one point in the evening. Plus he had a ton stories to tell about his hours at the cash tables. He left the club (Albany-Salami) at 6 AM and was down less the a hundred but said the action was pretty tight.

Anyway, I won the SNG on stars in PLO8, I said goodbye to Snake at the break to give my full attention to Riverchasers on Full Tilt.. And I typed this in chat that sealed my undoing:.... "I just won my SNG, Im off the phone now so this tourney will have my full attention. So watch out!!"

I went into the break first in chips. When we got back from the break thebmorekid who was at another table took over the chip lead by a couple hundred tops after he knocked a player out. Like full tilt likes to do it moves him to my table and the two chip leaders have a go at it. I was the whipping girl losing a hand AA (he) vs KK (moi). Fortunately, I only called his raise in position, I didnt reraise. Thankfully three spades on the flop only got me calling his teaser bets down and I lost about as little as I could but it was enough..... A few hands later I get KK again I raise and this time two callers GCox (rut-roh he has a hand) and another player. So its three way I have them both covered and the flop comes T baby baby........ I bet enough to put them both all in. GCox calls in a heartbeat having flopped a set of tens, The other dude calls with JJ I believe and GCox rivers the 4th ten.... DQB but not for me.... So GCox triples up and I have lost another good chunk of change... I pitch in with my lovely pocket 9's against I have no idea but it was a wired pair and when I saw them flip up I exited the table and saw my name hit the lobby as "finished". I turned off the computer and wished I had started work an hour early to get out early to head down to the club.

To quote PirateLawyer and Fuel55: FAWK FAWK FAWK.

Anyway congrats to PirateLawyer on his Mookie Win

Friday nite saw me play three sngs on Pokerstars and nary a cash as they were all PLO8 and it was one of those nites where the lows didnt come, I was counterfeited left and right and the cards werent working together so I took some chances with substandard hands and well thats all I have to say about that.

I failed to mention that the previous Sunday I sat the WSOP qualifier out as I had been out dancing my shoes off with BFF Kim celebrating the 37th Anniversary of one of my favorite JAMBANDS MaxCreek and I didnt creep home till 4AM . Snake played and went out about halfway thru the field. The person that took him out is one of the many Mikes at the club so I call him "Soulpatch Mike" And I actually stopped down to give Mike a deposit for my seat in his Big Stack tourney he runs once a month.

Mike had told me his tourney gets the big guns the creme de le creme of A-Vegasland. Now, Ive final tabled a bunch with Mike and Im pretty confident in my live game but he warned me that there were going to be some players I didnt know who played with deep pockets and were well probably more of a gambling degenerate then I am. IG's motto is I fear no one and respect everyone. And lets face it I have a ridiculously high cash rate in live tourneys, and even if I dont cash i usually go deep.

So I get down to this other cardroom early and immediately I am fed hot dogs and subs and this was just a snack by the sweet big Italian guy who runs the cardroom. I say you remind my of my Grandma, God rest her soul Mangia Mangia Filomena!!! Okay grandma was Irish but she could cook Italian like a native born having been taught by my Grandfathers sisters: Anna, Violanda, Sabina, Josephina and Tessie (Theresa).

Anyway I get seated with a goodlucking younger then IG, dude who I later find out was the winner of the WSOP satellite at Albany-Salami. His name is Jamie. We have paid dealers so all I have to do is shuffle. I had chipped in $5 extra for dealer pay and a $50/$50 I win the raffle and I got half my buyin back ($75). Before I knew Jamie was the winner of the $10 grand on Sunday I had pegged him as the player I had to watch the closest. Not only is he good but he is lucky too. He C-betted nicely, restealed all the ammo a great player needs... Anyway, he gets paid off early on some big hands and I was slow to get going. Pocket KK raise UTG no action but the blinds. But eventually I got it going on and I was the second chip leader at my table. The other Chip leader who Ive played before and who is a aggro laggie, Yonas gets moved to my table. Yonas also had won the BIG GAME back in September.

Yonas and Jamie tangle.. Yonas wins a hand with J5 which I believe he flushed Jamie on. For one hand Jamie loses the lead. I then tangle with Yonas. I raise he calls. The board comes babies. I bet he throws chips up and out. Turn another blank and knowing his range of hands could be anything from a rag ace to the hammer I move in. He says I have to call. He had QQ and my KK doubles thru him. Just what I need. Eventually I take Yonas out. He comes over the top of me and I have the top and bottom pair with A9 on an A9K board. He again had hurled his chips up and out. Usually a major tell that you aint that strong. I was right A3os... I won the $20 bounty on his head as he was the previous deep stack challenge winner. Mike had shouted out who took Yonas out?? and when i gleefully sang I did Mike.. He laughed and said you bad girl. And I was the only gal with 31 men on this lovely Spring evening.

