Bad RNG night

I hate when the RNG turns.

PokerStars Game #28440603174: Omaha Pot Limit ($1/$2) - 2009/05/21 2:03:57 ET
Table 'Philomela IV' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: Gekko22 ($36 in chips)
Seat 2: Raisor ($197 in chips)
Seat 3: vivir9 ($217.35 in chips)
Seat 4: bayne_s ($185.90 in chips)
Seat 6: agabi ($443.10 in chips)
Seat 7: the beast ($362.30 in chips)
Seat 9: AttyBubba ($509.25 in chips)
arpchi will be allowed to play after the button
agabi: posts small blind $1
the beast: posts big blind $2
fzoohtt: sits out
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bayne_s [Th As Ah Td]
AttyBubba: folds
Gekko22: folds
Raisor: folds
vivir9: raises $5 to $7
bayne_s: raises $13 to $20
agabi: folds
the beast: folds
vivir9: raises $43 to $63
bayne_s: raises $122.90 to $185.90 and is all-in
vivir9: calls $122.90
*** FLOP *** [4d 5d Qs]
*** TURN *** [4d 5d Qs] [Ks]
*** RIVER *** [4d 5d Qs Ks] [Kd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
vivir9: shows [Ad 9h 7d Ac] (a flush, Ace high)
bayne_s: mucks hand
vivir9 collected $371.80 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $374.80 Rake $3
Board [4d 5d Qs Ks Kd]
Seat 1: Gekko22 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Raisor folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: vivir9 showed [Ad 9h 7d Ac] and won ($371.80) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 4: bayne_s (button) mucked [Th As Ah Td]
Seat 6: agabi (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: the beast (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: AttyBubba folded before Flop (didn't bet)

I was doing okay in the Mookie until sellthekids started hitting A-rag like it owed him money.

Key of course to hitting Ace rag is to shove it or call it quickly because you really believe you are ahead. I have tried to adjust my game to believe but sadly I can not overcome the knowledge that face cards outrank napkins.

PLO 6 Max on stars

Congrats to LJ for TOC seat win in skillz!

I hate that on stars cards don't show in cash when all in until river is dealt!!

I have been transitioning my PLO game from full ring to 6 max and it boggles my mind how many people will commit their stacks with hands that would be good in hold 'em but I would have never commited stack with in PLO last year.

The double suited donks are everywhere too.

POKERSTARS GAME #28401767261: OMAHA POT LIMIT ($2/$4) - 2009/05/20 0:34:48 ET
Table 'Ellicott' 6-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: buzz ($234.75 in chips)
Seat 2: bayne_s ($194 in chips)
Seat 3: brooklyn pie ($387.60 in chips)
Seat 4: ryanbluf ($491.50 in chips)
Seat 5: andr3w321 ($559 in chips)
Seat 6: bigcoop23 ($629.60 in chips)
brooklyn pie: posts small blind $2
ryanbluf: posts big blind $4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bayne_s [Ah Jh 3d Kd]

I watched 1st 2 stinger Pwning PLO videos via trulyfreepokertraining.

andr3w321: folds
bigcoop23: raises $8 to $12
buzz: calls $12
bayne_s: calls $12
brooklyn pie: calls $10
ryanbluf: raises $60 to $72
bigcoop23: calls $60
buzz: calls $60
bayne_s: calls $60

crap $240 in the pot already don't want to call but with these odds

brooklyn pie: calls $60
*** FLOP *** [2s Qd 4d]
brooklyn pie: checks
ryanbluf: checks
bigcoop23: bets $357
buzz: folds
bayne_s: calls $122 and is all-in

I have note on bigcoop23 about non nut flushes and I have 11 outs against naked set

brooklyn pie: folds
ryanbluf: folds
Uncalled bet ($235) returned to bigcoop23
*** TURN *** [2s Qd 4d] [4h]
fawk
*** RIVER *** [2s Qd 4d 4h] [7h]
fawk
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bigcoop23: shows [6h Jd 5h 9d] (a pair of Fours)
bayne_s: shows [Ah Jh 3d Kd] (a pair of Fours - Ace kicker)
bayne_s collected $601 from pot

w00t

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $604 Rake $3
Board [2s Qd 4d 4h 7h]
Seat 1: buzz folded on the Flop
Seat 2: bayne_s (button) showed [Ah Jh 3d Kd] and won ($601) with a pair of Fours
Seat 3: brooklyn pie (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: ryanbluf (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 5: andr3w321 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: bigcoop23 showed [6h Jd 5h 9d] and lost with a pair of Fours

OMG table was tilted after this one

PLO mini-FTOPS

Full Tilt Poker Game #12258028408: MiniFTOPS Event #23 (84244559), Table 55 - 80/160 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 17:49:43 ET - 2009/05/16

Seat 1: Lee Watkinson (19,314)

Seat 2: mozgoved82 (12,660)

Seat 3: SF_rigged (6,350)

Seat 4: GoldRivr (25,648)

Seat 5: bayne_s (21,944)

Seat 6: Tailduster (455), is sitting out

Seat 7: Doctor_45_Chris (11,804)

Seat 8: dreamland517 (16,576)

Seat 9: rascalguy (4,995)

rascalguy posts the small blind of 80

Lee Watkinson posts the big blind of 160

The button is in seat #8

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to bayne_s [6s 5h 7s 4c]

mozgoved82 calls 160

SF_rigged folds

GoldRivr folds

bayne_s calls 160

Tailduster folds

Doctor_45_Chris calls 160

dreamland517 folds

rascalguy calls 80

Lee Watkinson checks

*** FLOP ***

[Ts 5c 4s]

rascalguy checks

Lee Watkinson has 15 seconds left to act

Lee Watkinson bets 800

mozgoved82 has 15 seconds left to act

mozgoved82 folds

bayne_s Has a decision to make

I could be ahead or Lee might have a wrap draw or Lee might have a TPTK + nut flush draw type hand. I have him covered and I like T-shirts.

Plus it is $10.

bayne_s raises to 1,600

Min raise is such a donkey move

Doctor_45_Chris folds

rascalguy folds

Lee Watkinson has 15 seconds left to act

Lee Watkinson raises to 5,600

I decide this means set so I will flip a coin for sport.

bayne_s raises to 17,600

Lee Watkinson raises to 19,154, and is all in

bayne_s calls 1,554

Lee Watkinson shows [3c Td Tc Qh]

bayne_s shows [6s 5h 7s 4c]

*** TURN ***

[Ts 5c 4s] [8s]

*** RIVER ***

[Ts 5c 4s 8s] [Kh]

Lee Watkinson shows three of a kind, Tens

bayne_s shows a flush, Ten high

bayne_s wins the pot (39,108) with a flush, Ten high

Lee Watkinson stands up

At bubble I busted with QJTT to big stack that had been punishing bubble.

I played hand slowly to scrape into cash

but his AQJ6 called my jam of 886 flop and of course rivered an Ace so I got a bottom cash.

RIP Dragon Slayer

Good Game demon child.

Each Survivor season daughter chooses her pick to root for leaving me to select one of the others. DC chose Taj and I quickly narrowed field to JT or coach. Despite my southern roots I felt compelled to pick Coach due to the huge potential to tilt daughter.

Most of the show I would whisper 'dragon slayer" just to trigger an outburst, I have never tilted anyone (yes I mean anyone!) at a poker table to the extent I tilted daughter. Wife was at a neighbor's during 1st scream and rushed home to see if we were under attack.

When Stephen betrayed the Dragon Slayer a 5 minute gloat followed.

It is just sad our game ended one episode sooner than it had to.

The Mechanics of a Seat Sale

1.) Agree to deal terms.
2.) Person taking money sits out.
3.) Person taking seat raises to steal blinds until person taking money is all in with either blind.
4.) Win seat or go to step 2

That is all.

Good Fences make Good Neighbors

Unfortunately apartments only have exterior fence and safety fence around the pool area.

We have neighbor who claims to have Arizona house, a beach house in Huntington beach and a manor in England. If true she is quite bitter about living in an apartment now or is just by her nature unpleasant.

