Poker Blog – icemonkey9 on PokerStars

It’s funny how these bad runs can just hit you at the right time. I have to remember that Zach’s crappy run to start his prop bet lasted 27k hands! I really shouldn’t worry about the first 5,700 right?

Hands Completed: 5,739 out of 30,000 (~19%)
Profits: -$16.45
Graph:

Here are some hands from just today’s sessions:

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Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold’em – 6 players
MP: $50.00
CO: $22.75
BTN: $50.00
SB: $32.75
Hero (BB): $50.95
UTG: $50.55 – STATS: 33/33 over 12 hands, so unknown.

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with K A
UTG raises to $1.50, 4 folds, Hero raises to $5, UTG calls $3.50

Flop: ($10.25) T 9 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $6, UTG calls $6

Turn: ($22.25) K (2 players)
Hero bets $11, UTG raises to $39.55 all in, Hero calls $28.55

River: ($101.35) 8 (2 players – 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $101.35
Hero shows K A (a pair of Kings)
UTG shows T K (two pair, Kings and Tens)
UTG wins $98.35
(Rake: $3.00)

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Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold’em – 7 players
BTN: $61.75
SB: $25.00
BB: $9.25
UTG: $30.00 – STATS: 35/14
Hero (UTG+1): $53.70
MP: $36.75
CO: $10.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG+1 with T T
UTG raises to $1.50, Hero calls $1.50, 5 folds

Flop: ($3.75) 4 5 8 (2 players)
UTG bets $2, Hero raises to $6, UTG calls $4

Turn: ($15.75) 2 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $8.50, UTG calls $8.50

River: ($32.75) K (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks

Final Pot: $32.75
UTG shows 7 7 (a flush, King high)
Hero mucks T T
UTG wins $31.15
(Rake: $1.60)

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Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold’em – 9 players
CO: $19.50
BTN: $54.10
SB: $29.20
Hero (BB): $59.95
UTG: $9.25
UTG+1: $33.80
UTG+2: $10.75
MP1: $9.65 – 23/11 (not a shortstacker)
MP2: $9.25

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with Q J
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.50, 1 fold, MP1 calls $0.50, 3 folds, SB calls $0.25, Hero checks

Flop: ($2.00) 8 9 T (4 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1, UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls $1, SB calls $1

Turn: ($5.00) 5 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $4, MP1 calls $4, SB folds

River: ($13.00) Q (2 players)
Hero bets $7, MP1 calls $4.15 all in

Final Pot: $21.30
Hero shows Q J (a straight, Eight to Queen)
MP1 shows J K (a straight, Nine to King)
MP1 wins $20.30
(Rake: $1.00)

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Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold’em – 8 players
MP1: $19.50
MP2: $54.10
CO: $10.00
Hero (BTN): $50.05
SB: $8.75
BB: $10.75
UTG: $39.35
UTG+1: $9.25

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with K Q
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.50, 3 folds, Hero raises to $2.25, 2 folds, UTG+1 calls $1.75

Flop: ($5.25) K 8 3 (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $3, UTG+1 raises to $6, Hero raises to $9, UTG+1 calls $1 all in

Turn: ($19.25) A (2 players – 1 is all in)

River: ($19.25) 4 (2 players – 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $19.25
Hero shows K Q (a pair of Kings)
UTG+1 shows 8 K (two pair, Kings and Eights)
UTG+1 wins $18.30
(Rake: $0.95)

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Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold’em – 8 players
Hero (BB): $50.80
UTG: $170.15
UTG+1: $55.40
MP1: $52.65
MP2: $52.60
CO: $67.00 – 58/20 fish
BTN: $25.00
SB: $50.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with Q Q
4 folds, CO calls $0.50, BTN calls $0.50, SB calls $0.25, Hero raises to $3.50, CO raises to $6.50, 2 folds, Hero raises to $17, CO calls $10.50

