Bluffinpete's Blogs

Summer absences and home game fun!

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 6:14:29 -0500

Wow, I can't believe it has been about 2 months since I was last here, I guess it is explainable though.  When last you saw me, I was in the midst of a job change.  I am the IT director for the biggest insurance company in Alberta, it is a very cool new job.

Lacrosse started up again in April too, so I have been playing that on Thursday nights.  The weekends have been filled with work, the big fires in Slave Lake certainly picked up the pace at the office for us and when I haven't been working, I have been out golfing.  I think i will have more time for poker when winter settles in.  I have not deprived myself of the game, I am playing in two home games this weekend, last night was a 50NL game and things went very well; some of it was definately getting the cards, some of it is a dramatic shift in the way I think about the game.  Firstly and foremost, stopped drinking at the games, what a difference.  I have the cognative function to get out of hands and the dicipline to throw away good (sometimes, great) cards when I know I am beat.  I only got pushed out of one hand last night, that I would have won, but my opponent made a great bet at the right time and there were plenty of ways that his hand could have beat me.  It is a hard thing to toss away pocket A's when you have trips with the board, but I knew he hit his flush and I was dead.

Other hands, I couldn't lose; first two hands of the night, I flopped the nut straight and about 3 hands later, I flopped trips and rivered my self into Quads.  Not only were the hands big, but the pots seemed to be big at the right times.

Tripppled up my money and left the game the big winner, bought in for $60 and left with $240.  I am off to a 1/3 limit game tonight, looking forward to another fun evening with the boys and another opportunity to keep applying what I am learning from the videos and the forum posts.

Talk to everyone soon

Pete

More live poker and a healthy bankroll

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 5:52:33 -0500

Live poker is funny, I seem to be able to manage my bankroll with that better than online.  Maybe because it is more tactile and a wad of cash in your hand has more meaning than a bunch of numbers on your screen.  I certainly know that the chips feel more real.

I get to play another game on Saturday night, I am looking forward to the game and hopefully driving up the bankroll again.

On another note, 888Poker is kind of cool, they have webcams for table games, makes for a live'ish experience...

Another positive night of live poker

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 11:00:24 -0500

Been playing a lot of live poker lately, there is something about the people interaction that the online world can't compete with. 

Played at one of the regular home games on Friday, buy in is quite low, only $40 for a 50NL game.  People are always great, but my game has improved significantly.  I am seeing more of other peoples styles, I have a better read on my hands and potentially what they are playing on.

Best hand of the night, I was big stack and we were playing a round of double board Omaha Hi.  My starting hand wasn't all that good, I had a AQ97.  I was the button -1, he was UTG.  Flops hit me hard, two A's on one board and two Q on the other.  the last two streets didn't help me, I was playing trips, and I was maybe second or third nut on either side

Now with these guys it is pretty rare to push them off a hand, most of them like to play cheap then get aggressive when they hit.  There are a lot of river suckouts on this game, you just get use to it.

Not this time, we were on 5th street, UTG checks to me, I push all in for about $50, he has about $35 and definately at this point has odds to call me.  He acted pretty weak all through the hand, and I got the feeling that he didn't want to buy in again.

He folds and pays me to see my cards...turns out he had me crushed on my trip A's, he was 8's full but the aggression freaked him out, he had been coolered earlier in the night and I think he was gun shy.  He would have taken half the pot with one board for sure, but he dumped and I made most of my winnings on that one hand for the night.

I went home with $145 in my pocket.

Attitude is Everything!

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 3:10:34 -0500

Played my first home game post resignation and let me just say ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING, in both life and poker.  I did excedingly well at the game, came away up $110, would have been $180, but I got coolered on the last hand of the night.  I had flopped a boat, and the guy on my right sucked along with his outs to hit a better boat on the river.  I couldn't push all in for those of you who were wondering how that happened, we were playing a 1-3 limit game

It just didn't matter, I have been so relaxed since resigning, my game was fully focused, no work stress to influence my play.  It was a fantastic feeling. I know have a whole week off before I start my new job.  I am going to fire up the online poker again and see if I can keep the concentration where it should be.

I am looking forward to more games like Saturdays, it is very different when you are playing free of stressors.  I love it.