Yesterday while I was playing PLO8 min FTOPs my wife was using common area office and computer when neighbor entered to use 2nd computer along with her young son. The boy decided to turn the fan off and my wife asked if he could turn it back on as she was a little warm.

I am sure she asked pleasantly but does occaisonally have a whiny tone in her voice. The bitter mom reacted and said "you don't own this place, we want fan off", "never speak to my son like that again you are beneath us" and "your daughter is a little monster take care of her before speaking to someone else's child" and really got in wife's space. Apartment assistant manager had overheard confrontation and did pull wife aside and made sure she was okay and asked her to write a letter of complaint and coached her on points to highlight to send to apartment manager. Wife was still trembling and very visibly upset when she got to apartment.

Important note:
Bayne <----- oblivious engineer who rarely notices emotions.

I did put down computer and grabbed my shoes to confront this woman but wife insisted I do nothing.

I soon tilted out of mini-FTOPS and went to common area since I knew my wife had headed back there to print letter. On my way I did pass a little boy and a short woman but having never met the woman did not say anything. When I got to common area assitant manager spotted me first and alerted wife I had arrived. Wife told me she had just left so I asked if it was that "troll of a woman in gray top". They confirmed identity, wife told me again she was okay and requested again I do nothing so I came back to apartment. Wfie was relieved when she returned to find me in apartment.

Wife was supposed to have a metting with the apartment manager's boss (manager is in Hawaii) to talk about incident. Boss man had also left message for troll, identified himself and left number but had not mentioned exact purpose of call. Troll got pissed that he had called her phone went to office and was yelling. What we heard 2nd hand was "I pay rent you work for me", "never call me again" and "learn your place".

My wife's meeting was deemed no longer required everything said in letter was credible.

Troll was already planning to move out in June, there will be a party for residents when it happens as she has pissed off many of the other neighbors as well.
I

Ship the Pop Bets

FullTilt has a ton of promotions going along with FTOPS and mini-FTOPS so far I have managed to qualify for 8 of the $1k pirze fund freerolls. 4 of which are the Roach skill tournies.

I managed to roach to level 10 in 5 tournies by event 11 so all those who placed this bet which must have been at 1:5 odds can party like it's 1999.

I finally booked my June WSOP trip.

I will be in Las Vegas June14-21, targeted event is $2500 PLO. I was not quite sure how I was going to convimce the wife that going to Las Vegas while unemployed was a good idea but the Venetian sent me an email offer that included 2 Phantom of Opera Tix and 4 free nights. Today Wynn was kind enough to send an offer for 3 nights + some free slot play.

Wife has wanted to stay in both of these properties instead of the Harrah's properties she usually sees.

I have a Wynn card but play was restricted to some a couple of hours of Video poker on a 99.9% return Jacks or Better machine to qualify for brunch buffet and made $75 on that.

Times must be bad in Las Vegas.

I heart mini FTOPS

Had this brief conversation at 3rd break (apologies for unauthorised quote):

me: I made another break
would be nice if I had chips
lj: shoooooooove

I had ~ 8 BBs

3 hours later I lost a blind vs. blind flip with 66 vs AK when we were both top 20 stacks.

Leen Machine took 4th for $11k, I exited 44th.

I had KK hold up 4 times in tourney including one spot where I had to fade 13 river outs and had 2 big blind v blind suckouts to make the money, thought it was my day. If my pp had been any bigger pp other than KK I would have won flip.

I do like getting to have almost the excitement of big FTOPS at 1/10 the dent in bankroll

A Dark Day

I was saddened to learn yesterday that Manny Ramirez is having difficulty ovulating and was forced to seek a medical solution. There is no chance I could write a better piece on the matter than Jayson Stark or Bill Simmons. Jayson captures the outrage I feel and Bill captures the pain.

W00t Jason Bay!

If you are Theo Epstein are you heading to Vegas for hookers and blow to celebrate today?

I stayed up way too late last night watching the cash game on Poker after Dark and an epic battle on a 6-Max PLO table (I lost $50 over span of 188 hands)

In this corner from Ireland KKfisher





and in this corner machingunian from the USA who may be most aggro PLO player I have ever seen.







Machingunian raised 41 of 90 hands, I chose to maintain my normal style and fold a lot and try to pick spots. Biggest leak for me in battle was failing to protect hands on turn but am not sure that machingunian was not feeling "god switch" and may have actually saved myself money. The couple of times I looked up what felt like a river bluff I ran into the nuts that were backdoor draws.

KKfisher tried to go toe to toe in the center of ring and it was just not pretty watching buy in after buyin disappear with me not collecting.

Happy CInco de Mayo

This was move I really liked as response. His rook can't move, I just have to make sure if he plays Qxc5 that I can find a way to move queen with check so I can capture queen.

Living in Northern Mexico (until US stole to get the gold) the Cinco de Mayo celebrations are big. I could trolley to downtown and join the celebration but Today Show just did a story where Margarita's have 900 calories. Not sure I want to spend 7 hours in gym to work off a buzz.

Besides skillz is PLO tonight.

Gratuitous Link Pimp

My former co-worker Sam has started his walkabout. He and his wife Lisa quit their jobs, rented out their house and have embarked on an around the world tour that will include driving around his homeland's (Australia) perimeter.

He has created a web site to dump pictures and chronicle the sights.

http://www.ourwalkabout.com/

Chivalry Not Well Received

Saw a story on the Today Show this morning about an 11 foot alligator taking up residence on a Tampa woman's front porch. Demon child was not amused when I said "ladies 1st" as we got to front door to go to school. Wife's reaction was "you wouldn't do that to my baby". DC was also not amused when I held garage door for her. Kid was smiling but was looking forward to me having to go home and "take my punishment like a man".

Last night I was looking at chess position below:





I thought I was looking for a way to pull out a draw because my expectation was that opponent has to play Rd5.

Happily I found a response that leads to victory.

Today's Chess Quiz question is what is move I found???

JacKing off at the tables

This one directly cost me the most money:

Full Tilt Poker Game #11946011003: $42 + $3 Sit & Go (Super Turbo) (89509555), Table 1 - 50/100 - No Limit Hold'em - 2:56:55 ET - 2009/04/30
Seat 1: justfloppin (1,035)
Seat 3: bayne_s (1,075)
Seat 7: Gitch Gear (590)
justfloppin posts the small blind of 50
bayne_s posts the big blind of 100
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bayne_s [Ks As]
Gitch Gear has 15 seconds left to act
Gitch Gear raises to 590, and is all in
justfloppin calls 540
bayne_s raises to 1,075, and is all in
justfloppin calls 445, and is all in
bayne_s shows [Ks As]
Gitch Gear shows [Ah Jd]
justfloppin shows [Jh Kd]
Uncalled bet of 40 returned to bayne_s
*** FLOP *** [8h 8d 2c]
*** TURN *** [8h 8d 2c] [2h]
*** RIVER *** [8h 8d 2c 2h] [Js]
bayne_s shows two pair, Eights and Twos
justfloppin shows two pair, Jacks and Eights
justfloppin wins the side pot (890) with two pair, Jacks and Eights
Gitch Gear shows two pair, Jacks and Eights
Gitch Gear wins the main pot (1,770) with two pair, Jacks and Eights
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,660 Main pot 1,770. Side pot 890. Rake 0
Board: [8h 8d 2c 2h Js]
Seat 1: justfloppin (small blind) showed [Jh Kd] and won (890) with two pair, Jacks and Eights
Seat 3: bayne_s (big blind) showed [Ks As] and lost with two pair, Eights and Twos
Seat 7: Gitch Gear showed [Ah Jd] and won (1,770) with two pair, Jacks and Eights

Fawking river 2 outer but whole hand was played in a standard manner for super turbo.

2nd one was just stupidity.

