K9 Poker Tour Ready to Roll

This Friday, September 1, will be the first Hold Em tournament sponsored by the K9 Poker Tour, one of the new kids on the block. I've asked ShaggyTrav, the founder of K9, to answer a few questions about this exciting new poker tour.


Why did you decide to start your own poker tour?

I started my own poker tour due to my love of the game and love of business. I thought to myself, "Why not do both?" Help to protect the game of poker and provide safe places for people to go and play and also have fun doing it.

I had been wanting to do something in this industry for some time now. I met a good friend of mine in Las Vegas a few months back and we began to talk about different businesses within the industry. He said, "You could see the wheels turning in my head." I couldn't sleep after those discussions that we had. After returning, I talked with my wife about possible options for a business and we just started running with it. But, we wanted to do this right. We just didn't want to start with smaller payouts and a unnavigable site. We got our resources together and really think that we have put together a product that people will be proud to say that they are a part of. I know I am!


Why would someone want to join?

They would want to join because not only do we have some of the best places to play and the best players to play, but we also have some of the most lucrative payouts for a new tour on the market today. Our very first tournament is a $500.00 Freeroll. Ask ANY other poker tour if their first tournament amount was that size.

We also offer three separate tours to compete in. We have a Freeroll Tour (which costs nothing to play in and you can win large amounts of cash), Money Tour (which are buy-in events that pit some of the internet's best players against one another), and a Heads-Up Champions Tour. To this day, I'm not sure if anyone else has this type of format.

K9 Poker Tour also offers a Heads-Up Challenge to it's monthly leaders to compete for additional money against myself or the K9 crusher, Desser. We give away weekly prizes in our forum, poker chip card guards, jackpot hands, staff bounties and many other items throughout our site.


What great things are coming up in the near future?

WOW! There is so much to mention. Let me let this blog in on a secret... "We will have some type of SPECIAL prize for our monthly leaders." This will be something in addition to the Heads-Up Challenge and qualifying for the Finals. This will be a great prize. Let me just say BLING! and not just on the site.

We are currently in talks with casinos from around the nation and world to offer trips, boot camps, tournaments, prizes, meals, etc. strictly for K9 Poker Tour Members. K9 Poker Tour is also having discussions with a large school about having some of our members attend. We are talking with some additional poker sites to provide some of the largest freerolls on the market as well as some EXTREMELY lucrative Buy-In Events.

K9 Poker Tour will expand to include a High Roller section as well as a Ladies Only Club. We want to gather a broad base of clients and satisfy everyone's needs.

This tour is for our members. If they want it, we will try to get it. We will do whatever we can to make things within the poker industry accessible to all K9 Poker Tour members.

*************************************************************************************

Sounds great, doesn't it? Go to k9pokertour.com for some excellent poker action.

Thanks Trav -- and best of luck!

First K9 Poker Tour Victory

I had quite a challenging evening starting at 8:00 pm: playing in the Shark Poker Tour event at Absolute, playing in the Online Poker Tour event at Cake, playing in the K9 Poker Tour event at Golden Riviera, and watching CSI and Shark on CBS. My multi-tasking capabilities seem to diminish once I get beyond, say, two things at once, so I knew I needed every bit of concentration I could muster.

RESULTS

Shark: Finished 11th out of 53, which was two places out of the money
Cake: Finished 10th out of 629, for a small cash
K9: Finished 1st out of 68

The Shark finish was disappointing. I was doing quite well but got distracted with the other tournaments, the television shows, and my kids. No excuses - just a loss of concentration that cost me a few key hands.

How I finished so high at Cake, God only knows. I barely paid attention to this tourney and was close to going out so many times. However, the quickly increasing blinds at Cake make you go all in when in danger, and I hit some big hands. Went out when I pushed pocket 4's. I probably wouldn't have done it if I had noticed that a player with a huge stack had yet to bet. He called me with 8-4 os, and of course, the flop was 8-8-rag. Such is poker.

The K9 tourney was fantastic. It was almost like I hand picked the cards I got most of the game. I got pocket rockets several times, and they were never cracked. I did piss off one player when I bet instead of checking down on an all in, but I caught top pair, great kicker and wanted those chips. When he gave me some crap, I responded with "f_ _ _ y _ _. Looks like Golden Riviera doesn't filter nasty language!

The final two were myself and murrythecat, one of my buds from the Online Poker Tour. murry is an excellent player, so I knew I had a difficult task in front of me. I had a good chip lead, but he hammered away and took the lead. The momentum really shifted, and I didn't want this one to slip away. Fortunately, my little run of cold cards ended, and I was able to nail down the victory, my first at K9.

Looks like I will go to sleep with a smile on my face tonight.

The Mookie and a quick replacement K9 tourney

Wednesday night was a time for some new experiences. For some unknown reason, I had never played at Full Tilt Poker. However, after reading about The Mookie (a tourney with a bunch of bloggers), I decided to give it a go at Full Tilt.

