October 31, 2007
Sunday Night Concert....
If you liked the song I posted here, you will enjoy this band's show from 1996 on my favorite radio station. This Sunday, Nov.4 at 8;00 p.m. CST they will be airing a concert recorded in 1996 at Cabaret Metro, a funky little night club in the heart of Chicago's Wrigleyville area. If you click on the link for the radio station click on the "Listen Live Now" button. Hope you enjoy!
Happy Halloween!
I hope you got a little startled at this image. Don't worry, the subject was dead and no harm came to the photographer. This was taken in super macro with the Canon S3 IS.
The thing I like about this camera is that you can literally focus to zero inches when you shoot in this mode. The drawback is that you'll create a shadow form the lens barell when you use the flash, but a friend of mine came up with a cheap solution to get rid of it. You simply cut a hole in a styrofoam bowl and attach to the end of the barell and you get even light across the whole subject, which happened here. The distance to this creepy crawlie was the depth of the bowl I used, about 2 inches. As always, click on the thumbnail for a larger image, and finer details on this guy.
Sometimes I feel like one of these guys when playing in the freeroll tournaments.
October 26, 2007
Dynasty $500 Free roll..
Last Saturday, 10-20-07, Poker Dynasty hosted a $500 free roll tournament for its members on Poker Stars.
For those that don't know what a free roll is, it's a tournament that doesn't cost any money to play. There were 23 players in the tourney and the top 9 get paid. 1st place gets 30% of the total prize pool and the percentages go down accordingly.
I was lucky enough to make the final table - 9 players left - and knew how 4 of them played as I had been playing the entire tournament with them. I started playing very tight to protect my stack and try to get a read on a few of the players, and let the short stacks fall to the way side. I didn't want to play a lot of hands unless I had something really strong to 3- bet with, so I could set up a tight image and steal blinds later. There were some very good players here, namely LaffyTaffy who had a commanding chip lead and whom I thought would win the whole thing.
Nothing exciting happenes for me until it got down to three handed between me, jnye34, and benb1253. I really cranked up the aggression here to get as many chips as possible to make the final 2 by raising a lot more and 3-betting against them. Benb and I were pretty close in chips but jnye34 had a pretty good lead but after I 3-bet him with TT this hand came up vs. benb to get me closer.
POKERSTARS GAME #12744605089: TOURNAMENT #64282157, FREEROLL HOLD'EM NO LIMIT - LEVEL IX (300/600) - 2007/10/20 - 17:23:20 (ET)
Table '64282157 2' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 4: jnye34 (16890 in chips)
Seat 6: benb1523 (6674 in chips)
Seat 8: 2whodatdare (10936 in chips)
jnye34: posts the ante 50
benb1523: posts the ante 50
2whodatdare: posts the ante 50
jnye34: posts small blind 300
benb1523: posts big blind 600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to 2whodatdare [As Ks]
2whodatdare: raises 1200 to 1800
jnye34: folds
benb1523: raises 4824 to 6624 and is all-in
2whodatdare: calls 4824
2whodatdare said, "gl"
*** FLOP *** [Tc Qs 9h]
*** TURN *** [Tc Qs 9h] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [Tc Qs 9h Td] [2h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
benb1523: shows [Ad 7c] (a pair of Tens)
2whodatdare: shows [As Ks] (a pair of Tens - Ace+King kicker)
I don't blame ben one bit fo rshoving here. An Ace high hand 3 way is a pretty good hand to shove with, since you're first in you get some fold equity against my stack.
Now we're heads up. jnye34 has been playing tight the entire tournament and has been showing down very strong hands. He's gonna be hard to beat unless I get very aggressive against so I decide to open up my pre-flop raising range against him. I don't think he'll 3-bet me too much so I shoud be able to catch up to him. we went back and forth a bit and I got some chips on these two hands:
POKERSTARS GAME #12744737062: TOURNAMENT #64282157, FREEROLL HOLD'EM NO LIMIT - LEVEL X (400/800) - 2007/10/20 - 17:30:53 (ET)
Table '64282157 2' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 4: jnye34 (20040 in chips)
Seat 8: 2whodatdare (14460 in chips)
jnye34: posts the ante 50
2whodatdare: posts the ante 50
jnye34: posts small blind 400
2whodatdare: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to 2whodatdare [Jh 7s]
jnye34: raises 1600 to 2400
2whodatdare: raises 2600 to 5000
jnye34: calls 2600
*** FLOP *** [2c 6c Ks]
2whodatdare: checks
jnye34: checks
*** TURN *** [2c 6c Ks] [2h]
2whodatdare: bets 9410 and is all-in
jnye34: folds
I think the check on the flop was a big mistake for me. I 3-bet him here and should continuation bet here to keep up the pressure, and not let another card come to possibly improve his hand. But when he checks behind I'm betting the turn most of the time and take a nice pot here.