Full Tilt Poker Game #11944092918: The Mookie (88685086), Table 8 - 200/400 Ante 50 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:11:57 ET - 2009/04/30
Seat 2: coolfool2000 (3,977)
Seat 3: pvanharibo (8,492)
Seat 5: lightning36 (5,364)
Seat 6: TuscaloosaJohn (11,915)
Seat 7: bayne_s (6,618)
Seat 9: drome (22,875)
coolfool2000 antes 50
pvanharibo antes 50
lightning36 antes 50
TuscaloosaJohn antes 50
bayne_s antes 50
drome antes 50
bayne_s posts the small blind of 200
drome posts the big blind of 400
lightning36: dqb
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bayne_s [Ah Ks]
coolfool2000 folds
TuscaloosaJohn: gg
pvanharibo: wow, overkill much
wwonka69 (Observer): gg
TuscaloosaJohn: yes
Bone_Daddy84 (Observer): come on, that last 2 was just rude
pvanharibo has 15 seconds left to act
pvanharibo raises to 1,050
lightning36 folds
coolfool2000: wow nice
TuscaloosaJohn folds
bayne_s raises to 6,568, and is all in
drome folds
pvanharibo calls 5,518
bayne_s shows [Ah Ks]
pvanharibo shows [Kh Jh]
*** FLOP *** [6s Qh Jd]
*** TURN *** [6s Qh Jd] [Kd]
lightning36: Now I understand how to play a hand like that ...
*** RIVER *** [6s Qh Jd Kd] [6d]
bayne_s shows two pair, Kings and Sixes
pvanharibo shows two pair, Kings and Jacks
pvanharibo wins the pot (13,836) with two pair, Kings and Jacks
TuscaloosaJohn: gg, stupid call/beat
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 13,836 Rake 0
Board: [6s Qh Jd Kd 6d]
Seat 2: coolfool2000 folded before the Flop
Seat 3: pvanharibo showed [Kh Jh] and won (13,836) with two pair, Kings and Jacks
Seat 5: lightning36 folded before the Flop
Seat 6: TuscaloosaJohn (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: bayne_s (small blind) showed [Ah Ks] and lost with two pair, Kings and Sixes
Seat 9: drome (big blind) folded before the Flop

Later drome was the lucky winner of the "Chip up when LJ aggro-calls Sweepstakes".

Also congratulations to Al for taking down the Mookie!

Been Playing the Hammer

http://ogre22.mybrute.com/

I am relatively pleased with My Brute's performance but I wish he would pick up the hammer every fight (and hang onto it).

I was less pleased with my performance in Skillz.

I may have limited experience playing Stud8 and am left with constant feeling that I am so close to having a good Omaha 8/b hand, but there is no fucking reason for me to think I can run over pushmokey and get him to fold in any game. His pair of 6s were ahead on 3rd and 6s up were ahead on 4th. I thought I had folded enough door Aces to achieve split As credibility. Lucko believed (or bricked), thinking push would fold is a major leak.

Running Like Crap

Got stacked 3 times in PLO cash yesterday:

Top set + straight on rainbow flop, lost to top 2 pair and side pot to straight, when both went runner runner flush.

Top set lost to top 2 pair + gutshots twice where both times 2 of a suit were on flop.

I also lost numerous 70/30s.

Ran only child bad in the Brit blogger game when I ran TT into AK and AA and failed to fold TT against a better hand and also failed to suck out.

Seat 1: Joanne1111 (4,955)
Seat 2: muhctim (3,320)
Seat 3: cloud71 (4,115)
Seat 4: lightning36 (3,445)
Seat 5: Julkeus (3,550)
Seat 6: bayne_s (9,900)
Seat 7: columbo (4,345)
Seat 8: Astin (20,950)
Seat 9: pushmonkey72 (8,420)
everyone antes 50
muhctim posts the small blind of 200
cloud71 posts the big blind of 400
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bayne_s [Tc Td]
lightning36 folds
Julkeus folds
bayne_s raises to 1,100
columbo folds
Astin folds
pushmonkey72 folds
Joanne1111 raises to 4,905, and is all in
muhctim calls 3,070, and is all in
cloud71 folds
bayne_s has 15 seconds left to act

This was my dilemma:
I am absolutely convinced Joanne has AK or AQ, muhctim I am sure is JJ+ or AK (later play convinces me I gave too much credit) which means I am calling less than 1970 to win 8k as probably 4.5:1 dog but calling another 1635 as 55% fav

bayne_s calls 3,805
Joanne1111 shows [As Kc]
muhctim shows [Ah Ad]
bayne_s shows [Tc Td]

turns out I am 65% for side pot and 19% for main. Mathematically expected value of call is !4100 chips so in cash I have to call. If I win I have chip stack that is Astin sized but from chip utility standpoint fold probably better.

*** FLOP *** [9c Kd 2h]
*** TURN *** [9c Kd 2h] [4s]
*** RIVER *** [9c Kd 2h 4s] [9h]
Joanne1111 shows two pair, Kings and Nines
bayne_s shows two pair, Tens and Nines
Joanne1111 wins the side pot (3,270) with two pair, Kings and Nines
muhctim shows two pair, Aces and Nines
muhctim wins the main pot (10,660) with two pair, Aces and Nines
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 13,930 Main pot 10,660. Side pot 3,270. Rake 0
Board: [9c Kd 2h 4s 9h]
Seat 1: Joanne1111 (button) showed [As Kc] and won (3,270) with two pair, Kings and Nines
Seat 2: muhctim (small blind) showed [Ah Ad] and won (10,660) with two pair, Aces and Nines
Seat 3: cloud71 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: lightning36 folded before the Flop
Seat 5: Julkeus folded before the Flop
Seat 6: bayne_s showed [Tc Td] and lost with two pair, Tens and Nines
Seat 7: columbo folded before the Flop
Seat 8: Astin folded before the Flop
Seat 9: pushmonkey72 folded before the Flop

Worst part about hands like this is I get distracted subsequent hands wondering was math correct?? Was it right chip utility decision??

Riverchasers is next.

Injustice at the Mookie

At the Mookie this week 83 runners sat down and played down to 8. Since there was no October 8 promotion preparing everyone for this scenario the BCS decided Pauly was the winner.

Pauly was kind enough to provide me the data I was curious about:
When a tournament is cancelled after it reaches the money, according to tournament rule 31.3:

* All remaining players will have their tournament fee of $1.00 refunded and be awarded with the next guaranteed payout of the tournament, $33.20.

* The remaining prize pool will be divided and distributed according to chip count - (Remaining Prize Pool)*(Your Chip Count)/(Total Chips in Play) = Your Share of Remaining Prize Pool.

In your case, this means $551.95*104891/249000=$232.40
Tournament Fee Refunded: $1.00+ Next Guaranteed Payout: $33.20+ Your Share of Remaining Prize Pool: $232.40
Total Amount Credited to Your Account: $266.60

I looked at Tilt's tourney payout page and saw that for 83 runners 1st should get 32%.

.32*83*$10 = $265.60

So WTF is it right that Pauly gets more than 1st Place Money?????????

As someone who has rightfully earned a reputation as a roach, and had strangers call me a roach, I think it is unfortunate to be denied a chance to win a tournament on felt (real or virtual) while you still have chips. But don't think there is a better way to award TOC seat.

Now everyone go give Hoy a hug so he'll feel better.

A cameo blog post

My exercise program took a hit last week when I wore a pair of socks that were a little big and managed to get massive blisters on both heels. I tried to drain, bandage and wear 2 pairs of socks but result on Wednesday was a blister within a blister on left heel. Since Wednesday I have only worn shoes the 4 hours I was at a job interview.

Yesterday I got ITM in the $4k KO PLO only to exit with top set against bottom set on flop due to runner runner straight. Hold and I am top 4 stack instead net $1.22. Since I have been running bad at poker I opted to apply what I have learned about Mafia Wars to start a new id and use an optimised strategy







The Don above was created during skillz last week. I bragged to waffles that I had certainly found an exploit.

To quote Waffles:
"due you need to get a job"
"dude"
"lol"

Some Graphs

I am playing less poker during my work hiatus but still trying to get 200 points a day on fulltilt to make IronMan and collect 900 medals at end of month.

Yesterday was one of my better days:

I would still like to get the 1st and 2nd numbers up and hate having 3rd be the biggest number, but getting only 2 bubbles was good vs. 10 cashes.

Skillz saw me get off to a good start but eventually bleed down until I ran into Kat's nut/nut hand. I was 2nd nut low, top 2 pair heads up.

I did run good vs. the wife:

I did squats and legs Monday before I bought the bug so next day work outs are always light since I need to heal (or am in pain).

