POCKET ROCKETS

Call 'em what you want -- pocket rockets, American Airlines -- they have been deadly for me lately.

Case in point: CheckRayz freeroll at Celeb Poker (quickly becoming my most unfavorite site). After going out first the week before, I play a little tighter tonight. I get A-A in the big blind. There is a raise to 150, and I reraise to 400. The flop is Q-rag-rag. Next thing you know, I am put all in, wondering if in fact my opponent has the hand that will crush me: Q-Q. I bet against it ... W R O N G ... and make a quick exit.

Seems like the last several times I have gotten my rockets, the other person hits a set on the flop. Is this just bad luck, or what??? I got burned recently when I was slow playing them (yeah - I live dangerously!), and hopefully learned my lesson.

Another bad pattern: I get a pocket pair, usually small or medium, and I don't catch my set on the flop. There is a big post-flop bet, and I fold. The turn: The card that makes my set! I can not believe how many times this has happened.

Blogger Report

I recently withdrew some money from a few sites. Here is my evaluation:

Poker Host - Fastest payment of all. Very fast, trouble free. Kudos!

Poker.com - Next fastest. Very good, except that they sent an e mail with the subject "Poker.com Transaction Limits Exceeded." The body of the e mail just said that my withdrawal was being processed. This happened before. I'll contact them about this.

Absolute - As always, payment received within 48 hours.

Celeb - One week and no money. E mailed customer support at Web Dollar. Received a quick response saying "Due to some technical issues all Neteller withdrawals has been delayed. This will be solved in the very near future. We appologize for any possible inconveniences this may have caused you."

Ah ... just another reason to love Celeb ...