Green Fish!

Where the heck ya been, and meeting pro poker players in odd places

2011-07-03T00:57:00.001-04:00

Its been awhile again since I blogged, with online poker going by the wayside (meaning the demise of any planned BBT6 even t that may have been) kinda puts a damper on the whole blogging thing. Add in that I have been walking the fine of depression over my employment and wa-la, going into hibernation.

Well "the times they are a changing...."

I won't rehash all my gripes about my job, the whole past winter has been played out pretty descriptively over the last few blog posts, however a new chapter or loathing started in the beginning of June. As I'm probably sure most of you are aware that Minot, ND has been under threat of flood since the end of May. Initially there was a mandatory evacuation and in typical Minotian culture, there was a swift overreaction. Before any water started lapping over levees the executive management in the site decided to give employees effected by the evacuations 5 paid days off, which I absolutely 100% agree with, however, the next paragraph of the email announcement also said that even those who were not affected but could made it in to the office would also be given 5 days off because "they are shouldering the extra burden of those who could not make it into the office". I have a problem with that. Why? I have a team of 12 direct reports located in Windsor, CT who are the ONLY BCP (business continuity plan) for the call center. Meaning, the call volume they service on a daily basis would (and did) increase dramatically. So my people see this announcement (because as a part of the same department, even though we are remote, we are included on site emails) and think they are getting 5 days off for "helping to shoulder the burden". Not 24 hours later a follow-up email from HR is sent out and it states that the 5 days are for only on-site staff. This pisses me off for the obvious reason, but also because that phrase was placed intentionally. There are only 2 teams that are affiliated with Minot that were now excluded by that one simple phrase, my 12 people in Windsor, CT, and another 24 in Minneapolis, MN that are backup to our New Biz call center. So 900 people (of which less than half were affected by the evac order) were given 5 paid days but 36 employees remote, were not. The other dynamic is now I have to answer questions from my team on why they are not considered to be shouldering the burden like their co-workers even though my team is now the center of Life Call Center Operations. As you can possibly imagine, this damages their already very low morale and in a few select cases makes them flippant about doing more than their normal share of calls on a daily basis.
So that first evac order turns out to be a false alarm, river doesn't spill over the levees, and yet the days that were given to the Minotians were not rescinded.

Two weeks later, evac order issued again and this time it was for real. Flood of historic proportions, loss of homes and the whole tragic & terrible loss of homes and flooding they envisioned the first go round. My direct boss lost her home. Donate to the Red Cross if you can, I have.

In-between the floods I applied for a job. I have applied to this job 4 times before (most recent being February) and only made it to interview twice (one no reply, and one HR reply saying they were rejecting my application because i didn't have a specific system knowledge). In Feb. I made it to a second interview, focusing on my customer service experience, since i was told 80% of the job is customer service and 20% was system knowledge. Well I got called back and told I was a top 3 candidate but they went with someone with system knowledge.
This time I got to the second interview, but I felt I nailed both. I hadn't felt this confident in....ever? Sure enough I got called back the day after my second interview and got offered the job. I accepted. I may have surprised my new boss at how quick I accepted... so starting August 1st, I am the new TPA Plan Manager. This past week, has been one of the happiest I have had in recent memory. A few people even commented that they had never seen me smile before but I was beaming this whole week. And why shouldn't I after the hell that was the past 9 months?

I think I've talked on here before after my love a card game called "Magic: The Gathering", played paper Magic since 1994 (June 14th, 1994 to be exact, yes its sick I still remember the first day I bought cards) and was one of the original players on MTG:Online. My success mirrors my poker success, mostly mediocre. I didn't learn till 2004 when David Williams went heads up against Raymer (who is from Minot, ND coincidentally) and the coverage talked about how David was on the Magic Pro Tour. After that, it got out that more than just a few poker players had started their careers off playing Magic.
The only reason I bring this up is because I was playing one of the many sealed deck tourneys and i notice someone named "DutchBoyd". I hadn't heard he ever played, and like someone i played last night named "AngelPagan" it could have been someone who was a fan? Turns out it was really him, and I ending up shooting him a message wishing him well at the WSOP. Responded back almost immediately saying "thanks bud! :)" Kinda neat for someone who doesnt see many celebs often.

If I Can't Win Then.....

2011-05-03T18:50:00.000-04:00

If you havent heard the news, Annie Duke has gone and started a Pro Poker League. Taking a queue from the PGA, there are performance requirements needed to be considered to receive a card, and it seems the cards are tiered in 2,3, and 5 year segments.

I feel conflicted on this, on one hand it seems like some of the name pros got tired of the "luck" factor and they are taking their deck and going home with it.
As someone who started playing right before the Moneymaker boom, it feels like a slap in the face, these name PROS were ok with the poker schlubs when it meant exposure on TV and living a lifestyle akin to a rockstar with fans, but since its made their ability to win the elite tournaments harder due to thousands upon thousands of entrants in these contests, they decide to make an elite club that only those they deem worthy to enter be included.

On the other hand, I do like the idea of having a pro league that rewards the consistently best players in the game with bragging rights. It gives that poker player who is trying to be the best something to strive for.

Im curious what most of the BBT bloggers think, I would assume the more accomplished bloggers would be in favor of this league and the more casual players would think its childish and selfish.

Thoughts?

Back In The Saddle Again

2011-05-01T23:51:00.000-04:00

So THIS GUY went ahead and did an APB for Bloggers to get together like old times and "play" a BBT tournament.

While it might have only been a fake money tournament, I think most bloggers will agree that it really did have that "BBT" feel to it...maybe even more so with all the side bets going on behind the scenes.