Lots of folding through the first half hour as I get virtually no cards at all. Then, in the Big Blind, I get Cowboys. One player, Columbo, raises pre-flop, so I re-raise him. He goes all in and I call. Looks great: my K-K vs his 10-10. I am ready for my climb to the upper tier of the leaderboard when ... you guessed it, a ten came on the river, sending me to the rail in 54th place (out of 60). Nothing like hitting the rail on a rivered two-outer.

I wish I had lasted longer to get a feel for the level of play in the Mookie. Guess I'll have to wait a little to find out.

Wednesday's K9 tourney was supposed to be held at Amco Poker. We got everyone in, waited ... then found that the tourney was canceled. I don't know the whole story yet, but it sure doesn't leave me feeling all gooey about Amco.

ShaggyTrav, the main man at K9, showed what a star he is by quickly arranging a tourney at PharoahsPokerPalace.com. Imagine -- one tourney gets canceled, and another one is arranged and going within 45 minutes. Where else online will a poker site come through like that. Check out my link on the right side of the blog for the K9 Poker Tour.

Small field of only 20, with top three cashing. I double up early and have the lead early on. However, I go card dead for what seemed like forever and see my ranking go down ... down ... down ...

With shrewd playing and a little luck, I get back in the thick of things for the final table. I make it in the final three, but have only about half the stack of the other two. I am dealt A-rag and go all in, not expecting a call. ashian, the eventual winner, calls me with, I think, Q-J and catches a Queen to put me out in third. My poker bud murrythecat finished second.

Tried a little $1/$2 NL at Full Tilt. Was up and then even, and decided to try a big bluff. I had top pair (Kings) with a Queen kicker. I guessed that the other player in the hand had A-K, although he didn't bet like he had the Big Slick. A flush possibility was on the board, so I re-raised his bet with an all in, figuring that he would guess I hit the flush and fold. Unfortunately, he called, so goodbye money. Gotta admit, though, that I liked playing at Full Tilt. I just might reload and play my regular game and try to grind out a profit.

To end the evening on a good note, I did win my last tourney of the night, a midnight $5 buy in at Poker World. I have cashed all but one time in this small tourney. It has become part of my nightly routine.

Deleting some of the old poker rooms ...

Well, since so many poker rooms are now closing their doors to US players, I spent this past week making many withdrawals. Then I cleaned up my desktop by deleting all those rooms that will not allow US players. I hope they don't ever decide they want us back, because I won't go back.

Some of my old favorites, like Poker.com and Absolute, did the exact opposite: they not only affirmed their commitment to US players, but they also offered special deposit bonuses. I deposited in both. I had not been playing much on Poker.com, but now I remember why I liked them so much. I am doing well in the $1/$2 NL ring games.

K9 Poker Tour news ...

After winning a freeroll on K9, I placed third in another freeroll. Tonight I played in a heads up tourney at Golden Riviera that was sponsored by K9. After a tough first match, I made it to the finals rather easily when I caught a straight on the flop and took out some poor guy that probably had trip Aces. In the finals, I went up against Shaggytrav, the founder of K9.

We were going back and forth when I hit top pair with a decent kicker. When Travis reraised me, I put him on an overpair and attempted to fold. I guess I shouldn't have been playing in a dark room, because believe it or not, I HIT THE WRONG BUTTON and went all in. Naturally, he called, and the match was over. Talk about stupid mistakes. I had hit the wrong button before when playing three tables, but never when playing only one. I believe this may have been the first time ever for a heads up between Travis and me, so I am really pissed at myself for making this stupid mistake. Travis is an excellent heads up player, and I really wanted to find out how I'd match up against him. Damn.

Moving, moving, and more moving

My family is now well into day eight of our move from one house to another in town. Believe it or not, we still have stuff at the old house. Tonight, we hope to get the rest of the items from our attic to either throw away or go toward a garage sale. My wife has been dilligently cleaning, and we hope to get the old house on the market ASAP. I have greatly limited my online poker time the past two weeks and will probably keep playing here and there for the next few weeks.

Odds and ends

Am I the only guy in the world who plays at Poker World? I continue to play ring games there and go upppppp and downnnn. I never recognize people from any of my poker groups playing there. I hope to get my bankroll a little higher and then cash out.

K9 Poker Tour finals are coming July 1. I qualified for both the free and money tours, and therefore have two chances at getting a nice K9 ring.

The Battle of the Blogger Tournaments is coming to a close. Since I did nothing to distinguish my play in the regular season, I need to kick some booty in the freeroll final.

Am I going to Las Vegas July 4-9? I am still waiting to hear from K9 Poker guru Shaggy. He plans on going for an online gaming conference, and we tentatively planned to room together. Is he ready to hear the full force from a guy whose sleep apnea-related snoring shakes buildings?

1,000th Post!

 

 

I began this blog almost eight years ago as a way to get into a special series of private online poker tournaments designed for poker bloggers only. Little did I know at that time that I would one day be making post # 1000.