Flop: ($35.00) J 9 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $19, CO calls $19

Turn: ($73.00) 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $14.80 all in, CO calls $14.80

River: ($102.60) T (2 players – 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $102.60
Hero shows Q Q (a pair of Queens)
CO shows K K (a pair of Kings)
CO wins $99.60
(Rake: $3.00)

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Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold’em – 7 players
Hero (MP): $50.75
CO: $51.50
BTN: $124.20
SB: $50.00
BB: $48.60 – 40/8/5 fish
UTG: $47.75
UTG+1: $50.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is MP with K A
2 folds, Hero raises to $1.75, 3 folds, BB raises to $3, Hero raises to $9, BB calls $6

Flop: ($18.25) 7 K 5 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($18.25) Q (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $10, BB calls $10

River: ($38.25) T (2 players)
BB bets $29.60 all in, Hero calls $29.60

Final Pot: $97.45
Hero shows K A (a pair of Kings)
BB shows J A (a straight, Ten to Ace)
BB wins $94.45
(Rake: $3.00)

Today something amazingly awesome happened.  A team that I root for, the New Orleans Saints, won the Super Bowl.  Many of you know my #1 team is the San Diego Chargers, but the Chicago Bears and the New Orleans Saints have always been the other two teams I root for.  The Bears got to the Super Bowl three years ago and got creamed, while the Chargers got there in 1994 and were crushed.  Many expected the Saints to play hard but in the end, lose to the better team.

A funny thing happened though – the better team did win, and it wasn’t the Colts.  It’s crazy to think that I’m going to reference the Saints as winners, but for this group of players, that’s largely the case.  Two years ago they got to the Championship game and lost (the game before the Super Bowl), then last year had a tough season and didn’t make the playoffs.  This year they came back healthy and prepared and went all the way.

But I’m specifically going to reference the title of this post “Why Winners Win” towards one player – Drew Brees.  I was fortunate to watch him play in his first NFL game when I had season tickets to the Chargers and from there his first few years in the league.  Doug Flutie was the starter that first year and Brees played in about 10 minutes that entire season but when he came in, he did great.  The next year he started a promising career.  In college he won.  With the Chargers he won.  And when faced with a potentially career ending shoulder injury and moved to a team with absolutely no history of success – he won.  What we can learn from Drew Brees is that winners, more than anything, are the ones that sometimes persevere the most under the most difficult circumstances.  They also do bring a lot of talent, but also the drive to use it to its maximum potential.  They surround themselves with good and capable people and work towards a common goal.  Food for thought.

We had a Super Bowl party at our place and it was a lot of fun.  In fact, I might even say it was my favorite Super Bowl party I’ve thrown over the last 10 years since it unofficially became my tradition.  Great people and company, great food, great game.  I wore my Drew Brees jersey (no it’s NOT new thank you very much) and my wife wore her Peyton Manning jersey rooting for the Colts.  My wife just became a football fan and grew to admire Manning and his amazing ability, plus the excitement the Colts bring when we watch them play.  I admire her for being a new fan and not just rooting for whatever team just won, but rather the team she admired the most.

Anyways one look at us tells you how we felt about the game, but we really did have a good time of course.  WHO DAT!

BW said that Euro tables were soft at Stars, so I said I’d give em a shot.  I played at 12 of them and was impressed with the automatic conversion for the money, thought that was cool.  One REAL cool thing was that all the Euro tables have a 35 big blind minimum buy-in!!  Something coming for the rest of the normal tables?!

Unfortunately things didn’t end up Fonzi at the tables.  2.5 buy-ins below EV in 750 hands.  It’s funny how variance will strike you in the ass as soon as you try something new, eh?

I would post the hands but I couldn’t find a hand converter to work with Euros.