This next hand happened one minute later:
POKERSTARS GAME #12744752012: TOURNAMENT #64282157, FREEROLL HOLD'EM NO LIMIT - LEVEL X (400/800) - 2007/10/20 - 17:31:41 (ET)
Table '64282157 2' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 4: jnye34 (14990 in chips)
Seat 8: 2whodatdare (19510 in chips)
jnye34: posts the ante 50
2whodatdare: posts the ante 50
2whodatdare: posts small blind 400
jnye34: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to 2whodatdare [Th Ts]
2whodatdare: raises 1500 to 2300
jnye34: raises 2500 to 4800
2whodatdare: raises 14660 to 19460 and is all-in
jnye34 said, "got an ace"
2whodatdare said, "i know"
jnye34 said, "lol"
jnye34: folds
2whodatdare collected 9700 from pot
I think jnye was saying he had an ace, at least in my mind and when I answered him it was to say "I know you have an ace and I'm really strong."
Now I'm feeling comfortable with 70% of the chips and it's oly a matter of time... until I mess this whole thing up? Or win?
5 minutes later:
POKERSTARS GAME #12744843816: TOURNAMENT #64282157, FREEROLL HOLD'EM NO LIMIT - LEVEL X (400/800) - 2007/10/20 - 17:36:51 (ET)
Table '64282157 2' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 4: jnye34 (12590 in chips)
Seat 8: 2whodatdare (21910 in chips)
jnye34: posts the ante 50
2whodatdare: posts the ante 50
2whodatdare: posts small blind 400
jnye34: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to 2whodatdare [Ah Qc]
2whodatdare: raises 1500 to 2300
jnye34: raises 10240 to 12540 and is all-in
2whodatdare: calls 10240
*** FLOP *** [6d 2h 5s]
2whodatdare said, "gl"
*** TURN *** [6d 2h 5s] [Jd]
*** RIVER *** [6d 2h 5s Jd] [Qh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
jnye34: shows [Jc Jh] (three of a kind, Jacks)
2whodatdare: shows [Ah Qc] (a pair of Queens)
jnye34 collected 25180 from pot
I don't think either of us were folding here. He's a big favorite vs. my range and I love my hand.
Now jnye34 starts putting a lot of pressure on me pre-flop, which he should. He has a huge chip lead and should not slow down. He played extremely well and deserved to win. I think I played better than I have been lately, but know there are situations where I can improve. I just have to find them. Thanks to Ryan and Jared for hosting this tourney and for recording the final table. I'm looking forward to seeing parts 3 and 4 if you have them.
Comments are welcome on what you think of the hands shown here and are appreciated. Until then, good luck on the felt and may the good cards hit your hand.
For those that don't know what a free roll is, it's a tournament that doesn't cost any money to play. There were 23 players in the tourney and the top 9 get paid. 1st place gets 30% of the total prize pool and the percentages go down accordingly.
I was lucky enough to make the final table - 9 players left - and knew how 4 of them played as I had been playing the entire tournament with them. I started playing very tight to protect my stack and try to get a read on a few of the players, and let the short stacks fall to the way side. I didn't want to play a lot of hands unless I had something really strong to 3- bet with, so I could set up a tight image and steal blinds later. There were some very good players here, namely LaffyTaffy who had a commanding chip lead and whom I thought would win the whole thing.
Nothing exciting happenes for me until it got down to three handed between me, jnye34, and benb1253. I really cranked up the aggression here to get as many chips as possible to make the final 2 by raising a lot more and 3-betting against them. Benb and I were pretty close in chips but jnye34 had a pretty good lead but after I 3-bet him with TT this hand came up vs. benb to get me closer.
