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Today I woke up and went to the bank to get a cashier’s check for my trip to Vegas.  The cashier didn’t say anything stupid about my account balance and didn’t make me wait for forever to cut me a check for 200k, she just handed it over.

Then I went to “Which-Wich” with flawless and had a surprisingly solid sandwich (buffalo chicken ftw).

After that I hit the gym and got in a good workout, setting a new personal record at benching (20 reps of 135, 10 of 185, 10 of 205, and 5 of 225).

By then it was time for the first NFL game, which I think every year will be the best moment of my year until I have a kid.  Eli looked very good and I was starting to worry about my Eli vs Garrard bet, but then in the 2nd half he went back to being craptastic.

Oh, and I also won 50k off my pseudo-nemesis takechip at 25/50 in very few hands and then took Eskaborr returns for 55k in 680 hands.

I gotta say it was a good day.

I just played a very long (5+ hours) session of 50/100 NL. Boomboom5, a very bad player from Russia whom I’d played HU against yesterday, sat in to play me and the next thing you know there were 3 tables of 50/100 NL going. Throughout the session there was a rotating cast of regs playing so the games were pretty tough with the exception of boomboom (yet still among the juicier games I’ve gotten to play lately). After my last blog post I played some 50/100 NL deep vs aejones and he took me for 70k in like half an hour or so. It was pretty sick how well he ran (I’m not saying he only wins when he gets lucky but I haven’t been beat like that in a while and basically never had the best hand) and that kind of killed my bounceback from the downswing.

So even though I made some money playing various players HU, I hadn’t had a big win in a bit and was starting to wonder when things would turn around. I say all this as preface to explain to you that, given how many coinflips I’ve been losing lately and how breakeven I’ve been over the last week of my return to poker, these two hands in quick succession really tilted me and I almost quit:

Full Tilt Poker Game #7901181471: Table Fine (deep 6) - $50/$100 - No Limit Hold’em - 2:25:14 ET - 2008/09/02

Seat 1: Genius28 ($16,446)

Seat 5: DaEvils ($10,000)

Seat 6: BoomBoom5 ($0), is sitting out

DaEvils posts the small blind of $50

Genius28 posts the big blind of $100

The button is in seat #5

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to DaEvils [6h Ah]

DaEvils raises to $200

Genius28 has 15 seconds left to act

Genius28 raises to $825

BoomBoom5 adds $10,000

DaEvils has 15 seconds left to act

DaEvils calls $625

*** FLOP *** [6c Ac Td]

Genius28 has 15 seconds left to act

BoomBoom5 has returned

Genius28 bets $1,075

DaEvils has 15 seconds left to act

DaEvils raises to $2,400

Genius28 has 15 seconds left to act

Genius28 has requested TIME

jcmoussasux sits down

jcmoussasux adds $10,000

Genius28 raises to $3,950

DaEvils raises to $9,175, and is all in

Genius28 calls $5,225

DaEvils shows [6h Ah]

Genius28 shows [Ad Ks]

*** TURN *** [6c Ac Td] [2c]

*** RIVER *** [6c Ac Td 2c] [Th]

DaEvils shows two pair, Aces and Tens

Genius28 shows two pair, Aces and Tens

Genius28 wins the pot ($19,999.50) with two pair, Aces and Tens

DaEvils adds $10,000

*** SUMMARY ***

Total pot $20,000 | Rake $0.50

Board: [6c Ac Td 2c Th]

Seat 1: Genius28 (big blind) showed [Ad Ks] and won ($19,999.50) with two pair, Aces and Tens

Seat 5: DaEvils (small blind) showed [6h Ah] and lost with two pair, Aces and Tens

Seat 6: BoomBoom5 is sitting out

Full Tilt Poker Game #7901241197: Table Kennedy (6 max) - $50/$100 - No Limit Hold’em - 2:33:13 ET - 2008/09/02

Seat 1: Genius28 ($12,541)

Seat 2: jcmoussasux ($9,628)

Seat 3: good2cu ($11,211)

Seat 4: 1800GEICO ($1,967)

Seat 5: DaEvils ($20,332)

Seat 6: BoomBoom5 ($9,349.75)

1800GEICO posts the small blind of $50

DaEvils posts the big blind of $100

The button is in seat #3

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to DaEvils [2d 2h]

BoomBoom5 folds

Genius28 folds

jcmoussasux folds

good2cu raises to $300

1800GEICO folds

DaEvils calls $200

*** FLOP *** [2s 9s 4c]

DaEvils checks

good2cu bets $500

DaEvils raises to $1,350

good2cu has 15 seconds left to act

good2cu has requested TIME

good2cu raises to $2,750

DaEvils has 15 seconds left to act

DaEvils has requested TIME

DaEvils raises to $20,032, and is all in

good2cu calls $8,161, and is all in

DaEvils shows [2d 2h]

good2cu shows [Jd Jh]

Uncalled bet of $9,121 returned to DaEvils

*** TURN *** [2s 9s 4c] [3d]

*** RIVER *** [2s 9s 4c 3d] [Js]

DaEvils shows three of a kind, Twos

good2cu shows three of a kind, Jacks

good2cu wins the pot ($22,469) with three of a kind, Jacks

DaEvils adds $879

*** SUMMARY ***

Total pot $22,472 | Rake $3

Board: [2s 9s 4c 3d Js]