Wife is pissed because she did her normal workout routine and thought she was burning off more calories than bugg showed. She is out of house early and probably walking at faster pace than yesterday.

Riverchasers/PPI summary

Missed flop with little pp.

Missed flop with little pp.

Missed flop with AK.

Missed flop with AK.

Finally hit a flop with AK, but get rivered when Rakefeeder's QQ rivers a Queen. (We were all in pre-flop and Rake has to go to Iraq so I think I am still running better).

--------- End of Poker Content ------------

Wife has been asking for a bodybugg to monitor her workouts. Apartment gym is nice and convenient but it is lacking when I want to work out the legs or use a bench press.

I traveled 200 yards past Bay 100 to go to 24 Hour Fitness. It is nicer gym than the converted ancient warehouse I used to visit in Petaluma but sadly this one is a "Super Sport" so they want more money. May happen but there are a couple of other locations nearby that should let me use my cheap old membership. But they did have Bodybugg on sale so I bought a couple since I am a techno-geek.

Wife was not home when I returned so I proceeded to load the bugg software on computer and set it up, she managed to return just as I was popping it back in the band to put on my arm.

Conversation that ensued:

Wife: "What is that?"
Bayne: "My Bodybugg"
Wife: "you knew I wanted one and got one for yourself" lots of ranting
Bayne: Tries to interupt futilely
Wife: two more minutes of rant
Bayne: Tries to interupt futilely
Wife: another minute of rant then thankfully she needs to catch breath
Bayne: "Yours is on couch in bag"

Hopefully later we will both be strapped up and be able to tell who puts more effort into nooky.

Another typical Day on Full Tilt

Played cheap PLO early, trying to use real bankroll managment.

FullTiltPoker Game #11521979316: Table Chartered - $0.25/$0.50 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 13:41:11 ET - 2009/04/05
Seat 1: matterhorn1 ($50)
Seat 2: JOEYPIPES ($12)
Seat 3: Parantainen ($75.60)
Seat 4: bayne_s ($69.95)
Seat 5: mannondale ($33.70)
Seat 6: KEYONE7 ($13.35)
Seat 7: luckyman71 ($20.65)
Seat 8: Aitvarai ($50)
Seat 9: Mr Thomas Hill ($17.65)
Mr Thomas Hill posts the small blind of $0.25
matterhorn1 posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bayne_s [Ah 9d 8h 7s]
JOEYPIPES calls $0.50
Parantainen raises to $2.25
bayne_s calls $2.25
mannondale folds
KEYONE7 calls $2.25
luckyman71 folds
Aitvarai calls $2.25
Mr Thomas Hill folds
matterhorn1 adds $0.50
matterhorn1 folds
JOEYPIPES calls $1.75
*** FLOP *** [4d 7d 9s]
JOEYPIPES checks
Parantainen checks
bayne_s checks
KEYONE7 bets $6
Aitvarai calls $6
JOEYPIPES has 15 seconds left to act
JOEYPIPES folds
Parantainen folds
bayne_s calls $6

I choose to call looking for non diamond turn

*** TURN *** [4d 7d 9s] [7h]
bayne_s checks
KEYONE7 checks
Parantainen stands up
Aitvarai bets $15
EJDUS15 adds $20
bayne_s raises to $45
KEYONE7 folds
Aitvarai calls $26.75, and is all in
bayne_s shows [Ah 9d 8h 7s]
Aitvarai shows [7c Ad Qc 6d]
Uncalled bet of $3.25 returned to bayne_s
*** RIVER *** [4d 7d 9s 7h] [Qh]

Fawk, 220 BB pot lost on river 3 outer

bayne_s shows a full house, Sevens full of Nines
Aitvarai shows a full house, Sevens full of Queens
Aitvarai wins the pot ($110.50) with a full house, Sevens full of Queens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $113.50 Rake $3
Board: [4d 7d 9s 7h Qh]
Seat 1: matterhorn1 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: JOEYPIPES folded on the Flop
Seat 3: Parantainen folded on the Flop
Seat 4: bayne_s showed [Ah 9d 8h 7s] and lost with a full house, Sevens full of Nines
Seat 5: mannondale didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: KEYONE7 folded on the Turn
Seat 7: luckyman71 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: Aitvarai (button) showed [7c Ad Qc 6d] and won ($110.50) with a full house, Sevens full of Queens
Seat 9: Mr Thomas Hill (small blind) folded before the Flop

Was not going to play Goat's tourney, push monkeys + donktards + donkey beats have been happening for 2 weeks in NL HE.

Full Tilt p0ker Game #11530312771: Bad Bankroll Management Trny (82348312),
Table 1 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:33:13 ET - 2009/04/05
Seat 1: jeciimd (5,690)
Seat 3: Shabazz Jenkins (5,040)
Seat 4: PirateLawyer (5,220)
Seat 5: BuddyDank (6,590)
Seat 7: Julius_Goat (1,995)
Seat 8: twoblackaces (4,685)
Seat 9: bayne_s (5,780)
jeciimd posts the small blind of 30
Shabazz Jenkins posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bayne_s [4c 4h]
PirateLawyer raises to 160
BuddyDank folds
Julius_Goat folds
twoblackaces calls 160
bayne_s calls 160

of course I call it's possible I have overpair

jeciimd folds
Shabazz Jenkins folds
*** FLOP ***
[Ts 6s 4d]
PirateLawyer bets 240
twoblackaces folds
bayne_s raises to 680

there are 2 spades on flop and even though it is early in a superstack am pretty confident that if Pirate Donktard has pair he's not going anywhere

PirateLawyer has 15 seconds left to act

w00t I know when timer starts he has top pair or an overpair, please don't be internet delay
PirateLawyer raises to 1,620

the fish are biting

bayne_s raises to 5,430
PirateLawyer calls 3,440, and is all in
bayne_s shows [4c 4h]
PirateLawyer shows [6d Td]

I have to admit at this point I am shocked that Pirate Donktard raises suited 3 gappers under the gun. I mean wtf you can't ever flop not straight?

Uncalled bet of 370 returned to bayne_s
*** TURN ***
[Ts 6s 4d] [6h]

Fawk, what a fawking joke the RNG has provided one of 4 cards rewarding two donkey plays in the same hand!

*** RIVER ***
[Ts 6s 4d 6h] [Jc]
bayne_s shows a full house, Fours full of Sixes
PirateLawyer shows a full house, Sixes full of Tens
PirateLawyer wins the pot (10,690) with a full house, Sixes full of Tens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 10,690 Rake 0Board: [Ts 6s 4d 6h Jc]

Later jec fell victim to similar donktardedness when 95s called a re-raise pre and was rewarded with 99 flop to crack AA.

Thanks for staking LJ, I warned you that I have been taking the worst beats from donktards playing like complete idiots and being rewarded.

Maybe next time.

:)

Late Pimp

Julius Goat as always is your host.

If you want to back me transfer $55 to bayne_s prior to start, since I am running so bad on fulltilt lately I will offer 60% plus makeup.

How do the pros handle this??

4 weeks ago when I finished 3rd in Turbo Fiddy I cashed out 1/3 of prize.

This is an automated message sent from Full Tilt Poker.
Your Player ID: bayne_s
Date and Time: 2009-03-07 17:11:54
Transfer Number: 02F96DCE
Payment Method: Check
Amount: $750.00
Status: APPROVED
Your withdrawal has been approved.
Funds transferred by ewallet should be available in your account
immediately. Bank transfer withdrawals may take up to 10 - 15
business days to be credited to your bank account.
Delivery times for withdrawals by check vary depending on delivery
method and destination. Checks sent to the Continental US should
arrive within 15 business days via regular mail. International
delivery times will vary.
Thank you for playing at Full Tilt Poker

I still haven't gotten the check. I emailed cashier @ and support@ and as usual with FullTiltPoker "support" have gotten no response. If I was dependent on timely check delivery to pay expenses I would just be screwed.

Nothing else close to poker related to follow:

Went to Open House at Santa Clara High School Thursday night. My baby starts high school in fall. Daughter has a choice of bus stops in morning the close one at 6:30 or the far one at 7:15. The two stops are 2 miles apart and daughter is already trying to set expectation that I will give her ride to later (and more distant bus stop).