The lowlights:

• My K3 vs his J4.  Board is 33J6 and we put in our full 100bb stacks.  I’m a 95.5% favorite … he spikes his Jack on the river.  Booooo!
• QQ goes AIPF against a 63/30 guy (70ish hands) who 4bets 5%.  He shows up with AA and I lose a stack. (btw a blind vs blind situation)
• AQ from the BB, I make a squeeze to 11 big blinds and 2 callers.  Flop is A43, I get it in against … yup, 44.  Have to love that.
• AK goes AIPF against a guy with about a 65 big blind stack, he has JJ, I lose the standard flip (oh he’s a 63/20 over 30 hands.
• I get JJ AIPF (6-handed) against a 90/20 who shows up with QJo.  Yes, he hit his Q on the river. Just sick.

Okay it’s late and I just finished up writing another article and now I’m bored.  So I hop on Stars and see what pros are online and I see Ivan Demidov is playing 400nl 6max.  He proceeds to 5bet shove A6o into KK AIPF and hits runner runner straight on the river.  The next hand another guy 4bets into Demidov who shoves 66 and gets looked up by JJ, but this time loses.

I have no idea why but I decided to talk some trash.  I never do this as an observer, but I’m somewhat out of my mind.  Anyways, I write in:

“Hey after those two hands you look like Ivan the Terrible.  Too much vodka at Moscow State tonight my friend.”

I just found that funny.  Then I decide to tread on the racist line by looking up JC Alvarado who is playing $25-$50 against nobody (he’s sitting out on empty tables).  Unfortunately I’m not allowed to chat as an observer at this table, but if I was I would have written something along the lines of JC sitting down with $10k total which would probably be about 20% of Mexico’s entire GNP for 2009.  Oooooh snap.

For some odd reason I find of all people “nanonoko” playing $0.25-$0.50 Pot Limit Omaha.  WTF?!

I get to one of his tables:

“icemonkey9: hi nano, I love you”
“nanonoko: haha”
“icemonkey9: well in a platonic, man crush kind of way”

He’s playing some idiot (I dunno maybe someone good) named “dbeckham777″ and wins a big pot.

“icemonkey9: oooooh snap!  time to go back to posh and cry becks!”

No response.  I’ve overstayed my welcome.

Nobody else is on.  This is what happens when I get delirious.

I felt like blogging but there’s no specific topic I have in mind so this will be a “general rambling” type of entry.  Sometimes it’s nice just to post what I am thinking about!

New Site Done!

Maybe I am on to something here setting up custom WordPress themes for poker players.  I set up my second one for good friend Brian (aka BW07507), and I scored a killer domain name for him too.  Check his site out at CrushingOnlinePoker.com which just launched this week.  If you are interested in hiring me to do something similar for you, just contact me through my contact page.

LOST Season 6

If you know me personally you know I’m as big a LOST fan as there is out there.  My wife and I watched the last few episodes of Season 5 (which I loved) to get ourselves psyched for Season 6 which premieres on Tuesday night.  I’ve avoided any and all spoilers, but from my understanding both ABC and the producers of the show have not released any images or information.  I think for this last season of my favorite all time show ever I’ll post my thoughts after each episode and share my personal crack theories.

For Season 6, I don’t know what they are expected to do, but I think it’s going to go along the lines of:

• The first few episodes will be all “flashbacks” meaning that the bomb DID work and did do a reset.  Oceanic 815 never crashed and our Losties lived their lives as normal.  That means we need to find out what happened to them between 2004-2008 of the series’ timeline.
• At some point a third of the way through we’ll understand what this whole “bigger picture conflict” is about with Jacob and Mr Man in Black Shirt and how it involves our Losties (it has to be along the lines of Free Will vs a Strict Destiny)
• We then “catch up” with our cast in 2010.  The problem is that they don’t remember their lives as rewritten by the reset … they only remember what they lived through.  This makes them realize they need each other, yadda yadda, and that they are involved in something bigger.
• Enter giant conflict and resolutions.
• End show, fade to white.

