The Micros - Holiday Special

Win-Win!

Finally played some live poker in Vermont.

While searching the intertubes a while back for possible live games I came across a cool site.

Basically they have several live sites around the state that play weekly, but all are at least an hour away, so I played in the Full Tilt Poker tourney 4 weeks, and won 2 of them to qualify for the end of season live tourney, which I'll call the Vermont State Championship.

Anyway, one of the live sites was hosting a charity fundraiser for the local fire dept. this past Saturday, so I decided to make the 1 hr drive from Montpelier to St. Johnsbury.

The St. Johnsbury Fire Department, Santa’s Fund will be holding a benefit tournament on Saturday, December 11th, at The Chill Zone on 397 Railroad Street in St. Johnsbury, VT.

Registration and $5 Satellites start at 4pm, Tournament starts at 6pm. Cash games, Blackjack and other casino games will be running before and after the tournament.

No Limit Texas Hold’em
$25 buy-in, unlimited re-buys during the first 4 blind levels
2,500 starting chips
20 minute blind levels
Standard WSOP blind schedule (25/50, 50/100, 100/200, 100/200/25, etc.)

We ended up w/20 players, so 2 tables. I bought in for the initial $25, then had to rebuy after losing on the river in a coin flip. After the 4 levels you were allowed to buy 1 or 2 add-ons, so I bought both. Knocked out one guy when I flopped a set of 8's, and another when I was priced in w/a flush draw.

We combined @ 9 players, and the top 4 got paid, but I needed 1st or 2nd to turn a profit! I was the only one of the final 4 that had invested $100, as the others were in for $25, $25, and $55. Went card dead for awhile, but managed to play big stack poker vs some of the small stacks. Once we got heads up we were pretty even, so I offered to chop & we split $475. All for a good cause!

Wish me luck Sunday in the unofficial Vermont State Championship!

The Micros

Rush Poker for your Mobile Phone

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If you don't have a Full Tilt Poker Account, remember to use Bonus Code RITZEFTP when signing up & getting 100% 1st deposit bonus up to $600.

Kind Regards,

Boat

Vermont Home Games

Got the family moved last week, so I am officially relocated to Vermont. The closest casino is 2-1/2 hours away. I need to find a decent home game here, so hook me up if you know anyone near Montpelier!

Thanks & Good Luck!

Boat

Casino Montreal

Played 1-2 NL @ the Montreal Casino last night. Biggest Casino in Canada. Nice poker room. Was an Ace on the turn or river away from $5700 as part of the Bad Beat Jackpot. One guy flopped quad queens, other guy had AA. Jackpot is over $183,000, so I'd take over $90K for getting my aces cracked!

Oh yea, taking a peak at your cards & seeing R, D, and V instead of K, Q, and J takes a bit getting used to!

Las Vegas Trip Report Days 1-2

IlliniFan and I flew out to Las Vegas on Sunday evening June 20th. The direct flight from CVG is much nicer than any of the other options, especially when you can get it for ~ $300. The worst part of the trip was the long wait to check in at the Imperial Palace. While waiting in line we exchanged some texts/IM's w/friends from the online poker community (Zooks, T, Pred, etc.) in town and decided to try to meet up for a mixed game at Ceasar's Palace.

The room for the 1st night was on the 2nd floor and had a door right off the pool. It was a smoking room, so we ended up deciding to change. In hindsight, the smoke smell wasn't bad, and I think it messed our karma up giving up the pool side room. So after gettting our room and dropping our things off we headed across the street to Ceasars. We added our name to the mixed game interest list and got some pizza in the food court (and 2 for 1 Corona's!).

After eating we were told our the other mixed gamers were back over @ the IP, so we headed back across the street. Once we were there they were nowhere to be found, but the game was running so IF and I sat down. One thing that changes from the previous year is that the IP moved their poker room closer to the front door. This is ok except now you can't sit at the bar and still hear your name called, as I found out a couple days later.

Every Sunday night at 7PM the Imperial Palace poker room spreads a 3/6 Limit Mixed game. Due to word of mouth, the game often spreads on two full tables, and always goes all night long. The longest it has gone is 23 straight hours. Imperial Palace has gone out of their way to support the game including: professionally printed poster on the poker room wall advertising the game, professional flyers detailing each of the games spread, and a 10%/$3 max rake (with no jackpot drop). Players also earn $2 per hour unlimited comps on their Total Rewards players card.

The game includes 10 different poker games in a pre-set order:

Omaha 8
Razz
2-7 Triple Draw
Double Flop Omaha
Stud 8
Badugi
3-2-1 Omaha
A-5 Triple Draw High Low 8 or better
4 Card Ocean Crazy Pineapple
Baduci

It is a 3/6 Limit game, with a $100 minimum Buy In. $1 & $3 blinds in blind games. $1 ante, $1 bring in, and $3 complete in Stud games.

This game was a lot of fun and highly recommended after a long day travelling in. It was the first time I played several of these games live and we had a good table. I sat down with $100 and after a few hours cashed out $60.

