Some days M&Ms melt in your hand

Above: Some of the 220 runners in Event No. 4 (the Seniors) at the Gulf Coast Poker Championships.

Things didn't go very well for me in Monday's poker event. The second level (blinds 50/100) a player raised to 300 and two called to me on the button. I had ♥J ♦10 and also called. The flop was 10-X-X and the original raiser made a CB of 800. The other two folded and I called. The turn was great: ♣J!

The villain bet 1200 and I called. He seemed confident, but I had a little surprise for him. The river was a rag that couldn't have helped either of us and he bet 3000! I shrugged and (cautiously) only called. He turned over ♣10 ♠10 for a flopped top set.

It was unfortunate that not only did he have a strong hand, but the turn hit me. Thinking about it later, I wondered if I should have raised the turn. Even so, I'll still end up losing about half my stack.

My ex-wife plays poker, and when I discussed it with her later, she thought I made a loose call pre-flop. Do you agree with her? I was on the button and we were deep-stacked, so I thought it was a normal call, but maybe not.

I built my stack back up, but several other unfortunate hands left me short-stacked during level 6 and I shoved with 7-7 and got a call from a big stack with ♠J ♠9 and he hit a 9 to take me out.

Geezers: They wore headphones, sun glasses and ballcaps, just like the young guns. I did think they were a friendly bunch -- lots of joking around and having fun. One guy spotted a Tournament Director who was female.

"Massage lady, over her," he called out jokingly.

"F**K you," she mouthed. Apparently they knew each other and she was smiling.

"Yes, that works!" he exclaimed. "My day is getting better and better!"


There were vendors including a crew, shown above, who took photos for the players to purchase.


Above: I believe I read that the Beau Rivage (they call it "The Beau") was originally a Wynn property. No wonder it's so gorgeous.


They sold sun glasses and the guy above is trying on a $100 pair. Maybe if I had won, I would have splurged and bought a pair? Nah, probably not.

One down, one to go

Above: The beautiful Beau Rivage is the venue for the Gulf Coast Poker Championships.

There were 308 runners in Sunday's No Limit Hold'em Tournament here in Biloxi MS located on the Gulf of Mexico. Twenty-seven of the 308 cashed and I finished 15th -- you always hope to win, but I did outlast 293 of them.

It's nearly 3 a.m., so this will be short.

When we were down to three tables, a young guy with 40 tattoos had 400K chips where most players had about 100K. Another guy limped in for 8,000, I called from the button with ♦10 ♦8. This big stack guy was in the big blind and he raised to 40K. This is a huge overbet, so it's obvious the guy smelled weakness and was being a bully. Would you call? (I had about 80K at the time.)

Before I had a chance to decide, the limper (another young gun) reraised all in for about another 40K. I folded. The big stack in the big blind turned over ♥8 ♥6! And, he wasn't afraid to call the all in (who had ♠K ♠Q and won the pot). I know it's good to be aggressive, but these young guys are fearless.

My bustout hand? I had ♠A ♠J and ran into big slick.

Tomorrow is another event starting at noon -- a seniors No Limit hold'em with a $230 buyin. Maybe I'll do better against the geezers.


Above: This is an image of the shot clock when the bubble burst.

Poker at the beach

I'm headed to Biloxi on the Gulf of Mexico for four days. I love seafood, walking along the beach, and, oh by the way, there's the Gulf Coast Poker Championship going on. A little mini-vacation, why not?

I'll try and get some photos. If I do any good at the table, I'll report that, too.

The Memphis Beat

Above: Just one block off Beale Street in Memphis, the Rock 'n' Soul Museum is a Smithsonian Institution Affiliate. Admission is $11 and includes a movie.

According to the Smithsonian Institution: "In the quest to identify the roots of America's music, all roads lead to Memphis."

I spent Thursday afternoon at the Rock 'n' Soul Museum. The list of artists who recorded in Memphis is long. Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis are some of the white artists. They were signed by and recorded at Sun Records.

The list of African-Americans is even longer. Stax Records (originally called Satellite Records) signed or recorded: Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Wilson Picket, and Carla and Rufus Thomas. Booker T and the MGs, B.B King, Isaac Hayes (think the movie Shaft), Al Green, The Staple Singers, the Bar-Kays and many, many more were Stax products. The company strongly competed against Motown Records.

Did you know:
Aretha Franklin was born in Memphis, but never recorded at Stax.

You can read what Wikipedia says about Stax, if you click here.


Above: Visitors enjoy the exhibits at the Rock 'n' Soul Museum.


Above: Mark James wrote "Suspicious Minds" on this organ. He recorded it in 1968, then gave Elvis Presley a copy in 1969. It went on to be one of Presley's biggest hits.


Above: Showy costumes were part of the act and Stax performers liked to do it in style.


Images by MOJO and taken with my P&S.

One down - Cake Poker delivers

This small check arrived by UPS today -- quite fast, actually. Fast, that is, from when they said they were sending it. Not so fast from when I originally asked for it (last May).

