Falstaff in Hotlanta

Fortunately for the ATL, it was more wet than hot this week. Falstaff let us know he was coming to town and I suggested that we meet at the sports bar next to his hotel for some bar league poker. The ever slimming Falstaff and I met up last night for dinner, good conversation and then free the game.

The tournament had 5 full tables and I got us seats at the same table so we could tag team the locals, LOL. My night started off pretty well when I had pocket 7s in the BB and 2 callers in front of me so I check. The flop is Jack high with a 7, so per Phil Laak, I bet my monster (the guy even commented "Uh oh, he's doing math"). I wanted to look like I hit the Jack and hopefully an Ace with good kicker will hang in for another card. The cutoff raises me and somewhere in the mix, the previous caller drops out. Other than pocket Jacks, the board looks pretty safe so I call instead of shoving. The last 7 shows up on the turn and now I can check. The other dude pushes in the rest of his stack and I call to double up. DQB! Man, I hope I’m remembering this right, but Falstaff might have taken notes and can correct my errors. This is an interesting thing about these kind of hands. I don’t know if this is how I actually played it or it was the other way I was thinking of playing it. Weird huh? Either way, the other guy was felted.

We managed to stay out of each other’s way, mainly because our games were very much apart last night. I was playing like a tight nit and he played a great aggressive game. I finally had to gamble with him and I doubled up with KQ against his mid pair to bring me back in the game. As I mentioned, we were using different playing styles. One hand in particular, I know he would have done differently than the way I played it. We are 5 or 6 handed and I have AK spades (the prettiest card in the deck) and I raise 3X from first position. The next guy goes all in and the big blind calls and leaves some behind. I have them both covered, but I'm pretty sure I’m up against a pair and a strong Ace. Do I push, call, or fold? I know the BB isn’t going to fold so one of my outs is gone and if I call and lose it all, I’m crippled. I did the complete wuss move and folded. Falstaff said he would “go big, or go home.” As the board played out, I would have lost the main pot to the pocket pair of the shortest stack, but would have taken the remainder of the big blinds chips with my better kicker. I don’t think I would have recovered much more than I had to commit to calling the shorty, but I gave the table a good bead on my tightness. Nothing much happened for me card wise and I didn’t last too much longer after this as my tens in the big blind lost the race against a suited big slick that raised in first position.

Enough about my wonderful play, let’s talk about the man of the night. Falstaff was able to chip up early due to his timely aggression and good cards. It was a good thing too, because he survived a huge blow after a preflop all-in when his pocket Kings were crushed by the 8 tits (QQQQ / DQB!) of his opponent. Thankfully the other guy didn't "RainKhan" dance for us. Falstaff played well, got some chips back and made it to the final table. When he got there, it was school time for the kiddies. He was occasionally folding, but usually raising or punishing the limpers with aggression. He said we was getting good cards and would show every now and then, but I’m sure he just had the table figured out and none of the other players were able to step up to challenge him. His large chip stack helped him survive another loss while he was holding the Brokeback Bitches (KK) against pocket Aces. After this setback, he didn’t let up and was able to hang in there and take first place. First was good for a gift card and most likely an entry to the final tournament. Who knows, maybe that will warrant another trip down I-85 for him in the future.

*Update* I forgot about the heated discussion at the final table when the shorty went all-in and was called by 2 other players. After the flop was dealt, one of the guys goes all-in as well and the third guy reluctlantly folds. The flop pusher flips over pocket 7s for trips on the flop, but the original shorty had pocket 8s and also flopped a set. The guy that got pushed out said "don't throw a ten out there" and of course it comes on the turn and he would have hit his straight if it had been checked down like he was trying to do. Of the 10 people playing / watching, only 2 disagreed that checking it down was the better move. Of course 1 of the 2 was the trip 7s guy and another regular that was being a bit of an ass. Come to think of it, he was that way when I used to play there a couple of years ago. What do you guys think is the right move there?

Most of you know this already, but he’s a really nice guy and it was great to hang with him for the evening. I’m bummed I won’t be able to enjoy his hard work for the Winter Event, but I’m sure you will all have a blast. I’m really ready for someone to organize a Greenville or ATL gathering next Spring, HINT HINT G-Vegas crew.

Al Is THE MAN

Season 2 of the BBT starts this weekend. I don't know how many I'll play, but the prizes are awesome! See ya there.

Star Trek and Heroes

Maybe Wil has a shot on Heroes after all. I have seen 4 actors from the various Star Trek series already:

Malcolm McDowell from Star Trek: Generations
George Takei from the original series
Dominic Keating from Enterprise
Nichelle Nichols from the original series

Let's all vote for Jolene Blalock or Terry Farrell to also show up some time.

Goodbye Truck, Helloooooo Gorgeous!