 

When this blog started back in 2006, it would be pretty easy to see that I was totally obsessed with poker. In fact, I even seemed to do quite well back then online and in b&m poker rooms, as my 2006 year end summary indicated:

 

 

Review of 2006

2006 has proven to be quite a year for me in poker. Some of my most significant or favorite moments include:

* Joining the OnlinePokerTour (which I did just before 2006) and playing in well over 100 tournaments. These many hours of poker play helped me to get better and better as the year went on

* Chopping the Caesar's Palace noon tournament pot with three other players

* Chopping the Sahara 7pm tournament pot with five other people

* Taking down The Mookie (online bloggers tournament) in my second try

* Winning the initial K9 High Rollers tournament

* Great $1/2 NL sessions at Wynn, Bally's, and Luxor

* My first Royal Flush -- in a Shark tournament at True Poker

* Winning a Forum Challenge Event while representing the K9 Poker Tour

* Being part of the birth of the K9 Poker Tour

* Taking fourth place in the Season 1 Grand Final of the Blogger Poker Tour

* Many winning sessions at NL tables at Poker.com

 

 

So yes -- poker seemed to be my life and I was doing quite well, winning online tourneys and chopping some in Las Vegas. Poker was huge everywhere and life was very good. My computer had somewhere around 35 icons for online poker sites. I remember staying up late many nights and crawling into work in the morning. Somehow my wife even found a way to tolerate me (I certainly married the right woman here!). I was attached to several online poker communities and my competitive juices were flowing 24/7. And then ...

 

Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006

 

Neteller.com Founders Arrested

 

So in January 2007 when Neteller stop processing payments for USA residents, things changed. Online rooms were shutting down to USA residents, and the easy way of getting funds transferred was gone. However, poker still boomed for quite some time, but eventually the hold it had on modern culture began to fade. Online poker was still going strong in the USA, and then ...

 

United States v. Scheinberg

 

United States v. PokerStars, et al

 

BOOM -- these court cases caused what we call Black Friday -- April 15, 2011. Goodbye Full Tilt Poker, goodbye PokerStars, goodbye life as we knew it. Online poker and poker in general have not been the same since.

 

The past 999 posts have chronicled by poker experiences and many life experiences. As the poker boom faded, my posts have been less and less about poker and more and more about life in general. I still go out to Las Vegas several times a year and have lately begun dabbling a bit more in online poker. In fact, I am at a cash game table as I write this!

 

I am pretty amazed at how much I have written in the past eight years. Every so often I got very passionate about subjects and wrote some very good posts. Many times I was writing so that years from now I could have a journal of my life during this time, something I will no doubt treasure more in the future. And, as one of my work friends always says about life, it's all good.

 

Some of the unexpected benefits I received by blogging are the many friendships I have formed over the past eight years. With online poker having decreased in popularity, I have scant contact with some old friends. However, there are still several current poker buddies around, both online and in person. Sometimes these relationships overlap, which is like doubling the fun. I certainly consider my readers and contributers to be friends, for by sharing ideas, humor and camaraderie, we make our lives richer.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

 lightning36 playing in a WSOP event in Las Vegas. The beard is long gone.

 



Recent Tournament Action ...

... has been okay. Finished a few places out of the money at a K9 tournament at Tropical Poker, but at least I did make the final table instead of bubbling it as I have recently. Had a respectable showing in an OPT freeroll at Poker.com, but had a middle-of-the-pack showing at a blogger tournament on Tuesday. Lost on the river ... again. So tonight ...

1) The Mookie - I would love to take this puppy down again. Full Tilt has not been kind to me lately, so maybe I get my revenge tonight.
2) Freeroll at Third Bullet - reserved for the members of Desser's Danes, the winners of an internal tourney for K9 Poker Tour members. We got to pick which team we would be on, and the winning team got a freeroll. When it came time to sign up, I saw the Danes loaded with some of the best K9 players so I joined. I was happy to make the final table and help secure the private freeroll for the Danes. Yea!

I am now officially one hour away from the Thanksgiving holiday break (USA). Let's all have a good long weekend.

Review of 2006

2006 has proven to be quite a year for me in poker. Some of my most significant or favorite moments include:

* Joining the OnlinePokerTour (which I did just before 2006) and playing in well over 100 tournaments. These many hours of poker play helped me to get better and better as the year went on

* Chopping the Caesar's Palace noon tournament pot with three other players

* Chopping the Sahara 7pm tournament pot with five other people

* Taking down The Mookie (online bloggers tournament) in my second try

* Winning the initial K9 High Rollers tournament

* Great $1/2 NL sessions at Wynn, Bally's, and Luxor

* My first Royal Flush -- in a Shark tournament at True Poker

* Winning a Forum Challenge Event while representing the K9 Poker Tour

* Being part of the birth of the K9 Poker Tour

* Taking fourth place in the Season 1 Grand Final of the Blogger Poker Tour

* Many winning sessions at NL tables at Poker.com

Online Forum Challenge Victory

Due to some problems at the last Online Forum Challenge freeroll at OK USA Poker, the top 100 were put in a special freeroll to determine forum honors. I was playing for the K9 Poker Tour this time, as I rotate which forum I play for -- K9, the Online Poker Tour, and CardsChat. A mix of good cards late in the tourney, good decisions overall, and a few gifts from the poker gods translated into a victory. The final table was particularly fun since two of the others in the final six were murrythecat and jermn, two excellent players from the OPT and K9. They both happened to be playing for the OPT, so I imagine that OPT will win the event.