I wonder why Cake didn't just say "We're trying to find a way to pay you, but we will pay you," instead of the other rigamarole that each e-mail said.

Poker site withdrawal updates

I asked Bodog for a cashout of part of my money. Here is their reply (which sounds good, but your check is in the mail is sometimes a big fat lie):
=============================

RE: Payout Reference Number 3460070

Thank you for your recent payout request dated Mon, Aug 22, 2011 for the amount of US$ 800.00.

Your payout has been processed for the approved amount of US$ 800.00. Please note that it may take an average of 7 business days before you receive your payment.

Sincerely,
Bodog Payouts Team
=============================

I haven't received anything from Cake Poker. I originally requested a cashout in late May, and have followed with an e-mail about once each month. Below is their latest reply to me. It sounds encouraging, but I'll believe it when I see it.
===============================

Hello David,
Thank you for your email. Please note that your cashout will be completed shortly. As soon as it has been completed we will email you to confirm it for you.
Kind Regards
Norah
CakePoker Cashier Department

Bodog, the only game in town

(Click to enlarge.)

This was a good return on a $15 + 1.50 investment.

A new Yogi Berra

Above: Ralph Kiner is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. He led the National League in home runs for six consecutive years.

Now that I've retired, I spend more time watching TV. I'm picky, however, and don't watch just anything. I purchased a Blu-Ray with WiFi. The latest ones have apps already loaded, so you can use your flipper to watch NetFlix movies, for example. They stream over the Internet directly to the Blu-Ray gizmo (my house has WiFi) which is connected to my TV. (I bought this one that CNet recommended.)

One of the things I've signed up for is MLB.tv. For $60 I can watch almost any major league baseball game for one year. (The exception is any game that is televised nationally such as the Fox game of the week.) For a baseball fan, this is heaven. Yes, it comes in high-def.

While watching the NY Mets, I noticed they have Ralph Kiner as an announcer. Huh? He's now 88 years old, but before you dismiss him, I can assure you he has lots of interesting things to say, especially about hitting.

Kiner, however, is known for his malapropisms. Yogi Berra doesn't have too much on him. These are a few of the ones I like:

"If Casey Stengel were alive today, he'd be spinning in his grave."

"On Fathers Day, we again wish you all happy birthday."

"The Mets have gotten their leadoff batter on only once this inning."

"Tony Gwynn was named player of the year for April."

"All of his saves have come in relief appearances"

Kiner's official web site is here. You can read what Wikipedia says about him if you click here.

Image copied from the Internet.

Withering on the vine

Playing in a mini-tournament (12 boards) on the Internet at BridgeBase Online, it goes Pass Pass 2♥ and you hold:
♠Q 8 7 ♥A Q J 4 ♦K 4 ♣K Q J 8.

You overcall 2NT. The opponents are now silent. Partner bids 3♠. What is that?

You bid 3NT, all pass, West leads the ♠6, and these are the combined hands:


Your right-hand opponent plays the ♠J and you win the queen. To have any chance, you must win some diamond tricks, so you cash the ♦K and it goes low low queen! Well, four diamonds is a start at least, so you lead your ♦4 to the ♦9 and RHO wins the ♦10! Your good diamonds are now stranded!

Here are all four hands.


The opponents take one diamond, four spades, one club and still get a heart in the end for down three and 9.18 IMPs for East-West (Kate and me).

After the deal is over, partner tells you he was trying to transfer to diamonds with his 3♠ bid. Playing online with different partners is always dicey, isn't it?

You can see all the results for this board here.

Two for the price of one

There are various themes in bridge that one sees over and over. Newspapers columns take a theme and make an article out of it. Playing online bridge today at BBO, I was pleased to find two themes in one deal.

In a robot individual, on Board No. 8 I held:
♠Q ♥A J 10 9 2 ♦A K 2 ♣A Q 7 2.

My robot partner opened 1♣ and right-hand opponent overcalled 2♠. I bid 3♥ and partner raised to 4♥. What now?

I tried 6♣ and partner corrected back to 6♥. West led the ♠4.



I won the ace and crossed to my hand with the ♦A to advance the ♥J. Why did I play this way? It's the percentage play to finesse West for the queen of trumps, so why not take out some insurance against a 4-1 break. A low heart in the East hand is four times as likely as the singleton ♥Q.

The jack held, so I led the ♥10 and both robots followed. Now instead of drawing the last trump, I played three rounds of clubs. If they split 3-3, then I would make seven (it was matchpoints). If West ruffs the second or third round, then I still make six (ruffing my club loser in dummy) and that was the max on the deal anyway.

The payoff is when West has the third trump and four clubs, as above. I didn't think too much about it and was surprised to see I got a complete top on the board.

You can see what all 39 players did if you click here.

I can't wait for 2009

Above: An ad in the August 15 issue of Poker Player newspaper. Click to enlarge.

If you take a look at the ad shown above, you might notice something.

