The Younger

The future state of online poker

2006-10-23T14:36:00.000-07:00

Much has been written and voiced over the past several weeks regarding the future state of online gaming. If this is a hobby, past time or profession for you then I’m sure you are more than familiar with what has occurred. For those of you who are unaware let me share with you the actions of our fine elected officials from the “Right”. Let me preface that I have been one of those classified as being on the “Right” yet quite a bit closer to the middle.

Sen. Bill Frist (R) from Tennessee had been championing a bill to attempt to ban internet gambling and in some 11th hour back room activity, before the Senate broke for the November elections recess was able to attach the “Unlawful Internet Gambling” bill onto a Homeland Security bill which was relative to US Port Security. The un-Distinguished Gentleman from Tennessee initially tried to get this bill attached to a Defense bill which was to provide additional funding and support to the troops who are on the ground in this global war on terror and someone with some sense put their foot down and told the Senator to get lost. This situation was a bit different in that the sessions was about to end and this was basically the last item of business to be presented.

Now you may be like me, asking yourself how internet gaming has anything to do with US Port Security. Let me tell you…absolutely nothing. Sen. Frist knew that the Port Security bill was a bill that would pass as no right minded lawmaker was going to be seen as opposing a law which would make our ports safer in these times of the war on terror. In a post 9/11 world both the “Right” and the “Left” know that there is a need to make things safer.

I do believe that there is a sense of deteriorating morals within the USA however I do not think it is the result of internet gaming nor do I think that it is the primary function of our elected officials to legislate either sides particular morals on the entire nation. It also seems a bit hypocritical of the “Right” to jump on their soap box over this particular issue when there is a flood of more reprehensible acts with which our elected officials have been exposed of being involved in. Can you say Mark Foley? Did anyone read the transcripts on ABC News of this guys instant message with one of the pages? What I think is more hypocritical with this particular bill is that there are carve outs for State run Lotteries, Horse betting and Fantasy Sports(?).

Given the current state of affairs that our economy is in and the spiraling deficit why would we not choose to regulate and tax internet gaming which is a multi-billion dollar a year industry? There is a strong opposition on the religious front regarding gambling however if it is that big of an issue why do 48 of the 50 states have some form of legalized gaming? Why the carve outs for some forms of gambling? This country and our politicians are so jacked up it is unreal. Let me end by saying that people who want to gamble will gamble and just as back in the days of prohibition people continued to drink. A flat out ban is not the answer.

Crazy players...

2006-09-11T17:57:00.000-07:00

And to think that I thought there were a bunch of fish playing online poker. Heck you haven't seen fish until you play in a $2/$4 or $4/$8 game in Las Vegas. It's almost as if I need to forget everything I know about playing poker and see every flop, turn and river calling down whatever bets are made and then only if I don't have better than bottom pair fold. And by the way these players talk you would think they are the best poker players in the world. Good thing I brought my laptop so I can offset any live game losses I have at the online tables. The good news is I'm up overall between the two thanks to the online games.

I did play in a NL tourney today and got busted out in 4th when I had the winning hand up to the river. I flopped a set of 3's and the flush knocked me out on in the end.

More to come....

On my way...

2006-09-09T11:55:00.000-07:00

Well here I sit in the Eastern Iowa Airport trying to sharpen my skills at PokerRoom for a week in Las Vegas. Not that it will be a week long poker fest but I will get my fair share of hands in as the week goes along. I'm actually heading out there for a business related conference which kicks off tomorrow with a round of golf and then sessions, etc. start in full on Monday. I figured since I was already going to be out there I might as well stay a few extra days for some additional fun. Hopefully
the cards will be live and chips plentiful. More to come as the trip unfolds.

Poker Legislation/Regulation

2006-09-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

OK so it’s been a day or two since I’ve posted anything at all about poker. It’s not because I haven’t been playing because I have. I’ve just had some other things going on as well and just haven’t taken the time. I haven’t weighed in up to this point on the proposed legislation to ban internet gambling because I really didn’t know what I thought about it as a whole. I realize that a lot of my thoughts will probably be in contradiction to some who may stop by and check out what’s going on over here at “the younger” site. Others I know will be in near complete agreement with me. So let me see if I can effectively state my views on the subject.

