A Little Ketchup
It is amazing how fast time seems to fly by sometimes. It has been 3 1/2 weeks since I last posted here. Back during the poker boom, posting every day or at least every few days was the usual routine. Now, life seems to intrude more and more. Over time, I have posted less and less about poker and more about life in general. This blog was always an outlet for what I was feeling. It has always been like an old friend. With that, a little bit of an update.
Poker
After my horrendous poker luck experiences on my June Las Vegas trip, I did get back to more regular poker. Poker buddy Nick was able to meet me and play some poker at the Par-A-Dice riverboat casino in East Peoria, IL. Although I did not have a great day, it was fun seeing Nick stomp the competition. After tightening up my game and getting a few minor victories, I took a huge psychological loss when, at Par-A-Dice at a later date, I lost a $700 pot when, with about $400 behind, I raised to $15 with A-A in the big blind and was called only by the button, who had limped in. He had a stack of about $350. The flop was 10c-7d-3c. I led out for $25. The villain then raised to $80. What? For whatever reason, I didn't get the vibe that he hit a set. If he did, why not flat call or raise a little to build a pot? Two pair , given the board, seemed unlikely. I began to think that he had either something like A-10 or an overpair like J-J. I had seen this guy raise big preflop previously with things like A-Q. I decided to shove! He was in for $95 and had about $250 behind. He went into the tank, confirming in my mind that he did not have a set. I knew I was ahead one way or another. He took some time and I was tempted to call the clock. Finally, he decided to call. The turn -- the Ace of Clubs! He turned over his hand -- 7c-6c! He called off all his chips with middle pair and a 7-high flush draw. I was hoping that the river would pair the board and give me the win, but it was a rag. I lost about $350 on that hand after working to build my $200 buy-in to $400. I felt pretty discouraged and ended up shoving with a big pair several hands later and lost to two pair.
So ... what do you think? Was I foolish to push all in given the circumstances I described? Would you have bet a different amount? Even if I had and I hit a set of Aces on the turn, could I have folded if the villain went all in? I seriously doubt that!
In the past couple of weeks, I have had winning sessions at Blue Chip Casino (Michigan City, IN), Harrah's Joliet and again at Harrah's Joliet last night, when I had a great night. The poker gods gave me some cards and I sucked out on a big hand. Poker is fun again!
Work
I do not have an exact date set for my retirement yet, but it will be in July 2020, so I am already under the one year left mark. This coming Thursday, I celebrate 25 years at my current place of employment. Geez - how time flies. I'm bringing in some food for my colleagues to celebrate. A colleague just retired on Wednesday, and I will be moving into her office sometime in the next six weeks. It is a huge corner office that is nearly identical to the big office I had to give up when I ended my tenure as head of the department. I could just stay in my current office, but what the heck - I want the big place!
Automobiles
I had been looking at some cars to replace my Mustang that finally petered out, and was considering the 2018 version -- red Mustang convertible, or a 2016 BMW convertible -- a different metallic orange color. I decided to pass on both. For now, I will continue to drive our trusty 2005 Grand Caravan -- rust, dents, scrapes and all!
Softball
I don't think I have even mentioned softball this season, but I play on a senior league team. I haven't been mentioning softball because I was having a truly crappy season at bat. We had a round robin first round last Wednesday. I only went 1-3 in the first game but went 3-3 in the second. My team won a tie breaker and won the right to play the top seed in the other division. My division is the "recreational" division and the other is the "competitive." We are due to be slaughtered Monday night. I have heard that we will be spotted 10 runs. If that is true, we will likely get two per inning for the first five innings. In previous iterations of the league, the bottom teams were spotted five runs over five innings. It won't really matter as we will get killed. My usual position is short left field (unusual outfield configuration). I will probably get lots of business Monday night.
Las Vegas
I currently have plane and hotel reservations to go to Las Vegas Sept 1-6. I'm probably about 80% sure that I am going. I have traditionally taken a trip there in September. Perhaps I will celebrate thundering36's birthday with a juicy piece of meat at Gordon Ramsay's STEAK.