I ended up finishing 5th out of 30, and I left feeling that Id like to see more of these tournament with a point system and maybe an "escrow" person holding on to some sort of prize?

Oh and someone went and shot that man Osama Bin Ladin, I guess thats some big news huh?

Update

2011-03-14T18:52:00.000-04:00

Thanks for the comments guys, I do appreciate the time you took to read my mess.

As you might have suspected HR told me nothing different than I was told previous. I was told HR reopened the case, reviewed again, and still find no reason to make any changes.

I do think it is very important to note that the HR person could not explain why if I applied for a job in 2006 that had no direct reports, I was given direct reports in 2008 with no change in job code, title, salary, or bonus.

The HR person just kept saying she understood my frustration and appreciated how professional I was taking this news.

So fuck them.

The one positive I can take away from this is, I'm going to make sure my resume says I have been Supervisor for the last 5 years with all the hiring/firing/compensating abilities during that time period, since thats essential what Im being told Ive done for the last 5 years.

Im not sure what my next move is now, being a remote location I dont have to deal with my Manager on a daily basis which is actually a good thing. She hasn't called me since last Tuesday when we talked and I've only got 3 emails today from her.

It really comes down to

- Continue on doing what im doing and realizing there will be no growth, no development, and will most likely be rated "meet expectations" until they finally give us our pink slips or they find a reason to fire me.

- Look at moving from the Life Insurance side to Retirement Services. I like this idea, and the Director for this department knows me and what Im about. I just have to make sure this is something I truly want to do.

- Look outside. Living in the Hartford area, AKA Insurance Capital of the World, makes it easy to locate other financial services companies that might have a better fit Life Insurance fit for myself.

For now I soldier on like a good worker bee.

Gambling Content:

Won $1000 at Foxwoods after I got a Straight Flush and a Royal Flush at Pai Gow poker. Love my Pai Gow...

I do think I am ready to get back into poker shortly, take it slow and ease my way back in with some live Stud and Limit, then move up to NL. Funds on Full Tilt should follow shortly as well.

Stay tuned...

The Honey Badger Doesn't Give A Shit

2011-03-11T02:07:00.001-05:00

Long time since I last posted and sooo much has happened.

First, work:
- In January I was flown out to Minot, ND on a business trip. Got to meet with my boss for the first time face to face in a 1 on 1. Long story short, I was told HR and her had come to the conclusion no change was necessary and she said "Whatever was dangled in front of you for the past 3 years (promotion) was incorrect. I just want to say I'm sorry and I hope you don't leave".

- Fast forward to this past Tuesday, we finally have my year end review to go over my rating and financials. For the first time since my first year at the company (2004) I get rated a "3 - Meets Expectations". I was shocked, in my 7 years I've received 4 "2 - Exceeds Expectations" ratings, 1 - "1 - Outstanding" rating, and now my second '3". I was livid. There was only one negative mention in my review, and everything else was glowing. This is from someone who was my superior for the last two months of the year and admittedly had no idea what she was doing. She asked me my thoughts because I sounded a little disappointed and I, respectfully, vomited of the moth. I told her that I am very disappointed in the 3 rating and I had not expected that at all. I explained that in the first 3 months of 2011 I have not only been told that I was not receiving a promotion, and that it was all a lie in first place, but now I am 'being told that I have only performed up to expectations when I am busting my rear off. Her counter to me was "think about me, I had to walk into this job to give you the no promotion news, and you are a very high 3". Now she is the victim, and I should feel ok because the 3 I was given was a "high" 3, which in the grand scheme of things doesn't differentiate between a high or low, its just a 3. I ended our hour long meeting 30 minutes early, because I had nothing left to say.

- The first thing I did after I was done was call HR. I had been debating doing this since the January 1 on 1 but held off because at the end of that meeting she said "Cheryl (her boss) and I will take care of you." I'm not unreasonable, she said that and I believed they would make up for the lack of promotion at year end review time. When I received what I got, I knew that this was my only option.

- I talked to HR, gave a brief outline of the issue and told her that I had a dated timeline of events if that would make it easier, she asked me to type it up and email to her. After I laid out the issue she asked the big question "What do you want as a resolution to this?" I replied that for 3 years i was under an assumption by my management that my dual-role was only temporary and I would be given the correct job title and pay. Instead I was told that nothing was changing and that I had been doing this 'higher" role for 3 years. If that's true and that's the final answer I would like to be compensated for my incorrect bonus (they were paying me @ 5% bonus instead of 7% that I should have gotten for "doing the job") and that because they refuse to put me in the the correct job code my % to market point is such that if I stay in this position my increases will become less and less as I hit and exceed the market point.
The lady said she would look into and did see the notation from the Minot HR rep that they are aware of my situation. She would contact me back when she received information. She has not contacted me yet.
Please believe that calling HR was the last thing I wanted to do, I'm not a trouble maker by any means but I think you just get to a point sometimes where you are backed into a corner and I exhausted my conversations with my boss so that it was truly the only choice I had left. Well that or leave the company...

So that's where that is. I don't expect much from HR, so my future options look like I may need to speak with a Director for the Retirement Services department here and see if he can keep me in mind when a position opens up, or I'll have to do some hard time job interviewing with another company. There is a third option where I stay and be the best "Meets Expectations" supervisor I can be, but this is undesirable due to no development or growth opportunities.
One final thought, I keep replaying her last words to me from the meeting "You're doing a great job and I am very fortunate to have you there in Windsor leading the team." Its a slap in the face after you've just been told that basically you do nothing special...