In afternoon she has no choice and gets to walk the mile and 3/4s home crossing 10 lanes of Montague Expressway with one of the quickest walk lane/width ratios in world.











High School does have it's own swimming pool and a tradition of good swimming, water polo and synchronized swimming teams.

When I got home I had to open up baby picture album again.

The Plan

When I first moved to California the goals were:

1) Make enough money at a start-up to provide a cushion for lulls in employment.
2) Have wife get a job to provide benefits.
3) Transition to working as a contract engineer (or temporary employee).

Four years ago I went through another company shutdown, had a mortgage but got 8 weeks severance and took the 1st job I was offered. I had played basketball and fantasy football with new boss, 50 of my co-workers were also going to Tellabs, my commute was only going to increase by a mile, it really was a no-brainer to take job because there were really only 3 companies hiring in Petaluma at time.

Working at Tellabs was very frustrating and I did not last a year. I liked all my bosses on a personal level. Tellabs had only recently acquired AFC so there were a lot of integration pains. At this point less than 10 of the 50 remain so it was not just me that could not cope.

The Sam Adams commercial says it all: "Enjoy what you are doing and you'll never work another day in your life".

Shockingly during my 1st month of unemployment my online poker play decreased. I remembered an old post (maybe 2 blog's ago) where Chad talked about playing poker all day had gotten him fat and out of shape. Would hate for that to happen to me.

It is a sad statement of American fitness that I am not obese enough to compete on The Biggest Loser but have decided to follow their lead and focus on getting fit during this period of unemployment. Right now given a choice I would rather lose 50 pounds by June than find a job.

Yesterday rather than going to apartment gym I went to 24 Hour fitness where there are leg press machines and squat racks. Yesterday legs were too hot for long pants and there is still a nice burn today. But it feels good.

Now I will head out for my walk and spend time contemplating what kind of job I really want next. Lot of parameters to work through with regards to company size/age, full-time or contractor, or even design vs. applications engineering.

All I am sure of in job search is I would not turn down Google.

Question of the Day?

Why would someone title their blog: How to Fold KK when they can't fold A-rag?

Full Tilt Poker Game #11337656066: The Mookie (84313722), Table 9 - 500/1000 Ante 125 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:48:53 ET - 2009/03/26
Seat 1: corron10 (5,479)
Seat 2: Shabazz Jenkins (17,277)
Seat 3: jamyhawk (43,741)
Seat 4: Breeze81 (18,773)
Seat 5: Troublecat (15,105)
Seat 7: BuddyDank (24,760)
Seat 8: bayne_s (8,812)
Seat 9: pvanharibo (8,528)
corron10 antes 125
Shabazz Jenkins antes 125
jamyhawk antes 125
Breeze81 antes 125
Troublecat antes 125
BuddyDank antes 125
bayne_s antes 125
pvanharibo antes 125
Shabazz Jenkins posts the small blind of 500
jamyhawk posts the big blind of 1,000
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bayne_s [Js Jh]
Breeze81 folds
Troublecat folds
BuddyDank folds
bayne_s raises to 8,687, and is all in
pvanharibo folds
corron10 folds
Shabazz Jenkins folds
jamyhawk calls 7,687
bayne_s shows [Js Jh]
jamyhawk shows [Ah Jd]
*** FLOP *** [2c As 3d]
*** TURN *** [2c As 3d] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [2c As 3d 6s] [Kh]
bayne_s shows a pair of Jacks
jamyhawk shows a pair of Aces
jamyhawk wins the pot (18,874) with a pair of Aces
bayne_s stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 18,874 Rake 0
Board: [2c As 3d 6s Kh]
Seat 1: corron10 (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Shabazz Jenkins (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: jamyhawk (big blind) showed [Ah Jd] and won (18,874) with a pair of Aces
Seat 4: Breeze81 folded before the Flop
Seat 5: Troublecat folded before the Flop
Seat 7: BuddyDank folded before the Flop
Seat 8: bayne_s showed [Js Jh] and lost with a pair of Jacks
Seat 9: pvanharibo folded before the Flop

Admittedly I was short of chips on this one but before table closed I saw Jamy call a BuddyDank reraise with A5 and have his play rewarded with a 55 flop to crack Buddy's AA. WTF do you think Buddy's re-raise range is?

At least I saw poker kharma at work when jamyhawk overplayed AJo into AQo and fail to luck out at Final Table. Congrats on 4th.

Brit Blogger Retardness

Last weekend I played Brit Blogger Game Heads Up, lost and chatted with Pvan later and she shared her bad beat from Brit Blogger Game. I was not HU with Pvan.

Her solution to prevent this was to search on where she was registered.

Thanks Pvan.

Real question for Al is Why the Fuck are there two tournaments with the same name running at the same fucking time?

Special Olympics

“Let me win but if I can not win let me be brave in the attempt,” is the motto of the Special Olympics.

Since Hoy issued the challenge I thought I would answer it in my own way.

129 is a pretty bad bowling score but would we rather have a leader that admits to being bad at something trivial or a leader that shoots 38 under par in his 1st round of golf?

Special Olympics comment was a candid reflexive commentary on how nice the crowd was for cheering his 129. If he chose he could point out how it was in line with the motto for the bravery of the attempt and talking about it in public.

Goverment has clearly taken position that if Americans are no longer willing to go into debt to finance economy we will do it for them and make future generations of Americans pay off debt. Carter tried to convince Americans that sacrifices had to be made for greater good, but he only served one term and no one else running for office has dared to repeat message since.

Temporary Unpaid Leave Ends

I was running well in Mookie, had built up a decent stack. Stupid gmail popped up:

Team,

Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in getting (Public Company #1) or (Public Company #2) to move forward with a bid.

I would like to invite everyone to (my start-up) for one last meeting at 10am pdt Thurs. I know this is last minute, but I hope you can all attend. I have some important information about potential employers, so I would like a chance to share that with you. We will set up the conference bridge -- please use the ID: xxxxxxxx.

As much as I hate to ask this, I need to have you bring in your laptops, blackberries, and building access cards.

I'm sorry that I don't have better news. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

CEO

Result was not completely unexpected but it was a distraction. I let Smokkee's AQ run down my 99 on turn and game fell apart soon after.

Congrats Smokkee on win.

Reflections on Perspective

Economy doesn't seem that bad, prices are lower, there are bargains in stock market if you are sitting on cash. Things seem good .... until you are the one that is unemployed.

Poker is similar and I apparently committed faux paus.