On Monday, Pred picked us up in his rental car and we headed over to check out Aria in the new City Center complex. It took us a couple tries to finally find the self-parking garage, but once we got inside Aria is very nice. We met some friends of Pred and Josh at the Sports Book and ordered some lunch. I lost the 1st round of credit card roulette, so the cheese steak and fries didn't taste quite as good to me with the heft bill!

After lunch we headed downtown, as IlliniFan, Pred, Dave, Josh and I were playing in the Binions PLO8 $210 Tourney that started @ 2:00 PM. I had decided that if I Final Tabled the Binions event then I would play in the WSOP $1500 event the following day.

IlliniFan and I had 10% of each other, which is typically +EV for me as IF runs goot whenever I have a piece of him! There was a good turnout as this was basically PLO8 week in Vegas. Unfortunately 3 of us started at the same table, as I was in seat 9, Pred in seat 7, and Dave in seat 6. Suprisingly, Pred was the 1st of our group to get knocked out as he got wrapped up in a crazy hand where he and his opponent both flopped boats, but his opponent riverd a higher boat. Dave was short stacked almost from the start, and next to go out. I made it through a couple breaks and then went out 80th just a few minutes before the dinner break. Got it in preflop w/AA108 suited vs 101084 and the same Crasian that took Pred out hit the case 10 on the flop.

I hung around for the dinner break to grab some food with IF @ the Golden Gate Diner before grabbing a cab to meet Lightning36 @ Bally's. It was great to meet and play some $1/2 NL hold'em with Lightning. I bought in for $300 and was up and down for a few hours until the last hand of the night. The Eurodonk straddled, so I was 1st to raise it up with 7, 8 suited! Got 2 callers and the flop came a near perfect 3,7,8. 1st guy checked, I made my continuation bet, 3rd guy called, then 1st guy check-raised all in. I told the guy next to me if he's got pocket 3's I'm gonna pay him off with my top 2 pair. So I went all in and then the 3rd guy and shortest stack called. 1st guy had pocket 10's and second guy had AQ, so I was looking good. The turn was a queen and I was still ahead until the river when another queen appeared. Yikes! Short stack won the main pot w/trip queents and my 2 pair got counterfeited for the side pot. Nothing like getting runner-runnered all in for a $500 pot to end the night. Just like online poker games, sometimes live poker seems rigged. Time to walk home to the IP.

So I get back to the IP at like 1:00 AM and still no sign of IlliniFan which has to be a good thing. We exchange texts and he makes the final table in the Binions PLO8! You can read his writeup for all the gory details, but to make a long story short he ends up getting 7th place for $1,555. Basically there was one douchebag who wouldn't do a Final Table chop, otherwise IF would have gotten ~ $3K. After he gets back to the IP @ 3:30 AM, I convinced him he should roll his winnings, including my 10%, into the WSOP event at noon later that day.

WSOP Photo

This is my "official" WSOP photo, in case anyone wants to buy me an early Christmas present. I am staring down The Grinder. Bonus points to anyone who can name any of the other pros @ my table.

Chris Ferguson Challenge - Season II

So it was about this time last year (June 17th, 2009 to be exact) that I embarqued on the Chris Ferguson Challenge with $0.27 in my FTP account. I managed to reach a high point of just over $3K, and cashed out $1500 on April 20th to support my live bankroll.

I am officially starting season 2 of the Chris Ferguson Challenge with $10.99 in my FTP account as of 6/27/2010. I cashed in the Daily Dollar Sunday and Monday, after which I grinded it out @ the .01/.02 PLO8 9-handed tables. That left me with $18.10 entering Tuesday.

The one place I may violate the Challenge rules is to play in my own $5.50 Booze Cruise tourneys on Tuesday & Thursday @ 21:10 ET. I played last night and chopped w/Cubbies, getting $8.50. I also qualified for the Fantasy Poker PLO Freeroll and ended up taking 5th for $58. Thus my FTP bankroll sits @ $79.10 heading into action this evening.

Thanks for stopping by & Good Luck to you @ the tables!

Home Sweet Home

Vegas is always fun, but after a week I'm happy to be home. I'll do my best to write up a decent trip report in the next few days.



Thanks to everyone for all the support and encouragement.



Boat

Now on Twitter!

Due to "popular" demand I am now on Twitter! I'll do my best to post updates while in Las Vegas next week and playing in the WSOP!

You can follow me here:

http://twitter.com/SmBoatDrinks

6 Days til Las Vegas!!!

We are now a week away from Las Vegas and my 1st WSOP event. Getting updates from friends that are already playing in events has elevated my anticipation for next week. I spent all weekend dealing for our school/chuch festival and there was definitely a wide range of talent, mostly on the scary bad side.

Looking forward to meeting up w/lightning, CK, and some of the other bloggers while I'm out there. One of the best parts of the trip last year was getting to meet and play some live poker with TuscaloosaJohnny and 1Queens Up1

BLAARGH! - I'm saving the "going pro" post for after I return, hopefully with a couple big cashes!