"New for 2008!" says the headline. Oh really? Proofreading must be a lost art or maybe I'm missing something.

You won't see this very often

I played in the Wednesday night poker tournament at the Horseshoe tonight and saw something I've never seen before.

When play started, there were only five players at our table. Newcomers can buy in for the first two levels, so they put out stacks in all 10 seats. The stacks with no players post a blind at their turn, just like the live players.

In one hand, the small blind and big blind were stacks with no players. It folded to the button who mucked his hand! He forget that all he had to do was bet the minimum to pick up both blinds.

The dealer shrugged her shoulders and picked up both blinds and put it in the stack of the big blind. I play a lot of tournaments, but that was one I haven't seen before.

What would you do with this hand? The blinds were 300/600 with a 50 ante. I was on the button with ♥10 ♦10. It folded to the guy two to my right who opened for 1200 and the guy on my immediate right called.

I decided to raise to 6000. Most of the time, you will pick up a nice little pot. Also, pocket 10s are awkward to play if overcards come, so winning right now would be a good outcome.

The first guy folded, but the other called. The flop was ♦Q ♥7 ♣5. The villain immediately bet 15,000! What is going on?

From the preflop betting, K-Q is in his range. But then, wouldn't he check to me before springing his trap. He could have A-K (which I beat), but, again, the preflop betting would have gone differently. Why did he overbet the pot? Nothing added up, I decided he was full of it, and moved all in for 22,000.

The guy got this sick look on his face, counted his chips and hemmed and hawed. Everyone was looking at him as if to say, "What is going on?" He only needed to call 7,000 more to win this huge pot. Finally, he shrugged his shoulders and called.

His cards were ♣A ♠J. Yes! He figured the queen didn't hit me and was making a stab at it. That's the good news, but the bad news is that an ace came on the river, and I was out of there.

Sometimes you get knocked out of a tournament and fee awful. This time, I didn't mind, actually. I made a good read, I stuck to my read, but was unlucky. Sometimes poker is like that.

Poker pearl #62

Above: Phil Helmuth writes a column in each issue of Card Player magazine.

In his latest poker column, Phil Helmuth describes a hand where he had a set of 8s, but his opponent had a straight.

"The reason I didn't raise on the river was that I noticed that my opponent had his hands formed in the shape of a steeple.

"According to Navarro, the steeple is a sure sign of strength at the poker table.

"Had I paid closer attention, or just slowed down for an extra 20 seconds before making my bet, I might have saved myself at least 100,000."

What's wrong with this picture?

Does Helmuth think he's the only one who has read (the Navarro book) Read 'Em and Reap? It sounds like if I ever play against Helmuth, he will believe my reverse tells. Bluffing? No problem, bet big, steeple your hands and rake in his chips.

Poker pearl #61 and my 900th post

Above: The August 10 version of Card Player magazine has Brian Rast on the cover. He won the $50K Player's Championship at the WSOP this summer. He also won a bracelet in a $1,500 pot-limit hold'em event.

In an interview, Rast says:

There's a reason why people like tournaments. They're exciting, and there's an opportunity to make a big, life-changing score, but they are also extremely volatile, and variance has a way of picking on some people. Until this summer, I had to force myself into believing that my time was coming after so many near misses.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

On May 13, 2008, I started my blog and made my first post. I had been checking out other blogs and read that Smokee had started a series of free poker tournaments for bloggers. Being a cheapskate frugal, the word "free" got my attention.

I had been thinking about blogging anyway and the chance to play in a tournament with other bloggers was too tempting. I didn't know how to sign up, but Katitude helped by sending Smokee an e-mail and that was 900 posts ago. Thanks to all of you who come here.

Cake Poker sucks, too

It's been longer than two months and I still haven't received my cash-out from Cake Poker. If they aren't going to send it, I wish they would just cut the shit say so.

I wrote (August 3) and asked what was going on and when could I expect to get my money. Here is their reply:

Hello David,

Thank you for your emaiI. I understand your position, and we would like to apologize for the delay and the inconveniences caused once more. Please rest assured that we are working hard to have the situation rectified and your cash out processed as soon as possible.

Apologies for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

Kind Regards

Norah
CakePoker Cashier Department

Timing is everything

Kate and I bid to 5♣ doubled on the auction shown above (hands rotated). (If you don't see the auction, click 'next' and it will appear.)

West led a low spade, won in dummy. What now?

I played a high club and a high heart, then led a second club, taken with my king. Next I advanced the ♥8 and West was stuck. If he ruffs, he's ruffing a loser with his master trump, so he discarded.

I was able to ruff a heart and had the entries to ruff a second heart before returning to dummy for a diamond discard on the good hearts (a spade ruff and the ♦K).

After the game, I put this in Deep Finesse and was pleased to see that I had to play a high heart at trick two or trick three to make the contract. Do you see why the timing needs to be this way?

We won 12.85 IMPs for plus 750. You can see all the results on OKbridge, if you click here.