Goals for 2009

1. Bluff LJ once out of a big pot. Lucko has already figured out that this is a ploy to keep LJ paying off monster hands but I think this year the bluff will happen.

2. Have a positive ROI in MTT on FullTilt AND PokerStars.








I was shocked to discover I had $123K in tourney cashes this year. Not so shocked that I had spent a little more than 123k in buyins to achieve this when looking at balances.

My biggest cash of the year doesn't even show up on stars because it occurred by winning a step 6 WCOOP Main Event seat. August 17th I won a step at all 6 levels turning $7.50 in 5200 $W.

This year I want profitable on both.

3. Do not go bust trying to clear IronMan bonus before the points dork.

4. Try to play within bankroll managment guidelines.

5. Win a BBT qualifying tourney.

6. Spend more time with wife and family, this summer's jolt was a reminder of what's important. But was also an eye-opener of what a warm and supportive community I have joined online.

7. Remind Recess he is a dork whenever he starts to forget.

2008 In Review

I set forth goals for 2008 and now is time to review:

1. Keep better records so I know at the end of each day what games and levels I should be playing.

Record keeping better, I always knew what games/levels I should return to when BR low.

2. Adhere to stop loss limits each day.

Colossal failure on a few days but had no 4 figure loss days which is an improvement

3. Outside of blogger events and freerolls focus play on Omaha to build bankroll to earn enough money to play WSOP preliminary event w/o it meaning BR suicide.

This was worded too vaguely to be measurable.

4. Make 2nd day of WSOP prelim event (probably involving 4 cards).

Failed

5. Final table a big buy-in online tourney (avoid crumbling under Final Table pressure if anyone has a piece of me).

Had a 7th (and 12th) in PLO $20k and 3rd in Stars O8, plus got 4th in Stars $200 PLO when 1 outed (sadly 4th was bubble)

6. Win the $4k Guarantee PLO once this year.

Done, sadly have 2 seconds with 3+ 90% opportunities for 1st since Lucko prop bet.

7. Don't go bust on any site!

Failed, luckily I have enablers that help me swap from site to site as I avoided going busto on all sites at same time

8. Don't piss off any bloggers with my posts or comments. Plays at tables to tilt are part of big picture.

NFW I ever achieve this, it is foolishness to suggest.

Biggest shocker is apparently I gave up on goal of bluffing LJ, I guess I took the no playing with rule to heart and decided it was pointless. There were a couple of rule lapses but no successful bluffs, will have to consider adding no bluff rule for next year.

On positive side I had declared "2008 - The Four Card Year", I discovered that there are rankings on Bluff Magazine in spring and with 2 weeks to go in year I am hanging on to the 10th ranking. Sadly my PLO tourney play was only marginally profitable as the sats to FTOPS PLO do not count but the not cashing in FTOPS PLO does count.

3+ Hours of life gone

I played a 10k person SNG, I can't help but think I wasted valuable monitor space.

PokerStars Tournament #130145060, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $1.00/$0.10
10000 players
$10000.00 added to the prize pool by PokerStars
Total Prize Pool: $20000.00
Tournament started 2008/12/28 18:57:15 ET
Dear bayne_s,
You finished the tournament in 445th place.
A $8.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

I also outlased 33k+ other donkeys in the Star's "World Record" $500k. Key to run was not picking up KK until late. I was down to 5 BBs and A rag had to jam from button. Rude part was when 23o called off last 6 BBs with 23o and turned 2nd pair to knock me out.

Chat from $125k

Robinson47: lucksacklucksakclucksack
Robinson47: lets sit around for hurs
Robinson47: hours
Robinson47: wait for a race
Robinson47: and cross our fingers
Robinson47: the evenetual winner is the flip master

I think waffles is multiaccounting!

Merry Christmas

Teenage daughter woke us up at a reasonable 8:15 to open presents. There were no ugly incidents this year. The gift I chose for daughter was ipod docking station speakers. Kid's reaction was "I'll keep in closet because I have a CD player." Learned despite kid ripping all her CDs into itunes she only has 2 CDs loaded into ipod.

Wife 'liked" her gift "but chain of necklace was too short" being male should I know more than choker or necklace?

Now we move to 2nd phase of Christmas celebration which is phone calls to east coast relatives. The 3 of us are approaching 10th anniversary of move to California. Kid is truly a Californian now so don't think we could move for another 5 years without repercussions.