Home Game, Vegas 24/7 $100,000 Guaranteed

I took third in last night's home game. I have cashed in about five of the last six. I got no cards early on and then got crippled when my A-J was slaughtered by A-7, which hit two pair on the flop. However, I jusy took my time, pushed when appropriate, and either won the hands or got people to fold. So, once again I have to settle for third place, but at least I made it into the money again, which is top three at the home game.

$100,000 Guaranteed saw me go totally card dead for the first hour+. Then, in the Big Blind, I got K-Qos. Everyone folded except the biggish stack Small Blind, who raised. I called and got a flop of rag-Q-rag. The Small Blind went all in, and I thought that he was just trying to muscle me out of the chips, so I called. Unfortunately, he had A-Q. End of story.

Looking back, I should have folded and lived for another hand. Making a poor judgment on my opponent's hand cost me big time. It was a reckless play by a guy who usually plays a little smarter than that. Live and learn.

Donkey or Respectable Play - You Tell Me

Played in three tournaments tonight - K9 Freeroll at Vegas 24/7, CC's Thursday Bash at PokerStars, and Riverchasers Tour Event #5 at Full Tilt. Shouldn't have played all three at once, but what the heck. Results were better than the rest of the week, but I fell short of cashes at CC's and Riverchasers.

K9: 30th place - 76 players
CC's: 5th place - 18 players (paid 3)
Riverchasers: 8th place - 54 players (paid 6)

Now ... at CC's Bash, xkm1245 was not very happy with the result of a hand. I am posting it here with my commentary. You tell me - donkey play? Comments welcome.

PokerStars Game #8807979192: Tournament #44615509, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2007/03/08 - 22:25:04 (ET)
Table '44615509 2' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 2: xkm1245 (1120 in chips)
Seat 4: DrawFlush (3214 in chips)
Seat 5: jjok (2455 in chips)
Seat 6: hoyazo (1780 in chips)
Seat 7: AlCantHang (4663 in chips)
Seat 9: lightning36 (2173 in chips) lightning36: posts small blind 50
xkm1245: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to lightning36 [4h Qc] (This hand will suck.)
DrawFlush: folds
jjok: folds
hoyazo said, "thats horrible xkm."
hoyazo: folds
AlCantHang: folds
lightning36: calls 50 (No calls or raises. I'll call for 50 chips.)
hoyazo said, "hate to be a part of that"
xkm1245: checks
*** FLOP *** [5s 3h 2c] (No flush draw on the board)
lightning36: checks (Open-ended straight draw. I'll check.)
xkm1245: bets 200
lightning36: calls 200 (No pre-flop raise and all small cards, so I'll bet he now has a pair. Little chance he has A-4 or 6-4, in which case I get killed. Do I call 200 out of 2073 chips and hope for an A or 6 which will probably get me his stack, or perhaps a Q which should win me the hand? Eleven outs -- yeah, pay to see one more card.)
*** TURN *** [5s 3h 2c] [As] (Ding)
lightning36: checks
xkm1245 said, "i'm gonna be in waffles mindstate soon, hoy" (Most likely sooner than you think.)
xkm1245: bets 819
lightning36: raises 819 to 1638 (Looks like the big hand I waited for.)
xkm1245: calls 1 and is all-in
hoyazo said, "yeah"
*** RIVER *** [5s 3h 2c As] [9d]
xkm1245 said, "nice one"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
lightning36: shows [4h Qc] (a straight, Ace to Five)
xkm1245: shows [Ad 5d] (two pair, Aces and Fives)
hoyazo said, "oy"
lightning36 collected 2240 from pot
jjok said, "gg"
xkm1245 [observer] said, "****ing Q4" (I wouldn't be happy either.)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2240 Rake 0
Board [5s 3h 2c As 9d]
Seat 2: xkm1245 (big blind) showed [Ad 5d] and lost with two pair, Aces and Fives
Seat 4: DrawFlush folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: jjok folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: hoyazo folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: AlCantHang (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: lightning36 (small blind) showed [4h Qc] and won (2240) with a straight, Ace to Five

Now -- I can understand xkm1245 getting pissed at this beat. I would have, too. My question: Was this a donkey play on my part? Putting up 50 chips to see the flop? Calling a 200 chip bet with an open-ended straight draw and an overcard -- in my mind eleven outs?

You make the call. And yes -- I would do it again.


Home Game This Friday Night

I am looking forward to my monthly home game tomorrow night. I have a long streak of cashes and finished second last month. With things all topsy-turvy at work, this game will be a source of refuge.

K9 Money and Free/Incentive Tour Finals

Played in the K9 Poker Tour Money and Free/Incentive Tour finals on Sunday. The Free/Incentive Tour final was first, and I swear that I have never seen so many great hands lose on draws. At least you knew that if you were behind, you would probably win the hand. The blinds increased quickly, so part of both tournaments was a crap shoot anyway. I butted heads with murrythecat repeatedly in the Free game, besting his Queens with a King kicker to my Queens with an Ace kicker. Then, just when he was on the ropes, he re-raised my A-Q hand and went all in with 7-7. I didn't pair the board, and mur doubled up while I lost a good portion of my chips -- which I'd mostly just won from him! Final hand: I was in the small blind with a garbage hand and called the big blind. He checked, and I hit top pair on the flop. We were both short stacked and I knew I had him beat, so I went all in. He called with middle pair. As you might guess, he hit a second pair of the turn, and that was all she wrote.