POKERSTARS GAME #12744605089: TOURNAMENT #64282157, FREEROLL HOLD'EM NO LIMIT - LEVEL IX (300/600) - 2007/10/20 - 17:23:20 (ET)
Table '64282157 2' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 4: jnye34 (16890 in chips)
Seat 6: benb1523 (6674 in chips)
Seat 8: 2whodatdare (10936 in chips)
jnye34: posts the ante 50
benb1523: posts the ante 50
2whodatdare: posts the ante 50
jnye34: posts small blind 300
benb1523: posts big blind 600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to 2whodatdare [As Ks]
2whodatdare: raises 1200 to 1800
jnye34: folds
benb1523: raises 4824 to 6624 and is all-in
2whodatdare: calls 4824
2whodatdare said, "gl"
*** FLOP *** [Tc Qs 9h]
*** TURN *** [Tc Qs 9h] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [Tc Qs 9h Td] [2h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
benb1523: shows [Ad 7c] (a pair of Tens)
2whodatdare: shows [As Ks] (a pair of Tens - Ace+King kicker)
I don't blame ben one bit fo rshoving here. An Ace high hand 3 way is a pretty good hand to shove with, since you're first in you get some fold equity against my stack.
Now we're heads up. jnye34 has been playing tight the entire tournament and has been showing down very strong hands. He's gonna be hard to beat unless I get very aggressive against so I decide to open up my pre-flop raising range against him. I don't think he'll 3-bet me too much so I shoud be able to catch up to him. we went back and forth a bit and I got some chips on these two hands:
POKERSTARS GAME #12744737062: TOURNAMENT #64282157, FREEROLL HOLD'EM NO LIMIT - LEVEL X (400/800) - 2007/10/20 - 17:30:53 (ET)
Table '64282157 2' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 4: jnye34 (20040 in chips)
Seat 8: 2whodatdare (14460 in chips)
jnye34: posts the ante 50
2whodatdare: posts the ante 50
jnye34: posts small blind 400
2whodatdare: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to 2whodatdare [Jh 7s]
jnye34: raises 1600 to 2400
2whodatdare: raises 2600 to 5000
jnye34: calls 2600
*** FLOP *** [2c 6c Ks]
2whodatdare: checks
jnye34: checks
*** TURN *** [2c 6c Ks] [2h]
2whodatdare: bets 9410 and is all-in
jnye34: folds
I think the check on the flop was a big mistake for me. I 3-bet him here and should continuation bet here to keep up the pressure, and not let another card come to possibly improve his hand. But when he checks behind I'm betting the turn most of the time and take a nice pot here.
This next hand happened one minute later:
POKERSTARS GAME #12744752012: TOURNAMENT #64282157, FREEROLL HOLD'EM NO LIMIT - LEVEL X (400/800) - 2007/10/20 - 17:31:41 (ET)
Table '64282157 2' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 4: jnye34 (14990 in chips)
Seat 8: 2whodatdare (19510 in chips)
jnye34: posts the ante 50
2whodatdare: posts the ante 50
2whodatdare: posts small blind 400
jnye34: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to 2whodatdare [Th Ts]
2whodatdare: raises 1500 to 2300
jnye34: raises 2500 to 4800
2whodatdare: raises 14660 to 19460 and is all-in
jnye34 said, "got an ace"
2whodatdare said, "i know"
jnye34 said, "lol"
jnye34: folds
2whodatdare collected 9700 from pot
I think jnye was saying he had an ace, at least in my mind and when I answered him it was to say "I know you have an ace and I'm really strong."
Now I'm feeling comfortable with 70% of the chips and it's oly a matter of time... until I mess this whole thing up? Or win?
5 minutes later:
POKERSTARS GAME #12744843816: TOURNAMENT #64282157, FREEROLL HOLD'EM NO LIMIT - LEVEL X (400/800) - 2007/10/20 - 17:36:51 (ET)
Table '64282157 2' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 4: jnye34 (12590 in chips)
Seat 8: 2whodatdare (21910 in chips)
jnye34: posts the ante 50
2whodatdare: posts the ante 50
2whodatdare: posts small blind 400
jnye34: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to 2whodatdare [Ah Qc]
2whodatdare: raises 1500 to 2300
jnye34: raises 10240 to 12540 and is all-in
2whodatdare: calls 10240
*** FLOP *** [6d 2h 5s]
2whodatdare said, "gl"
*** TURN *** [6d 2h 5s] [Jd]
*** RIVER *** [6d 2h 5s Jd] [Qh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
jnye34: shows [Jc Jh] (three of a kind, Jacks)
2whodatdare: shows [Ah Qc] (a pair of Queens)
jnye34 collected 25180 from pot
I don't think either of us were folding here. He's a big favorite vs. my range and I love my hand.