Thanks for reading!
Poker
After my horrendous poker luck experiences on my June Las Vegas trip, I did get back to more regular poker. Poker buddy Nick was able to meet me and play some poker at the Par-A-Dice riverboat casino in East Peoria, IL. Although I did not have a great day, it was fun seeing Nick stomp the competition. After tightening up my game and getting a few minor victories, I took a huge psychological loss when, at Par-A-Dice at a later date, I lost a $700 pot when, with about $400 behind, I raised to $15 with A-A in the big blind and was called only by the button, who had limped in. He had a stack of about $350. The flop was 10c-7d-3c. I led out for $25. The villain then raised to $80. What? For whatever reason, I didn't get the vibe that he hit a set. If he did, why not flat call or raise a little to build a pot? Two pair , given the board, seemed unlikely. I began to think that he had either something like A-10 or an overpair like J-J. I had seen this guy raise big preflop previously with things like A-Q. I decided to shove! He was in for $95 and had about $250 behind. He went into the tank, confirming in my mind that he did not have a set. I knew I was ahead one way or another. He took some time and I was tempted to call the clock. Finally, he decided to call. The turn -- the Ace of Clubs! He turned over his hand -- 7c-6c! He called off all his chips with middle pair and a 7-high flush draw. I was hoping that the river would pair the board and give me the win, but it was a rag. I lost about $350 on that hand after working to build my $200 buy-in to $400. I felt pretty discouraged and ended up shoving with a big pair several hands later and lost to two pair.
So ... what do you think? Was I foolish to push all in given the circumstances I described? Would you have bet a different amount? Even if I had and I hit a set of Aces on the turn, could I have folded if the villain went all in? I seriously doubt that!
In the past couple of weeks, I have had winning sessions at Blue Chip Casino (Michigan City, IN), Harrah's Joliet and again at Harrah's Joliet last night, when I had a great night. The poker gods gave me some cards and I sucked out on a big hand. Poker is fun again!
Work
I do not have an exact date set for my retirement yet, but it will be in July 2020, so I am already under the one year left mark. This coming Thursday, I celebrate 25 years at my current place of employment. Geez - how time flies. I'm bringing in some food for my colleagues to celebrate. A colleague just retired on Wednesday, and I will be moving into her office sometime in the next six weeks. It is a huge corner office that is nearly identical to the big office I had to give up when I ended my tenure as head of the department. I could just stay in my current office, but what the heck - I want the big place!
Automobiles
I had been looking at some cars to replace my Mustang that finally petered out, and was considering the 2018 version -- red Mustang convertible, or a 2016 BMW convertible -- a different metallic orange color. I decided to pass on both. For now, I will continue to drive our trusty 2005 Grand Caravan -- rust, dents, scrapes and all!
Softball
I don't think I have even mentioned softball this season, but I play on a senior league team. I haven't been mentioning softball because I was having a truly crappy season at bat. We had a round robin first round last Wednesday. I only went 1-3 in the first game but went 3-3 in the second. My team won a tie breaker and won the right to play the top seed in the other division. My division is the "recreational" division and the other is the "competitive." We are due to be slaughtered Monday night. I have heard that we will be spotted 10 runs. If that is true, we will likely get two per inning for the first five innings. In previous iterations of the league, the bottom teams were spotted five runs over five innings. It won't really matter as we will get killed. My usual position is short left field (unusual outfield configuration). I will probably get lots of business Monday night.
Las Vegas
I currently have plane and hotel reservations to go to Las Vegas Sept 1-6. I'm probably about 80% sure that I am going. I have traditionally taken a trip there in September. Perhaps I will celebrate thundering36's birthday with a juicy piece of meat at Gordon Ramsay's STEAK.
Thanks for reading!
posted by lightning36 at 11:10 PM
1 Comments:
"I will probably get lots of business Monday night." haha
As for the A-A hand, 8-9 of clubs seems like a big possibility when he makes it $80. I would have called. The ace on the turn complicates everything. Hard to fold a set of aces to a shove there since it could be two pair or pocket clubs.
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