Full Tilt Poker Game #11197593232: Blogger Skillz Game (80235196), Table 3 - 200/400 Ante 30 - Limit Stud Hi - 22:58:05 ET - 2009/03/17
Seat 1: CoolDog1029 (3,730)
Seat 2: BadgerDawg (9,125)
Seat 3: DaBag (1,342)
Seat 4: Bone_Daddy84 (6,575)
Seat 5: 125Will (5,723)
Seat 6: bayne_s (1,605)
Seat 7: cmitch (3,090)
Seat 8: Tony Barone (3,341)
CoolDog1029 antes 30
BadgerDawg antes 30
DaBag antes 30
Bone_Daddy84 antes 30
125Will antes 30
bayne_s antes 30
cmitch antes 30
Tony Barone antes 30
*** 3RD STREET ***
Dealt to CoolDog1029 [4c]
Dealt to BadgerDawg [Jc]
Dealt to DaBag [7c]
Dealt to Bone_Daddy84 [3s]
Dealt to 125Will [Qc]
Dealt to bayne_s [Kc Qh] [Kh]
Dealt to cmitch [5s]
Dealt to Tony Barone [9h]
Bone_Daddy84 is low with [3s]
Bone_Daddy84 brings in for 50
125Will folds
bayne_s completes it to 200
cmitch folds
Tony Barone calls 200
it's just funny that you knew you were way behind but hoped to get lucky
CoolDog1029 folds
BadgerDawg has 15 seconds left to act
BadgerDawg folds
DaBag folds
Bone_Daddy84 folds
*** 4TH STREET ***
Dealt to bayne_s [Kc Qh Kh] [8d]
Dealt to Tony Barone [9h] [6c]
bayne_s bets 200
Tony Barone calls 200
it's just funny that you knew you were way behind but hoped to get lucky
*** 5TH STREET ***
Dealt to bayne_s [Kc Qh Kh 8d] [6h]
Dealt to Tony Barone [9h 6c] [Th]
bayne_s bets 400
Tony Barone raises to 800
bayne_s calls 400
*** 6TH STREET ***
Dealt to bayne_s [Kc Qh Kh 8d 6h] [Qs]
Dealt to Tony Barone [9h 6c Th] [Ts]
Tony Barone bets 400
bayne_s calls 375, and is all in
Tony Barone shows [Tc 9s 9h 6c Th Ts]
bayne_s shows [Kc Qh Kh 8d 6h Qs]
Uncalled bet of 25 returned to Tony Barone
*** 7TH STREET ***
Dealt to bayne_s [Kc Qh Kh 8d 6h Qs] [Qd]
Dealt to Tony Barone [Tc 9s 9h 6c Th Ts] [Js]
Tony Barone shows [Tc 9s 9h 6c Th Ts Js] a full house, Tens full of Nines
bayne_s shows [Kc Qh Kh 8d 6h Qs Qd] a full house, Queens full of Kings
bayne_s wins the pot (3,440) with a full house, Queens full of Kings
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,440 Rake 0
Seat 1: CoolDog1029 folded on 3rd St.
Seat 2: BadgerDawg folded on 3rd St.
Seat 3: DaBag folded on 3rd St.
Seat 4: Bone_Daddy84 folded on 3rd St.
Seat 5: 125Will folded on 3rd St.
Seat 6: bayne_s showed [Kc Qh Kh 8d 6h Qs Qd] and won (3,440) with a full house, Queens full of Kings
Seat 7: cmitch folded on 3rd St.
Seat 8: Tony Barone showed [Tc 9s 9h 6c Th Ts Js] and lost with a full house, Tens full of Nines

from next hand

Bone_Daddy84: thats bayne, the stud roach
bayne_s: Mess with the bull get the horns

and then next hand

Tony Barone: it's just funny that you knew you were way behind but hoped to get lucky

Apparently once caught by a chaser it is considered rude not to immediately fold even when more than half stack is already committed.

My "sincere" apologies Tony.

Milestone Post

500th Post

Really the least significant of the milestones, especially when something like this or this would count as a post.

Today also marks 10 years in California.

For those considering move to California check out local tax laws. When I moved from Maryland I learned that California taxes income earned in the state, Maryland taxes income earned as resident. When I departed I left in middle of pay period and told accounting I did not need paycheck last day just process on normal period. By chance I gave them new California address before they processed as well. The no Maryland 8% with holding that last paycheck was a sweet bonus, especially on the 7 weeks accumulated vacation. Things may have changed or I may have done it wrong but I did file this way 9 years ago now.

Tomorrow marks 25 years since college Graduation.

I ran out of money so had to graduate after winter quarter. I always had so much fun spring quarter that I hung around extra quarter anyways, working selling beer for Braves and without tuition college is cheap.

Today Marks 2 weeks of "Unpaid Temporary Leave"

Market rally combined with real customer interest in product may mean it truly is temporary, CEO is still in talks to sell.

Enjoyed Championship week and am looking forward to NCAA tourney

Weight Tilt

Yesterday in PE they measured and weighed demon child. She came in at 5'5" and xxx* lbs.

She got home pissed off feeling this could not be correct and stormed into master bathroom and stripped down and weighed herself. This did not help because according to wife she came in at xxx* lbs on our scale too!

Last night while I played Skillz daughter and wife went to apartment gym. According to wife they turned on "The Biggest Loser" and daughter got into a zone where she pretended Jillian was yelling at her while she walked the treadmill. 70 minutes later and 330 calories burned they returned home.

They just left for another workout.

* Late edit: On way to school this morning I referred to daughter as my 3-D, fully interactive, xxx lb home entertainment center. She quickly educated me that I am NEVER to mention her weight again.

Day 4 as "Poker Pro"

Not going to lie, I was a little disappointed in 3rd.

Full Tilt Poker Game #11008195108: Turbo Fiddy (82700887), Table 18 - 10000/20000 Ante 2500 - No Limit Hold'em - 3:33:58 ET - 2009/03/07

Seat 3: bayne_s (258,604)

Seat 8: garreh (413,402)

Seat 9: smoofbettor (97,994)

bayne_s antes 2,500

garreh antes 2,500

smoofbettor antes 2,500

smoofbettor posts the small blind of 10,000

bayne_s posts the big blind of 20,000

The button is in seat #8

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to bayne_s [Jh Qh]

garreh folds

smoofbettor raises to 95,494, and is all in

bayne_s calls 75,494

smoofbettor shows [Ts 7s]

bayne_s shows [Jh Qh]

*** FLOP *** [Qc Jd Th]

w00t

*** TURN *** [Qc Jd Th] [Td]

I need an icebag for my nuts

*** RIVER *** [Qc Jd Th Td] [2d]

smoofbettor shows three of a kind, Tens

bayne_s shows two pair, Queens and Jacks

smoofbettor wins the pot (198,488) with three of a kind, Tens

*** SUMMARY ***

Total pot 198,488 Rake 0

Board: [Qc Jd Th Td 2d]

Seat 3: bayne_s (big blind) showed [Jh Qh] and lost with two pair, Queens and Jacks

Seat 8: garreh (button) folded before the Flop

Seat 9: smoofbettor (small blind) showed [Ts 7s] and won (198,488) with three of a kind, Tens

Skillz

I final tabled the Stud H/L Skills game. Got dealt a lot of hands like 69Q and have very little experience playing stud variants. tried to approach starting hands like O8 but always felt I was a card short of a good starting hand. I seemed to survive taking a stand at the right time for a few fortuitous doubles to roach to 5th.

In 1st day as "poker pro" had one other small tourney cash in Stars PLO8 turbo with a 27th (27 paid), I was 10th in chips going into my final hand but my AA25 was no good against slightly bigger stacks KK56. I <3 PokerStars.

Working at start-ups is a lot like playing tournament poker. You aren't going to cash at most of them, some of the beats are going to be bad but occaisonally you will run well and get a decent cash.

I have worked at 4 start-ups now, 3 of them created a product that worked and resulted in an IPO and 2 going under. The 4th company had a product that never quite worked but had good market timing and left me bankrolled to continue in start-up game.

Friend sent me a pointer to www.indeed.com, it scrapes jobs off of other job sites to one central location. Others in job search process should give a look and see what you think.

Temporary Unpaid Leave

Luckily I did not make a last longer bet with Hoy.

My permanent job at a temporary company has hit a bump, investors decided to not continue to finance as macro-economic factors look very bad for M&A activity. Unfortunately the wave of recent resignations also dropped company headcount below Warn Act provisions so I got notice in a Monday 5:30 meeting that unpaid leave is underway starting Tuesday (today).

I think I am most annoyed about them waiting to hold the meeting until late enough in day that I missed Riverchasers.

It also occurred to me today that summer before daughter was born I bought a life insurance policy. Price at time for a 15 year term policy was a lot cheaper than the 20 year term so I opted for 15. Original Insurance company was sold off long ago so current bill comes from AIG. Never really envisioned that I should have found a way to collect if company died within term rather than me.

On positive side as I was writing post my TT sucked out a chop against JJ in a STT when Jd fell on river for chopped board flush and A9 > TT on a T high straight.

Weekend Movie Review

Warning: May Contain Spoilers!

Friday Night I was tired when I got home from work, wife and (mainly) daughter wanted to go immediately to Cupertino to see "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience". Christy Lemire gave it 1.5 stars. I have explained to wife in the past that I fawking hate driving from Mountain View (workplace) to Cupertino during rush hour and they still thought I would somehow want to drive 7 miles back through traffic to get to Mountain View and then proceed to Cupertino. The re-education process was quick and profane.

Saturday we did drive to Cupertino for daughter's eyebrow waxing which took 15 minutes and I believe I could achieve same service with 1/2 inch wide roll of duct tape at much lower cost followed by movie viewing. Jonas Brothers is outside of AMC's normal pricing schedule and was $15/ticket. Daughter's review was that it was "awesome" but has not provided other details.