Anway 5 were to pay. I final table and when we get 6 handed we decide to take $20 off each of the top 5 spots to pay 6th. This usually loosens things up a bit. I had missed one great opportunity prior to the final table which would have seem me take possibly two players out had I called with my pocket 44's and the board came 433. Ouchers.. The raise came from UTG and it was a raise to $2400 from the blinds of $400/$800. This fellow hadnt played a lot of hands he did get a caller and that would have priced me in right there.. UGH. I pay Jamie off on an Oh Really moment when I called him down to see if he really really really did have the Ace or the K only to see that my 77 were no good. And then I raised with AK First to act only to get 4 callers . Tom on my immediate left had A9s, which he told me as we both mucked our hands when the board came all low and the blind pounced on the flop like a male dog would on a female in heat.

So we all know that IG has managed to lose some chips on some poorly timed and played hands as well as the blinds moving around at warp speed, plus her failure to win only one major hand at the final table (I went over the top of the shorties AK from the BB holding AA to knock him out). I didnt have a lot of great hands to work with at the end 32os, 47os, K3, Q2 the usual nonplayable hands. The 77 hand is really the only bad hand I should kick myself for and that was when I had chips. The AK hand was just poor timing, as we all now AK usually fairs poorly multi-way and with that many callers a lot of my outs are gone. I am now the short stack or close to it and at 6 handed with Jamie now the BB when I have the button I make this prophetic announcement:

In a few hands I am going to Jam into Jamie as the shortstack and he will suck out on me. And in a few hands that is exactly what happens. I jam with AK on the button. He calls saying Im behind but he had AQ and the board comes xQ22Q...... He hits Qs full of deuces to end my little sojurn at just a little before 1 AM this morning.

Mike ran a great show with the paid dealers and 10k starting chips no antes and 30 minutes levels. Dinner after the subs was lemon chicken and baked ziti and Italian bread. The dealers were great. Steve actually dealt at TI in Vegas and I picked up on it and asked if he had dealt professionally becuase I noticed his dealer pitch. Nick did the best impressions of TeddyKGB and kept me laughing and Jamie (dealer Jamie) looked like Bret Yungblut (aka Gank) without the dreads. I felt completely at ease being the only female. When I put on my fleece, Mike asked me it was getting too cool. I told him no im getting serious. He said you need a hoodie for that and I replied.. Hoodies are ghey. That got a bunch of laughs as did my demurely adorned chest spilling a soda all over my self and the table. Ill be back for another go round next month.

IG sat out todays tourney at Albany- Salami thanks to a sinus headache and a late afternoon fade. But I did get some great extensions for my hair which I will debut shortly.

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Tonite Tonite Tonite-Full Tilt Poker Charity Tournament @ 8PM EST

Date: Wed, Apr 23, 2008 Tournament Women

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Holdem Poker Chat 24 Hour Poker Marathon

Date: Tue, Apr 22, 2008 Tournament Women

I got my online start as a forum rat. I'm pimpin this for a forum owner.... You may just see a red pro in the full tilt games!!!


The time has come for the online poker event of the year!

Everything you need to know is on this page. Read it carefully.

****Medical Disclaimer - Consult a physician before entering into this event. If you have a medical condition or feel yourself getting very tired, GET SOME SLEEP. HoldemPokerChat.com, it's owners and affiliate partners will not be held responsible. DO NOT use substances to keep you awake. You do not need to compete in all the tournaments to be the overall winner


Beginning at 12pm EST on April 26th, 2008, Holdem Poker Chat will be launching a ground-breaking 24 hour Poker Marathon!
What does this mean? 24 hours…24 poker tournaments!
Yes, you read that correctly. In the span of 24 hours, we will be hosting 24 poker tournaments!
This will consist of both freerolls and money-added buyins. Tournaments will occur every hour, on the hour.

We will begin and end the event on the #1 online poker site, PokerStars, beginning with a $250 freeroll and ending with a $10 buyin, with $100 added to the prize pool. Along the way, we will stop at FullTilt, Carbon Poker, Cake Poker, Ultimate Bet, and Poker Nordica! All and all, it will be a wonderful journey, with over $2500 added to the prize pools!