First of all there are several bills that have passed in the House of Representatives moving on to the Senate. The two getting the most talk are H.R. 4411 and H.R. 4477. Essentially the legislation makes efforts to block financial institutions in the US from processing transactions involving online gambling sites. It also has provisions dealing with ISPs, so access concerns can be addressed. If anyone has tried to use their credit card to make a deposit into an online gaming site in the past year or two it has most likely been denied as the card companies have already taken actions to curb internet gambling. The odd thing about this legislation is that it exempts betting the ponies. Is betting on the horses somehow not gambling? What about the lottery? Another question is this, if internet gambling is a multi-billion dollar a year industry why would we not move towards regulation rather than prohibition. Shouldn’t we have learned already that prohibition really doesn’t work? If you look at what is going on, at least from my view point, it is all about who gets a cut of the pie. Here is but one example, when reading this pay particular attention to the last portion of the 3rd paragraph. The online gambling sites are off-shore so “Big Brother” isn’t getting his cut which is where the biggest rub comes in. Then you throw in all the money from special interest groups who wish to impose their thoughts and beliefs on everyone else by funnel huge amounts of money into the political machine.

Well there is still some meat on this bone but I’ll save it for another day.

2006-08-31T20:11:00.000-07:00

Monte Montgomery - Little Wing

Now this is some insane guitar playing. Thanks to Mark Riddle for pointing this one out.

Trifecta Champion

2006-08-29T10:06:00.000-07:00

I am proud to announce that I am, as predicted the 1st Annual Trifecta Champion while taking 1st place in the Fishing segment, a tie for first in the Golf segment and coming in dead last in the Poker segment. These young northerners up here can't keep the old man from the south down. Can't wait until next year to defend.

Slowing down

2006-08-28T08:39:00.000-07:00

Well I really haven’t been working towards the quest at all lately. I’ve been working towards a reload bonus over at Hollywood Poker which has gotten off to a rocky start but is coming around. Party Poker is also having a reload bonus which I will be taking advantage of as well so the tourney quest is on indefinite hold for now. In the past I have chased bonuses at various sites, the majority of which turned out on the positive side let’s not talk about Absolute Poker which is the only site to have absolutely raked me over the coals. I am now to the point where in the overall scheme of things I make more money in play than I do chasing bonuses so with that I will maintain a presence at a couple of sites and play strictly for cash and their occasional reload bonuses.

Tourney Sabbatical

2006-08-22T09:36:00.000-07:00

I’ve taken a brief respite from the constant No Limit SNG’s to work on a little bankroll building by hitting the tables at Absolute Poker for their 100% match up to $750. Let’s just say I’m not going to stick around over there. I honestly can’t find much of anything positive to say about this site. They boast of having brought on board Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi but that doesn’t do much for the site at this point. When I first jumped on to Absolute the stock table skin about killed my eyes it was so busy (but then that has been a huge complaint by many others elsewhere). I guess the one good thing is that there are alternate skins that you can download some of which take all of the clutter off of the screen so you can pay attention to playing cards and not have to search for where you are sitting at the table amidst all the junk. As for table selection it is pitiful (at least at the $1/$2 and $2/$4 Limit tables) mostly due to the lack of traffic. A while back I was at Interpoker and on several occasions I had to wait up to 15 minutes for a seat at a table. With Absolute I honestly had to wait 30+ minutes to get on a table. At other sites, like Party Poker I can be selective about the table I sit at and still not have to wait 30+ minutes to get a seat and start playing. There also seems to be a serious problem with the “Waiting List” for tables at Absolute as I was on the table specific waiting list (I don’t take just any seat at any table) and was constantly being removed from the various table lists only to be bumped to the end of the line, probably a good reason it took 30+ minutes to get a seat. Well I did get $20 of the $750 bonus and I hit my bonus through Vegas Poker Pro but I just can’t stick around for the full $750, there isn’t enough time given my schedule and the amount of time it takes just to get a seat.

I’ll be hitting the tables hard on Thursday (both SNG’s and ring games) as several of us embark on the 1st Annual Trifecta which is held over two days and is a 3 event contest of 1) Poker, 2) Fishing and 3) Golf. I will be proud to report back on Saturday that I am the CHAMPION.