Seat 1: Genius28 didn’t bet (folded)

Seat 2: jcmoussasux didn’t bet (folded)

Seat 3: good2cu (button) showed [Jd Jh] and won ($22,469) with three of a kind, Jacks

Seat 4: 1800GEICO (small blind) folded before the Flop

Seat 5: DaEvils (big blind) showed [2d 2h] and lost with three of a kind, Twos

Seat 6: BoomBoom5 didn’t bet (folded)

 

I then proceeded to lay a 5 outer on Genius28 in a hysterical manner that I’d rather not post (trust me I played the hand funnily) so just as I was about to feel some cosmic justice being restored this hand happened:

Full Tilt Poker Game #7901483152: Table Fine (deep 6) - $50/$100 - No Limit Hold’em - 3:08:18 ET - 2008/09/02

Seat 1: good2cu ($9,558)

Seat 2: jcmoussasux ($15,773)

Seat 3: DaEvils ($20,847)

Seat 4: aejones ($17,747)

Seat 6: BoomBoom5 ($11,723)

BoomBoom5 posts the small blind of $50

good2cu posts the big blind of $100

The button is in seat #4

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to DaEvils [Tc Td]

jcmoussasux raises to $250

DaEvils raises to $900

aejones calls $900

BoomBoom5 folds

good2cu folds

jcmoussasux has 15 seconds left to act

jcmoussasux calls $650

*** FLOP *** [Ts 5h 4h]

jcmoussasux checks

DaEvils has 15 seconds left to act

DaEvils bets $1,950

aejones has 15 seconds left to act

aejones calls $1,950

jcmoussasux folds

*** TURN *** [Ts 5h 4h] [Qh]

DaEvils has 15 seconds left to act

DaEvils bets $4,150

aejones has 15 seconds left to act

aejones has requested TIME

aejones calls $4,150

*** RIVER *** [Ts 5h 4h Qh] [9h]

DaEvils has 15 seconds left to act

DaEvils has requested TIME

DaEvils checks

aejones has 15 seconds left to act

aejones bets $10,747, and is all in

DaEvils has 15 seconds left to act

DaEvils has requested TIME

DaEvils folds

Uncalled bet of $10,747 returned to aejones

aejones mucks

aejones wins the pot ($15,047)

*** SUMMARY ***

Total pot $15,050 | Rake $3

Board: [Ts 5h 4h Qh 9h]

Seat 1: good2cu (big blind) folded before the Flop

Seat 2: jcmoussasux folded on the Flop

Seat 3: DaEvils folded on the River

Seat 4: aejones (button) collected ($15,047), mucked

Seat 6: BoomBoom5 (small blind) folded before the Flop

Aejones is obviously a very creative player, but I think his most likely hands by far are AA/KK with a heart (I doubt he’d ever think ‘hey, maybe he has a set and i can bluff him with my black AA here’).  Maybe he was pulling some crazy 3-street float and then realized I can’t have the nuts because I checked the river (which is false, I would often check here to induce some craziness just because I love metagame like that), but I think I had to fold.

So there I was, down 30k or so and wondering when things would turn around.  Fortunately I then went on a huge heater and ended up winning 60k on the day.  I had a 99k stack at one table by the end and decided to quit because it was getting late.  I’m not sure if I mentioned this or not, but I’m in Austin chilling with flawless and learning how to play PLO.  So it’s 5 a.m. right now  and I’m feeling like a zombie, burnt out from staring at a computer screen for so long.  Whenever I play online I get really wired up in a weird way: I don’t feel a ton of energy or frantic or a high pulse or anything, but after I finish up my mind just can’t turn off.

So that’s why I’m blogging right now instead of sleeping.  I’ll sometimes try to read but normally I’m too spaced-out to focus, so I basically have to just keep busy until I get extremely tired and just pass out. It’s stuff like this that makes me normally try playing morning and afternoon sessions and none past midnight, but these days a high-stakes online poker pro has to play when he can find games and can’t really control his schedule as much as might be ideal.

Really this is the downside of playing poker and is the kind of unseen quality-of-life factor that a lot of people don’t quite understand when thinking about the poker lifestyle.  Like right now I won 60k but I’m also completely uninterested in falling asleep while simultaneously not being capable of doing anything constructive to keep busy. I apologize if any of this is too rambly for you but I always just write whatever is in my head with minimal editing (rarely ever read over my posts and most of them are just written very quickly because I’m extemporaneous like that) and right now my mind’s just a bit fried.  Anyway, here are some hand histories (unconverted because this blog I use has a shitty format, I’ll have to talk to danzasmack about getting a new one or something).  If you have any questions post in the comments because I’m too tired of writing right now to tag every hand with some analysis:

Full Tilt Poker Game #7901981163: Table Kennedy (6 max) - $50/$100 - No Limit Hold’em - 4:38:59 ET - 2008/09/02
Seat 1: HoytCorkins5 ($2,150), is sitting out
Seat 2: R-Quaresma ($2,497)
Seat 3: good2cu ($32,474.75), is sitting out
Seat 4: Snake8484 ($11,544)
Seat 5: DaEvils ($15,734)
Seat 6: BoomBoom5 ($19,071)
DaEvils posts the small blind of $50
BoomBoom5 posts the big blind of $100
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DaEvils [2s 2h]
HoytCorkins5 has returned
R-Quaresma folds
Snake8484 folds
DaEvils calls $50
BoomBoom5 raises to $300
DaEvils calls $200
*** FLOP *** [5d 5h 3h]
DaEvils checks
BoomBoom5 has 15 seconds left to act
BoomBoom5 bets $300
DaEvils calls $300
*** TURN *** [5d 5h 3h] [Jc]
DaEvils checks
BoomBoom5 has 15 seconds left to act
BoomBoom5 checks
*** RIVER *** [5d 5h 3h Jc] [2c]
DaEvils bets $900
BoomBoom5 raises to $1,800
DaEvils has 15 seconds left to act
DaEvils raises to $5,600
BoomBoom5 calls $3,800
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DaEvils shows [2s 2h] a full house, Twos full of Fives
BoomBoom5 mucks
DaEvils wins the pot ($12,398) with a full house, Twos full of Fives
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $12,400 | Rake $2
Board: [5d 5h 3h Jc 2c]
Seat 1: HoytCorkins5 is sitting out
Seat 2: R-Quaresma didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 3: good2cu is sitting out
Seat 4: Snake8484 (button) didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 5: DaEvils (small blind) showed [2s 2h] and won ($12,398) with a full house, Twos full of Fives
Seat 6: BoomBoom5 (big blind) mucked [8s 5s] - three of a kind, Fives

Full Tilt Poker Game #7901993241: Table Fine (deep 6) - $50/$100 - No Limit Hold’em - 4:41:32 ET - 2008/09/02
Seat 3: DaEvils ($80,473.50)
Seat 5: Snake8484 ($8,428)
Seat 6: BoomBoom5 ($8,305)
DaEvils posts the small blind of $50
Snake8484 posts the big blind of $100
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DaEvils [Kc Kd]
BoomBoom5 folds
DaEvils raises to $300
Snake8484 calls $200
*** FLOP *** [7s Th 4c]
DaEvils bets $450
Snake8484 calls $450
*** TURN *** [7s Th 4c] [Js]
DaEvils checks
Snake8484 has 15 seconds left to act
Snake8484 checks
*** RIVER *** [7s Th 4c Js] [6h]
DaEvils checks
Snake8484 has 15 seconds left to act
Snake8484 bets $1,255
DaEvils has 15 seconds left to act
DaEvils raises to $4,200
Snake8484 has 15 seconds left to act
Snake8484 has requested TIME
Snake8484 calls $2,945
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DaEvils shows [Kc Kd] a pair of Kings
Snake8484 shows [7d 6c] two pair, Sevens and Sixes
Snake8484 wins the pot ($9,899) with two pair, Sevens and Sixes
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $9,900 | Rake $1
Board: [7s Th 4c Js 6h]
Seat 3: DaEvils (small blind) showed [Kc Kd] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 5: Snake8484 (big blind) showed [7d 6c] and won ($9,899) with two pair, Sevens and Sixes
Seat 6: BoomBoom5 (button) didn’t bet (folded)

Full Tilt Poker Game #7902009171: Table Thin (deep 6) - $50/$100 - No Limit Hold’em - 4:44:52 ET - 2008/09/02
Seat 1: Enon ($12,450)
Seat 2: holla-athca-boy ($10,697)
Seat 3: BoomBoom5 ($13,808)
Seat 4: DaEvils ($18,330)
Seat 5: MUFAZZA ($12,440)
Seat 6: Snake8484 ($17,038)
Enon posts the small blind of $50
holla-athca-boy posts the big blind of $100
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DaEvils [3d 3c]
BoomBoom5 raises to $200
DaEvils calls $200
MUFAZZA folds
Snake8484 folds
Enon folds
holla-athca-boy folds
*** FLOP *** [5h 6c Ad]
BoomBoom5 bets $300
DaEvils calls $300
*** TURN *** [5h 6c Ad] [Ac]
BoomBoom5 checks
DaEvils checks
*** RIVER *** [5h 6c Ad Ac] [Kh]
BoomBoom5 has 15 seconds left to act
BoomBoom5 bets $700
DaEvils calls $700
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BoomBoom5 shows [Jh Ts] a pair of Aces
DaEvils shows [3d 3c] two pair, Aces and Threes
DaEvils wins the pot ($2,547) with two pair, Aces and Threes
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $2,550 | Rake $3
Board: [5h 6c Ad Ac Kh]
Seat 1: Enon (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: holla-athca-boy (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: BoomBoom5 showed [Jh Ts] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 4: DaEvils showed [3d 3c] and won ($2,547) with two pair, Aces and Threes
Seat 5: MUFAZZA didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 6: Snake8484 (button) didn’t bet (folded)