Stage 3 is watching Hoops, eating and eggnog.

A PC Happy Holidays to those not celebrating Christmas.

Personal Choices

While completing 1st trip of moving luggage to car as we checked out of Harvey's Lake Tahoe this weekend I saw a woman in sweats get off elevator and I thought she had swimsuit straps showing. I got back to room and snapped picture of her swimming. Pool deck still has snow accumulations because it was 26 degrees out. Desk clerk told me at check out that they heat the water to 85 degrees. I have got to think that it is an invigorating sprint to get out of pool, get to towel and get inside. There is also a hot tub in picture heated to 105, I love a good soak expecially after skiing (when I did ski) but that did not seem inviting either.

I chose to quit playing poker on AbsolutePoker in late 2006 because they rarely had a good Omaha table. I told UltimateBet they had to give me rakeback or I would take my business elsewhere about the same timeframe. I set a deadline and transferred all my AP money to UB and got busted by DaveBreal playing $2/$4 PLO8 as I decided that I was going to cash out for $1000+ or nothing. He hit one of his 4 scoop outs to bust me, but it was top set + nut or 2nd low vs. nut low + wheel wrap + flush draw.

I subsequently have played on sites when they have given me $10 or $25 to come back but doubt I will make a deposit again. It is my choice and really FullTilt has been best site for me anyway.

Chad and Hoy and others (no link for you as I will not be outing you to the moral outrage of others) have decided they like UBs tourney structure enough that it outweighs the risk that UB will cheat them out of bankrolls. Poker is a game of risk/reward, they are adults and able to form their own decision.

Mondogarage has a post up outlining an opposing view. I know that going to WMD/Iraq/Saddam references is reflexive for the nanny state liberals. "Bush is evil" is 2000s version of 1950s comparisons to Hitler. It is intellectually lazy and I find it particularly annoying when used in Chad attack. Lightning had an awesome comment using Animal House reference in his response to Mondo.

The final paragraph:

"But if you're okay playing on a site known to cheat, then you may be equally okay with playing in a tournament while girly chatting with someone else at your table during the tournament? Then you might just be okay with "just this once" IMing about a hand while its in progress? It's a slippery slope, is all I'm saying."

Is quite a leap. If you have ever met Chad or Hoy or spent any time with them I doubt you would think they are capable of cheating. However it is reasonable to think of them as arrogant assholes.

Biggest Bodog cash ever

Thanks Chad!

Tahoe this weekend for me. Have a good one.

My week in the $4k

Monday - flop 3 p + flush draw, bet pot, 3rd flush draw repots, AA82 initial raiser calls turn Ace, I river losing boat.

Tuesday - flop set of Aces, bet 1/2 pot, bottom set repots, I jam for a tiny bit more getting 9:1 on call bottom set rivers quads.

Wednesday - flop middle set against top and bottom pair, it is not the preflop raiser that CR A high flop. I jam he hits river Ace.

2 outs, 1 out, 2 out week so far and I ask waffles for his take:

sirfwalgman: poker is dumb
sirfwalgman: lol
Bayne: can I quote that
sirfwalgman: yeah
sirfwalgman: say "Only idiots like Prison Guard waterboard wannabees define themselves by poker"

Late edit:
Ironically right after I hit publish I eliminated Mookie from the Mookie with a river 2 outer and taunted him before I made pre-flop call with AQ (vs AA).

Work Lunch Question

No Poker Content:

We had a going away lunch for one of the co-workers today. Company is small so each time someone leaves it is sad because very noticable.

We ended up with two tables of 16 and two separate checks (with gratuity already added for parties of 6+)

Table I was seated at had one woman but she was the guest of honor. Our check was $357 and change so "table captain" collected $24 from everyone but guest of honor.

Other table was comprised of 10 women and 6 men, woman who made reservations was handed the check and they passed check around table and each put in what they thought was fair portion.

I did politely wait until after I left restaurant to laugh at the squabbling over who had not put in fair share and left them short.

What is driver behind choice to split evenly vs. paying proportionally?

Today I had diet coke rather than beer and was not influenced to not split.

Winter WPBT Report

Friday I arrived at MGM later than planned.

In a wafflesque move the only Southwest flight departing San Jose with a delay was mine and it was 2+ hours late.