Poker:

- Haven't played too much except for the monthly home games. I have been turning a profit, last month being the highest in recent memory with +$190. Have another home game coming up this Saturday actually.

- March 22nd 2010, my bday last year, is still the last time I played live poker in the casino. I'm back to that "is it fear or do you just not want to play?" thing again. It must be at least a tiny bit of fear since the last time I got up from a table I was -$700 after an hour... Ive been spending my time when I go playing PaiGow or Blackjack. For the year so far I'm -$50 with about 20+ hours of playing time.

-BBT6! Al posted a tweet earlier this week hinting at a 6th installation of every one's favorite online poker blogger series. I don't have anything on Full Tilt right now, but the official announcement may make me change my tune. Also might get me blogging a little more frequently.

Despite my very frustrating work troubles, I am in good spirits. My significant other finally got the raise she deserved and fought for over the last year. Right now, money is not an issue for our family which is good, its the first time in probably 3 years we can say that.

Hopefully see you on the real or virtual tables soon!

P.S. If you want to laugh pretty hard check out the youtube video that the title of the post is paying homage to:

Escaping and Home Game Time Again

2010-11-05T02:37:00.000-04:00

For some reason I always get the motivation to write as I'm doing my insomniac thing at 2am in the morning, well I guess I shouldn't be that surprised since around this time of night I always wrote my best last minute reports in college.

In addition to my org chart fiasco at work, constant rumors swirl about various undertakings that are alleging to be happening. Allegedly 11/10/10 a big re-org resulting in layoffs of 4% of the workforce will be announced, so yeah its just a little stressful to say the least.

So when I come home I try distance myself as much as I can from that "other world" and get involved in the xbox (Fallout: New Vegas), or playing some HORSE on Stars, or what I've been doing lately is getting back to playing Magic: The Gathering Online.

If you've never played MTG, its easy to just dismiss it as some weird D&D stuff which isn't entirely inaccurate, but more than that, its a game that lets you customize your experience to be an extension of your own personality. There are 5 colors essentially to choose from: Red (direct damage, aggressive creatures), Green (powerful creatures, life gaining), White (flying creatures, defense), Blue (spells, card denial), and Black (discard, undead creatures). Yeah the "black" color got the game banned from my grade school because 2 of the cards had pentagrams on them and they don't go over well in Catholic school...

Anyway, you can start to see why more than a handful of poker players started out playing MTG. MTG, in my opinion, is more strategic than poker. Not only do you have to play your opponent's cards (usually in a head's up setting, but not always), but you have to craft a 60 card deck that is fluid. And by fluid meaning you cant sit and rely on just one combo to come up, since it may never come, you have to craft a deck that has multiple card combos, and then combos on top of that which might not have even been planned in the first place.

And that's just one facet of MTG, they have drafts where 8 people buy three booster packs (15 cards) and pick a card a pass until all 3 boosters have been depleted. So you have to build a deck based on no prior knowledge of what cards you are going to get plus be aware of what other people seem to be picking.

That's why I love it, not just because i can play a Goblin or make you discard half your deck, its the strategy and personalization that makes me keep coming back.

Now on to poker, my monthly home game is this Saturday. Looks like we'll have a decent turnout (6-7 people) I just need to get back to winning ways. I'm on a 5 month snide of no wins.

Its good to escape, now I just need to kick the insomnia.

Another Day, Another Dollar

2010-10-29T01:49:00.000-04:00

Its funny, I wrote that last post at 2am in the morning on a stream of consciousness, so it ended up looking Hoy-esque. Id like to thank Waffles for sharing his thoughts, and I agree, the only truly way to enjoy working is when you are working by your own rules and not by anyone elses. I also received many suggestions and points of views from the blogger sphere, and I am truly humbled by the response I received and the support you provided. Its makes me truly proud to be a part of a community like this.

My move now is to let my new boss do some digging into my concerns and hopefully by November 9th when we meet for our first one on one I can finally get some answers. If not, I will talk to HR and see if theres any assistance they can provide. CT Labor department is another option also, although I'm not sure how deep they delve into these kind of disputes.

But one last time, thank you to all who reached out to me, its truly appreciated. And i will update as soon as i get new info.

Moving on to something else, since this is a poker/gambling blog I should talk some about that.

As I stated in my comeback post, not too much poker has been played since March. There are a few reasons for that including blowing 75% of my stake at a NL cash game on my 30th birthday, the medication I went on in March limits those "cravings" to gamble, and most importantly, I am sucking terribly at poker.

This "sucking" is very much different than the variance I have experienced over the years, this funk seems to be a mixture of overconfidence or pride and a side of carelessness. Right now, I don't think I could cut it at a casino cash game, I'd be dead money just biding my time.
The only online poker I play is either HORSE or Stud 8, and that's because those allow me to just be tight and profit off the weaker players, but even still I make bonehead plays or have become increasingly unlucky.

It got to the point earlier this year (right around BBT5) where I actually hated poker. In my mind the game was no longer about skill and strategy, just dumb luck. Every coin-flip, every dog hand, and every dominant hand I lost. At first I thought it was just variance catching up to me after a very profitable 09 and a 12 month streak of at list one tourney win at my own home game to where I was lucky to finish 2nd out of a 5 person game.

I'm slowly trying to get myself back into NL, and actually be somewhat competitive, but its not easy by any means. The game has changed so much, and everyone you play is somewhat educated now.

Hopefully you, dear readers, are fairing better than I.

Thanks for reading!