Full Tilt Poker Game #7902028897: Table Fine (deep 6) - $50/$100 - No Limit Hold’em - 4:49:03 ET - 2008/09/02
Seat 3: DaEvils ($76,571.50)
Seat 5: Snake8484 ($14,275)
Seat 6: BoomBoom5 ($6,355)
Snake8484 posts the small blind of $50
BoomBoom5 posts the big blind of $100
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DaEvils [4d Ad]
DaEvils raises to $200
Snake8484 raises to $850
BoomBoom5 folds
DaEvils calls $650
*** FLOP *** [Qd Jh 2d]
Snake8484 has 15 seconds left to act
Snake8484 bets $1,200
DaEvils has 15 seconds left to act
DaEvils raises to $3,500
Snake8484 has 15 seconds left to act
Snake8484 raises to $13,425, and is all in
DaEvils calls $9,925
Snake8484 shows [Qc Jd]
DaEvils shows [4d Ad]
*** TURN *** [Qd Jh 2d] [Kd]
*** RIVER *** [Qd Jh 2d Kd] [5c]
Snake8484 shows two pair, Queens and Jacks
DaEvils shows a flush, Ace high
DaEvils wins the pot ($28,649) with a flush, Ace high
DaEvils: nh
Snake8484 is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $28,650 | Rake $1
Board: [Qd Jh 2d Kd 5c]
Seat 3: DaEvils (button) showed [4d Ad] and won ($28,649) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 5: Snake8484 (small blind) showed [Qc Jd] and lost with two pair, Queens and Jacks
Seat 6: BoomBoom5 (big blind) folded before the Flop

Full Tilt Poker Game #7902033882: Table Fine (deep 6) - $50/$100 - No Limit Hold’em - 4:50:06 ET - 2008/09/02
Seat 3: DaEvils ($90,945.50)
Seat 5: Snake8484 ($0), is sitting out
Seat 6: BoomBoom5 ($6,255)
BoomBoom5 posts the small blind of $50
DaEvils posts the big blind of $100
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DaEvils [Ks Kh]
BoomBoom5 raises to $200
Snake8484: u2. too broke here
DaEvils raises to $800
BoomBoom5 calls $600
*** FLOP *** [9s 5d 2h]
Snake8484 stands up
DaEvils bets $1,100
BoomBoom5 has 15 seconds left to act
BoomBoom5 raises to $2,200
DaEvils calls $1,100
*** TURN *** [9s 5d 2h] [8h]
DaEvils checks
BoomBoom5 bets $2,000
DaEvils raises to $4,000
BoomBoom5 calls $1,255, and is all in
DaEvils shows [Ks Kh]
BoomBoom5 shows [7d Ts]
Uncalled bet of $745 returned to DaEvils
*** RIVER *** [9s 5d 2h 8h] [6d]
DaEvils shows a pair of Kings
BoomBoom5 shows a straight, Ten high
BoomBoom5 wins the pot ($12,509.50) with a straight, Ten high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $12,510 | Rake $0.50
Board: [9s 5d 2h 8h 6d]
Seat 3: DaEvils (big blind) showed [Ks Kh] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 5: Snake8484 is sitting out
Seat 6: BoomBoom5 (small blind) showed [7d Ts] and won ($12,509.50) with a straight, Ten high

heoverbet river
Full Tilt Poker Game #7902078512: Table Fine (deep 6) - $50/$100 - No Limit Hold’em - 4:59:37 ET - 2008/09/02
Seat 3: DaEvils ($82,629.50)
Seat 6: BoomBoom5 ($14,566.50)
BoomBoom5 posts the small blind of $50
DaEvils posts the big blind of $100
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DaEvils [9h As]
BoomBoom5 raises to $200
DaEvils calls $100
*** FLOP *** [Ad 4c Qd]
DaEvils checks
BoomBoom5 bets $300
DaEvils calls $300
*** TURN *** [Ad 4c Qd] [8h]
DaEvils has 15 seconds left to act
DaEvils checks
BoomBoom5 bets $700
DaEvils calls $700
*** RIVER *** [Ad 4c Qd 8h] [Js]
DaEvils checks
BoomBoom5 has 15 seconds left to act
BoomBoom5 bets $2,700
DaEvils has 15 seconds left to act
DaEvils calls $2,700
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BoomBoom5 shows [6c 6d] a pair of Sixes
DaEvils shows [9h As] a pair of Aces
DaEvils wins the pot ($7,799.50) with a pair of Aces
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $7,800 | Rake $0.50
Board: [Ad 4c Qd 8h Js]
Seat 3: DaEvils (big blind) showed [9h As] and won ($7,799.50) with a pair of Aces
Seat 6: BoomBoom5 (small blind) showed [6c 6d] and lost with a pair of Sixes