Turn the Page

A couple items the last week of May put me on life tilt. On the last Tuesday we put down our 14 year old chocolate lab & on Thursday I was blindsided by a mass layoff @ work. I later found out my boss was also part of the cuts, so that made me feel a little better, but not much. We are watching every penny and to add to the stress our house has been on the market for over a year now.

It is now June and I am doing my best to turn the page from being pissed off to looking back on the layoff as the best thing that could have happened. I'm doing my best to have a positive outlook on everything going forward. I have updated my resume and applied for ~ 15 positions so far. I am working out every day & have lost ~ 20 pounds over the last couple months.

I am still going to Las Vegas in a couple weeks for the WSOP and looking forward to it. As you may remember I won entry into a $1500 WSOP event + $700 spending money by finishing in the top 3 of our local 1st year poker club. If I were to choose not to go to the WSOP then the prize would go to the 4th place finisher, so it's not like I can just choose the cash option. Add in the fact that I have the opportunity to earn more in 1 week than I could in 5 years @ my old job & going to Vegas is +EV.

I am planning on playing WSOP event #42 NL Hold'em on Wednesday June 23rd. I'm also playing the PLO8 Binion's Classic event on Monday the 21st. Wish me luck, as we need all the good karma we can get right now!

Thanks for stopping by & best of luck to you @ the tables!

Boat

UIGEA on June 1st

Here is some excellent Q&A from some fellow FTF'ers:

What are people's thoughts about it? I'd specifically like to hear from those that make a living or atleast a large chunk of money from online poker. There are lots of threads about it on 2+2, etc., but very few of the well-informed people are letting their opinions be known. Most opinions are from people who have absolutely no clue what they're talking about. Obviously I never keep too much money online, but I have plenty of buyins right now because I've been grinding a lot lately and plan on having a very sizeable ironman bonus in July. However, this won't be very good if A) I can't withdrawal money at this point, or B) if the fish can't deposit money, so the games are completely reg infested.Thoughts and opinions? - ostornadoe


I'm fascinated that you want facts and not conjecture, yet ask other professional poker players to respond, as if THEY somehow become expert in this topic by the simple fact of their profession.

Well I ain't one of those, but perhaps 30+ years in the consumer finance industry and my past status as both an activist and a registered lobbyist for my industry may suffice?

If A) happens, move your account to another place and optionally sue your financial institution; the UIEGA specifically allows transactions in that direction (from the site to you.)

Issue B) is more a function of what people (including the people that run banks) chose to believe, and less a function of what the UIGEA causes, as evidenced by the current state of affairs online - which is already pretty "reg infested" as it applies to US players. I anticipate that some financial institutions may find a way to limit transactions from their account holders to what they believe to be "gambling site operators," but that is because they WANT to, not because they HAVE to (since actually knowing a payee is a gambling site is pretty fucking impossible unless the site is dumb enough to call itself Illegal Foreign Gambling Website, Inc. or something.)

On a non-financial industry tangent, however - there will always be European and other foreign players, and they suck so bad it takes a minimum of three US fish to equal one French idiot, so, to quote Alfred E. Neuman, "Why worry?"

PS: I've heard completely unsubstantiated and therefore highly suspect stories of financial institutions calling people in a microscopically small number of cases to inquire the source of funds being received for deposit to a player's account. In the case where the amount is less than $10k, the correct answer to this question, if it is really ever asked (which as I said I doubt) is, "Fuck off, it's none of your fucking business."

In the case where the amount exceeds $10k (or a series of similar transactions during a relatively short period of time, when combined, exceeds that amount) and if the transaction originates outside the U.S., you are required by law to answer the question. The correct answer for this question (again, in the imaginary case where it is actually asked) is "it comes from the company whose name appears as the payor in the transaction."

In the above situation, answer all questions about your identity and home address factually; they have the right - in fact, they are obligated under Federal law - to ask, and you are subject to some pretty severe penalties if you were to lie.

Finally, if asked the nature of the transaction, the answer "adult entertainment" has a nice ring to it. They are not entitled to more specificity than that. - Zerbet

BBT5 & Tuesday Night Booze Cruise

Well, there is one event left in the BBT5 for me to win my seat in the Tournament of Champions. It's tomorrow night in the Mookie, gl me!

We should have a decent turnout tonight in the Booze Cruise thanks to the free public service announcement last night on Buddy Dank Radio during the BBT5 Poker From the Rail Tourney. 21:10 ET password is "boatdrinks", so sign-up!

Speaking of the tourney last night. This was my fateful hand, which I still think was the right call given the way DDionysus played it & his range. Comments??