Help Brian with His Work Problem (Serious Post)

2010-10-27T02:22:00.001-04:00

Alright so the NFL post is hold on for a bit so I can type this post and hopefully get some opinions from the trusted interwebs on how to handle my situation. Please note, yes I was very naive and way too trusting of certain people. I tended to believe someone does (especially my direct management) have my best interests in mind and they wouldn't screw me on purpose (i'm a poker player and i thought this, go figure). The reason I say this is because I know where I went wrong in trusting/not-acting, I'm only looking for solutions or suggestion on how to navigate the issue now.

First some background:
I work for a global financial services company, im going to be all private like just in case... I have been with the company in the life insurance department (not sales) for 7 years and have worked my way up the chain of command.
My department is a BCP (Business Continuity Plan) for the main location which is located in the mid-west. Because of the location, similar positions had different titles.It gets very confusing, but the key is East Coast (where I reside) has no position titled TEAM LEAD.

Example: East Coast Title                   Mid-West Title
                Supervisor                             Team Lead
                Manager                                Supervisor
                Director                                 Manager

The trouble starts way back in March 2006 when my original Manager had left, my Supervisor was promoted to Manager and the Supervisor position was open to be filled.

I applied for, and obtained the role of Supervisor. At this time I had 0 direct reports, and had no ability to hire, fire, promote, compensate, or place individual contributors on corrective action. My role was of support, knowledge, and training of new hires.

In March 2008, my Manager abruptly left our department with little notice which led to a hectic period. My Director sat me down and advised that I did have not enough experience yet to be promoted to Manager and he was going to search for a replacement, in the interim I was to take over the duties of Manager and then train the new Manager once they were hired.

After a few months, and many people turning the job down (most of them telling my Director that they felt I was capable of running the team) the position was on hold and I retained my current roles as Supervisor and taking on the additional roles of Manager. No compensation was given for the extra work, and i was repeatedly told this was temporary. I did not receive at any time, proper or official people management training. I was however responsible now for all that I mentioned above regarding hiring/firing etc etc.

Then Lehman happened in September 2008, company scaled back all budgets, layoffs occurred, and I took the high road of thanking my stars I still had a job over pressing the issue about promotions. In my end of the year review for 2008, I made mention of how I was performing 2 jobs, my Director notated in my review that I was doing an excellent job in the difficult situation I was placed in. I was rated a "1" which in company speak is super-outrageous awesomeness extreme. I was always told NOBODY ever receives a 1 (or a 5 for that matter which is the worst) and yet I did. I received a raise at a time where very few people received a raise. And again, because I was being treated fairly in a difficult economy I did not press the matter of promotion.

2009 Annual review time comes around, the company started doing better 4th quarter of 09, budgets began growing again (team outings were reintroduced) so I figured certainly I would be promoted. When I met with my Director in March of this year to discuss the year-end 09, I was told I was not being promoted again for budgetary reasons and that my current salary was comparable to Managers in my location in other departments. I was assured a promotion was still coming. I was rated a "2" even though I received the same high praise as the year before, but I received substantially less compensation than year ending 2008.

I had a heart to heart with my Director in May of 2010 regarding a promotion again and I was told he was working out the details with his boss, and that it should happen sooner than later.

I hadn't heard anything by August when the first big news came out, my Director's boss had been promoted and he was applying for the new position opening up. This turned into a situation where as it turns out he was never a candidate for the position and that they were eliminating his job.

To interject one second before I continue on, I noticed that at some point between Dec 09 and Sept 10 that all the org chart documents had been changed. Where once it stated my Manager's old position was open, and I was the Team Lead (Supervisor) now read that I was the Supervisor (Manager) and I had no Team Lead (Supervisor).

Today, a new org-chart was rolled out and my new boss told us to send any errors to her. I emailed her that our team should read as SUPERVISOR(Manager) - Open and Team Lead (Supervisor) as me. She said I have the same job code and title as my peers in the Mid-West office have. I explained to her that East Coast office has no Team Lead position so when I was promoted back in 06 I was given the title of Supervisor and reported to a Manager. My new boss was very confused and said that its possible since we are aligned by business unit that the Manager position was no longer available. I let her know that in our office my peers have the title of Manager still, and she said she would look into the issue.

Other than the fact that if they are saying the Manager position is no longer available to me then I am at the ceiling of my career growth in the department, I really need to know how they can explain:

1) If they don't use the East Coast office title hierarchy, then how can my title be the same for 4 years where the first 2 I had no direct reports, but the next 2 I had 12 direct reports?

2) Can you become a manager of people without applying for the position?

This may seem silly just for a "title", but its more than that. With that position I am entitled to a high bonus percentage as well as a higher salary ceiling. With my current title, id have at max 3 years before i hit the ceiling and would not receive any raises unless company raises cap...

My thought process is that if I dont get any satisfaction from my manager I could consult HR, but Im not even sure they can help me.

Do I have any legs to stand on at all?

Thanks for reading and any help you can generate.....

Welcome Back

2010-10-21T21:25:00.000-04:00

Well hello there blogger-verse,

Been awhile since I last connected with you and not much has changed but I have made a resolution to post more frequently and hopefully rekindle some of those friendships that may have gone by the wayside.

SO what have I been up to? Well I haven't played too much poker live or online, lately been playing some HORSE on Stars and have had my regularly monthly game with a stop at JLBSox's home game when he has it. I've been playing so terrible at NLHE, cant figure out why that is.

Sports: Phillies right now are leading 3-2 in Game 5 of the NLCS which they are down 3-1.
KC Chiefs are 3-2, got out of the gate 3-0 and lost their last two. Still leading the division though.