Now jnye34 starts putting a lot of pressure on me pre-flop, which he should. He has a huge chip lead and should not slow down. He played extremely well and deserved to win. I think I played better than I have been lately, but know there are situations where I can improve. I just have to find them. Thanks to Ryan and Jared for hosting this tourney and for recording the final table. I'm looking forward to seeing parts 3 and 4 if you have them.
Comments are welcome on what you think of the hands shown here and are appreciated. Until then, good luck on the felt and may the good cards hit your hand.
October 11, 2007
8 Years Ago Today.......
....Mrs. Whodatdare and I went on our first date. Honey, you are truly an angel to put up with me sometimes, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for looking past the many quirks and faults I have. Did I mention that I have many of them?
Do you remember the night I asked you to dinner? I really thought when I asked if you wouldn't mind waiting until I got paid that you would run far and fast, but you didn't. (It had to be my game, right?) It seems like that dinner was so long ago and like it was last night too. That's because of you. You make life enjoyable. I would be incomplete without you. I love You!
Do you remember the night I asked you to dinner? I really thought when I asked if you wouldn't mind waiting until I got paid that you would run far and fast, but you didn't. (It had to be my game, right?) It seems like that dinner was so long ago and like it was last night too. That's because of you. You make life enjoyable. I would be incomplete without you. I love You!
Macro Monday
I hope I can stack opponents as well as I can stack these coins. Interstingly, when I was setting up this shot I noticed that some of the coins had to be placed heads up and some had to be placed the other way to get the words facing the right way.
Blogger Freeroll on Poker Stars!
I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!
This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.
Registration code: 5124214
Click the top link above to see how you can enter as well and be part of the fun! There is absolutely no catch. You don't have to deposit money onto the site so what are you waiting for?
Thanks to jonyy6788 at Poker Dynasty for the hook up on this. Good luck to my fellow bloggers and may the better cards hit my hand. Just this one time! Ok, I know I'm dead money but a man can dream......
October 6, 2007
Another Macro Monday
I might make this a regular theme here on Mondays. The shots won't always be of flowers, but when you see them in a different way and I think that makes it really intersting. This shot is full frame with a tiny bit of editing done to get rid of a dead spot on the leaf towards the bottom. Patter metering made the red bloom stand out here, which turned out cooler than I thought. So, through fidgeting and just messing around with the controls I get a good shot. Maybe that can translate in my poker game?
As always I use Thickbox on my pictures here so you can click on the thumbnail for a lager image. Thanks again to Terry's Playpen for the tutorial.
Water Lily
This is the actual water lily in the shot below. Both of these shots are full frame with no crop at all, taken with the Canon S3 IS.
A Monday Macro
Water lily taken at 9:30 a.m. This is the very center of the flower and the distance to it is about 1-1/2". Hand held photo and no Photoshop tricks were used, except for cloning a few blemishes that were on the flower itself.
A little Musical Interlude
Los Lobos is best known for their work in the movie "La Bamba", about Richie Valens. They performed all the music in the movie. This song is kind of different, but the album, Kiko is one of their best. Hope you enjoy......
October 1, 2007
Short Update
Just messing around at Bodog and playing way under-rolled. For some reason I hate playing 10NL full ring games. So I jumped up to the 25NL 6-max games and am not doing too bad, but coulld be doing better. It's taken a little while to get used to the players here but not as long as usual. Maybe my game is progressing? My goal this month is to triple what I strarted with at the site. I deposited 4 buy ins at 25, so I'll need to get to 12, not including the bonus they gave me. I still have my $T credits to use too and I guess they can be used for any tourney. After that goal is accomplished I want to be really active in the mini mastermind we are setting up over at Poker Dynasty, as well as get back to Full Tilt for rakeback, and play more hands than I have in the past.
This group study thing will really help my game, as the people lined up in it are better than me. I just hope I can contribute a lot to the group when I start excelling, which I have no doubt will happen very soon. Good luck on the felt and may the good cards hit your hand....
This group study thing will really help my game, as the people lined up in it are better than me. I just hope I can contribute a lot to the group when I start excelling, which I have no doubt will happen very soon. Good luck on the felt and may the good cards hit your hand....
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