A Couple of Big Poker Projects

I’m in charge of two big poker projects for two different websites.  Unfortunately I am just building up things here as a teaser and won’t even tell you what sites these projects are for.  The good news is that one of these projects will probably be up and live next week so stay tuned.

My Take on Zachvac’s Prop Bet

Zachvac is an old friend of mine going back to my very first days of online poker.  He’s a bright young kid with a great poker mind who I really enjoyed spending time with in Las Vegas as well as when he lived in La Jolla and I would go visit.  Like all young kids he’s done some things I’ve not agreed with (the whole Huck Felmuth debacle and what he put Deb through … she’s such a nice lady) but if those are the worst things he’s done then he’s a saint compared to me when I was his age!

Anyways, Zach has taken on the latest ridiculous proposition bet for the online world.  His plan is to profit $15,000 in 31 days playing strictly 100nl ($0.50-$1 tables) on Full Tilt Poker (max of 16 regular tables and a stipulation in place for Rush Poker).  Basically if Zach wins at his normal win-rate it’ll take about 220,000 hands of poker.  If he wins at 1.5 BB/100 it will take a half-million hands.  He’s taken a ton of action getting 3:1 odds so if he actually pulls this off he’ll have the bankroll to tackle the mid-stakes games.  The whole thing is a tiny bit crazy but I’ll be following this one very closely.

Busting Tilt

I found a great way to get off any sort of tilt you might be facing, be it from poker or life.  What you do is take your 3-year-old nephew to Disneyland and have a ball and be a kid.  Seriously, who can be pissed about a bad session when you pose for a picture with Donald Duck?

Certainly not me!  I actually got my ticket to Disneyland for free because they have a volunteer thing going on.  I gave blood at a local hospital and I got my ticket, which I applied to get an annual pass which came out to about $100 for the year which seemed like a no brainer.  FYI, I live about 15 minutes away from Disneyland, so it’s not like it’s something I’d just do twice a year.  Obviously, my wife was thrilled at the prospect of visiting Disneyland once or twice a month and has her pass all ready to go.  Tilt – BUSTED!

Sennheiser HD 555 Headphones Arrive

I am not sure if any of you care about what headphones I use, but I imagine that there’s a lot of online poker players that use headphones while playing.  This way we can listen to whatever music we like and our bleeps & chings at the poker tables without annoying anyone else in the house/condo/apartment/cave.  I had a pair of okay headphones with the Skullcandy Hesh, but they didn’t fit my head too well and would get very uncomfortable on my ears after an hour.

Enter the Sennheiser HD 555s, an amazing set of headphones which fit amazingly on your head.  The comfort level is through the roof with these things!  They are extremely comfortable and totally enclose your ears without hitting them.  It’s an open design so your head won’t sweat either, with the trade-off being that people next to you will faintly hear whatever you are listening to.

In terms of audio quality, they aren’t the “OMG SO AMAZING” headphones I thought they would be.  There is very little bass tone to these guys.  What happened though is that I played around with the equalizer settings in iTunes and found one that made them sound awesome.  I’m hearing elements and instruments in songs I never did before, which in my opinion, is a huge complment.  When I add together the increase factor of the comfort (huge) plus increased quality of sound (minor) over my old headphones, I think the purchase (sub $100!!!) was well worth it.

Killing the Shorties

My hate of shortstackers is well documented in the 2 year history of this blog.  After playing my 20k hands at 25nl I can understand now why I see some people on TwoPlusTwo say “who cares, shortstackers suck!” because at 25nl and 50nl they are really horrible and don’t know what they are doing.

The problem is when you get to the small and mid stakes games.  At 100nl you’ll definitely find some decent shorties that know what they are doing and I found more than a handful of great ones at 200nl.  I’ve never played above that level but many mid and high stakes players document all the time how the shorties are the single biggest problem in online poker today.