Alright just a quick hit and run for now, i have a Hoy-esque post on my thoughts about the NFL coming up, as well as possible attempt to get back into poker regularly.

Until then, see ya soon!

Fee Times A Mady!

2010-06-06T15:59:00.000-04:00

Third online royal since 2003, first on Full Tilt, 2nd Clubs Royal.

Around the Horn

2010-06-06T12:34:00.000-04:00

Sporadic posting due to lack of poker or anything interesting going on, but I'll try to touch on a bunch of different things.

First, Poker: Had my monthly home game last night. Best hand I got all night (4 tournies) was A-Kdd, highest pair I had was 9s. Ending up winning the 3rd game, didnt cash in the other 3.Up 20 for the night.

Flyers push the Stanley Cup Finals to a best of 3 when they tied up the series 2-2 on Friday. Philly has at times looked brilliant, especially the 4th goal in game 3. They still are playing sloppy and maybe just a tad cocky, which is leading to turnovers and scoring chances for the Hawks.

After Roy's perfect game, the Phillies proceeded to get swept by the Braves. It looks like they might have gotten back on track with back to back wins over the Padres.

First wedding, last week, was boring as all heck due to me not really knowing anyone. My bro's is this Friday so that one should be a lot better.

Puuuuuuuurfecto!

2010-05-30T12:00:00.000-04:00

Roy Halladay continues to impress as he throws the first perfect game for the Phillies since Jim Bunning in 1964, and the first no-hitter since Kevin Millwood on the '03 team.
Kudos to you sir, and I am glad you are proving me wrong over and over again this season.

In other Phillies news, the offense needs to get its rear in motion, it seems like since Rollins second game back from his first DL stint (and has since returned to it) the offense cant get it together. Maybe the ole swtcherooney of the lineup is in order.
My non-professional suggestion would be Victorino, Polanco, Werth, Howard, Utley, Ibanez, Ruiz, Castro. Basically just switching up Utley and Werth ad maybe switching the 6 through 8th hitters in some fashion.

Flyers gave up the first game of the Finals with Leighton being pulled. Im not sure how I feel about it because Niemi didnt get yanked, but Boucher did play spectacularly considering he hasnt played since Game 5 of the Bruins series. Hopefully they can come back, play a little less sloppy and win this thing.

Its an exciting time to be a Philly sports fan, even if I dont follow the Eagles or Sixers.

General Malaise and Indifference

2010-05-23T20:01:00.001-04:00

Describes my feelings toward poker of all forms right now, just dont excited about the game like i use to. I could say the same about video games too, just not feeling the silly pastimes that made me who I am.
I think one of the things that has really bugged me specifically about poker is the people who have hit a certain level of success and now look down or outright mock those who are not as successful or time committed as them.
When I started playing poker there were a few reasons:
1. I wanted to win money
2. Poker is a fun, social game when you a have a decent group of people.
3. I liked the aspect of being able to go toe to toe with a doctor, or a lawyer, or some snot-nosed kid and trying to outthink them.

While I still want to win money, that aspect has trumped all other reasons, and once that happens its no longer a fun little hobby or side-venture...its a job. And you know what? I already have one job and Im not that fond of it as it is, and so Ive been playing poker less and less.

I didnt play the mookie last Wednesday, but I did notice Lightning36's post that explained his reasons why he did what he did, and if you have seen it he got pretty much lit up in the comments. That is just head-scratching to me. He didnt have to post his reasons for his play and he explained himself very well but there are people out there who made comments as if Lightning is some idiot who doesnt have a clue what hes doing, and I think thats pretty shameful.
If you think hes a fish then why are you tapping the glass?
If you think he has faulty logic, but offer no advice or you offer some advice with a side of admonishment without recognizing the pyschological thought process he put into it as being a rational decision that a sane person would make during the course of a tournament then I think you may just be a poker snob.

Lets refer to this era of poker as the "2 PLUS 2" or Hellmuthian age.

So anyway what have I been doing?

Enjoying the Flyers miraculous playoff run that hopefully includes a Stanley Cup appearance and win.

Watching lots of baseball, purchased MLB.tv so I can watch every Phillies that I can this year, haven't been able to do that since 2001.

Trying to survive work, lately just seems more stressful between customers who have taken too much of the crazy juice then calling us up or could be the soon to be seperation of bank and insurance operations with us offering an IPO.

Busy next couple weeks, friend's wedding this week with a trip to Foxwoods. Home game the week after, and then my Bro's wedding the week after that.

So good luck to the TOC winners, hope you use that 10k well and win the ME.

Workin My Way Back to Myself

2010-05-18T23:40:00.000-04:00

It has definately been more of a grind this year than the previous 2 years for me. 5 weeks in, and the best I could muster so far was one cash and 0 final tables. That will hopefully be fixed soon.

Mookie tomorrow night at 10pm EST pw: vegas 1, lets try to get that player count up over 100 again!

Finally crack the money board

2010-04-27T08:31:00.000-04:00

It took 5 BBT events (4 played) but I finally cracked the money board with a 14th place finish last night in the Poker From the Rail series.

Got in good position when IT jammed the turn on me after I flopped the nuts and somehow I faded quads and a paired board to double up.
Little later on in a weird hand, I held Qs-Jx on a As-Ks-10s-X-10 board. Vinnay checked the river and I bet pot approx 1800. Vinnay, then shoved for another 2k more to put me at my tourney life. I replayed the hand in my head and the action didn't make sense to me, so praying I didnt just run into a boat I called and he showed ducks.