I chose to see Liam Neeson in "Taken" for $6. It was a story about a father's love for his daughter where he gave up his job to live near her and ex-wife and when she is kidnapped he tries to find her killing everyone involved in her abduction until she is rescued. It was a big gang involved and only Arnold in Commando may have had a higher body count in a child's rescue.

Afterwards I felt need to give daughter a hug.

She then hit me.

BBT4

So it begins.

Tournament: Blogger Big Game

When: March 1st

Game: Superstack NLHE

Buyin: $69+6 or token

Password: donkey

Tournament: Brit Blogger Game

When: Every Sunday at 16:00ET

Game: NLHEBuyin: $5+.50

Password: donkament

I will not be seeking backing like the deluded one. But have to think that if you go to www.baynesteele.com it will be clear to you who is closer to becoming a red letter pro.

I did not buy that domain nor am I sure who did but they have owned since I won a Main Event Seat in 2006.

Running Better

During Survivor Thursday night there was a commercial for the "Santa Cruz Boardwalk Clam Chowder Cook Off". Kid loves clam chowder (New England not Manhattan), wife grew up a couple miles off a beach so I alertly picked up on their interest and suggested we go. Soon after the strangest things started happening in the Super Turbos. I had KK hold up against A rag. I had pocket pairs hold up against smaller pocket pairs and I finally defeated ATo while holding AK. I even started winning flips against "Snuffie". I cashed my 1st 5 Thursday night with 3 1sts before losing with KK against ATo and TT, but finished Thursday with 7 cashes out of 9 and 5 1sts.

Friday and Monday I also saw a rainbow as I headed to work after dropping kid at school and end of rainbow did seem to land near work parking lot each time. Today I learned we are partnering to bid a contract with 2 different partners so I am hopeful about long term employment and maybe a little bit of a cashout.

Teenage daughter was even nice to me this morning. Not a bad Monday at all.

It's Cold and Damp and My Sinuses are killing me

We need the rain and Lake Tahoe area has gotten a much needed 6 feet of snow or so since Friday. But rain somehow feels colder here then I remember it being back east.

During Event #24 of FTOPS XXXVI I managed to cooler 2 people for bounties early I had 77, CO had 33 and button had AT on a TT3 flop. Button raiser made a smallish c-bet on flop and I called as did CO only to see a 7 peel off on turn. I checkraised my boat and saw a wonderful shove and call ahead and watched a blank turn vault me into top 10. The 4th flop I saw near the break I defended my big blind against an EP raiser and 2 callers with an 87 sooooooooooted and was rewarded with a T96 flop. EP QQ went to felt on flop and I claimed 3rd bounty and vaulted into 3rd. Chad popped up in chat to verify I was just coolering people to accumulate chips rather than had acquired real poker skills. AT some point in 2nd or 3rd hour I noticed that about every 3 minutes another red pro bounty was announced. How many red pros does FullTilt have at this point????

LJ commented on my ginormous 200 BB stack and I pointed out key to my game was I had not picked up KK yet. Within 10 minutes I got my 1st KK and called a jam from the aggrodonk to my right who was only player at table with even half my stack and had jammed such stellar hands as A8, 77 and QJs for his life previously. He of course had AA this time and I did not improve. 7 hands later I picked up QQ and was priced in against a shorty jam and of course he had AA as well returning me to average stack size. I played decent aggressive poker until with rising blinds and antes I tried a resteal holding ATs from BB and button's AQ held up to knock me out.

On the positive side it is payday. Having a permanent job at a temporary company means you can really only be sure of receiving one more check. This is 1st company I have worked for that pays on 15th and last day of month AND pays on Monday (or Tuesday if holiday) if pay period ends on Sunday. Had a couple day sweat this weekend wondering am I unemployed and will California still be issuing IOUs as unemployment benefits if I am unemployed.

I do find the "threat" of laying off workers if budget is not approved to be ludicrous when the Republican state senators who are holding up budget want state spending cut more, a cap and not to increase taxes.

Blogging Blahs

Macro Economics trumps Micro Economics.

Company I work for has a product that works but carriers can't/aren't spending money in short term that mean long term savings.

But I figure it is easier for CEO to interview for all of us (looking for merger/acquisition) than for me to get off my butt and look for another job.

For 1st time today we were delivered 3 gallon water bottles instead of the 5 gallon that we used to have. This may be last downsizing straw!

Nothing interesting is happening on poker front. In tournaments I can't get past that one hand that makes the difference between going deep and minor cash. Cash PLO play sees ebbs and flows but at end of day bankroll is same.

Now I have to figure out if I can save $1,194.63 for the next blogger weekend :)

Not much to say

I do love the Demotivators series of posters.

Bankroll Blow Up

Saturday I ran really bad in SuperTurbo's. I had 6 bubbles where I lost with either pp to one over or with a better Ace. Spiral continued into Sunday Morning to point that I put $30 of my remaining $32 on FullTilt into a last Super Turbo. I won and went on a tear including a 4th in PLO KO. OPR did not exactly capture run but bankroll is back to four figures. knock wood. I do like when upswing seems to start with FTOPS coming up.

Congrats to Steeler's on Super Bowl win. Bad beat for Cardinals that Steelers got touchdowns at end of both halve's that were marginal enough to trigger review.

More Housing (Poker at end)

Calculated Risk (one of my favorite financial blogs) has a post today commenting on Bay Area house pricing. Apparently Housing data for December was just released and the median price is down 50% from peak and that foreclosure sales accounted for half the housing resales.

When I look inside the data it is the two least desirable counties that have higher sales volumes and bigger median price drops which leads me to believe that it is the "starter homes" where people stretched finances and accepted commutes that was hardest hit.

Sales volume was 6889, which puts ~3500 of these homes as foreclosure sales and new median price is $330k. If half of drop in median is due to mix in sales and half is drop in value then State of California now gets $1300 less in property taxes then it did a year ago on 3500 homes for a quick $5M drop in tax revenues for the last month in one county. On positive side those 3500 foreclosed homes would have previously been defaulting on the property taxes.

Throw in SoCal's Inland empire economy destruction of lost construction jobs and foreclosures and 60 or so employees at my company who will stop paying income tax in near future and I am beginning to see how a state can be $14B short in revenue off a $40B budget.

Astin jackAced me successfully (defeating JJ) a few hands later HeffMike reraised JackAce against my QQ and failed to deliver a jackAce beat. I make comment in chat (still pissed about being short due to Astin beat) along lines of "It's a blogger tourney, you can't possibly fold jackAce" sorry Heff. I avenge my earlier beat when Astin calls my raise with the jackAces little brother the jacKing off and my pocket Astins hold up against his flopped top pair. Mookie eliminates me when through some miracle his JJ wins a flip against my AK when he dodges a river King kick to the junk.

I am still running like a god at PLO (40.88 BB/100) yesterday cracking AA with high connectors and KK with low connectors, (I love the hold'em visitors that can't fold AA KJ69 board). In KK's defense he thought he had outs after flopping top set but I had already turned my straight flush when I raised his pot bet on turn.

Mook Day

The Mookie is tonight, after pwning Pvan in Monday's NYRPS I feel it is again time to issue a "Rue the Day Schaubs" warning.

I saw a classic theonion piece via reddit.com. So sad when over the top satire looks prescient.

We are 24 hours into this Obama Presidency, I am not seeing change yet! I met up with a former co-worker for beer (and to compare jobs in Valley notes) and met another EE who is long time Valley resident. He was trying to convince us that NOW is the best time to buy a home. Most laughable part of his argument was that he could not afford to sell his current house to move into a bigger home due to Property Taxes nor did it make sense to sell his home and downsize now that kids have moved out because he would only be pulling couple $100k of equity profit but his propert taxes would climb. I looked at movoto this morning out of curiosity, I love that $800k is asking price for a "single family home" with ~12 feet of open space to next door neighbors wall and a pipestem driveway AND parking is so hard to find that the picture advertising house has a SUV parked two wheels over curb to allow passage.