Trigger pulled and a dry night

Sat, 05 Mar 2011 9:10:28 -0600

The resignation went into the old job on Monday, it is unbelieveable how the stress just simply left my body.  Suddenly I can freely say what I think without reprisal.  I wish that everyone could work like you don't need the job, it is liberating and maximizes your performance and success.

Went to a home game last night, it was a pretty dry night.  played 50NL, left down $32.  Found the strength to realize that my game was not on its best and I needed to get out.  Walked away with money in my pocket.

27 days to go before the new job starts.

chchchch...changes...

Sat, 26 Feb 2011 11:40:35 -0600

Lots going in my life right now, Wifes business is starting to take off, spent a substantial amount of my time setting up some new tech at the store.

Biggest change will be in my work life, I have accepted a new job with a new company after 7 years with the same firm.  It will be disruptive at first, but it is the right decision.  This has been much like a poker hand, I have a good starting hand with my experience, but I don't know anything about this new industry.  Competition in the market here is aggressive, I found out yesterday that one of my references was also competing on the job...didn't see that coming, went through "three streets" of interviews with the last one yesterday afternoon.  It was a meet and greet with my new clients, they seem like really great people, the conversation was interesting in the sense that it finished with a question about my willingness to drink beer and golf.  Who me?  Drink beer and golf...Oh OK!

There are a thousand things going through my mind right now, and I am in no shape to play poker online until I can get my head straight.  If I can't think about what I am doing, it is difficult to be successful. 

I have not completely put poker to the wayside right now, I have picked up Phil Gordon's Little Green Book for another read.  It is very different than the last time I read it, I understand more about the game and the thought patterns, I clearly owe this new understanding to Outstanding Poker and all the training videos from our coaches.

We will see what the new job brings, maybe new opportunities to get into home games.

Played some solid poker with marginal results...

Sun, 30 Jan 2011 9:47:24 -0600

Well, I have played some solid poker online in the last week.  I have essentially increased my bankroll by 13.25x what I started with.  I am not bragging, I am playing ultra-micro stakes so I am certainly not kidding myself into thinking I am suddenly some poker wizard.  I have gone from $0.34 cents left in my bank roll to $4.50, look out ladies, big stack coming through...:-)

Played at a cash game last night at a friends too, I think I played really good poker, unfortunately, I didn't win...part of me thinks that a losing session is not good poker, but I got away from some solid 2nd nut hands, I certainly believed I had good reads on some of the guys and frankly, the cards didn't cooperate at some critical times.

We also bounty on 72, so when people pick it up, they play super aggressive, I lost a key hand to it, so not only did it cost me 1/2 my stack, but I had to shell out another couple of bucks...

Seemed while we were playing hold'em things where fine, then the dealers choice games came out and there were a lot of double board games, Omaha and stud.  I started bleeding chips, not because I was playing marginal hands, but the table had lost respect for my raises.

Interesting how your image can really screw with your results.

I went home really frustrated, I honestly thought I was playing solid, I really couldn't believe the end results.  I have to think through the plays last night and find the flaws and mis-reads.  As Tim says, think long term, stay away from individual results.

Was I playing my positon to gain advantage?

What actions did my opponents take pre-flop, post flop, turn and river?

What cards could improve my hand?

What are my opponents likely to be on?

What cards could improve their hands?

What do they think I have?

Were my reads correct when showdown occured?

I know the theory, it is more difficult applying it consistantly.

Good luck at the tables.

Changes in my life - both Poker and Work

Sat, 22 Jan 2011 4:30:20 -0600

One of the most favorite answering machine messages I have ever heard is " I am making changes in my life, if I don't get back to you, you are one of those changes"  Both funny and profound in my opinion.

Well I am on the path to change in my work life and in my poker life.  I have been with the same company for 7 years and I have witnessed them come full circle.  I am not intersted in working through issues that they hashed out 7 years ago when they were all new to me.  Time to find something new, need a new industry to apply my IT skills in, this one is getting dry as a 3J8 rainbow flop

Poker needs to change too, I am testing myself with a re-rise "glory" by building my remaining $1.13 in my FTP bankroll back up to levels where I can comfortably move up.  My play today has me on a good start.  I am single tabling (advice from HG's last video) and concentrating on the tips and change in thought from Tim's video 134 (most excellent, I must say) and the results are staggering.  I have more than trippled my bankroll in about 1 hr.  Yes, I am playing uber-micro stakes, because my bankroll demands it.  Yes it is going to be a grind and a slow climb to $50 so I can move up to 5NL and so on and so on.  I know it can be done, I have witnessed it in HG's microstakes challenge.  I am certainly no HG, but I believe that what I am learning from the pro's will help me get there.