I chipped up to a high point of about 18k and everything else was downhill from there, costliest mistake was raising 10-10 from EP, shorty pushes in on me (which i was hoping for) and then another shorty Astin pushed over the top of him. I figured Astin's range was still pretty wide here as he only had about 5k in chips, and I had in the neighborhood of 12-13k. So I called, shorty flips up 9-9, Astin has K-K and flops a set.

The rest of the time was spent scratching for the money bubble which I eventuall hit and was ousted when my A-9 couldnt catch against Hoy's J-J.

"We Can Build On This!" - Herm Edwards

2/3 in busting before first break

2010-04-25T19:51:00.003-04:00

I havent been playing live or online well lately. Usually my night ends with me shoving into some kind of made hand already, and I kick myself for being too aggressive (STAG).

Tonight I lose 1/3rd of my stack figuring I will let Schuabs hang himself with an underpair or weak K on a K high flop, and I let him see a river which gives him trips to beat my TPTK.

Then the below hand occurs which stands as the reason I have stopped playing almost all forms of poker:

Full Tilt p0ker Game #20358123589: BBT5 Invitational Event #2 (155898195), Table 3 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:38:04 ET - 2010/04/25

bayne_s posts the small blind of 30
TexansBaby posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #4

*** HOLE CARDS ***

USAF_Trevor has 15 seconds left to act
USAF_Trevor raises to 135
1Queens Up1 calls 135
*** FLOP *** [As 2c 2d]
USAF_Trevor bets 120

1Queens Up1 raises to 360
USAF_Trevor raises to 3,001, and is all in
1Queens Up1 calls 1,345, and is all in (gonna have to show me the nutz here buddy)

USAF_Trevor shows [5d Ad]
1Queens Up1 shows [Jh Ah]

*** TURN *** [As 2c 2d] [5s] ighskjfdfhlkjefhklegfhilewgfulaegfeagaeghfahlfgahgfaslgflewgflkewagfwlk
*** RIVER *** [As 2c 2d 5s] [9c]
USAF_Trevor shows two pair, Aces and Fives
1Queens Up1 shows two pair, Aces and Twos
USAF_Trevor wins the pot (3,770) with two pair, Aces and Fives

BBT5 Take 2 - The BuddyMookieDank

2010-04-21T23:38:00.001-04:00

Lasted longer than the first time around. Chip count high was 4200. Actually got a mix of decent hands and outstanding flops, just could not get any action on strong hands and got loads of action on my weaker ones.

Ended up pushing 4-4 on a 6-3-2 flop and top 5 stack thought and called jam with 10-6hh. GG me.

Did get some good news, Al setup me to be entered into Sunday Invitiaional. My bankroll thanks him very much! Need to start cashing in these things...dont have 3 months like last time...

Poker From The Rail: Probably Safest Place For Me To Be

2010-04-19T22:39:00.000-04:00

Started my BBT5 off with Chad at my table, 27 minutes later I finished it off by shoving my 3k stack into JuliusGoat's set turned quads.

If I keep that performance up, I will absolutely not make it through the entire series. Wish I knew where Ive gone wrong...

From March to Vegas in 09 I was playing some of the best poker of my life, and since then I cant figure out how to get out of my own way.

Lately Ive been noticing the fish at the table is me...

BBT 5 and looking back on BBT4 & Vegas Trip

2010-04-18T18:02:00.002-04:00

First let me give you the scoop on the upcoming events:

Tournament: Poker From the Rail

When: Monday, April 19th through May 24th starting at 22:00ET
Game: Deepstack NLHE
Buyin: $24+2 (or token)*
Password: 2010WSOP

Tournament: The Mookie
When: Wednesday, April 21st through May 26th starting at 22:00ET
Game: Deepstack NLHE
Buyin: $10+1*
Password: vegas1

*Winner also receives ToC entry

Tournament: Battle of the Blogger Tournaments Invitational
When: Sunday, April 18th through May 23rd starting at 19:00ET
Game: Deepstack NLHE
Buyin: Restricted freeroll**

**$2,000 Prizepool + 1st and 2nd place receive ToC entry

Tournament: Blogger Battle Royale
When: Sunday, June 6th starting at 14:00ET
Game: Deepstack NLHE
Buyin: Freeroll for BBT participating bloggers

So as the BBT5 is set to start in less than 90 minutes with the first of the invitational series of tournaments, your BBT4 overall leaderboard champ and player of the month for March is sitting on the sideline waiting for his crack at winning one of those 10k seat prizes.

I think most of us were surprised when Al tweeted just a week ago that he had secured 40k in prizes for a BBT5 after he successfully had convinced the entire blogger community BBT was done for good, but here we are about to duke it out once again!

For myself, I didnt have any WSOP plans this year unless some promotions happened within the household, or I got lucky with some Full Tilt tournies.

Vegas was great, got to meet a bunch of fellow bloggers like SmallBoatDrinks, TuscaloosaJohn, LJ, and even Al himself. For my bankroll it was another story, won't repost any of it but if curious go back through my July posts.

So good luck to all those participants and maybe a blogger can win a WSOP event this year!

Poker Bloggers IN The Movies I

2010-04-17T09:30:00.008-04:00

Welcome back friends. If you are an old visitor to this site and misclicked on my blog or even if you are new to the blogger scene and mistakenly found yourself on this site, I have something for you all!

As the start of a 5th edition of the BBT begins tomorrow, I thought you might like to know something about the people you are playing against.....most of them are VERY FAMOUS movie stars! Thats right! So read on poor misguided soul, and be amazed at the theatrical abilities of your peers!