It has long been the american dream to own home to protect against rising prices but I don't see how current financial mess ends until housing prices do drop to levels ~4x local household income.

Locally I can rent a house for ~2x the property taxes would be to buy same house. At those levels I am not sure if 0% interest on 30 year loan motivates me to purchase.

Football Wrap Up

The Football Play of the weekend was the blocked Field Goal in this clip.

Officials had a pretty horrific weekend:

1) Blew the 1st half Kickoff call in Phil. v Az. due to ball never hit the Eagles nor did it ever go out of bounds. How is that not reviewable???

2) Hoy mentioned the pass interference on Philadelphia's final 4th down. I know there is some leeway when defender falls down and makes "incidental contact" but really.

3) Pittsburgh's punter still has not been touched, and how can that have been the personal foul variety??? How was Ryan Clark's spear of McGahee (arms crossed tight to body, lead with helmet, hunching head close to body, that is textbook spear) not a personal foul?

Pampas

I have spent last 2 days running like a god playing PLO cash.

3 Flopped quads, including once against flopped Aces over boat and another against AA that turned flush. But the main thing is those pesky set vs. wrap coinflips on flop have gone my way from either side. I believe I am still playing rationaly as I have just laughed when I folded overpairs to board on flop and turned sets.

Over last 600 hands I am +50 BB/100. Know it can't last but will enjoy while it does.

Decided to cash out a little and take the family out. Dinner tonight will be Brazilian. It is a rare treat for me as it is lots of BEEF on sticks. w00t.

Light over shower went out and when I went to change I noticed fixture was painted closed. I mentioned to wife I would need to find a utility knife, she mentioned to apartment manager while waited in community room for kid to get off bus and voila we discovered we don't even have to replace light bulbs in fixed fixtures. Just when I thought living in apartment couldn't get any softer then homeownership. I am sure there is a light bulb premium in rent but I sort of like not having to deal with the light bulb in trash or disposing of CFLs properly due to mercury.

Take one stab at a job

Photo is from Queensland Tourism Board.

Apparently the Queensland tourism board has created a 12 hour a month job to be an island caretaker. Job-seekers can apply at Islandreefjob.com. Pay seems okay since the duties involve vacationing and exploring the Barrier Reef. I may still apply but snorkeling seems required. Luckily I saw another story that gives me a way to raise cash for snorkeling lessons.

Full story of job can be found here.

Founder of current company came up with product idea while snorkeling, maybe I can too.

Edit: Mentioned the selling 14 yo daughter story to boss. He pointed out that demon child would be returned so I could make money on both ends of transaction.

Edit (part deux): I let slip boss's comment with daughter and that she is referenced as demon child on occasion. I must now add disclaimer that I was kidding since daughter can be humourless.

Nice Season Eagles and Ravens

Sorry Raven's fans and all the Eagle's fans.

My sports betting has been atrocious so you are doomed.

I also have Raven's at 14:1 to win SuperBowl so they may survive only to crush me later.

Have to do a pot odds calculation for work. What size pot am I potentially looking at if company gets acquired vs. what are odds of acquisition vs. how long a period of unemployment can I expect if company goes under. VP that recruited me to move down here made that calculation and left company last week. But he also cut his commute from 60 miles to 15 miles and no longer will have to drive through San Francisco. Luckily my start-up bankroll managment is better than poker's version.

I do have advice for other parent's: It seems like a good idea to have allowed child to learn self defense skills. But as they get bigger it hurts if they reflexively strike you in chest. She came in from shopping and said she was cold and I offered to give her hug to warm but got too close.

AfterMath

Last year in losing $11 prop bet to Recess I also lost ~$1000 off bankroll.


This year I won $26 from Recess, lost $35 playing SuperTurbos but now have weekly rakeback payments and a sick $250+ rakeback payment.


If not for stupid prop bet I would have quit playing during Tuesday Night downslide which certainly had some gross beats as contributers but probably has some bad plays. The K7s > KK (I called) and T9o >TT (he called) to bubble were certainly the most painful as they were on bubble against equivalent stack.


Superturbo play this week led me to a few conclusions:

1) Color Code who calls jams with any Ace or any 2 face.
2) Color code those who raise ATC from CO, button, SB.
3) Never fold AQ+ or TT+
4) I have been stunned by how often after I jam AK UTG I find an AT caller calling even from UTG+1.
5) I have also been stunned by sone of the folds I have seen near the bubble. I think most egregious was a fold for 65 chips behind as the shorty in the BB with 60/120 blinds, when other 3 stacks were in 700-900 range.

1st Prop Bet Win of year

The Points Tard and I had a prop bet to see who could clear 11,000 points 1st. Somehow King of Points had failed to even reach Gold one month so level was set at clearing his bonus threshold.

434 Turbo SNG, plus a few PLO and O8 hands later I claim victory. Ship the $4k buyin!

To answer StB's comment, no I probably am too burned out to actually clear bonus by 10th.

No More Slowplay

To paraphrase Dread Pirate Roberts "Good night Recess. Good work. Sleep well. I'll most likely kill you in the afternoon."

1st Mookie of year was last night, I had AA against Jec's QQ. Then in the span of one orbit I was dealt KK, KK, AA and QQ, sadly lightning had AA on an all baby board after turn.

Break Even Poker

We have all read Waffles's claims of "break-even" poker, but I've got documentation biatches.

Stupid, stupid, stupid and FINAL points clearing prop bet with Recess has led to a ridiculous amount of SuperTurbo play. 61 tourneys a day (I am no Chad), $14k in prizes (woot), all for a simply PHENOMENAL $46 in profit.

Thankfully bet will end by this weekend, I will get huge rakeback transfer this week and bonus will also clear.

More Mis-Information (or is it?)

Two hands above are from Superturbos so action is aipf, AK hand I jammed UTG, AA I called from SB. Both plays I think are automatic in SuperTurbo.

Been playing a crazy amount of Superturbos as it is fastest way to accumulate points since it is rare that I want to multitable 5/10 + O8 nor are there usually more than 1 full ring game on FullTilt.

Mookie is tomorrow and IT and Schaub's have another prop bet. I guess I can understand Schaub's picking LJ over me for anything other than to back him up in a bar fight (she's meaner but a little clumsy when drinking).

But on principle.

Rue the Day Schaubs!

Tard Race 2009

Most of my points have come in super-turbos, since January 1 have gotten 215 in at a slight profit. ChicagoAPA has gotten in 1405 which I can only assume to mean he is a bot or he has a sick prop bet on line. Don't quite know where Recess stands in race but he has gotten in half as many super-turbos I have.

On positive side after 100th chippie you become completely numb to the bad beats. 4 tabling chippies mean you lose a 70/30 to A rag (who called) about once every 15 minutes.

I now understand why Chad issued the rule "If you tell me a bad beat story I will punch you in mouth". I have decided this is a good rule so be warned.

Late Pimp

I am the face of Bad Bankroll Managment so I would be remiss if I did not point out Julius Goat's fine tournament.

Consuming 1/4 of my screen for a superstack tourney may prove too costly in my battle with the point's tard.

In a particular bad beat my live Morgan Hill tournament consumed a lot of time for me to finish 2nd which ate into my playing time.

2009 is here

I thought my being on the leaderboard was cool until I noticed sprstoner was 7th in NLHE and 4th overall in the medium buyins.

Hoy fell victim to the "Waffle's gambit" in final 2008 Mookie. The delusional one feel's he hits gutters at 50% and two live cards is a flip so inevitable result is busto.

I put waffles cooler powers to test and placed a $10 bet that wife and I would have threesome with female blogger waffles knew. I of course lost showing there is a limit to the "waffle's fade". But won $25 when he of course failed in his delusional quest to reach top spot in any of 4 tourney leader boards. Now I just have to wait for ad money to hit Mr. Breakeven's account so he can get paid. Hopefully I won't have to wait as long as Tragedy continues to wait for Waffle's to write post praising the IT blog empire.

Whether Hoy is correct about "no one making a wager with waffles" for "chip dumping" will become moot if waffle continues to Welsh on bet with IT.

I cracked and entered into another bonus clearing bet with the points dork. I am sure his uber-dorkness will twitter a running points count but I'll never see it there.