I will keep you up to date as I work through both of these challenges, I think the Poker one is actually harder...

Rough Re-start

Sun, 09 Jan 2011 12:07:27 -0600

Been about a month and a half since my last posting.  This is the first weekend that I have had an opportunity to sit down and play some poker online.

learned a rough lesson over the weekend too.  Stack is gone, and again I am impatient, chasing garbage, ignoring position and with the exception of a couple of hands, generally been a cash machine for my opponents.  My live play is much different, headed back to the HG video's this morning.  Good refresher on all the stuff I should be dumping, and waiting for the opportunities to bring themselves.

The few hands I did have the guy, I got stacked off when they hit the stuff.  My favorite was my pocket AA against poket JJ pre-flop, all in.

guy hits Quad Jakes by the turn and I am heading for the virtual rail.  Gotta re-buy again on FT, but I have been reading a lot of noise on the level of skill.  I am really unsure if I want to leave full tilt, I am a believer that you must play people that are better than you in order to learn.

Back to the core videos, back to the leakfinders and back to watching and reading all the stories of victory and defeat on OP.

Talk to everyone soon, looking forward to mixing up my live games with some online games in the new year.

A lot of live poker

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 8:47:00 -0600

Wow, it has been a busy month, I didn't realize how long it has been since I visited the site to see what was going on in the lives of the OP members lives.  Myself, I have been playing a lot of live poker at home games, winter has settled in nicely in Edmonton, an I have had at least a game a week since Halloween.  Played in two different games this weekend, one a 100NL cash game and the other a 1/3 limit cash game.  Had a great time in both, but did substantially better in the 1/3 limit game.

Wasn't playing my best poker on Friday, I had to put down one of my Greyhounds, he had developed a tumor in his spine and he was in so much pain.  My game was not at it's best, my mind and thoughts were eslewhere.  I lost $15.00 at that game before I called it quits and went home.

Saturday was much more profitable, I was rested and less emotionally compromised.  The 1/3 limit game treated me really well.  The buy in was $70, and I left the game up +$170, a very profitable night for me.

I have really been enjoying the live games, it is much slower than online, so I can get a little impatient and play more hands than I would normally play, but the social aspect is fenominal when you are playing with friends and aquaintences that you enjoy the company of.

Next weekend is the Greycup, we are hosting a party, so no poker for me, have to prep the house for our friends.  I am hoping to get a game or two in before Christmas, but we will see.

Have a great week everyone.

BluffinPete

Back from Orlando, two home game results

Sun, 31 Oct 2010 1:03:32 -0500

Hi Folks,

Back from Orlando last Friday afternoon, landed about 2PM local time, it was nice being home, but I certainly didn't miss the cold weather.  It was 31C (88F) pretty much all week.  Landed in Edmonton to a balmy -4C (24,8F), Florida was very cool, it is a very different pace of life to Alberta.

So, got well rested on Friday, and headed off to the limit home game on Saturday.  Playing a hand of Chicago, I hit Quad Queens and pulled in a pot of about 200 bucks.  Pot of the night, and it was nice getting paid with Quads.  The hand was super well disguised.  Pocket Queens and one on the board, my last down card was the Qs giving me not only the Quads, but apparently the highest spade in the hole as well for a pot sweep.

Over the whole night, I came away dead even.

Back to work after that game, pretty uneventful week, company is getting ready for the corporate board meeting so all the executives are in panic mode as prep for the meeting.  It is funny to watch.

Played in another game on Friday night, it was a no-limit game and I got killed.  It has been a while since I have been run over that badly in a poker game.  First hand of the night, one of the guys pulled a Royal Flush and took down a big pot, again it was super well disguised.  Seemed like I was best  until the river most of the night, kept getting called and I was making huge bets against the pot, getting bitched at by the guys, but they kept calling me and hitting their cards.  Drove me nuts.  Lets just say that it was a quick night for me, I was down 100 and I called it a night about 4 hours after I stared.  I probably won 1 pot the whole night and it was not very big.