Full Tilt Poker Game #7902118091: Table Kennedy (6 max) - $50/$100 - No Limit Hold’em - 5:07:58 ET - 2008/09/02
Seat 1: alexandern ($2,994)
Seat 2: R-Quaresma ($1,321)
Seat 3: good2cu ($34,863.75)
Seat 5: DaEvils ($24,663)
Seat 6: BoomBoom5 ($8,541)
R-Quaresma posts the small blind of $50
good2cu posts the big blind of $100
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DaEvils [Qc Qd]
DaEvils raises to $400
BoomBoom5 has 15 seconds left to act
BoomBoom5 calls $400
alexandern folds
R-Quaresma raises to $1,321, and is all in
good2cu folds
durrrr sits down
durrrr adds $10,000
DaEvils has 15 seconds left to act
DaEvils raises to $2,242
BoomBoom5 raises to $3,163
DaEvils has 15 seconds left to act
DaEvils raises to $24,663, and is all in
BoomBoom5 calls $5,378, and is all in
DaEvils shows [Qc Qd]
BoomBoom5 shows [Td Th]
R-Quaresma shows [Kc Ac]
Uncalled bet of $16,122 returned to DaEvils
*** FLOP *** [8h As 4c]
*** TURN *** [8h As 4c] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [8h As 4c 6s] [Tc]
DaEvils shows a pair of Queens
BoomBoom5 shows three of a kind, Tens
BoomBoom5 wins the side pot ($14,440) with three of a kind, Tens
R-Quaresma shows a pair of Aces
BoomBoom5 wins the main pot ($4,060) with three of a kind, Tens
R-Quaresma is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $18,503 Main pot $4,063. Side pot $14,440. | Rake $3
Board: [8h As 4c 6s Tc]
Seat 1: alexandern (button) didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 2: R-Quaresma (small blind) showed [Kc Ac] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 3: good2cu (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: DaEvils showed [Qc Qd] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 6: BoomBoom5 showed [Td Th] and won ($18,500) with three of a kind, Tens

Full Tilt Poker Game #7902132498: Table Fine (deep 6) - $50/$100 - No Limit Hold’em - 5:10:53 ET - 2008/09/02
Seat 1: Ben Grundy ($8,000)
Seat 3: DaEvils ($85,177.50)
Seat 5: durrrr ($18,350)
Seat 6: BoomBoom5 ($13,663.50)
DaEvils posts the small blind of $50
durrrr posts the big blind of $100
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DaEvils [Jh As]
BoomBoom5 raises to $200
Ben Grundy folds
DaEvils raises to $800
durrrr calls $700
BoomBoom5 calls $600
*** FLOP *** [Kc Js Ks]
DaEvils checks
durrrr has 15 seconds left to act
durrrr checks
BoomBoom5 has 15 seconds left to act
BoomBoom5 bets $1,100
DaEvils calls $1,100
durrrr folds
*** TURN *** [Kc Js Ks] [2h]
DaEvils checks
BoomBoom5 has 15 seconds left to act
BoomBoom5 checks
*** RIVER *** [Kc Js Ks 2h] [5s]
DaEvils checks
BoomBoom5 has 15 seconds left to act
BoomBoom5 bets $3,600
DaEvils calls $3,600
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BoomBoom5 shows [5c Jc] two pair, Kings and Jacks
DaEvils shows [Jh As] two pair, Kings and Jacks
DaEvils wins the pot ($11,798) with two pair, Kings and Jacks
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $11,800 | Rake $2
Board: [Kc Js Ks 2h 5s]
Seat 1: Ben Grundy (button) didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 3: DaEvils (small blind) showed [Jh As] and won ($11,798) with two pair, Kings and Jacks
Seat 5: durrrr (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 6: BoomBoom5 showed [5c Jc] and lost with two pair, Kings and Jacks

Full Tilt Poker Game #7901801383: Table Fine (deep 6) - $50/$100 - No Limit Hold’em - 4:03:17 ET - 2008/09/02
Seat 1: Genius28 ($20,852)
Seat 3: DaEvils ($47,144.50)
Seat 4: Isaac Baron ($21,693)
Seat 6: BoomBoom5 ($14,691)
Isaac Baron posts the small blind of $50
BoomBoom5 posts the big blind of $100
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DaEvils [Td Tc]
Genius28 folds
DaEvils: “why else would i c/r if i’m not calling?”
DaEvils raises to $300
Isaac Baron raises to $1,250
BoomBoom5 folds
Isaac Baron: damn
Isaac Baron: u guys are in my head
DaEvils: lol
DaEvils has 15 seconds left to act
DaEvils calls $950
*** FLOP *** [Qh Kc Th]
Isaac Baron has 15 seconds left to act
Isaac Baron bets $1,800
DaEvils calls $1,800
*** TURN *** [Qh Kc Th] [4s]
Isaac Baron has 15 seconds left to act
Isaac Baron bets $4,100
DaEvils has 15 seconds left to act
DaEvils has requested TIME
DaEvils raises to $43,500
Isaac Baron calls $14,543, and is all in
DaEvils shows [Td Tc]
Isaac Baron shows [Qd Ks]
Uncalled bet of $24,857 returned to DaEvils
*** RIVER *** [Qh Kc Th 4s] [6s]
DaEvils shows three of a kind, Tens
Isaac Baron shows two pair, Kings and Queens
DaEvils wins the pot ($43,484) with three of a kind, Tens
Isaac Baron adds $10,000
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $43,486 | Rake $2
Board: [Qh Kc Th 4s 6s]
Seat 1: Genius28 didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 3: DaEvils (button) showed [Td Tc] and won ($43,484) with three of a kind, Tens
Seat 4: Isaac Baron (small blind) showed [Qd Ks] and lost with two pair, Kings and Queens
Seat 6: BoomBoom5 (big blind) folded before the Flop

