So … how you’ve been running?

Posted by icemonkey9 on Apr 29, 2008 in General | 0 comments

So I guess now that April is almost done I can finally come out of my shell and officially say that I've been running well. Whenever I come out and say that I usually immediately go on a horrific downswing, but I'll tempt fate with 1 day to go.

My cash game continues to improve, and I've actually started playing some super micro stakes at PokerStars to test the waters ... and man are they fishy. I'm debating taking out some of my bankroll at FTP that I've built up and putting it into PokerStars to enjoy some variety. Either way I am sure I'll spend much more time at PS now that my initial deposit bonus has expired at FullTilt.

That said I think I hit my biggest pot of the month during a session today. I was playing 3 tables for about 45 minutes during my lunch break and while a couple of work-related things were rendering. Check it out below ... a pure definition of "dream flop" ... at least for one of the people involved! Muahahaha ...

Family Update

Posted by icemonkey9 on Apr 29, 2008 in General | 0 comments

So now that the word is out, I can say that the family emergency was pretty serious. My wife's uncle, whom I am close to and think of as a mentor, had a massive stroke a week ago today. The next day he had a minor heart attack, and after that he came down with a mild case of pneumonia. The outlook was very grim. Thankfully, the family and friends of the communities around us got together and we said prayers and kept our spirits high. Fortunately, he has stabilized and been under sedation since the stroke, but continues to make progress. His status will be much the same until next week, so our prayers and thoughts still are with him at this time.

Family Emergency…

Posted by icemonkey9 on Apr 23, 2008 in General | 0 comments

There's been a serious family emergency. Poker is definitely on the backburner for a while. I'll check in sometime soon. Sorry!

Check this mama out…

Posted by icemonkey9 on Apr 14, 2008 in General | 1 comment

Okay so I won't mention how I am running lately at the cash games because whenever I do, the horrible sudden opposite hits me. So, no update for that.

The Weekend Update

Posted by icemonkey9 on Apr 14, 2008 in General | 0 comments

So I got in A LOT of poker this weekend. You would think that I would get sick of it , but no, I'm itching to play more. Sadly work and a trip to Florida is going to kill all of that most likely.

So for the homegame we had, we got 8 to play a $25nl cash game, and my wife was all over it killing pots left and right. She really punished anyone that got into a pot with her and she left up big again. I have to admit to being proud. I left down $5. Just wasn't feeling it I guess.

Fortunately two of my friends stuck around and we decided that after my ice hockey game we would hit up a local casino for some live play. My team lost 11-3 in our game, but I scored 2 goals to salvage some entertainment value. Brutal game, and our goalie has really been horrible lately.

Anyways we hit up Hawaiian Gardens Casino in Los Angeles, about a 35 minute drive from where I live. It's a great room, very lively bar area, and has ALL limits. They even had a $20 nl 1/1 table! We hit up the $40nl 1/2 blinds ... and for the first 20 hands there was only 2 that did not feature an all-in showdown at the river. To say the table was loose would be a huge understatement. I picked up a nice hand finally, AA at UTG, and raised it up to $10. Got called by 2 and the flop was all rags. Dude before me (super loose agressive) bets it hard. I go all in and he has the odds to call (like $6 bucks for the guy) and he looks at me and says, damn man I need a 7 I am on a gutshot against yer bullets.

BAM. 7 turns. Table groans. Idiot hit his 4 outer. I'm out $40.

"That's Poker" I say and rebuy in, but our table breaks because people keep dying left and right. One of my friends goes on to some other loose table, while my other friend and I sat at what had to be the tightest table I have ever seen at a casino. Ridiculously tight for those stakes and it made it easy to win, but the pots were so low it was hard to keep up against the rake. I got AA twice more UTG and made a standard raise only to see the entire frickin table fold it.

Finally we got some new blood at the table with two new players that loosened up things a bit, and I was killing it when I was in the pot. I was really able to make some fantastic reads and called a guy down with mid-pair and he just mucked, refusing to show his rag bluff. In the end I left with a $15 profit, so I made up my lost buyin and left with more than I showed up with - so that was a good thing.

All in all it was a great 4 hours of live poker and a place I would definitely want to visit again.

Sunday, the wife was out of town visiting her mom, so I relaxed, slept in, then woke up and played a lot of hands. I played about 500 hands of live cash game play and finished $13 in profit, and I played in three $5 tournaments and won one SNG for a $25 prize, so it was all about small profits this weekend.