Guess I got smart, they all begged me to stay, but I was tired of being the cash machine at the table.  Live to fight another day...

Haven't played a lot online lately, just no time.  Wife's business has needed my attention and I have had other social activities (involving beer and hockey) that have taken up my time.  Maybe next week if the social coordinator has some space in my calendar.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Playing a little and off to Orlando for a week

Sat, 16 Oct 2010 9:32:17 -0500

I have been playing very little since my last post, in fact I think I managed one session in the last two weeks.  Work has been stupid busy, really long days and I am just too tired at night to play.  The weekends have been just as booked, with the Thanksgiving weekend, my brothers birthday, visits to the parents, etc time has not been on my side.

Session I did play, I was in for about 130 hands before I wrapped it up.  Stayed even through the whole session and ended up a whopping $1.90  I am playing the 5NL tables so in retrospect, I guess its not a bad thing.  Anytime the session ends positive, it is a good thing.

I am off to Orlando for the Gartner Conference this week.  Going to be a good week, lots of education opportunity on IT.  Kind of nice too, it's getting cold in Edmonton, it is -3C this morning and it is +28C in Orlando.  It is just going to be terrible having to be in sub-tropical heat for a whole week.  :-)

Talk to everyone soon,

BluffinPete

Home game disaster!

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 8:51:07 -0500

ooh! got smashed (literally and at the poker table) at a home game on Saturday with some good buddies, lost $95 on a 1/3 limit game.  Lost most of the money on a game of double board crazy pinnaple when I was about 10 beers into the night and thought I had a straight without a 5.  Kudo's to me for obtaining the clown award of the night for the worst play.  Probably lost about 1/2 my stack on that one hand.  The cap gets hit pretty fast on a double board game and EVERYONE wants to see a flop, you got two chances!

The house games are Omaha Hi, Omaha Hi/Lo, Hold'em, Pinnaple, Crazy Pinnaple, Chicago, 7 card stud.  Dealers choice, and all except Omaha Hi/Lo and stud variants can be played with double boards.

As always, I left happy though, good friends, good beer and good fun.  Sunday was a total write off however, I don't recover from that kind of fun like I used too.

BluffinPete

Rakeback, Quads and feeling good...

Sun, 19 Sep 2010 5:02:35 -0500

So I have been playing off and on at lowly 5NL now for about a week and a half.  Had no choice but to drop a level after an abismal performance at 10NL near the end of August that took 4 buy-ins away.  Finally got my Full Tilt account on Rakeback too, got it through Rakebackpros.  It is a steller feeling on a Friday afternoon when the iPhone goes off to tell me that money has been deposited to my account; pretty cool stuff.  Wish I new about this a long time ago, would be certainly more motivating to play if some of what you are giving up to the house is coming back your way.

Had a good session (not great, but good) this afternoon while working on Laundry, seemed like a good idea to play while waiting for things to finish.  I am up about a buy-in from 109 hands, most of which I made on quads.  I am UTG and I wake up with a pair of Jakes, I have what turns out to be a rock to my left.  Looking back on the hand, and the opponent, I could have played this much smarter, but I didn't and came out positive.  Lucky me.

Generally, I am feeling really good.  I am certainly more aware of position than I have ever been, I am not getting wound up when I am down in home games and I am getting confident enough with my play to identify when I am beat and need to get away from the pot.  Am I getting bluffed out of stuff I could be winning, maybe, but there is another hand right behind, so I will select my opportunities and wait them out.  Love the quiet time to play this afternoon, it was nice.  Watched a couple of vids, read the forum a bit and got in a nice short session.

Here is the Quads...