And… We’All be running a tournament Leaderboard with over $1000 in cash and prizes up for grabs.

1st Place – An Ipod Nano, HPC hat and $250
2nd Place – HPC hat and $200
3rd Place – HPC hat and $150
4th Place – HPC hat and $100
5th Place – HPC hat and $50
6th - 10th - Mystery prizes including a Main Event satellite seat on Cake Poker. - These will be announced on the forum once the final games starts.

If you compete in all 24 games, you will receive an Ironman Forum Title and will be entered into a private freeroll tournament.



Follow these step to enter and get the passwords
If you don't input your information, you will not get any credit and you will not be able to access the passwords.

So, get your comfortable chair ready, bring the fridge to the computer (or the computer to the fridge), make sure to be stocked up on pizza and chips.


**** Medical Disclaimer - Consult a physician before entering into this event. We cannot stress to you how important it is for you to get enough sleep. This marathon is for entertainment purposes only. We DO NOT want anyone getting hurt or worse. So again if you feel you cannot continue, Please, GET SOME SLEEP.

***** All members of the forum are eligible to win. In the case of password leaks and/or the players username not found in our database, that place will be blank and no one will get those points. Example: You finish 2nd and the 1st place winner isn't in our database. You get 2nd place points. We will not be bumping people up spots. So DO NOT give out passwords, it will only hurt you.

In the event of a server problem, all passwords will be posted on Mucknuts.com which is on a different server.

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The Tiltboys Invade the WPT Ladies Championship at the Bellagio

Date: Fri, Apr 18, 2008 Tournament Women

I first heard mention of this last night down at the Club. Rumor was 6 or 7 men but I found out on one of the original Tiltboys Blogs it was the Fab 4 of Perry Friedman, Rafe Furst, Bruce Hayek and TiltDad.

I've played my share of WOE (Women Only Events)including the Ladies WSOP and Foxwoods (2X) and the Ladies Event at the Orleans Poker Classic. Frankly,I prefer mixed fields as I'm definitely a guys girl. I personally like being one of the only women at the tables. I certainly like being the only woman at the final table.

I am not going to comment on whether or not this was downright dastardly and a thumb to the nose to women poker players in general. Part of me thinks it was done tongue and cheek and I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall listening to these guys planning their outfits and grand entrance.

None of the "gals" made the TV table. I did hear thru the grapevine that one women who bubbled quibbled that she paid $1500 only to be busted out by a man.

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Fare Thee Well Brandi Rose Hawbaker

Date: Fri, Apr 18, 2008 Tournament Women

Bryan Micon over on the NeverWin forum confirmed her passing:

http://www.neverwinpoker.com/brandi-hawbaker-suicide

If it wasnt for Brandi we wouldnt know about POB's (penis's on the back). Or that a certain well known poker pro, author and forum guru over at 2+2 keeps a vibrator in the glove compartment of his car.

Condolences to her family and friends and those who loved her.

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Back to Back Final Tables Live

Date: Mon, Apr 14, 2008 Tournament Women

Last week saw me finish 9th after about an 8 week hiatus from club play. I returned last nite for another fix of live poker. Now that the Adirondack Poker League is over (and for me its for good as I have bigger fish to fry), I'm starting to head down Sunday nights to Upstate NY's version of Salami. I've decided to concentrate on SNGS online (Two wins in a row: one in an out of my element Fixed limit O8 tourney another in a turbo NL SNG on stars both small stakes) since its less of a commitment of time vs MTT's. And I don't have to play for hours only to take a ridiculous beat where I go from hero to zero in the course of two suckouts. The new Pokerstars Battle of the Planets leaderboards got me thinking about challenging myself to a SNG block. But I digress.

Snake called me to see if I was heading down and if he could pick me up or tag along as hes only been there once and that was back in September for the big game. Plus, they are holding a live WSOP satellite this Sunday and he wanted to get a feel for some of the players before then. He just cant wait to get back for his fourth stab at the Main Event(he is currently sitting on a Step 5 on pokerstars per his update). I figured since he would probably stay to play cash if he busted earlier then I, I'd take my own car as I have to work in the AM and he is a man of leisure. Plus that way he'd remember how to get there himself. The club is a good hour away for him but closer then TROCK but its just 20 minutes for IG_E_BABEE.