Full Tilt Poker Game #21100784728: Poker from the Rail Tournament (161790564), Table 1 - 50/100 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:53:20 ET - 2010/05/24
Seat 1: oossuuu754 (4,120)
Seat 2: NYRambler (1,942)
Seat 3: railey69 (8,915)
Seat 4: columbo (3,065)
Seat 5: muhctim (2,515)
Seat 6: twoblackaces (5,410)
Seat 7: InstantTragedy (2,985)
Seat 8: DDionysus (2,640)
Seat 9: SmBoatDrinks (2,450)
NYRambler posts the small blind of 50
railey69 posts the big blind of 100
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SmBoatDrinks [Qs As]
columbo folds
muhctim folds
twoblackaces folds
InstantTragedy raises to 245
DDionysus calls 245
SmBoatDrinks calls 245
oossuuu754 folds
NYRambler calls 195
railey69 folds
*** FLOP *** [3s 9s Jd]
NYRambler checks
InstantTragedy checks
DDionysus bets 2,395, and is all in
SmBoatDrinks has 15 seconds left to act
SmBoatDrinks calls 2,205, and is all in
NYRambler folds
InstantTragedy folds
DDionysus shows [Ac Ad]
SmBoatDrinks shows [Qs As]
Uncalled bet of 190 returned to DDionysus
*** TURN *** [3s 9s Jd] [9c]
*** RIVER *** [3s 9s Jd 9c] [8c]
DDionysus shows two pair, Aces and Nines
SmBoatDrinks shows a pair of Nines
DDionysus wins the pot (5,490) with two pair, Aces and Nines
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5,490 Rake 0
Board: [3s 9s Jd 9c 8c]
Seat 1: oossuuu754 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: NYRambler (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 3: railey69 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: columbo didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: muhctim didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: twoblackaces didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: InstantTragedy folded on the Flop
Seat 8: DDionysus showed [Ac Ad] and won (5,490) with two pair, Aces and Nines
Seat 9: SmBoatDrinks showed [Qs As] and lost with a pair of Nines


On the bright side, I did cash in the Daily Dollar last night! A whole net $2.50 for 4 hours of work, woot! At one point I was @ Matt Sexton's table, who was in red, but did not have a custom avatar. I was wondering if it was Mike's boy, so I looked him up & found this under Full Tilt Pros: http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/matt-sexton

"Over $9K in Career Tournament Earnings". lol - the bar is getting lower for the red pro!

0 for 4 in SCOOP Events

Well, the PS SCOOP events did not go exactly as planned. I ended up splitting my $33 ticket into a $22 and a $11, giving me 2 of each to play over the 2 week span from what I had won during the blogger events back in January.

On 5/11 I played the $11 NL Event and went out 5668/16000+ when I ran AhQh into AA.

5/13 I played the $11 PLO8 Event. I ended up going out 2539/7017 and could never get anything going with mediocre hands.

5/14 I played the $22 NLO8 Event. I finished 1949/1352. Getting rivered as this final hand shows seems typical of late:

POKERSTARS GAME #44103665722: TOURNAMENT #2010050331, $20+$2 USD OMAHA HI/LO NO LIMIT - LEVEL IX (75/150) - 2010/05/14 21:31:33 ET
Table '2010050331 59' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: ISUREDBIRD9 (6431 in chips)
Seat 2: dustang9699 (3636 in chips)
Seat 3: evan95000 (16842 in chips)
Seat 5: bkb789 (7097 in chips)
Seat 6: POCTOB2008 (25614 in chips)
Seat 7: SpawnOkreek (4894 in chips)
Seat 8: Amy Gdyla (10230 in chips)
Seat 9: SmBoatDrinks (4671 in chips)
ISUREDBIRD9: posts the ante 20
dustang9699: posts the ante 20
evan95000: posts the ante 20
bkb789: posts the ante 20
POCTOB2008: posts the ante 20
SpawnOkreek: posts the ante 20
Amy Gdyla: posts the ante 20
SmBoatDrinks: posts the ante 20
evan95000: posts small blind 75
bkb789: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SmBoatDrinks [8s 7s 8d Ad]
POCTOB2008: calls 150
SpawnOkreek: folds
Amy Gdyla: folds
besan002 is connected
SmBoatDrinks: calls 150
ISUREDBIRD9: folds
dustang9699: calls 150
evan95000: calls 75
bkb789: checks
*** FLOP *** [8h Jh Jc]
evan95000: checks
bkb789: bets 600
POCTOB2008: folds
SmBoatDrinks: calls 600
dustang9699: folds
evan95000: folds
*** TURN *** [8h Jh Jc] [5h]
bkb789: bets 1350
SmBoatDrinks: raises 2551 to 3901 and is all-in
bkb789: calls 2551
*** RIVER *** [8h Jh Jc 5h] [Qc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bkb789: shows [Jd 4c Qh 2h] (HI: a full house, Jacks full of Queens)
SmBoatDrinks: shows [8s 7s 8d Ad] (HI: a full house, Eights full of Jacks)
bkb789 collected 9912 from pot
No low hand qualified
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 9912 | Rake 0
Board [8h Jh Jc 5h Qc]
Seat 1: ISUREDBIRD9 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: dustang9699 (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 3: evan95000 (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 5: bkb789 (big blind) showed [Jd 4c Qh 2h] and won (9912) with HI: a full house, Jacks full of Queens
Seat 6: POCTOB2008 folded on the Flop
Seat 7: SpawnOkreek folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Amy Gdyla folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: SmBoatDrinks showed [8s 7s 8d Ad] and lost with HI: a full house, Eights full of Jacks

On 5/16 I played the $22 NL Event and went out ~ 20000/24000 when this hand happened. I flopped the flush & had him right where I wanted. The bad river card came yet I still shipped the rest of my chips...... inexplicable!