Now, the war is won at Full Tilt Poker … and hopefully PokerStars will follow suit soon.  The rumors are out there that its coming up in their meetings and they have heard a ton of feedback already.  If you feel strongly about the issue, I highly suggest PM’ing “Scottyy” or “PS SteveD” on TwoPlusTwo because those comments DO go a long way.

A Post Inspired by the 2009-2010 San Diego Chargers

Nate Kaeding (#10) of the Chargers

If you read my football prediction post, you’ll immediately recognize why I will never succeed in the world of sports betting.  That fact aside, I was inspired by my favorite football team, the San Diego Chargers, to write about why losers always lose.

As a background if you are not familiar with American NFL Football, the San Diego Chargers have been in the NFL for 44 years.  In  the entire history of their team in the NFL, they have made the championship game just once and in that game lost in one of the most lopsided games in the history of the Super Bowl (1995).  During the last six years the Chargers have consistently had one of the best regular season teams and most talented rosters in the league.  The problem they have had, each and every year, is winning in the playoffs. One year (2006) they had the best record in the 32 team league and lost their first playoff game. This year they had the second best record in the NFL, played an overachieving Jets team and played as if they had never seen a football in their collective lives.  Their loss today in the playoff game might rank as their most disappointing loss yet as they had come in winning 11 straight in a 16 game season.

Given their history of failure in the playoffs, you would think they would learn from such losses and mistakes.

Teams that lose in the playoffs are ones that fail to remember what got them there.  In the case of the Chargers, they were one of the least penalized teams  all year, but in the first quarter they racked up 6 debilitating penalties. They also rarely turned the ball over, but they threw two interceptions and nearly lost two fumbles.

Teams that lose in the playoffs are ones that let the pressure get to them mentally.  With the Chargers, our friend pictured above was voted an all star (in the NFL they call it the Pro Bowl) for being the best kicker.  He had made 69 straight within 40 yards … and he missed 2 within 40 yards and 1 outside of that range for an 0/3 night. The Chargers lost by 3 points … if he had made his 2 within 40 they would have won 20-17. For the record, he’s missed key field goals in similar playoff situations before.

Teams that lose in the playoffs are ones that lost their composure.  In this game the Chargers had three or four (I can’t remember how many) personal foul penalties (the maximum 15 yard variety) which were due to a complete lack of composure and maturity (from a mature team in terms of age).

Finally, teams that lose in the playoffs are ones that play down to the level of their competition.  The Chargers went 13-3 and had won 11 straight and the Jets had luckboxed their way into the playoffs with a 9-7 record.  There was no doubt which team was more talented, but instead of forcing the Jets to play catch up with their high powered offense, the Chargers played down and trudged along all game long.

SO – What’s the connection with poker?

Much of what constantly troubles the Chargers trouble poker players.  Don’t make costly mistakes that you know goes against your training.  Don’t let the pressure of the situation get to you and always think clearly.  Never lose your composure due to tilt and coolers.  Finally, don’t play down to your competition’s level.  If you are playing with a bunch of fish, great … don’t let that change your solid and proven game.  Keep attacking, keep playing the right way and don’t start being fancy and altering your strategy against the fish just because they’ve won a few hands.

There’s a reason why losers will always lose – they never learn and fix their mistakes.

As some of you might know, I am a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.  I say “am” because I believe that membership truly is for life as brotherhood extends well beyond your days as an active member.  I never was president of the fraternity chapter, but for two years I served as Pledge Educator, meaning it was my responsibility to teach the laws, history and lore of the fraternity.  I enjoyed the role very much as it allowed me to get to know the new members well and forge strong bonds a lot of the others guys didn’t get the opportunity to form.

One of the major stories that I would teach to all the classes was the story of the Phoenix, a mythical bird  whose story begins in ancient Egypt…

The Phoenix is an Egyptian mythological bird of red, gold and purple plumage, colors of the rising sun. The phoenix, symbolizing rebirth and resurrection, died in the fire of the funeral pyre, but arose from the ashes.