Money Tour - I was down to only a few chips and had to play push monkey out of desperation. As luck would have it, people were folding to me or I hit some lucky cards. Some astute playing got me back in the middle of the pack, and I actually ended up finishing in 4th place. At the end, the blinds were huge, and someone in front of me raised. With A-10d being the best hand I'd seen in a few orbits and with my chip stack low, I went all in. My opponent, who had two or three times as many chips as I did, called with 9-9. I lost this 50/50 also, and settled for 4th place.

Results: The Big Game

The final points event in the Battle of the Blogger Tournaments was The Big Game, a monthly $75 buy-in event. I had "tokened up" at Full Tilt several weeks ago and saved a $75 token for the game.

I chipped up early with a few good hands, then eeked out a nice win against one of the better bloggers:

Full Tilt Poker Game #2826039931: Blogger Big Game (19471102), Table 2 - 20/40 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:47:49 ET - 2007/07/01

Seat 1: Rake Feeder (3,000)

Seat 2: pvanharibo (938)

Seat 3: kaellinn18 (4,070)

Seat 4: oossuuu754 (2,730)

Seat 5: Zeem (2,926)

Seat 6: sellthekids (3,710)

Seat 7: columbo (3,240)

Seat 8: lightning36 (3,566)

Seat 9: smizmiatch (2,820)

kaellinn18 posts the small blind of 20

oossuuu754 posts the big blind of 40

The button is in seat #2

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to lightning36 [Ac 3c]

Zeem folds

sellthekids folds

columbo folds

lightning36 calls 40

smizmiatch folds

Rake Feeder folds

pvanharibo folds

kaellinn18 folds

columbo: talk about a volitile ride...

oossuuu754 raises to 140

lightning36 calls 100 I have some chips to play with. Let's see the flop.

*** FLOP *** [3h Kc 4c] Nut flush draw and bottom pair

oossuuu754 bets 300

lightning36 raises to 600 osu is a very aggressive player. Let's see what he does when I re-raise.

oossuuu754 raises to 900

lightning36 calls 300 Ut oh...

*** TURN *** [3h Kc 4c] [9s]

oossuuu754 bets 520

lightning36 calls 520 He bet about 1/4 the pot? Smells like weakness to me. Go with my gut.

*** RIVER *** [3h Kc 4c 9s] [7s]

oossuuu754 checks

lightning36 checks He must be weak with no bet. A big bet might get him to fold, but I don't want to donk off more chips in case I am wrong. He may have a pair, so I'd better just call.

*** SHOW DOWN ***

oossuuu754 shows [Ad Qd] Ace King high

lightning36 shows [Ac 3c] a pair of Threes

lightning36 wins the pot (3,140) with a pair of Threes Either I'm getting better at this or I am too much of a donk to realize it.

*** SUMMARY ***

Total pot 3,140 Rake 0

Board: [3h Kc 4c 9s 7s]

Seat 1: Rake Feeder didn't bet (folded)

Seat 2: pvanharibo (button) didn't bet (folded)

Seat 3: kaellinn18 (small blind) folded before the Flop

Seat 4: oossuuu754 (big blind) showed [Ad Qd] and lost with Ace King high

Seat 5: Zeem didn't bet (folded)

Seat 6: sellthekids didn't bet (folded)

Seat 7: columbo didn't bet (folded)

Seat 8: lightning36 showed [Ac 3c] and won (3,140) with a pair of Threes

Seat 9: smizmiatch didn't bet (folded)

oossuuu754: OMG

I felt like I was playing well, I was getting a few good cards, and I could see myself making a deep run in this tournament. Then, everything came crashing down on one hand:

Full Tilt Poker Game #2826146604: Blogger Big Game (19471102), Table 2 - 25/50 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:58:22 ET - 2007/07/01

Seat 1: Rake Feeder (2,925)

Seat 2: pvanharibo (788)

Seat 3: kaellinn18 (2,055)

Seat 4: oossuuu754 (2,680)

Seat 5: Zeem (2,826)

Seat 6: sellthekids (3,635)

Seat 8: lightning36 (5,066)

Seat 9: smizmiatch (2,635)

lightning36 posts the small blind of 25

smizmiatch posts the big blind of 50

The button is in seat #6

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to lightning36 [Tc Ts]

Rake Feeder folds

pvanharibo folds

kaellinn18 folds

oossuuu754 foldsZeem folds

sellthekids raises to 150

lightning36 calls 125 Should I have re-raised? I hated to commit more chips here since it was likely that aces or paint would show up on the flop.

smizmiatch folds

*** FLOP *** [9d Td 5s]

lightning36 has 15 seconds left to act

lightning36 bets 300 Pot-sized bet. Don't know this player. Two diamonds on the board.

sellthekids calls 300

*** TURN *** [9d Td 5s] [8s]

lightning36 bets 900

sellthekids raises to 1,800 What could he have? I must have the better hand. I didn't put him on anything like Q-J suited.

lightning36 raises to 4,616, and is all I don't know what he has, but I am almost sure I have the better hand. Let's see if he calls and I send him to the rail.

sellthekids calls 1,385, and is all in

lightning36 shows [Tc Ts]

sellthekids shows [7h 9c] He raised and then went all in on a straight draw with middle pair??? With an overcard on the board? With a possible flush draw for me??