POKERSTARS GAME #44181198449: TOURNAMENT #2010050371, $20+$2 USD HOLD'EM NO LIMIT - LEVEL V (60/120) - 2010/05/16 14:20:56 ET
Table '2010050371 520' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: boxer_girl21 (18835 in chips)
Seat 2: SCOOTMEUP (4820 in chips)
Seat 3: unc thirdchn (4290 in chips)
Seat 4: sherlocko (21700 in chips)
Seat 5: alexnmx (8955 in chips)
Seat 6: MOLINHA1 (9670 in chips)
Seat 7: Igotguts (18195 in chips)
Seat 8: SmBoatDrinks (6690 in chips)
Seat 9: thegreendoor (12830 in chips)
boxer_girl21: posts the ante 15
SCOOTMEUP: posts the ante 15
unc thirdchn: posts the ante 15
sherlocko: posts the ante 15
alexnmx: posts the ante 15
MOLINHA1: posts the ante 15
Igotguts: posts the ante 15
SmBoatDrinks: posts the ante 15
thegreendoor: posts the ante 15
unc thirdchn: posts small blind 60
sherlocko: posts big blind 120
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SmBoatDrinks [6h 5h]
alexnmx: folds
MOLINHA1: calls 120
Igotguts: calls 120
SmBoatDrinks: calls 120
thegreendoor: calls 120
boxer_girl21: calls 120
SCOOTMEUP: folds
unc thirdchn: folds
sherlocko: checks
*** FLOP *** [Kh Ah 8h]
sherlocko: checks
MOLINHA1: checks
Igotguts: checks
SmBoatDrinks: bets 600
thegreendoor: calls 600
boxer_girl21: folds
sherlocko: folds
MOLINHA1: folds
Igotguts: folds
*** TURN *** [Kh Ah 8h] [4s]
SmBoatDrinks: bets 2100
thegreendoor: calls 2100
*** RIVER *** [Kh Ah 8h 4s] [9h]
SmBoatDrinks: bets 3855 and is all-in
thegreendoor: calls 3855
*** SHOW DOWN ***
SmBoatDrinks: shows [6h 5h] (a flush, Ace high)
thegreendoor: shows [Qh As] (a flush, Ace high - Queen higher)
thegreendoor collected 14025 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 14025 | Rake 0
Board [Kh Ah 8h 4s 9h]
Seat 1: boxer_girl21 folded on the Flop
Seat 2: SCOOTMEUP (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: unc thirdchn (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: sherlocko (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 5: alexnmx folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: MOLINHA1 folded on the Flop
Seat 7: Igotguts folded on the Flop
Seat 8: SmBoatDrinks showed [6h 5h] and lost with a flush, Ace high
Seat 9: thegreendoor showed [Qh As] and won (14025) with a flush, Ace high

April Poker Summary

Ferguson Challenge Update – I started March with $1,889.32 and finished with $370.85. Before you say, whoa, WTF happened, or how is that possible? After a bad session on Tuesday the 20th I decided to cash out $1500 while I could. This will allow me to play another WSOP event in June. I have booked my flights and hotel for the week of June 21st.

I am currently reading Cowboys Full by James McManus. This is basically the history of poker. It’s OK, but not as enjoyable a read as Positively 5th Street.

I am looking forward to playing at least 3 SCOOP events in May on PokerStars. Seem like a long time ago in January I won tickets in all 3 of the WBCOOP tourneys I was able to play in! The SCOOP start times are not exactly ideal for us working stiffs, but this is still a good opportunity, as I have $0.00 in my PokerStars account, so hopefully I can turn my $11, $22, and $33 tickets into something of a bankroll on PS!

I am still hosting $5 tourneys every Tue & Thur on FTP @ 21:10, so sign up for the Booze Cruise, the password is boatdrinks!

BBT5 Cash!

I didn’t win a TOC seat, as only the top 2 in the Sunday invitational are awarded, but I did come in 4th place Sunday for a nice cash of $170.

I was pleasantly surprised when I logged in Sunday evening & table opened up w/me in the BBT5 Sunday Invitational Freeroll. This was the second week, and I had just assumed I didn’t make the A list, so a special thanks goes out to Al, who I assumed was responsible for getting me in!

I had lost about 2/3 of my stack, as the tournament was about 90 minutes into it when it opened up. As you can see 3 other players were also not there, and getting blinded out:
Seat 1: garthmeister (4,295)
Seat 2: the_addict (1,505), is sitting out
Seat 3: jdfreebird (975), is sitting out
Seat 4: TNSpaceman (4,390)
Seat 5: APOSEC72 (3,375)
Seat 6: dawnsummers (5,570)
Seat 7: SmBoatDrinks (1,065), is sitting out
Seat 8: NewinNov (1,310), is sitting out
Seat 9: HighOnPoker (7,570)

I was basically a short stack ninja for the whole night. I did get a nice rush of cards shortly after the bubble, including AA vs AK. I felt bad for Jeremy (Shabazz Jenkins), as he was the big chip leader when we got to the final table but went out before I did.