“At the top of a palm tree a bird’s nest catches fire. It has been ignited by a spark struck from the hooves of celestial steeds drawing the chariot of Ra, the Egyptian sun god. Amid the flames a beautiful Arabian bird extends its golden neck and purple wings, but instead of flying off, it dances. Eventually, it is consumed by the fire and reduced to ashes…but this is not the end. Indeed, it is only the beginning- for five hundred years later a new bird is reborn from the ashes. It seals the remains of the nest in myrrh, wraps it in aromatic leaves, and molds it into the shape of an egg. It carries this as a sacred offering to the temple of the sun at Heliopolis, and then flies away to paradise. Five hundred years later it returns to earth, where it begins again the cycle of self-immolation and resurrection-a process that continues forever.”

The Phoenix shall rise from its own ashes.

Yes, it’s that time of year one again people.  As you might remember I’ve successfully predicted a Stanley Cup winner and a Super Bowl Champion with these in the last 3 years.  So let’s just jump right into it and see who’s coming out on top!

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WILD CARD ROUND:

Jets at Bengals

The Jets pasted the Bengals last week, but this time they play for real and in Cincinnati.  The Jets will be exposed as the pretenders they are who got a free walk into the playoffs.

Prediction: Bengals (4 Seed) defeat the Jets, 24-10

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Ravens at Patriots

A lot of people are predicting that the Ravens have the momentum to defeat New England.  The loss of Welker might be too much for the Pats to overcome, but they are playoff tested.  This isn’t an easy one to pick, but the Patriots have been absolute money at home all year long.  I think they eeeeeek by in this one.

Prediction: Patriots (3 Seed) defeat the Ravens, 27-20

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Eagles at Cowboys

The Cowboys are hot and have been ever since the Chargers beat them up.  They toasted the Eagles last week and this time they are home.  Is this finally the year that Romo and Wade Phillips finally win a game in the playoffs? Yes.

Prediction: Cowboys (4 Seed) defeat the Eagles, 31-27

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Packers at Cardinals

The Cardinals have coasted through the regular season somewhat uninspired coming off a beating of their own at the expense of the Packers.  Did the Packers unleash the playbook while the Cards stood pat?  Not at all.  This is the story of a hot team playing against an old, tired team.

Prediction: Packers (5 Seed) defeat the Cardinals, 28-24

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I know, I know.  I haven’t blogged in forever, posted any hands or results or blown up about my latest string of misfortune at the virtual tables.  It’s been a long 6 weeks but my schedule is finally freeing up and I’m getting back into the mode of writing, thinking and playing poker.

I have a ton of things to do today but I really wanted to update the blog so I’ll just do a quick bullet point of what’s new.

• Getting coaching from Stox Poker coach “Clean” and as you might remember, he’s an old friend.
• Going to be hanging out with some poker friends in La Jolla next week, so that should be fun. I had a pretty good time last visit.  Expect pictures.
• Picked up another site I’ll be writing for in PokerTableRatings.com … fun site to be writing for and excited I’ve got more work within the industry.
• Actually played poker, playing 50nl 6max and 100nl Full Ring to shake off the rust. I was playing breakeven, right up until I enjoyed a KK<AA AIPF at 100nl. After losing more than 120BB on the hand, the 25/10 donk typed in, “SRY DONK!” and then rat-holed right off the table. Classy!
• I’m really excited for a new podcast I’m doing for PokerSoftware. The first one (if approved, the entire project is a pilot episode at this point) should hit the site next week.  If it doesn’t, you’ll know it sucked and you wouldn’t have wanted to hear it anyways.
• Very happy that the UIGEA has been delayed 6 months, but a little disappointed how Barney Frank’s meeting went on the 3rd.
• Shocked the hotel at The Horseshoe is closing down, but understandable given how few people head to Vegas these days.