The MGM Sports bar had a deal going where you could buy a $9 Beer in a 32 (or 44) oz glass and get $5 refills all night. I definitely extracted value from that and got sloshed.

Apologies to Blogger Mixed game for my horrible poker faux paus of commenting on a hand in progress I was not involved with:

Blinders raised 3rd street with an Ace up and led out again when he also got an Ace on 4th, "At which point STANDING next to table I blurted out "You know he's got a set to lead out", I then slunk away from table in shame, I did sneak back to table to see that PirateLawyer had called him down with a set of 7s and was somewhat relieved that my comment had helped Blinder's reinforce image and PL either made good read or was being calling station and had not let my comment influence him either. As penance I drank more.

I talked to JoeSpeaker for the 1st time, goal was to apologise to him for going off on him in chatbox a couple of years ago during WPBT PLO. It ended up costing me $2 as the bad beat that prompted my blowup was mentioned and the cagey Rooster was quick to insist on $1, I also had to pay Mr Speaker off so lesson learned.

Rest of evening is a drunken blur other than a brutal craps session with Vinnay and then staggering back to Bally's via Planet Hollywood and taking losses on 2 more craps tables.

Kudos to Falstaff and the Venetian for a fine tournament. Saw some old nemesis and made a new nemesis.

Chad once asked in chat "Do you ever win a pot where you haven't coolered someone?"

Joshua found out the answer the hard way when he dared raise my BB with AKo and I was holding crabs. The A K 3 flop sealed his fate when he indignantly shoved on my check raise and saw he was the one drawing to 4 outs that did not come.

I busted Carmen's mom when her top pair on flop was no good against my AA to become big stack at table.

It was short lived as BigMike won a flip aginst my QQ so I was back to starting stack when I was moved next to Carmen and opposite the old nemesis. It was mostly frustrating table as I was card dead and not getting a lot of 1st raise opportunity Pender to my right was raising a lot in front of me and was willing to flip for pots if reraised with hands better than I was being dealt but a wide range. Still hovering near starting stack and blinds in 300/600 range I told Columbo I was going to have to raise his BB since I could always out flop him and looking at my cards was a waste of time. I had quickly peeked at AKdd and raised and Columbo asked SB if he looked. It folded to Columbo and after much delay and me asking "would it help to know if I looked?" Columbo asked how much I had behind before raising to 4k. I quickly jammed to 9500 and Columbo tanked again before folding. I showed my AK which gave me the advantage in what MiamiDon had billed as the "Battle of the Cockroaches" and could claim that victory when Columbo exited 1st.

I managed to lay an AJ (sooted) outflopping AK beat on Change for a well earned ceramic donkey. I am hoping I get to keep but daughter saw it this morning and made some comment about it being "too artsy" for me. I fear my trophy may disappear into daughter's room by the time I get home.

The poker tourney structure had an ugly twist when it suddenly went from 1k/2k 100 ante to 3k/6k 300 ante. I had a lot of 2 small hands which I folded until I was down to 2500 behind my 3k BB when Astin raised. I manged to crack his JJ with Q9 and built up to around 20k chips when Dawn Summers jammed UTG (for 3.5 BBs), the aggressive flip seeking Pender rejammed and I looking at JJ decided it was time to triple of go home. It was good spot as I was against 99 and AT but of course Ace came on flop and I did not improve while Dawn was shouting "Now Hold"

Sunday was spent watching Bucs lose a close game with Falcons, watching Dawn absolutely pwn CK in football knowledge quiz, taunting Recess and Buddy during Ravens Steelers game and getting further crushed at the craps tables.

Ran so out of gas on trip report

Quick post

Saw clip above on Rachel Maddow Show.
Now that we are past election ban on watching Countdown, Maddow or Fox News has been lifted in Bayne household. I like that dude included last prediction.

Got home a tiny bit too late to play Bodog thanks to software update. Thanks Bodog for timing of that one.

Flight to Las Vegas takes off in 3 hours.

Prop Bet Progress

Smokkee increased his Bodonkey lead on waffles leaving world's worst poker player in a position where he might say it is Mookie or nothing for prop bet. I managed to cash and was chip leader when bubble broke (as well as a large portion of tournament). I managed to river a set early against oossuuu and flop a set against (non con artist) donkette to chip up early. Sadly I "Smokkeed" blowing off most of my chips with A-rag and the rest with a small pp.