***** Hand History for Game 1111111111 ***** (Full Tilt)
$5.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Sunday, September 19, 04:34:39 ET 2010
Table Highway (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Seat 1: Hero ( $5.08 USD )
Seat 2: Player2 ( $5.00 USD )
Seat 3: Player3 ( $5.07 USD )
Seat 4: Player4 ( $9.16 USD )
Seat 5: Player5 ( $9.24 USD )
Seat 6: Player6 ( $9.02 USD )
Player5 posts small blind [$0.02 USD].
Player6 posts big blind [$0.05 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [  Jd Jh ]
Hero raises [$0.20 USD]
Player2 folds
Player3 raises [$0.67 USD]
Player4 folds
Player5 folds
Player6 folds
Hero raises [$2.10 USD]
Player3 raises [$4.40 USD]
Hero calls [$2.77 USD]
Player3 shows [Ah, Ks ]
Hero shows [Jd, Jh ]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8h, Kc, Js ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 5d ]
** Dealing River ** [ Jc ]
Hero wins $9.53 USD from main pot

Looking back on this, I should have called his 3bet, not re-raised him...by the time the stupidity settled, I was all in pre-flop with Jacks UTG.  Not very bright.  It worked out in my favor, but I was not paying attention to position on the table, I was playing another hand on another table, and was really just reacting.  Gotta remember to slow down and analyze what is happening, too often it is getting me in trouble.

Regardless of the outcome, you gotta love getting Quads...

Easy come....F*ck, I had to drop a level

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 5:07:05 -0500

Back playing this weekend, did pretty good at the start, I was up 2.5 stacks until about 10 minutes ago when I got coolered on a better flush and had the second nut on two other hands.

Stupid poker...anyway, just dropped down to 5NL and will stay until I have built back up again.  Might have been too aggressive by staying at 10NL with only 5 buy-ins...OK who am I kidding, that was just dumb, should have dropped to 5NL and stayed there a long time ago, shouldn't be playing 10NL until at least 100

Anyway, I have learned from the lessons of the past and I really can't stand the idea of having to reload, so I will work my way up at 5NL

Don't get me wrong, I actually love the game and I am learning not to get wound up on getting coolered, I am also learning to walk away when the cards are not coming my way or I am playing like a dumb-ass

Not all bad news, made $20 at a home game this weekend after dropping down to -$80, then coming back to recover and leave positive.  I also made an extra $20 on a side bet with one of the guys I play with.  Whomever came out positive for the night would get 20 from the other guy; I heard on Saturday morning, my buddy had dropped $150 by the time the game was over, nice to make an easy $20

later,

Pete

I'm the idiot....with your stack!

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 5:25:57 -0500

Wow, finished my second session in two days; got myself on rakeback which has motivated me to start playing again, and with golf season wrapping up, the home games are back in full swing.  Have 2 scheduled this month already, woohoo! live poker, beer, pizza and general rudeness...

Anyway, apparently I am an idiot, some jackass sitting to my left didn't like my play on a couple of hands and had assumed I am a moron.  I will let the two hands speak for themselves, as such all opinions on my intelligence are yours to provide and comment on.

So, this started relatively innocuously...

***** Hand History for Game 1111111111 ***** (Full Tilt)
$10.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Monday, September 06, 05:51:57 ET 2010
Table Lantern (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Seat 1: balalaika007 ( $10.53 USD )
Seat 2: Player2 ( $10.78 USD )
Seat 3: Player3 ( $10.00 USD )
Seat 4: Player4 ( $17.13 USD )
Seat 5: Player5 ( $7.34 USD )
Seat 6: BluffinPete ( $10.00 USD )
BluffinPete posts small blind [$0.05 USD].
balalaika007 posts big blind [$0.10 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to BluffinPete [  Kd 8d ]
Player2 folds
Player3 folds
Player4 folds
Player5 folds
BluffinPete raises [$0.35 USD]
balalaika007 calls [$0.30 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 5c, 8h, 4h ]
BluffinPete bets [$0.60 USD]
balalaika007 raises [$1.60 USD]
BluffinPete calls [$1.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 9d ]
Hero checks
Player1 checks
** Dealing River ** [ 7h ]
BluffinPete checks
balalaika007 checks
balalaika007 shows [Ts, Td ]
balalaika007 wins $3.74 USD from main pot
BluffinPete doesn't show [Kd, 8d ]

Everyone folds to me on the small blind, I am on K8s so I raise to protect the blind, balalaika007 calls me, I flop top pair, so I take another shot at it, buddy raises me, pretty boring flop, has some draw potential, don't know much about buddy at this point, so not really sure what he is taking a run at.  I call.  Turn comes up a 9, now the board is interesting, lots of draw potential, I check for pot control, he checks.  River pops a 7, crap, my 8's are not looking like the best anything, lots of potential, but potential and $1.85 will buy me a coffee.  I check and he follows suit.  He takes it with a pair of 10's

About 2 hands later...