(Not-so-legal disclaimer. All Blogger names are real, the movies not so much. Everything stated below is intended to be funny and a parody....i know its a stretch but try to imagine Im funny. But seriously if you do not want your blogger name used I will be happy to remove it. Submissions are welcomed and encouraged. Exception to this rule is Waffles....his name will be used with extreme predjudice...and mostly likely 98-99% of events are actually true. Also thanks go to Julius Goat.)

Gone With The Flop-Turn-River

Scene: Very Important Poker Tournament. Our two PLAYERS are heads up. Seat 3 (UTG+1) Unimpressed has just pushed all in with POCKET ACES on a raggy board that contains a THREE and an EIGHT. 1Queens Up1 has Unimpressed covered as 1Queens Up1 reveals he has snowman-tater legs...

Queens: Unimpressed, Unimpressed, Unimpressed if you go, where shall I go? What shall I do?

Unimpressed: Frankly Queens, I don't give a damn.

No Country For Fold Men - by Julius Goat

[poker tournament. Fuel, wearing a pageboy haircut, open shoves from the cutoff with 16bb. Julius Goat, sitting on a monster stack achieved only by calling with AJo and sucking out, tanks in the big blind. Fuel pulls out a quarter.]

Fuel: Call it.
Goat: I gotta know what I stand to win.
Fuel. Everything. You stand to win everything CALL IT.
Goat: Do you know how crazy you are?
Fuel: You're referring to the reality of the situation?
Goat: I'm referring to the reality of you.
Fuel: This coin got here the same way that I did. Call it.
[Julius Goat calls and shows Ace Jack offsuit. The flop is 555. Turn 5. River 5.]
Goat: Show your hand.
Fuel: You know what it is. [He pulls out a pneumatic cattle gun and blows a hole right in Goat's head.]
Fuel: You can't stop what's coming.

Close Encounters of the Trips Kind

Scene: TOC Final Table. Down to 2 PLAYERS, Matt Damon and Waffles. (Please note this is not Academy Award Winning for Good Will Hunting Matt Damon, instead this is puppet Matt Damon from Team America: World Police) The river has just been dealt and it is a JACK, which has paired the BOARD. Waffles who acts first BETS out. Matt Damon, with a pained experession, takes his time then begrudingly FOLDS....

Matt Damon: MATT DAMON? (subtitle: So, did you have it?)

Waffles: Is that it? Is that all your gonna ask me? Well I got a couple goddamn questions you know. I want to speak to someone in charge! I want to lodge a coplaint! You have no right to make people crazy! You think I investigate every Walter Cronkite story there is? Huh? If this is nerve gas, how come I know everthing in such detail? I've never been here before, how come I know so much? What the hell is going on here? Who are you people??

(crickets chirp)

Matt Damon: matt damon? (subtitle: nice hand?)

Get Your Donkey On!

2010-04-16T22:38:00.001-04:00

Non-Poker Post

2010-04-14T21:18:00.000-04:00

Just some updates on Non-poker stuff:

Fantasy Hockey season say me in the finals against the 2nd place regular season team (me being #1). It came down to the final game of the NHL season ANA/EDM.
Ended up falling exactly 2 Shots On Goal short of being Champion, however, 2nd place winnings did cover my entry into my buddy's expensive baseball rotis. league.

Phillies are off to a 6-1 start (and tied 7-7 right now against the Nats). Consider this my public acknowledgment to Riggs and Hoy that I am so far greatful to be wrong in the Roy situation. Lee is on the DL/suspended, and Halladay is pitching complete games. So Hoy/Riggs you were right.

Hopefully some BBT5 news forth-coming, so stay tuned!

Too Big Of A Deal To Not Mention

2010-04-06T23:00:00.000-04:00

BBT 5

Guess its a good excuse to reload on Full Tilt eh? SEE YOU DONKEYS ON THE VIRTUAL FELT!

Poker Calendar

2010-03-13T11:15:00.000-05:00

Been slacking again, so its time for an update.

Last Friday (03/05/10) made a trip to the Sun poker room again. I took half a day off and wanted to get there by 3ish with Unimpressed showing up around 6.

The table I sat at just happened to have a lot of people who looked like a celebrity of some sort. There was the Carl Weathers look-a-like, who I almost asked if he gets the "You look like Chubbs a lot" (Apollo Creed for you older folks). Then there was the guy I call WWS, White Warren Sapp, the dude was a spitting image of what Wareen Sapp would like if he was white. And finally, the guy I refer to as my nemesis, looked like a skinnier Ron Artest.

As for the play, I bought in short to start off and promptly stacked off to an Asian guy in seat 6 who was on a heater, no matter what cards he held he ended up having the winner.
I had 5-6o, he had 5-7o and the river 6 gave him the nuts. Re-bought in short again.
A few hands later I pick up QQ, raise to the standard 12, get a few callers. Flop comes Q-Xc-Xc, throw out a 30 spot and get the Asian Heater to call. Turn is the 3rd club and he bets out 35. Im looking at my stack and have approx 50 and I could fold here because Im certain he has the flush, but I decent to just push the last 50 in there and he insta calls with 10-9cc. River doesnt help and within 30 mins Im down 200.

I eventually make that 200 back and then some, and Joe showed up. This is also about the time WWS and his 2 friends sit down at the table. So at this point the table consists of Joe and myself, WWS and 2 friends, 2 Asian brothers, and 3 singles.