Full Tilt Poker Game #7901736938: Table Fine (deep 6) - $50/$100 - No Limit Hold’em - 3:51:16 ET - 2008/09/02
Seat 1: Genius28 ($20,520)
Seat 3: DaEvils ($27,397.50)
Seat 4: Isaac Baron ($20,947)
Seat 6: BoomBoom5 ($15,534)
Isaac Baron posts the small blind of $50
BoomBoom5 posts the big blind of $100
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DaEvils [Jh Qc]
Genius28 folds
DaEvils raises to $300
Isaac Baron folds
BoomBoom5 has 15 seconds left to act
BoomBoom5 raises to $800
DaEvils calls $500
*** FLOP *** [8h Jc 2s]
BoomBoom5 bets $1,000
DaEvils calls $1,000
*** TURN *** [8h Jc 2s] [6s]
BoomBoom5 has 15 seconds left to act
BoomBoom5 bets $2,800
DaEvils calls $2,800
*** RIVER *** [8h Jc 2s 6s] [2h]
BoomBoom5 has 15 seconds left to act
BoomBoom5 bets $7,800
DaEvils has 15 seconds left to act
DaEvils calls $7,800
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BoomBoom5 shows [9s Qs] a pair of Twos
DaEvils shows [Jh Qc] two pair, Jacks and Twos
DaEvils wins the pot ($24,848) with two pair, Jacks and Twos
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $24,850 | Rake $2
Board: [8h Jc 2s 6s 2h]
Seat 1: Genius28 didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 3: DaEvils (button) showed [Jh Qc] and won ($24,848) with two pair, Jacks and Twos
Seat 4: Isaac Baron (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: BoomBoom5 (big blind) showed [9s Qs] and lost with a pair of Twos

I’ve been incommunicado/off the grid lately because all the Deucescracked Executive Producers flew out to meet with the brains of the operation to discuss the future of the company. I flew to DC’s supersecret West Coast location (imagine a mountain bunker compound but with lots of computers) and promptly got down to business. That is to say that Danzasmack, sthief, and I started drinking the second we all got to the hotel and proceeded to get hammered. The DC meetings would have to wait.The next day we continued with some serious business as everybody in the company went to play whirlyball (http://www.whirlyball.com/home/index.php for all you noobs). My team consistently got destroyed by our fslexcduck/sthief-led opponents and only won one of the ten matches we played. It was obviously pretty tilted but at least I realized after the first match how bad our team (and I) suck at whirlyball and only bet with whitelime on the first game.

Anyway, the next couple of days were serious business. The DC braintrust gave us a presentation of their plans for the future of the company and it’s some very very exciting stuff. I don’t want to pull a typical “watch out for exciting developments” because a lot of the improvements we discussed are pretty long-term in scope so it might take a while, but I’m incredibly optimistic that DC is going to become a unique and great company.After talks of the future of the company commenced we all went to out to dinner. We went to a nice tapas restaurant and arrived for our reservation at 9:45. The combination of poker players indifferent to money, a bunch of alcohol, and a tapas menu with a wide variety of delicious snack-sized food led to constant ordering of more food.

Our waitress was very accommodating and even though the restaurant was supposed to close at 10:30 she kept on putting in food orders past that time. Now obviously we were very appreciative of the fact that the restaurant was basically being kept open for us so even though the bill ended up being very big with a built-in 18% gratuity, whitelime and I decided to throw in $50 each on top as a thank you. But then I had a mini stroke of genius and upon realizing that we had a deck of cards decided to test our waitress’ risk aversion. I told her that we were going to give her $100 OR we would let her play one hand of poker where if she gets the best hand we tip her $200 and if my hand is better she doesn’t get anything on top of the 18%. She practically instantaneously said “let’s play poker!” Danzasmack suggested giving her the $200 straight up for having such a surprisingly lax approach to flipping for $100, but I obviously had to stay true to the nature of the flip and let her earn the extra hundo.

So with that said we dealt out the cards face down for a hand of PLO and dealt out the board.The board came down AK552 with no possible flushes. The way you flip your cards over in these flips is one person flips a card and the other keeps flipping cards until he/she can beat the opponent’s hand, then the opponent does the same until somebody can’t have the best hand. I flipped over a 9 and she had to beat it. She flipped over a 7 which wouldn’t be good enough so she flipped over another card and it was another 7. At this point I had to flip a card over and I flipped over a 3. Obviously not good enough so I flipped over a 4. Now I was drunk enough that I went to flip over my last card thinking I needed to pair the ace, king, or hit a 5 to beat her pair of sevens but as I reached for the card I stared at the board really intently and pieced together the fact that I had a straight. I just reluctantly announced that I had a straight and everybody else lamented the fact that I noticed (nobody wanted to see the waitress lose, myself included).So with 2 cards remaining the waitress had to beat a straight on AK552. She rolled a K and as Danzasmack explains to the waitress (who probably doesn’t know the rules of PLO even though I tried explaining the difference between PLO and Hold’em) that she has 4 outs to win she flips over her last card and sure enough it was a 5! She runner-runnered me for a boat and everybody went crazy as the underdog waitress was rewarded by the poker gods for her immediate willingness to flip for her tip. It’s been a while since I’ve been happy to lose a gamble, but it was a serious feel-good moment. I wonder if I’d have given her $100 anyway just because I’d have felt bad, but fortunately she won so it didn’t come up.