All in at 420 was on my right for most of the night, including the final table. He was playing good small ball, raising to 2-1/2 blinds & stealing quite liberally. I repopped him a few times & he folded, but I probably could have done it more frequently given his range.

I assume I am in for the rest of the Sunday Invitational’s, so let’s see how I do with a starting stack of 3,000 ……

Full Tilt Poker Tournament Summary BBT5 Invitational Event #2 (155898195) Hold'em No Limit
Buy-In: $0 + $0
Buy-In Chips: 3000
108 Entries
Total Prize Pool: $2,000
Tournament started: 2010/04/25 19:01:00 ET
Tournament is still in progress

Still Playing - All In At 420
Still Playing - desertblade
Still Playing - dignitasODEE
4: SmBoatDrinks, $170
5: asphnxma, $140
6: Shabazz Jenkins, $110
7: UpForPoker, $80
8: acumen53, $60
9: change100, $50
10: pushmonkey72, $44
11: SnailTrax, $44
12: sk1126, $44
13: NumbBono, $40
14: Bone_Daddy84, $40
15: columbo, $40
16: jbass698, $36
17: JoeSpeaker, $36
18: Astin, $36
SmBoatDrinks finished in 4th place

Out Like A Lion!

March Poker Summary

Ferguson Challenge Update – I started March with $1,735.91, and finished with $1,889.32. The reason it was a winning month was thanks to the last event I played. I chopped the $5.50 PLO8 tournament on March 31st for $259.17, technically 2nd of 277.

I finished second in event 9 of 10 of the NCPC for $85. The top 3 won WSOP entries to a $1500event + $700 in travel money. I have clinched 1st and am looking forward to the WSOP in June. Still not 100% sure of which event, but leaning towards the NL hold'em event on June 23rd.

I am currently re-reading Daniel Negreanu’s Power Hold’Em Strategy. I just ordered Cowboys Full by James McManus while sitting @ the same table with him on FTP.

I am out of the WRGPT.

I did play the PLO8 WPT tourney @ Hollywood on March 13th along with IlliniFan and Predator. I came in 30th, Illini 13th, and Pred 10th. They had 70 entries and paid 7. 1st place was $6700. Not sure now that I want to play the WSOP PLO8 event in June. Will probably just stick with NL Hold'em.

After I got knocked out of the tourney I headed to the Poker Room for some cash games. Started off with $200 @ 1-3 NL Hold'em. Ran it up to $650 on two big hands. The 1st one a KY fan flopped a set of Queens, but checked them on the flop. The turn gave me a flush draw and a gut shot straight draw so I called his $25 bet. The river gave me my flush & he called my $50 bet. The biggest pot I won was $650 I called a button raise w/AQ in the small blind and flopped Broadway. I check called the flop with 2 other players in, and then check raised it all in when a blank hit the turn. The 1st guy went into the tank for 10 minutes so I gave him the old stare down & he finally called. Guy #3 folded & guy #2 showed KJ for top 2. He told the dealer to pair the board, which she did, putting another 6 on the board, but my Broadway was still good. You should have been more specific sir!

I got on the list for 1-3-5 PLO, and cashed out my NL profit & sat down with $200 @ the PLO game. We were shorthanded the whole time I was there, as it was the feeder table for the main game. I played for ~ an hour & ran my stack up to ~ $350 when IlliniFan got knocked out of the tourney & was ready to head home. We chatted w/PMB a bit before heading out. All in all a good day!

I only worked off ~ $20 of my $100 bonus on FTP. Just wasn't very motivated to grind it out.

$5 Bracket Pool

I've run a NCAA Bracket Pool for the last dozen years & use CBSSports.com bracket manager. If you are interested just give me your name & email and I will send you the link.

We pay out 100% to the top 4 places & last year 1st place won $315.

Thanks & Good Luck!

New PLO8 Tourney Thursday @ 21:10 ET

I'm starting a weekly PLO8 $5 tourney every Thursday @ 21:10 ET on FTP & you are all welcome to play. Password is boatdrinks

Hope to see you!

Boat

End of February Poker Update!

February Poker Summary

The Good:

1. I clinched a WSOP prize package with a 3rd place showing in event 8 of 10 of the NCPC! The top 3 win WSOP entries to a $1500 event + $700 in travel money. I’m in 1st and those 4th and below can’t catch me. I’m pretty pumped about this & will be even more so as we get closer to the WSOP. Now I just have to chose which event to play in………

2. I am currently reading Secrets of Short-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha by Rob Hollink & Rolf Slotboom and How Good Is Your Pot-Limit Omaha by Stewart Reuben.