Uncalled bet of 1,431 returned to lightning36

*** RIVER *** [9d Td 5s 8s] [Jh] Fucking figures.

lightning36 shows three of a kind, Tens

sellthekids shows a straight, Jack high

sellthekids wins the pot (7,320) with a straight, Jack high

*** SUMMARY ***

Total pot 7,320 Rake 0

Board: [9d Td 5s 8s Jh]

Seat 1: Rake Feeder didn't bet (folded)

Seat 2: pvanharibo didn't bet (folded)

Seat 3: kaellinn18 didn't bet (folded)

Seat 4: oossuuu754 didn't bet (folded)

Seat 5: Zeem didn't bet (folded)

Seat 6: sellthekids (button) showed [7h 9c] and won (7,320) with a straight, Jack high

Seat 8: lightning36 (small blind) showed [Tc Ts] and lost with three of a kind, Tens

Seat 9: smizmiatch (big blind) folded before the Flop

lightning36: &@!& lol

sellthekids: pls excuse my ugliness I can't believe he risked his tournament on that play.

Instead of jousting at the top of the leaderboard, I was crippled. I battled to stay in for some time, but finally was taken down when I went all in with 8-8 and was called with A-9. I lost that 50/50, and I was out.

It hurts when you make a donkey play and hit the rail. It hurts when your opponent outplays you and you hit the rail. It tears your heart out when your opponent risks his tournament life with a straight draw and hits it, crippling you. At least I only paid $8.70 for the token.

Houses Update

Since my life has largely been focused on the old house and the new house, I am discovering why people say "never again" after moving a family that had been entrenched for many years in a house. Just when we thought the old house was ready to go on the market, an old roof leak of which we'd forgotten (only leaks during monsoon-type rains -- which we just had) had to be fixed. Then, our downstairs carpeting would not lose an odor or some stains, meaning it has to be replaced (cha-ching), delaying the listing for about a week. We hope to finally get the house on the market next week as soon as the new carpeting is put in.

If the house sells rather quickly and anywhere near our asking price, we will come out okay. If, however, it takes some time to sell or the market dictates lowering the asking price, we may have some tricky times ahead. However, I have always been a frugal-type guy and we have money to cover our butts even if things don't work out like we planned.

It is interesting to note that the "wiggle room" money in our savings which keeps my anxiety level down came from my 2006 poker winnings, both from Las Vegas and online. Who would have guessed that my poker addiction would fund part of our safety net in moving?

Week's summary heading into the weekend

Thursday brought two cashes out of three tournaments. I got third in the K9 Money Tour event and 6th in the Shark Home Game at Absolute.

The K9 tournament was very challenging since the blinds seemed to increase so quickly. However, I got a decent sized stack at the right time and cruised into the final table. As luck would have it, Shaggy suddenly became a card rack. My final hand: Snowmen in my pocket. I raised and Shaggy called. The only over card was a 9, so I went all in. It turns out the Shaggy was playing A-9os. He hit another 9 just to make it hurt a little more - ha ha!

In the Shark event, I took a brutal beat about halfway through. I had K-10spades and saw a flop of diamond-K-diamond. I checked and was raised by the only other guy in the hand. I went all in and he called off all his chips on a flush draw. You guessed it -- the river was a diamond. Instead of having a huge lead (I was in first, second, or third at the time), I dropped down several places. However, my stack was big enough to take the hit and still keep me in. I eventually went out in 6th place.

The week's blogger tournaments: Bad week. Middle of the pack finishes in each one. Ran into big hands at the wrong time.

Cash tables: Good week at Bodog. Set mining netted me several buy-ins, but I lost a buy in when someone called my raise (pocket Kings) with J-9os!! He paired his Jack on the flop, and called my big raise on the flop and my big raise on the turn. Of course, the river was a 9, and he got my buy-in. I guess that is just the price of playing at the $1/2 NL table on Bodog.

Coming up: Two chances to win a seat at the WSOP Main Event on Sunday -- through the 2006 OPT Money Tour Final (postponed from two weeks ago due to technical problems at Poker.com) and through the World Series of Online Forums (WSOOF) at PokerStars. I was given a free seat in the final event due to my being a previous Online Forum Challenge event winner. Wish me luck!

Wow - I won a PS3 tonight! Thank you K9 Poker Tour!

During the month of March, the K9 Poker Tour was running an "incentive tour" -- satellite freerolls and maybe even a money event or so -- for a grand prize - a PS3. I played in and qualified in the second freeroll that was run and then waited out the month for the final. There were 41 runners competing for the prize.