On the positive side again…

2006-08-18T05:12:00.000-07:00

WEEEEEEE. What a roller coaster ride. I would post a graph of my tournament tracking but you would get sick. I am on the positive side in the cash column (although not by a huge amount) after a come from behind win in an $11 SNG. The very first hand dealt to me in the tourney was AKo from the SB. The guy under the gun limped as did the Button. I raised, the BB folded, UTG completed and the Button folded. The flop totally missed, UTG checks and I bet. UTG calls and the turn totally misses. I fired one more shot as UTG checked and he calls. The river comes another blank and UTG fires into me. I call and he ended up with top pair, which happened to be an 8. So I’m in the hole and play solid patient poker, pick up a few hands here and there and then it’s down to four and I’m 4th in chips. I’m on the Button holding AKo. It folds to me and I make a raise (1/3 of my chips) and the BB raises me. I reraise and the Button moves All-In. I have to call given that the majority of my chips are now in the middle. He has AA and I feel I’m getting ready to head off to bed. But wait a K hits on the flop. I’ve got two cards left to hit one more K for the win. A sick beat on the river gives me the win and I’m now 2nd in chips and in the $$. The chip leader has me outstacked 2:1 and has been pounding my blinds time and time again. I finally have some chips and in a 3 handed game some pretty good cards QJs. Moron Chip Leader (MCL) again pounds my blind and I re-raise to which MCL calls. The flop comes AQQ and I hit the jackpot and make a big raise and MCL move in on me. I’m not thinking that he has AA, AQ but maybe more like AT or A9. I call. MCL flips over A5s and needs another A or runner-runner for a flush. The turn comes one to his flush and I sweat a little. The river comes blank and I’m the new chip leader. Yes. From there on I pushed both players around with reckless abandon and took the tourney down calling an all-in holding 98s against AJo where I hit 98 on the flop to hold up and win.

I’ve got to get some traction on this thing or I’m not going to make it to the goal. I've got the weekend coming on so hopefully I get make some headway.

Back in the crapper

2006-08-16T23:48:00.000-07:00

Well the streak of good cards that the fine Japanese meal brought on must have gone down the crapper when the meal finally ran through me. I'm now back down again but I'm not out.

Had another good night at the small stakes limit tables and cleared the bonus so that account is growing which is about all that is right now.

Well I'll keep grinding away at the tourney's until I hit my goal or run out of money.

Righting the ship

2006-08-16T19:12:00.000-07:00

WHEW!!! Things were looking bad a little earlier today as I was down to about $52 in the bankroll after missing the money time and time again. Well I guess a really good Japanese dinner does wonders for the poker game as I got back home and cashed in the first two tourneys I played in with one being a win. Back in black baby. I think I'll crank up another one and see what happens.

Downward Spiral

2006-08-16T13:42:00.000-07:00

Not catching any cards at all. I should probably stop for a while but I'm still having fun. If I loose it all today then heck I'll have to find some new quest. It's not that I am playing bad, it's just lack of cards and then when I do get cards I get some sick bad beat put on me. For instance I flop a set of Q's and make an oversized bet and get one caller. The turn comes a blank and I move All-In and genius calls me with a 4 outer and hits. Amazing. Well I've got the chip lead in the touney I'm in as I type and there are 5 players left. I should make the money on this one. We'll see.

On a side note

2006-08-16T10:17:00.000-07:00

I failed to mention previously that I had a very good night at the $0.25/$0.50 limit tables last night. Yes, I said $0.25/$0.50. That is high stakes poker my friend. Some of my friends who will be reading this will wonder why on earth I moved from $2/$4 tables down to such a small limit. No, I didn't loose my bankroll. I had a small amount of money in an account and want to see how much I can make it grow. No real goal set for that one but a small break from all the SNG's that I've been playing lately. I multi-tabled for about 2 hours or so and ended all four table sessions in the black for a $31 profit. I'll get into PT later and check the BB/100 and report in a later update.

UPDATE: This session was 35 BB/100

No big swings...

2006-08-16T09:59:00.000-07:00

Well not much of anything exciting to report today. I was not able to get any games in prior to heading out for softball. In a moment of deviation from the subject of poker, we did play a great softball game, winning 16-8. For the first time in several games the whole team put the bat on the ball and played well. Now back to the poker...I played 4 tourney's last night and placed 1st in one and busted out just short of the money in 3 others. With the one win I realized a very modest increase in the overall bankroll taking it to a whopping $89 (+$9). I figure as long as I post gains it's all good but in order to hit my goal I will have to pick up the pace. I hope to report some better results in the next update. Oh, lastly I can tell you that my $$/Hr increased with last nights win but it is still way below the poverty line.

Day One...