3. I am playing in the WRGPT again this year. My current stack is $44,600, which puts me in 261st place. There are 461 players left. I doubled up a few times. We started on November 17th with 1016 runners crawlers.

4. I am planning on playing the PLO8 WPT tourney @ Hollywood on March 13th. This will give me a good feel if I want to play the WSOP PLO8 event in June.

5. I did receive 2 bonuses from FPT ($100 + $50).


The Bad:
1. Ferguson Challenge Update – I started January with $1,938.02, and finished with $1,735.91. I am seriously considering withdrawing $1500 so I can play in 2 WSOP events while I am in Vegas. Any thoughts? Obviously this would set me back on my timeline to complete the Ferguson challenge, but running $0.27 up to a WSOP entry is not too shabby.



Speaking of the WSOP, I just saw this on Pauly’s blog:
The WSOP is just around the corner and the November Nine is eight plus months away (scheduled for November 6-9th).

Harrah's made some changes. Some are good. Others are neutral. A few blow. But hey, that's the WSOP. It wouldn't be what it is without someone complaining about something! But the indoor Poker Kitchen returns. The Poker Tent will finally RIP.

Here's the skinny...
• 57 gold bracelet events over 51 days.

• Expanded footprint – The giant Pavilion Ballroom (58,000 sq. feet) will be in use this year for poker in the Rio Convention Center. The Pavilion is the largest ballroom at the Rio, and along with the famed Amazon Room (38,000 sq. feet), will make-up the playing rooms for this year’s WSOP. The entire convention space will be used.

• Expanded capacity – Along with expanded footprint, comes more poker tables. A record 295 tables were utilized last year, and this year’s configuration is still being plotted, but expected to offer about 20 percent more tables.

• No Food Tent – The outdoor food tent will now become an indoor food court experience. The Miranda Ballroom, last year used as a room for play, will be converted into a food court with a variety of popular food items for players and spectators.

• Sensational Structures & Starting Chips – Drafting off last year’s success, all gold bracelet events in 2010 will feature triple the buy-in in starting chips and deep structures, providing plenty of play.

• $25K 6-Handed No-Limit – A new event this year will be a $25,000 buy-in 6-handed No-Limit Hold’em 4-day event. Event #52 begins on Wednesday, June 30 at 12 noon.

• $50K Players Championship – The Chip Reese Trophy is up for grabs at the $50,000 buy-in eight-game mixed event, dubbed the Players Championship, which is being morphed from the $50K H.O.R.S.E. tournament run the past four years. This new eight-game format will serve as the true test of the game’s greatest all-around player and receive star treatment, with ESPN cameras covering the five-day event for television. Event #2 starts on Friday, May 28 at 5:00 PM.

• Still Plenty of H.O.R.S.E. – A new $10,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. Championship tournament will be offered, to go along with $1,500 and $3,000 buy-ins to the popular game.

• The 4th annual Ante Up For Africa Celebrity-Charity Tournament -- $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em celebrity and charity tournament on Saturday, July 3, (two days before the Main Event begins) featuring the opportunity for anyone age 21 or older to enter and be seated at the same table as A-list celebrities and top poker pros.

• The Ladies Only No-Limit Hold’em Championship – On Friday, June 11, featuring a $1,000 buy-in and helping to raise awareness for the Nevada Cancer Institute, the official community relations partner of the World Series of Poker.

• The Seniors Only No-Limit Hold’em Championship – On Friday, June 18 , featuring a $1,000 buy-in for all poker enthusiasts 50 years of age or older.

• June $550 No-Limit Hold’em Tournaments – Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 1:00 PM throughout June, the Rio will host new $550 No-Limit Hold’em tournaments for those looking for a Hold’em fix. These are one-day structured tournaments, and not bracelet events.



Looking forward to June!!!!

January Poker Summary - A Not So Happy New Year

The Good:

1. I made Iron Man for the 2nd consecutive month. Bronze for Jan, as Silver was well within my grasp, but just got a little burned out the last few days. Not really sure if Iron Man is worth it, in and of itself. I have always chosen the freeroll(s), but are the medals more +EV?

2. I did complete my $50 bonus for being Silver Iron Man in December.

3. I took 2nd place in the January NCPC Event #6, and am still in 1st place with 4 events to go. The top 3 win WSOP entries to a $1500 event + $700 in travel money.

4. I finished both Daniel Negreanu’s Power Hold’Em Strategy and Jeff Hwang’s Pot-Limit Omaha Poker. I am currently reading Secrets of Short-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha by Rob Hollink and Rolf Slotboom.

5. February is filled up with live poker tourneys!

6. I won SCOOP tickets in all 3 of the WBCOOP tourneys I was able to play in! This is awesome, as I had $0.01 in my PokerStars account, so hopefully I can turn my $11, $22, and $33 tickets into something of a bankroll on PS! And then there was this, which almost made the month worth it.......

Hello SmBoatDrinks,

Thank you for participating in WBCOOP 2010 - we hope you enjoyed the experience!