It was one of those tournaments when virtually everything went right. I got some good cards early, chipped up, and then hit a torrid streak of cards, enabling me to become an early chip leader and control much of the action at my table. At some points of the tournament, I had a substantial lead. Of course, the inevitable run of poor cards came and I drifted back to earth and stayed within the top four or so.

I played well and, of course, got some of the breaks that you need to win a tournament. However, I created some of my own breaks by playing aggressively.

The final table was a well-fought match. Fortunately, I was able to make it to the final two, then came out on top of a tough heads up match with stri8up. Kudos also go to Heuvy31, the third place finisher. When it got down to the final three, we were all about even at 20,000. Any of us could have captured the prize.

Since I recently bought a Wii for my family, I am not sure if I'll keep the PS3. How do you find time for gaming when poker calls?

Second K9 Victory

Tonight was another intensive Thursday night with three tourneys going on at the same time on three sites. The results:

K9: First place. Played solid poker and got a break or two along the way. Second victory on the Free Tour. If hadn't hit that wrong button in the Heads Up tourney last weekend I might have had my second victory in a week.

Shark: 30 out of 82. Held on to my pocket Jacks when I should have folded. Should have known better. Painful lesson.

OPT: 54 out of 639. Went out when my QQ pocket pair was all in vs JJ. A Jack came on the flop. Dang.

I have been playing ring games at Poker.com and Absolute with some success. Been doing okay in SNGs at Absolute ... as long as I don't play when I am tired.

How is this for a nasty 36 hours at the tables?

1) Was progressing quite well in a Noble buy-in tournament when my A-A pre-flop all in got called by Q-7 os. The guy with Q-7 was hitting all kinds of junk hands and was one one the chip leaders. He caught a Q on the flop and a 7 on the turn. Unbelievable.

2) Placed on the bubble in a CardsChat tournament. No money.

3) Was the first one out in a K9 tournament. I was tired and not thinking right and was lured by a bounty. K9 player Desser had originally raised pre-flop and I called. When the flop was rag-rag-rag, I went all in with Q-Q. Only two hands would put her ahead of me -- A-A or K-K. She had K-K. Should have known.

4) Ring game at Noble. Raised with A-A pre-flop. Got one caller who stayed with me. Flop was all rags, and I got burned when he hit a set of 3's on the flop.

5) Ring game at Noble. I raise with A-K. Get one caller. Flop is A-rag-rag. I raise and the other guy goes all in. I put him on A-Q or A-J and call. He has 7-7 ... and procedes to catch his lucky 7 on the turn. Why would he go all in with only a pocket pair of 7's? I raised pre-flop and an Ace came on the flop. Dang two-outers.

Poker Ennui

I find that I am not alone in feeling a sort of listlessness when it comes to online poker these days. After the initial bloodbath in 2006 which saw several sites close its doors to USA players, the loss of Neteller and the scramble to find new alternatives for payment has led to a general disenchantment with playing online.

I feel that in so many ways I am adrift on a small raft in the sea of online poker, just trying to make it through the day to see the next. My aspirations have dwindled, I have lost some of the joy of playing, and frankly, my play has suffered as a result. What used to bring me so much happiness is now "just okay."

Fortunately, a few of my poker groups have helped to keep me anchored in the game. The K9 Poker Tour has a great community, and a recent Forum Challenge had us joining together to attempt to whomp other forums. The CardsChat Bodog buy in events have continued to provide me small, fun tournaments against crafty online players.

I am going to Las Vegas on Super Bowl Sunday. I am hoping that a little live action will help to revive my spirits since I seem to be suffering from some sort of poker depression.

Nice Cash at Poker.com

Another second place finish, but this time at a Poker.com freezeout tournament. The final table was as tough a table as I'd been in for some time. I was down 100,000 to 15,000 at heads up, and almost managed to cripple my opponent. Final hand: I had top pair (6's) good kicker (K) and second nut flush draw on a flop of 4c-5c-6c. Unfortunately, my opponent had pocket 10's. The turn and river were both Aces with neither a club. Nope - none of the 14 outs came after the flop.

My tournament play has been strong this week. I've also won a token or two at Full Tilt, so I am waiting to try one of the $26 token donkfests. Should be interesting.

Las Vegas Trip Rescheduled

Since K9 Poker guru Shaggy seems to have fallen off the face of the earth and with some of the problems in getting my old house on the market, I decided to delay my Las Vegas trip from July until September. After going to Las Vegas four times last year, I will have only one trip under my belt through the first eight months of 2007. However, September is a nice time to be in Las Vegas -- not the blasted hot weather of July, and smaller crowds everywhere.

Happy 4th of July!

Freerolls, Battle of the Blogger Tournaments, and Misc

I have played in several freerolls this past week, most sponsored by the Online Poker Tour. Now I remember why freerolls are good for beginners and bad for experienced players: all that time playing, but virtually no rewards except for the poker ego garnishing.