2006-08-15T08:49:00.000-07:00

OK so things are starting off a little slow. I went back into Poker Tracker (from this point forward simply, PT) and looked at the past 20 or so SNG’s, excluding any Freerolls, that I played over the past week and my cash percentage was at 70%. Last night it dropped like rock to 33%. I’m still in the black as I have $82 (actually started with $80) so not so stellar. I won’t even tell you what the $$/Hr were for last night. Suffice it to say that if this quest was my only means for shelter and sustenance then my family and I would soon be wet and hungry. What was different about last night vs. my previous SNG’s? I found myself pressing more and playing a wider range of hands than I normally do and I’m not sure why. The competition was really no better than normal with the exception of one particular tourney which had a really solid player who actually beat me once we got heads up (he did have a 3:1 chip advantage going in). I don’t think he would beat me on a consistent basis as we both play a similar game and he had the chip advantage in this instance but props to him. The SNG that I actually won I was a 2:1 dog (based on chip count) going into heads up and just flat out, out played the person. Not bragging but going in heads up with the chip lead you have to move from a tight-passive player and loosen up and be more aggressive. It was a speed tourney so the blinds move up every 3 minutes so they were somewhere in the $600/$1200 range and I was just stealing just about every big blind this person put in and was winning or again out playing when I was the big blind. There was one tourney in particular in which I busted out in I believe 5th. The guy in the #2 seat was a VERY LOOSE-AGGRESSIVE-AGGRESSIVE (LAA) player who, although dominated in almost every All-In situation drew out, it was sick. This guy caught every card when he needed it. The hand that put me out on this one by said LAA I had (T T), I can’t remember how much I had in chips, maybe $2500 and LAA had about $4500. I bet about 4 times the big blind which at the time was at somewhere around $200/$400 so $1600 (so 60-65% of my whole stack) and the action folds around to LAA who calls, which I knew he would. Hindsight and logic says I should have moved All-In pre-flop but I was in preservation mode instead of WIN mode for some reason. I had no clue what LAA was holding but since he called and based on his history I figured he had at least one card higher than a ten. The flop came rags (all under ten) and I move All-In at that point. LAA calls with AJo. The turn is a blank and then the hammer fell on the river with an Ace. GAME OVER. That is just one of about 10 hands this guy won like that.

Anyway today is a new day and I will hopefully get a tourney or two in prior to heading out to play softball and then a couple more when I get home.

Quest to build a little cash….

2006-08-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

Well look here, knocking the cobwebs off the old blog. Maybe my new little quest will give cause to write a little more or at least post some entries as things progress. If things go in the wrong direction then maybe I won’t post so much if at all, then you will know the quest didn’t go so well.

What is this quest? Well, just like a large number of others around the world I’m on the poker wagon. Yes, that’s right the son of two rather conservative Christian parents and the Younger brother of two pastors gambling. Did I mention that I occasionally imbibe? What will become of it all? I digress. Here is where it all began…

I play in a weekly home poker game in the Fall and Winter and of the regulars I believe had the second highest dollars won for the 2005 PPT (Pipho Poker Tour, the name of the guy who hosts the game). Granted we are not playing for the insane amounts of money you see on TV these days but my winnings afforded me to take it a step further. In February I put $100 in an online account and began doing what a lot of people call “bonus whoring” (Oh my…a drinking, poker playing whore). Now really, “bonus whoring” is a process in which the online poker rooms offer you money back based on the amount of money you put in your account on their site and points you accumulate while playing hands. The players’ objective is to obviously make money on the poker play and then the bonus is gravy on top of that. At worst you want to break even. Breakeven is not good if your objective is to increase your bankroll. So where do things stand today? Given that I am far from turning into a full-time “professional” online poker player I am happy with what has happened. I’ve turned my modest $100 into over $1200. The majority of these winnings are a result of playing Limit Texas Hold Em. Beginning at the $0.25/$.50 tables and making my way up to the $2/$4 tables.

I’ve not done too bad in the limit games but I enjoy tournament poker. I’ve made it into the money a few times in some 5000+ participant tournaments, final table twice, so I think I’m a decent tournament player. So here is where my new quest takes flight. I’m going to take $75 and start out playing nothing but $6 single table sit-n-go (SNG) tourneys. Provided things move in the right direction I will move up in stakes as my bankroll allows. My short term goal is to build this up to $600 by the end of the year and play in at least one, $100 SNG. If the plan progresses on a faster pace then I will adjust the goal(s). I may even throw in a few multi-table tourneys (MTT). Tonight after work the Quest begins so hopefully I will have some positive news tomorrow. Until then…shuffle up and deal.