This is just a quick email to inform you that you have been credited $1.58 from the player 'MI_Turtle'. He kindly offered to share $1000 amongst all the players that outlasted him in the WBCOOP Main Event. His final finishing position of 635th place meant the $1000 was divided between the top 634 players.

If you have any questions regarding this unusual prize, please let us know.

Regards,

The WBCOOP Team

lolaments


The Bad:

1. Ferguson Challenge Update – I started January with $2,633.87, and finished with $1,938.02. Has anyone other than Chris ever successfully completed this before by using his bankroll management rules? It is not easy, as when you can play at the higher levels the downswings can be brutal.

2. I was down $564.49 in PLO in Jan. OK, so maybe I’m not quite ready to dominate $1/$2 PLO or PLO8. Have done better recently @ .50/$1 PLO8.

3. I am playing in the WRGPT again this year. My current stack is $6,950, which puts me in 649th place. There are 655 players left. I was outkicked on top pair a couple hands ago. We started on November 17th with 1016 runners crawlers.

4. I’ve wanted to get back to the Hollywood Casino to try some PLO cash game action, but the timing hasn’t been good yet. The do have the WPT Hollywood Open in March, and I am eyeing the PLO8 tourney on March 13th.

SCOOP Ticket!

I took 19th out of 1843 players tonight in the WBCOOP event #3. That was good enought for a $33 Ticket to a SCOOP event, which is nice since I currently have $0.01 on PokerStars!

PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! Bloggers can register for to play for free in the WBCOOP, if you don’t have a PokerStars account you can get your Poker Download here.

Registration code: 792548

December Poker Summary

• Ferguson Challenge Update – I started November with $2,494.77, and finished with $2,633.87.

I may have learned more in December than all the previous challenge months combined. It was certainly a bit of a rollercoaster month, as I was above $3K at one point, and then dropped back down to about where I started it. Had a decent last couple days to show some profit for my hard work.

Obviously the 1st lesson you learn from actually participating in the Ferguson Challenge is actually practicing good bankroll management. Bankroll management works!! Wow, who would a thunk it? Now I had some success back in 2006 & 2007 with some high tournament cashes, but when my bankroll got to be this size I would cash it out & spend it on stuff (plasma TV, trip to Atlantis, bills). I didn’t really like keeping more than $1K in an online poker account. Back then I obviously wasn’t practicing good bankroll management, if I wanted to take a shot in a big tourney and I had the $ in my account I took it.

The second group of lessons I learned have to do with playing in NL Hold’em tourneys. I played in 33 tourneys in December for a net loss of $135.34. I didn’t have any major cashes like I did in November, but I did get deep in a few. In one tourney a couple days ago I had QQ 3 times. Twice they lost to AK all-in pre flop, including knocking me out, and once they held up against 88. So with that, here are the lessons I have written on a post-it note in December:
1. Small Ball works for tournaments.
2. Avoid coin flips, especially early.
3. No big guesses. Sure you’re gonna pick off some river bluffs, but are they really worth it if it’s a big % of your stack?
4. Queens are not Aces – Try to avoid going broke with them, which may mean seeing a flop & reevaluate if AK hits.

The next lesson I learned is around playing better PLO cash games. Quite frankly NL Hold’em online cash games bore me. I enjoy playing PLO cash games and any type of tourney. In December I made a net profit of $289.56 in PLO cash games with 3,166 hands I had 3.98 BB/Hr, and 7.57 BB/100. There is a lot of variance w/PLO so tilt control is a big factor when a donkey hits his 2 outer on you for a $200 pot! Previously I read it was +EV to always buy in for the minimum, wait for a premium hand and get it all in pre-flop in a +EV situation. The current lesson learned is that even AAxx is a drawing hand when the stacks are deep.

Having adjusted to the higher limits, my goal for January would be to finish above $4K.

• I made Iron Man on Full Tilt for the first time in a couple years. I made silver, as it doesn’t take long to get 50 points in a day when you’re playing .50/1 or 1/2 PLO. I finished out my Holiday Hundred Bonus in December, and by gaining Silver Iron Man got an additional $50 bonus in January.

• I am playing in the WRGPT again this year. My current stack is $45,950, which puts me in 177th place. There are 829 players left. We started on November 17th with 1016 runners crawlers.

• I took 10th place in the December NCPC Event #5, and am still in 1st place at the halfway point. The top 3 win WSOP entries to a $1500 event + $700 in travel money.

• I have been on a nice roll in the Sunday night game chopping the last 4.

• I’ve wanted to get back to the Hollywood Casino to try some PLO cash game action, but the timing hasn’t been good yet.

• I just completed Positively Fifth Street by James McManus. It is really two stories in one, as Jim takes us through his ride in the WSOP Main Event, and covers the Ted Binion murder case. I would recommend it, as Jim is a writer so the story telling is better than most of the other poker books, which are focused on strategic play.

I am nearly finished with Daniel Negreanu’s Power Hold’Em Strategy, and have started Jeff Hwang’s Pot-Limit Omaha Poker.


Happy New Year’s to everyone & may you run good in 2010!!!