On the poker front I’ve finally gotten back to playing (no more $1k-stomachpunch alert). I lost 60k 1/2 stacking PLO at 200/400 the other day and today I played some 200/400 NL and won 30k or so. I lost a flip in NLHE against prtctyaneck but then called a small reraise in position vs David B with KQ and jammed over his c-bet on Qd4s8s and sucked out on his AA. I played a few other interesting pots but I’m on a new laptop that doesn’t have Windows yet (and no PT) so no hand histories for now. I also took a piece of a friend and won some money so I’m up something like 15k on the last few days which is nice considering I’d been losing 30k every time I’d been playing. I was definitely playing very well and I think the break has been good for me. I’m going to be putting in a lot of hands in the next few weeks so hopefully I’ll get back to crushing.Anyway, it’s 3:00 a.m. and I have to get some sleep, so that’s it for now.

I’m not positive, but I’m 95% sure Krantz logged in on my account (he knows my password because I had him log in to register me for the FTOPS main event the other day when it was looking like I wouldn’t make it home in time to register) and sat in at some 200/400 tables.  This does not count and Krantz does not get to punch me in the stomach as a result of posting “FIRST!” in comments. I have changed my password and the punch-in-stomach offer is still on the table.

When 3 of a kind was a good hand in online no-limit hold’em.  Obviously my vow to quit poker for a week lasted just a couple hours until I saw patatino sitting in at 2 200/400 tables.  A few hours and a few cold-decks later I was down another 240k, making this by far my biggest losing day ever (yeah yeah sold action, still had a huge piece of the loss).  I haven’t done the full accounting but my losses on the day are pretty close to 200k.  So now, after having been punished for breaking my vow, I make this pledge to you, my readers:

If anybody catches me playing online poker between now and the 25th, I will pay that person $1000 to punch me in the stomach as hard as you want. You can’t collect the 1k and fail to punch me, it’s a package deal  to make sure I actually suffer.  This bounty will be redeemable at any point in time in the future so if you don’t live in NYC but you’re the first person to post in comments here that you saw me playing, you still win the grand prize.

Taking a break from poker, I notice David Benyamine in a 200/400 game.  I decide to play and promptly lose 3 buy-ins (KK<AK aipf, then won a flip, then lost 2 big hands, then ran KK into QT on QTx fd HU vs durrrr while waiting for David to sit back in).  I had a big piece of that and then lost another 30k in a Stars 100-200 game.  So basically while taking a break I just lost enough money to make me want to take an even longer break.  No poker for another week and then I’m going to grind 10/20 and 25/50 because any further downswing at nosebleeds on top of my 250kish downswing is just going to be too tilting.

The problem of course is not that the thought of grinding 25/50 while climbing out of a downswing will be too hard because I’m stuck in “100/200+” mentality.  It’s the thought of waiting around all day for games to start.  I’ve been studying for my LSAT and was going to plan on matriculating somewhere in 2010, but the more I think about how dead the NLHE economy is becoming the more I think that I should just get out ASAP and matriculate in 2009.  Maybe that’s just the downswing in me talking but at this point I’m just not particularly feeling waiting around all day for games and getting to play in 2 or 3 tough games if I’m lucky.

By now everybody knows that guacamole is extra.  Please inform your employees that they no longer have to pause, give us an uneasy “you sure about this” look, and inform us that guac costs $1.50 extra.  It’s demeaning to all involved.

Here’s an interview I did with pokerlistings the other day.  This is part 1, part 2 will be up tomorrow.  It’s all text, which I imagine is more convenient for my 9-5 friends

http://www.pokerlistings.com/blog/online-poker/microphone-fiend-daevils-interview-part-1

I slipped up a bit from my poker break because I had an hour between getting back to my apartment and meeting up with a friend and I saw a juicy 100/200 game (some guy named John Duthie, some PLO player, and a few regs) so I jumped in to kill some time and made 20k.  So that was nice.  Today I got back from the gym and sat in at a 100/200 game to play tsifknits HU but my internet’s spotty at the moment and I realized there’s no reason to play when I’m trying to take a break so I quit him.  I also shortstacked some 200/40 PLO the other day but that doesn’t count because I was in the middle of a business meeting for Deucescracked so I was forced to be doing poker stuff anyway.  I made about 30k with fslexcduck sweating (I gave her a piece obviously, good karma).  It’s been hard to take a break because lately whenever I open up FTP I see at least one reg playing some total fish at 50/100 or higher but then I remember that I probably wouldn’t have got the fish’ action anyway (for some reason, despite my FTOPS avatar, I don’t seem to be the fish’s opponent of choice, this despite the fact I give more action than do most regs).  On top of that stevesbets has been in action, playing 200/400 PLO and 100/200 NLHE.  I feel like it’s only a matter of time before he loses all his money (I saw he had at least 250k spread across 3 tables on FTP and he seems to have a stars roll now so he’s got plenty of money to give away), but I remembered when playing yesterday how little I enjoy 1-tabling and how I’m just not in the mood to play poker so far.