I actually got down pretty far in some freerolls -- final tabling one and just missing on two others. Not really bad when you are wading through almost 700 runners. But what does it get the experienced player? Several hours and 13th place in a Full Tilt freeroll netted me $.18. Not exactly a cost effective way to play. OPT has a month-long contest underway, but that it a lot of time to devote.

In other news ... the Battle of the Blogger Tournaments has begun. Scores from the MATH, Mookie, and Riverchasers tournaments will be used, as well as the occasional Big Game. The blogger tournaments are loaded with great players, so getting high on this leaderboard will be a challenge. I missed the first event but played the next two. I am currently in 19th place, so that is not too bad for a start. I had a middle-of-the-pack finish in the Mookie and came close to the final table in the Riverchasers event.

The next event in Monday at the Hoy (MATH) on Full Tilt. I already won my $24+2 token from a two-table SNG $8+.70 satellite. I thought I was going to bubble with nothing to show or hit the $14 "just missed" spot, but some doofus who was in the middle of the pack made an unbelievably bad play, going all in on an unsuited Ace-rag (four, maybe?) and was bounced out by one of the chip leaders. I and two other small stacks were battling like all heck to stay in, and this guy who should have coasted into the money made life easy for us.

The screenies are from a third place finish in the weekly CardsChat buy-in at Bodog, and a second place finish at a K9 Poker buy-in at PitBull. The PitBull tourney had only ten runners but went on forever. It probably had the highest level of good poker playing of any tournament I have been in for some time. I thought I would take it down when I was heads up with a slight lead and I had pocket Kings. However, my opponent flopped (I believe) a straight, so I had to settle for second place. Such is poker. Can't complain after my pocket 8's beat pocket Kings when I spiked an 8 on the flop earlier in the tourney.

Happy Easter everyone!!

A Little Too Close to Home

I have worked in higher education for over 25 years. It may not leave me the richest man in the world, but it has been a satifying career. Assisting students, both young and returning, in reaching their goals, finding meaning in their lives, and fulfilling professional dreams is a wonderful way to spend a lifetime. In a lot of ways, working in higher ed is like living in a genteel little society, one in which niceness, politeness, and unfortunately, political correctness, permeate everything both tangible and intangible.

The shootings at Northern Illinois University, however, remind us that sometimes our little protected worlds are not quite as safe as they might seem.

NIU is an average state university, stuck out in the cornfields in northern Illinois. It has a high percentage of Chicago-area students who like it for the the location -- about a quick one hour drive northwest of Chicago. It is certainly not the type of campus where you would expect to find several students murdered due to a lunatic's rampage.

I was at work and unaware of the shootings when my cell phone rang. I was surprised to hear the voice of an old online poker buddy, Shaggy (Travis), head honcho of K9 Poker . Travis couldn't remember where I worked and wanted to check and make sure that I was okay. I chuckled a bit since NIU is a good distance away from me. Still, it is nice to know that people are concerned about you.

While the whole incident is a tragedy and certainly disconcerting, the shootings took on a new perspective when I found out that the shooter, Steve Kazmierczak, lived just over three miles from my house. I go past his apartment complex on a regular basis when it is my day to car pool or when I stop at the grocery store on the way home from work.

I swear that I have seen the guy before. Was he a guy I let go in front of me at the local grocery store since he had only a few items? Was he a guy eating a chicken sandwich next to me at the local sandwich shop? The scary thing is, yes -- he could have been.

I grew up with a murderer and went to college with a serial murderer, so it is not like I haven't known that these people might be closer than you might expect. Still, it never helps you to sleep at night when you know that virtually anyone you run into could be capable of taking lives.

A few results and some important news ...

Results for Nov 28

WWdN: weak player Invitational @ PokerStars:
Gee - sounds like it was meant for me. Unfortunately, A-K and 7-7 were the best cards I got in an hour. Not a recipe for success. 28th place, 43 entrants. Yuck.

OPT Room freeroll:49th out of 335. Yep -- I cashed -- for $.55. lol

K9 freeroll @ Doyle's Room:

Well, at least one somewhat successful tourney tonight.

Actually, I had great success at the Poker.com NL ring games today, so the day was not a total loss.


The Important News

Readers of this blog may remember my story back in June about getting into a collision playing softball. Yes, I did crack a rib, but I also had a little more serious scare.

I knew there was trouble when the Urgent Care physician looked at my x ray and asked about the previous rib injury I mentioned. Then, a few days later, I was called and advised to make an appointment with my family physician because of concerns from the x ray. I then had to get a CT scan to get a better look at what appeared to be a mass on my lower left lung.

Having smoked only about 100 cigars and cigarettes in my life, I was of course pissed that I could possibly be looking at lung cancer while the smokers of the world continued to foul the air that I breathe.

Well, the test results were inconclusive, but with my good health and lack of smoking history, my lung doctor believed that the shadow was caused by some sort of damage to my ribs and/or lungs during the softball collision. I was to get x rayed again in November.

I got the x ray and saw my doctor on Monday. The mass appears to have gotten smaller, so I am not scheduled for a return visit for six months. Looks like I am in the clear.

Needless to say, I feel relieved. These last several months have seen a lot of soul searching and thinking. For now, it looks like I'll be around for many more tournaments ...