I finally did it. I traded in the Ranger yesterday and got a 2005 Infinity G35 Coupe. It's in great shape and has less than 15K miles. It's not practical at all, especially since my other vehicle is a motorcycle. Fortunately, Stacie has a 4 door for bigger trips and when we go out with another couple. Time to go out and enjoy!

Home Game Fun And I Will Be Smited For This Bragging

I hosted our latest stop on the Neighborhood Poker League Tour last week. Stacie was originally scheduled to be out of town for the night, but her plans changed and she came back a day earlier. I didn't want a bunch of loud guys keeping her awake, so we held it down in the basement. Unlike some of the other bloggers, my basement is still unfinished so I was apprehensive about the setting. It turned out fine since the weather was nice and we just had a window fan running. I am lacking a bathroom down there so people still had to go up a level for that, but it did cut down on the noise and we didn't disturb Stacie. Maybe this will encourage other guys in my neighborhood to host during the week especially in the cooler fall weather.

We had a lucky 13 show up including APOSEC72. The play was solid as usual and the wooly action never really kicked in until we consolidated to 1 table. A suited hammer was more successful than pocket Aces which were 0 for 3. APOSEC72 cracked the first pair when he hit 2 pair on the flop after David limped with them from the button. "Main Event" Mike and his preflop push with pocket tens crippled Chris and his rockets after the 10 hit on the flop. David was able to get his chips back when his pocket Kings overcame APOSEC72's pocket Aces. I lost a race with Rich and did my usual middle bust out. I've really got to change this pattern. The top three finishers were no strangers to the money. "Main Event" Mike continues to dominate with his 5th win / 6th cash in the 12 games he's played. David now sits at #2 on the money list after joining the league midway through the season. Rich continues to hang in long enough to gain good points and grab a little cash as well. I am in danger of losing my spot to the Tournament of Champions if I don't have at least one good showing before the year ends. Maybe I can get a sponsor's exemption for running the league. I'll talk to the Tournament Director about that. LOL.

A few nights later it was time for the monthly game down the street in Kaj's neighborhood. We played two 9 handed tournies with the payouts at 20, 60, 100. In the first game, pocket Kings 4 times including 2 hands back to back allowed me to pound the table early. I caught some good cards in the first game, but probably played better in the second one. I shocked the table when, as barely chip leader, I folded to Alan's UTG push with my 44 in the big blind. I put him on a pocket pair and even if he had A,5 or better, I didn't want to risk that much of my stack on a race at best. He told Kaj he had Aces so good fold me! It was my own fault he was still even in the hand because I showed my Ace, rag fold after I thought everyone was all in. Turns out Alan was still deciding the call and when he saw I folded one of his outs he bailed as well. I love showing how stupid I can be when I'm trying to show how smart I am. My excellent streak continued as I chopped the first game taking 70 to ?s 90 and then the second game I took the 90 with Bobby getting the 70. Since Labor Day, I have chopped for first 5 out of 6 times over there. This game has been funding my neighborhood game so I'm still up for the year. It also helps that they are a fun bunch of people doing shots of Patron during a game helps liven up the action.

Who needs a casino when you have so many bloggers hosting various types of games? The Poker Cat Arena was open Tuesday night for low stakes and I wanted to get my cash game on. We played a variety of games short handed I cashed out for almost 5 buy-ins. This was truly the case of the perfect storm of good cards, good reads, and good folds. I like playing with these guys but since it goes a little late and it's downtown, I only make it to about 1 every other month.

September Finished Well

I finished out September playing at a Mexican place down the street. "Main Event" Mike and I decided to try the bar league and I was lucky enough to take first out of 4 full tables. Mike went out somewhere in the middle. For first place, I got $20 bar credit and a seat to the "final" tournament. Prizes will be awarded for those that place in the final event including $1K and a trip to the Bahamas for first place. That would be a nice prize for a freeroll.

The play there was not the best. You catch middle pair on the flop, no problem, hang around, it'll be good. I made it to the final table 9/9 and here is the most glaring example I can remember of the skill level. The blinds are at 200/400 and I have 1400. On the second hand, I am UTG+1 and have pocket Aces, so I push. It folds all the way around and somebody wanted to see the board dealt out and see what they would have missed. I guess someone was holding another Ace because he groaned with the board showed one as well. I showed the table the other 2 and half of them asked me why I didn't limp. Sure, I'll let all of you calling stations come along and hit 2 pair on me when I have barely over 3X the big blind! I knew right then, I had a shot at taking this down. Things went my way at that's exactly what happened. We got to heads up and I had the chip advantage. The other guy said I could take 1st place money if he could take the 1st place spot and give it to someone else. I said I didn't care as long as I got 1st place money and a spot in the final table. The "tournament director" said the top 3 got spots so I agreed, but remained confused about why the guy wanted to give away the top spot when his was just as good. Who knows, I was ready to be done.

World Blogger Championship of Online Poker

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