Anyway, so far the break’s been  very relaxing.  My sublet to my brother finally ended so I’m sleeping on my own bed for the first time in months, but obviously putting away all the junk I’d accumulated while living out of a suitcase while making a few different laundry and drycleaning runs took up most of my day on Tuesday.  I also went to the Apple Store and got the new iPhone, which I’m pretty happy with.  The only downside to it is that I bought the Shure 530 sound-isolating headphones which are ideal for iPod usage but are not ideal for talking with your mom (imagine talking with your parents and having their voices practically inside your head with no background noise. it’s pretty disconcerting (dissociative even?)).  I’m also worried that I’m going to go broke now that I have constant access to iTunes and get the songs straight onto my computer.  I might need to end my poker break a bit early just to cover the costs of my iTunes addiction.

Wednesday I didn’t do too much. I did Yoga in the morning and then  went out to lunch with a friend.  We walked down to Soho and went shopping for a bit, and then I met up with a few high-school friends for happy hour. I finished up Mad Men Season I (which I wholeheartedly recommend you watch if you’re in the mood for a very well-done t.v. show about a bunch of characters you don’t really care about).

Yesterday I did some more Yoga, walked around Manhattan for a couple hours, went to Tompkins Square Park and read for a bit and then got a haircut.  I’m reading Leonard Mlodinow’s “The Drunkard’s Walk,” which is a pretty interesting pop-math book on the evolution of probability theory.  A lot of the material in it early on isn’t that new for a poker player, but it does get interesting later on and it’s pretty easy to get through.  I met up with a few friends for dinner and drinks and ended up coming back to the apartment and debating the merits of utilitarianism with one of my roommates (long story short, I was a bit drunk and tried to argue that utilitarianism is appealing most of the time but has its exceptions, he argued that I’m wrong, he was probably right and kind of owned me but I’m going to think on it when sober and get back to him).

Today I woke up at 9:00 to go work out and now I’m killing time until 2:30, when I’m meeting with the producers of the reality t.v. show that Team Israel is going to be on (no details until I’m sure it’s okay for me to blog about this).  I’ve got a fantasy football draft on Sunday that I’m not at all prepared for so I need to start doing some research.  Today I’m hoping to finish Drunkard’s Walk, write the first chapter of my poker-centric autobiography, get some fantasy research done, and start practicing for the LSAT.

So I’ve been keeping busy for the most part; I’m trying to force myself to only be in the apartment for an hour total each day until my roommates get back from work so that I can keep doing interesting stuff and not just sit around wasting my time thinking “Well, nothing else to do; guess I’ll play some poker.”

All right, now to make up for this mundane post I’ll leave you with a paradox that my roommate found on Scott Aaronson’s blog that I think is pretty cool (if I’ve already told you this, don’t bitch about it: you don’t have to read on):

A madman plays a game where he kidnaps a person and rolls two dice. If he rolls snake-eyes (two “ones”), he kills the guy. If he rolls anything else he lets the guy go and kidnaps a group of 10 people and plays the same game; snake-eyes he kills them, otherwise he lets them go and kidnaps 100 people and plays again. Every group is 10 times as big as the group before it and has no people in it who have already been kidnapped.  He keeps doing this until he rolls snake-eyes and kills the group (imagine that there are enough people in the world for him to keep getting a bigger group until he rolls snake-eyes, even if that requires a population of like 700 trillion or something).  You wake up in the middle of the night to find yourself blindfolded and tied up in a warehouse. The mad man tells you that you’ve been kidnapped and explains to you the rules of the game. He hasn’t rolled the dice yet.  How concerned should you be that you’re going to die (or better yet, how likely do you think it is that you are going to die)?

The first and obvious answer most people give would be that you have a 1/36 chance of dying because those are the odds that he rolls snake-eyes and kills you.  However, unless the game ends after the first roll and he kills just one person, it’s going to be the case that ~90% of people who get kidnapped end up dying (10/11, 100/111, 1000/1111, etc) since the group that gets killed is always roughly nine times the size of the group of people who have  already been kidnapped and released.  So it seems that since all you know is that you’re in the group “people who have played this game” that there’s a 90% chance you’re going to die.  A way to think about this is imagine that after the game ends the madman releases a list of everybody who played and notes who he killed and who he let go.  For any name he picks there’s an ~90% chance that name was the name of somebody who got killed.  But there doesn’t appear to be any difference between waking up and finding out you’ve been kidnapped and knowing that your name’s on this list.  Either way you’re just a data point in the game with nothing differentiating you from the other participants.  So which one is it? 1/36 chance of dying or 90%? Both seem correct yet are obviously far far different from each other.  I’ve heard a few attempted resolutions of this paradox and none of them really struck me as that useful.  Hopefully you’ll give this some thought and I’ll read a comment splaying the hell out of this question.

I did an interview last night with twoplustwo’s pokercast.  If you want to listen to it go to http://pokercast.twoplustwo.com/index_plus.php and look for the two options of how to listen to the pokercast at the top of the page.  Hope you enjoy it.