I am in middle position and I get a couple of weak broadway cards, no action from UTG, so I bet it, I have two behind me to go, bit of a gamble

***** Hand History for Game 1111111111 ***** (Full Tilt)
$10.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Monday, September 06, 05:53:31 ET 2010
Table Lantern (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Seat 1: balalaika007( $12.22 USD )
Seat 2: Player2 ( $10.78 USD )
Seat 3: Player3 ( $10.00 USD )
Seat 4: Player4 ( $17.13 USD )
Seat 5: Player5 ( $7.49 USD )
Seat 6: BluffinPete ( $10.00 USD )
Player3 posts small blind [$0.05 USD].
Player4 posts big blind [$0.10 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [  Jd Qs ]
Player5 folds
BluffinPete raises [$0.40 USD]
balalaika007 calls [$0.40 USD]
Player2 folds
Player3 folds
Player4 folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ Jc, 4c, Qh ]
BluffinPete bets [$0.80 USD]
balalaika007 raises [$2.50 USD]
BluffinPete raises [$8.80 USD]
balalaika007 calls [$7.10 USD]
BluffinPete shows [Jd, Qs ]
balalaika007 shows [Ah, Qd ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 5h ]
** Dealing River ** [ 7s ]
BluffinPete wins $18.81 USD from main pot

I bet, buddy calls me, I flop two pair, a bloody monster even if he is slowplaying a big pair.  I bet again, he raises me, I push, he insta-calls me and my two pair hold up and I take his stack. The flurry of insults begins on the chat box, "so sad to lose to an idiot" was my favorite

I don't think I played either of these hands poorly, I guess the only hand that I really question is the call on the first hand when he raised my bet on the flop, could have saved myself a dollar, but I did have top pair and I had no reason to believe that he had a monster pair in the pocket.  Pot control kept me from losing any more money

So my question to the universe, I am up a stack+ in 12 minutes of play (between two tables), does that make me lucky as sin and I guess an idiot, or does that indicate that I am waiting for opportunity to knock and I am inviting it in?

You decide...

Hating micro...

Sun, 08 Aug 2010 3:45:23 -0500

I love to hate micro; I am either on a major downswing or I have regressed back to pre-Outanding poker play.  I don't think it is the first...

Decided to play a bit this morning when I was up at a quarter to hell in the morning.  Damn dogs are like having permanent 3 year olds, they are however, the BEST alarm clock on the planet.  This particular clock doesn't care if it is Saturday or Sunday, it goes off at the same time every morning...anyway, I ramble on

My bankroll is quite low when I took my break a couple of weeks ago, I dropped myself down to the 5NL games until I build back up...there are a lot of gamblers at this level, or at least on my two tables this morning...guys shoving on J2o, it was rediculous and I was playing like one of them and losing

I have to say looking back at the hands I lost my 2 buy ins on; I played both in poor position and one was marginal at best. I played the marginal hand like a total jerk-off and deserved to lose my money. I got tilted and didn't believe the rock to my left, it cost me.  The other hand, there were three of us in the hand, I was pinched between some guy who woke up on the BB on his second hand and the rock who recieved a pair of Jakes, immediately following crushing my previous hand with pocket Aces.  WTF, I get 96o and crappier for 100 hands, this nob gets AA, JJ in a row?  AND on my left?  ON THE SAME TABLE?!?  AAAARRRRGGGHHH!

Anyway, it is evident that I am not in the mindset for the game, and I am certainly not getting cards when I am in a position to do something with them.  My biggest win this morning was a 1.38 with against the rock who couldn't put down his cards; I got lucky on the river and hit my trips...

Time for a trip down video lane and refresh the basics...I really stunk it up this morning...no more play until I have got the mindset for it.  I seem to win lots of small pots (blinds or slightly more) but the big ones, I am getting killed on and my win rate on the small pots isn't high enough to counter the big losses.

Little break....

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 12:18:10 -0500

Been a while since I have visited the OP site - since getting cleared from my surgeon, I have been playing a lot of golf and now that I am back to work, once again, life seems to be getting in the way of my online poker adventures.  To top it all off last week, my freaking laptop battery failed, I have been horiffically corded to the wall and essentially tethered to the basement if I want to use my computer.