When I got there this week Chad says "IG, I was reading your blog and was looking for WSOP logos and found this gals blog and as I was reading thru I saw pictures of you and I said WOW that's IG (okay so he used my real name)". So, I explained that that I have met many of you folks linked to my page and that we meet in Vegas twice a year and a few other places too. Many of my club mates don't play a lick of online poker and have no idea what a blog is and its something I don't even talk about. Snake looks around the room to notice its increased size and says I know that guy from TROCK and Ive seen that guy there too. And his eyes got was wide as the deer he hunts when he looked over at the cash games (I honestly think he'd rather bust out of the tourney and go play cash). I point out a few of the players and my reads on them for him in case hes seated with them. I then lick my lips and toss out an imaginary fishing line and reel it in and Snake starts cracking up.

While Snake rails the cash games getting info for later, Hank and I chat it up with a few others. Hank laughs and says "Why are you looking at me when you say Donator"?? and I laughed and said "Not you Hank, that one and that one". Lucky me I got them at my table again. WOOT

So this is how it kind of went down. I have a young gun Matt on my right. He had finished 2nd to Jason last week. So he remembers me and I him. Other then he I dont really see much competition. There is another woman who I never played that after two hands I realize shes a chaser. I ask Matt if my read is on and hes like YUP.. Another dude is an okay player, really quiet though and seems to be annoyed at the world in general. I love those players. Two old calling stations: one I busted last week (feeling a little guilty that I was taking an old guys pension check), and the other, who is the better of the two (and who actually final tables this week) I had taken a ton of chips off him last week, but then he got lucky a few times and hit his hands on others and got paid off by people who didnt realize he wont lay down a hand. (Kind of like a few of the Adirondack league players).

I play not one hand the first orbit. I even fold the hated KJ when it got around to me as there were already to many cooks in the pot. I didn't know enough about a few of my table mates and there are certain things I look for which takes a few hands to pick up on. Plus there was no raising, it was a family pot, if i raised it would get called only to make a bigger pot. Let one of the donks get the chips and then isolate later.. As it turned out I would have hit two pair but it would have been second two pair as someone limped with AJ and then the winner of the hand sucked out a flush.

I enter my first pot with 66. I limp early. I get raised and there is at least one other caller and I think two before it comes around to me... I call.. The flop runs out A6x rainbow. I am first to act and check on a rainbow board. The raiser fires, another call, we lose one and I call. Turn is a K a beautiful card for me as I am sure no one has KK or AA for a bigger set and their AK KQ, etc are toast. I bet and get two calls.. the river is the 4th 6.. DQB ALL YOU CAN EAT BABY. I pushed in and stacked one of the other players and had most of the others chips..I am up to over T17000.

The rest of the nite goes like this..I bust someone who I correctly place on either AK or a small pair. I was the preflop raiser with QQ. If I lose it dents me a bit. I tank for a bit and decide its worth the gamble and based on table dynamics if I lose a hand I can easily get some back. The Ladies hold. I am over 20k really early.. I add on for the $3k additional chips even though I dont need them (it gives me a few orbits to relax or play a little looser), I call a limp with 22 hit a set on a board of AT2 with two hearts. This time I fire at the pot and get two callers along for the ride. I bust both. I watch one of the old guys check quad queens first his set then the 4th card, and think this is not a friendly game and remember Tilly checking her full house on Poker After Dark. The overall dynamic is People arent raising, its limp city and no one knows a lick about pot odds or proper bet-sizing or stealing or what pot committing themselves is, and it is just glorious.

Matt, who is pretty healthy, but a little jealous, looks at me and says "Dang you are getting great value on your hands". I had another hand where one of the old guys (the quad checker) wouldnt lay down pocket 6's on a board with at least 3 if not 4 overs. Got paid off good there. I was definitely in the live poker zone and playing good if not great poker. I did fold A4 on my deal instead of just limping. I'm a little superstitious after dealing myself out of three weeks of the Adirondack Poker league. Had I limped I would have hit my four and then nailed trips by the river. Another hand kind of went that way too.

Matt gets moved and says good luck I dont want to get moved from this table it is so easy to run over. The dude who won the big game in September, was at another table. He had acquired 80k and I was probably second chip stack for a good portion of the early middle and early late stages. Snake had busted out and was on the cash tables and was up $200 pretty quickly, got up another $200 and lost a $200 pot on a suck-out.