Software and Poker

As an Omatard I have not seen a need to use poker software. Knowing if someone only raises AAxx or KKxx hands and who is willing to go broke flopping bottom set or go to felt with non-nut flush is enough information to make PLO quite lucrative.

I have decided to make a foray into NLHE cash again because to play PLO cash anymore requires me to play sporadically full ring or 6 Max which is much higher variance. Reading hand histories from the spiritpot crew, recess, bone and gnome are constantly starting with lines like "villain is a donk, 40/11 over 55 hands" or villain is Tag, 15/10".

I have received recomendations weighing merits of Poker Track 3 vs. Hold'em manager, suggestions for hot key utilites and SNG signup utilities from Chad and a myriad of other functions such as hand history displays and bankroll managment software. http://www.pokersoftware.com/ is an affiliate site (that pokerXfactor's 'Fox' seems involved with) that offers reviews of many poker software titles categorised by type and if you sign up for a poker site through them you can get software 'free' through pokersoftware.com. I will apparently have to wait for a new room or try carbon poker out as I already have an account with every other site.

The Omaha Indicator looks intriguing to try as Omaha does not draw nearly the tool development as Hold'em but would like to see what it's odds calculator tells me as I play and the "You have the Nutz" indication may come in handy on occaison when wife/kid are providing distractions. Problem would be any software that alerts you that "YOU HAVE THE NUTS!" would violate the one player/hand standard and be cheating while Stars and Tilt have included TOS caveats that Hold'em Manager and PT3 data gathering from tables you occupy is not cheating.

StatikKling also seems to have written a poker application that Combines multiple Full Tilt Tourney files into a single file that looks interseting when loading tourney into PokerTracker or a hand replayer.

PokerSoftware.com also has reviews of various SNG/ICM trainers, boards to discuss poker software and many more categories for all of us to explore as we try to improve poker games.

They may even have something that can help the Worlds Worst Poker Player!

Latest Prop Bet

After seeing the deluded one's post I immediately saw an opening to goad the World's Worst Prop Bettor (WWPB) into a wager. If WWPB takes over top spot on the Mookie, Bodog, Skillz or NYRPS by the end of year.

My analysis of chances.
Bodog ZERO
Skillz ZERO
NYRPS ZERO (Game is PLO next week too bwahahaha)
Mookie 5% since LJ has assumed Mookie ownership.

From Nadia's email:

On Tuesday December 9th, there will be a T$109 bounty on the head of Iggy, The Blogfather of Poker, and on Thursday December 11th, there will also be a T$109 bounty on the head of Smokkee, the Bodog blogger tournament series host and the ONLY poker blogger to successfully seize his own bounty!Both T$109 bounties are to play in Bodog's $100,000 Guaranteed Poker Tournament that occurs each Sunday at 4pm. With one of the biggest overlays in the industry, the value of this tournament is literally unbeatable. Whatever your skill set as a poker player, it's a perfect chance to win a fat cash payout.Tournament news, recaps and details are available at the official tournament series site at bodogbloggertournament.comYou don't want to miss these tournaments! Download Bodog poker and register for this series today! May the luckiest poker bloggers take the T$109 bounties!
The Bodog Poker Blogger

4 Days to Vegas

I'm a Nissan 350Z!

You're not the fastest or the most agile, but you have style and power. You believe in looking good and moving quickly -- without breaking the bank.

"Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.
Fawking tech savvy Oh Captain.

NFL Note:

Colts, Saints and Packers are all that stand in the way of Lions and history.

Packers week 17 are only ones with nothing to play for but avoiding shame of providing only win.


I am sure the old ball coach will lift a beer to celebrate!

Freerolls are +EV

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This PokerStars tournament is a No Limit Texas Hold’em event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 239298

Bodonkey Recap

As I drove into work this morning I heard this song



during the Woody Show on Live105 as part of a "worst local band" segment. Song lyrics still cracked me up.

Similar talent was on display at the Bodonkey last night, I had two hands lose to rivered gutters, got dealt AA three times and only collected the blinds (once when Hoy gave me a walk in BB) and had an A rag lose to a desperate Hoy shove of KQs when river Ace gave Hoy flush. The UTG limp call with JTo was the most surprising aspect of how that hand played out.

Mookie is tonight and I should make it as I have completed anniversary preparations.
Been married 14 years 365 days now. I will have to check with east coast friends on where they set the over/under.