Anyway, I imagine my opportunity to play online will become more likely as the weather starts to turn, being that I live in Edmonton, AB, golf season will be over in about 7 weeks, the cold will be on its way and you pretty much end up hole'd up for the winter.  Might as well play some poker if I can't really go outside.

I don't ski or skate, so there isn't a lot of winter sports that I participate in.  Once summer is over and golf season wraps up, I will be back too it.

Looking forward to hitting the felt again soon, I think I am going to an "End of Summer" live home game on the 28th of August.  Might be able to squeeze a couple of online sessions in before then as long as there isn't a golf game in the way.

Later,

Pete

Cooler'd Live...

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 9:04:38 -0500

Interesting hand in a live home game on Saturday night, the conversation in the forum about Coolers triggered me to post this hand for the world to see.

We are playing a $50NL home game, most pots build up to about $20 a hand, lots of limpers, lots of raiser/re-raisers AND we were short handed Saturday, only 5 of us playing.

Table was pretty tilted one way, our host (relatively good player in my opinion) was our big stack, I was #2 and had made back a buy-in I lost when big stack had cracked my pair of kings earlier in the evening.  that was sick, I was all in pre-flop, he called me down with an A8o and hit his Ace on the Turn...so sad for me.

Anyway, on to the cooler hand that took my remaining two buy-in's for the night (yes, I going home early and $150 poorer). 

I am in the Big Blind, our host is to my left, everyone had a hand, so when it hit me, I defended my Jc9c and raised the pot to $4.

Our host, calls me, everyone else folds.

Deck comes up AJ9 rainbow, I bet $10, host raises me to $20.  I am out of position but with two pair, I call his additional $10 (at this point, gonna cost me 10 bucks to win about 50)

Turn hits J; I think sweet candy, I bet all in, our host thinks for a bit and calls me; I am sure I have him at this point;

I flip over my full boat, our host flips over his AA for a significantly better full boat and I am on my way out the door.

All I can say is stuff happens AND I certainly mind losing, but I mind losing less to my friends because I can always make them buy me a consolation beer...

Your online opponents cannot mock you like your friends can but they also cannot buy you beer

Later,

Pete

Totally unrelated to poker...

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 6:59:56 -0500

Nice thing about blogs is you can ramble on any topic; it's your blog.  Anyway the reason I got started on Outstanding Poker is that I was on a medical leave from work for a hernia repair that ended up being more work than the surgeon thought.  I was cleared about 2 weeks ago to go back to work and had been off from work for about 9 weeks.  Well yesterday was my first golf game of the season thanks to the surgery.

I was pretty nervous, wasn't sure if all that core swinging was going to create further issues for me at the surgical site.  Decided that I would concentrate on the beer more than the golf and see how it all went.  Well to my surprise, the surgery might be good for my golf game, it has forced me to slow down my swing dramatically, I have lost some distance because of it, but my accuracy is up about 90%.  Played a pretty narrow course yesterday and only put 1 ball in the woods the whole game.  I usually burn a sleeve or two per 9 holes.  I even pulled off a natural birdie on hole 16.

It was really nice being back on the course, nicer that I might have sorted out my golf game and all it took was a realatively major surgery to do it.  Oh irony, how thus mocks me!

Pete

Great new site...

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 8:16:44 -0500

First blog post for me since the new site went live.  Atta22 (Tim) did a fantastic job on the new digs, I must say that I am impressed with the layout, ease of use and the styling.

Very impressive.

Bluffinpete's Blogs

Summer absences and home game fun!

More live poker and a healthy bankroll

Another positive night of live poker

Attitude is Everything!

Trigger pulled and a dry night

chchchch...changes...

Played some solid poker with marginal results...

Changes in my life - both Poker and Work

Rough Re-start

A lot of live poker

Back from Orlando, two home game results

Playing a little and off to Orlando for a week

Home game disaster!

Rakeback, Quads and feeling good...

Easy come....F*ck, I had to drop a level

I'm the idiot....with your stack!

Recommended Reading

Hating micro...

Little break....

Cooler'd Live...

Totally unrelated to poker...

Great new site...