This is about the time I started tanking again because I made some real idiotic plays. I lost track of what was happening on a hand when on the turn I had an OESFD and when a Qc clubs came out on the River I bet out not putting my opponent on a flush, which technically was correct, except I somehow missed the 2 Queens dealt on the flop...he had a boat and I looked like an idiot.
Next bonehead play I have A-10dd. Joe, who is on my left, raises to 15. The Ron Artest guy (Nemesis)calls and I call. Flop comes Kd-Jd-X.
This is where my mind leaves me again. I call Joe, but at this point I forget Nemesis is in the hand. Turn is a blank and I bet out. Joe calls, and again Nemesis must have called but at this point Im 100% oblivious to him being in the hand.
River is another blank and I bet out 25. Joe folds and at this point I think the hand is over and I flip my cards up to show Joe how I almost had that Royal and the High hand, however, Nemesis who had been making decisions at a grass growing pace still had his cards. And while Joe and I differ on if he actually saw my flipped cards he called my 25 with A-Q and took down the pot with his Q kicker.

So after that, down 190, I was done. Said my goodbyes to Joe and headed out into Wind to meet up with Liss and her fam. Since we were sorta celebrating Liss' bday and she was upset that she was down 100 from her favorite penny machines, I obliged her and we went to the roulette table.
The way I play roulette is I bet 8,11,21,22 (Liss, her dad, her mom, and my bdays) and through out some various random bets. Long story short, Liss' number came up 5 times (including a 3 out 4 spins stretch), her dad's came up twice, her mom's came up twice (including a lucky hit on a time when i bumped up the amount on 21 because it had not come in) and my number came in once. I ended the night up 300 from roulette, and actually 100 up for the day.
The 100 I was up I gave to her because I felt bad she was sad on her bday weekend about losing.

So all in all, a good day. Got to play with Joe in a casino setting again.

Upcoming visits: I have 3/19, 3/22, and 3/23 off from my big 3-0 bday. My plan right now is to be at Foxwoods/Mohegan on 03/19 and possible either do the 600 NL or 400 limit FPC tourneys.

Tonight is my monthly game but I dont expect a large turnout.

Non-Poker:
- KC Chiefs moves so far: Thomas Jones, Casey Wiegman, Chris Chambers. I like all those moves.
- Final Fantasy XIII looks gorgeous, however the play thus far (5 hours in) is a little disappointing
- Congrats to Lehigh University for their NCAA birth, 4th in school history

Crash and Burn and I Write A Travel Guide

2010-02-16T21:22:00.000-05:00

Friday night at Mo Sun was a disaster.

I'll let that phrase marinate for a second. Ive documented on here how I've been pissing money away on table games the last few times Ive went to the casino, mainly because I like to gamble and secondly because I had some reservations about playing live poker again.
Well thanks to various people (not limited to but including HoP)I've kicked the table games habit and headed right for the poker room Friday night determined to build my bankroll.

Everything started out fine, no nerves, and I splashed around early. The table was about 6 regs/decent players with 3 absolute fish. I bought in for $120 just to get a feel for the able before I dump all my money in. And it worked until this particular hand....

Im in seat 10 and UTG, I haven't raised pre-flop yet so when Ip ick up 8-8 I figure I can go here. Standard raise was to 12 and I caught only one caller, seat 1.

Flop comes down J-9-J

Figure this is a fairly decent flop for me givin my table image (tight pre, loose post)and the caller being a guy who can find a fold.
I throw out a $20 bet, and seat 1 calls.

Turn A

Heres my thinking, if the dude is calling with a naked Ace on the flop and thinks im continuing the bet with A-K/A-Q he'd smooth call the flop to see what develops on the turn. When the Ace comes out I figure my best chance for a fold here is put a decent sized bet on the turn to show that the A probably hit me good and any lesser Ace is walking into a trap. If he has the J here, im expecting a re-raise. So I put a $50 bet out into a pot of $80ish, and to my surprise the guy again just calls. Im perplexed by this move. J would probably raise here because I've stated I like my hand. A call here pretty much telegraphs I'm beat.

River is a Xx

I check. I can only beat a rediculous bluff and 2 calls from this guy pretty much says he has a hand.
Expecting a betI am confused when seat 1 checks behind. He flips up A-9 for aces up and I muck.

Basically the rest of my night was summed up by my worst mistake. I had K-K and raised preflop and caught one caller, the rock of the table.
Flop was all undercards, and I bet at it and rock called. This is where the bells should have been going off, but I was blinded by something. Turn was still an undercard and I bet again, this time the rock pops me from 60 to 200. And inside I should be screaming to let this hand go, but like an idiot I call off half of my stack in front of me. I ran into a set of tens which turned into quads on the river. Even the biggest of idiots could have seen that coming, yet I was caught up in the moment and didnt put on the brakes to think.

In the end I ended up down to full buy-ins and obliterated my bankroll. And all I can do is shake my head as I think of that stupid play...

In other news, blogger Jordan asked me to write a small tour guide for Bethlehem, PA since that seems to be the eventual destination of a bunch of poker playing New Yorkers due to its 90 minute closeness to NYC.
Heres my write-up: Bethlehem
I only hope I did Bethlehem proud. It still is so amazing to me a casino got built there, if you had asked me 10 years ago if I thought they would ever get a casino I would have laughed. The place is an insanely religious area and have had some close friends turned into cult-like followers (not an exaggeration, and no Im not anti-religion) the protests that took place during the Sands opening actually surprised me that they weren't bigger.

Well now at least when I go home to visit my fam, I have a place to crash when the hotel opens and play some poker! Maybe even some Mid-Atlantic blogger gatherings.

Thanks again HoP for letting me guest write!