I get to the final table in the top 5 chip stack wise. I had lost two flips prior to the Final table which dented me a bit but I was still really healthy. I mean how often do you have a final table stack about 4 levels in to a tourney where you can ride it for all its worth? One of the coinflips I lost was when I raised with 55 to about 5k. Tony, Matt's friend, another good young players pushes in for another $7200with what was AK. I loose the flip when he rivers his card. I also lost a flip with KQ suited. Think I was either dominated with one of the cards or I lost against a weaker holding who caught. (I really need to write down key live hands when I play). In neither hand was I a huge dog and probably was a slight favor in both hands I lost.

My biggest mistake at the Final table other then the one that knocked me out was folding a pair of 77's. I would have hit a set and probably knocked at least one and severely dented if not knocked out another player. Blinds were pretty high and I figured too high to set mine and I didnt want to jam there with 77.

Since I'm running out of steam here, suffice it to say.. I finished 4th for $320 running Q9 into KK (first was close to a grand, 3rd was $420 and 2nd about $650). I would rate my overall play an 8, my reads almost a ten on people. I never put myself at jeopardy to lose a big hand, I think I was good at my bet sizing especially when I knew I was going to get paid. I easily picked up who bet $600 into a $3000 pot giving me 5:1 to chase the flush to the river and then pay me off. I could have taken a few more chances at the final table but all in all I did pretty well and even stole at the right time and right spot.

I was exhausted and my brain was tired when I left. Snake left up just under $200 after tips and tokes and his tourney buy-in. He'll be back for that live WSOP satellite on Sunday which I am sitting out, as I will probably be doing one if not two MaxCreek shows this weekend. But I am thinking of sneaking out of work early and heading down Thursday and may show up to rail for a bit on Sunday plus its always good for gathering info on player..

7 trips to the club: 4 Final tables, best finish I believe is the 4th I had last nite, 1 money bubble (KK into AA into AK at the big game. I remember it like it was yesterday and it still hurts a tad). Not bad stats in fields that average 48-70 players with the big game at 130 and the best players in the area. I'm taking this down soon.

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Spring in my Step

Date: Thu, Apr 10, 2008 Tournament Women

I woke to the sound of a chirping bird outside my window. At first I was annoyed since it was loud and chirpy and I wanted a little more shut-eye. Bailey was sitting on his perch eyeing the birdy and chattering as cats do when they see wildlife thru a window. I get up look out and it is a beautiful Northern Red Cardinal. You don't see Cardinals all that often around my parts any more and it made me happy. That little birdy hung around most of the morning and I hope hes back tomorrow.

I mookied kind of sort of last nite. Call me Squaw-doosh because I couldnt connect or hit on anything last nite. I got sucked out on early with a flush on the river, fought back for a bit and got back into it when I called what I knew was a NumbBono steal and I think I sucked out on him. But with only $1500 chippies in the current version of the Mookie I struggled and went out 40th.

I did finish #2 in a low-buyin SNG on FTP while Mookie-ing it up. This was after I bubbled on Pokerstars in an Omaha-hi lo turbo sng. One of my opponents raised with what turned out to be AA67. Now I can pretty much sniff out people raising with the low and those who raise with big pairs. And since I was short and bound for the mookie I jammed for my remaining chips with 45KT. Figured I had low and high draws of some sort and of course I am rewarded and sent the other dude to the rail or almost to the rail and onto megatilt. I typed in chat to a friend.. Loose call on my part but Ill take it. I was then berated by player liveforfun (who obviously takes him self way to seriously). I was called a losing player and blah blah blah, yada yada yada And I couldnt care less and typed back sticks and stones. and yawn you bore me. My railbird typed to liveforfun "show some class". This dude actually stuck around to watch me bubble. I mean come on get a life and go rub one out or something to take the edge off. Much to my surprise I pull up his stats on OPR and they arent much better then mine. Actually I think Im ranked higher.

Anyway I'm not taking my on-line game so seriously. Don't get me wrong, Im playing to win and to improve but I have come to the conclusion that online poker will never be my bread and butter, I need to be handling chips and so much of my game is my ability to see and play the player which I cant do online.I prefer the dynamics and nuances of live poker over on-line any day. And if I could Id be at the club every weeknight they have a tourney which is now three!!! (Of course, my work schedule will not allow that) When I was playing my live tourney Sunday a man got moved to my table who I had never played before. He looked around and said I know pretty much all of you except for this young lady meaning me. He asked "Is she aggressive?" and one of my tablemates pointed to my big stack and said "Yes". It was nice to hear that from a table-mate. Hank, said oh good I like my women aggressive.

Finally, congratulations to Waffles on his Mookie Win last nite!!! Way to go Dude!!!

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