After a pretty rough week of uncertainty (university stuff, still not completely sorted out), I jumped back into poker action today.

Just a little shorthanded SnG action and some headsup. Took down the first shorthanded SnG, took 6th in the second one (always fun to see some call you all the way with K2 s00ted catching a gutter ball at the end). Took down the headsup SnG after withstanding the urge to jump into the trash-talk-chat my opponent started…always fun to let the cards speak…especially if your opponent is so occupied with chatting (or monologuing) that he’s bluffing into the nuts like crazy, time and time again.

So…all in all a nice little session…hopefully a little more poker soonish…once the university stuff is sorted out…wish me luck…

1. Register for friday blogger donkament rebuy madness (TM), proudly presented by Kat.
2. See that there are two players registered, including yourself, five minutes before the start of the tourney.
3. See that there are three players registered, three minutes before the start of the tourney.
4. See that there are two players registered as the tourney is about to start.
5. Think about why there are only two players. Check out Kat’s blog and realize that she posted the wrong password which will keep all new players from registering.
6. Play headsup in a rebuy tourney. Hi on_thg. GG, sort of 😉
7. Be slightly annoyed after losing the first bs hand (two pair vs flush draw?!….flush on the river).
8. Be slightly pissed off after the second bs hand (AJ vs 97, all in preflop…A-10-8…turn blank…river J…97 rides the magic carpet to a straight on the river).
9. Be elated after winning the next hand for all the marbles (AJ vs A2).
10. Be totally pissed off after losing the next bs bs bs hand (K9 vs A9, flop AK9…lol…yeah right…cold deck mountain…here I come…).
11. Rebuy a final time, down 1:4 in chips…tell your opponent that this is the final rebuy…bust out by running Q5 s00ted into Kings (btw where’s my running flush here?! 😉 ).
12. Sit here, type this post.
13. Curse bad luck in headsup recently.
14. Realize that after the latest software upgrade the hand histories weren’t saved to disk anymore (hence the ?! in 7. as I can’t remember if it was two pair, overpair or top pair I had there).
15. Curse bad luck in headsup recently.
16. Think about how close you came to winning a blogger tourney…lol…
17. Curse bad luck in headsup recently.
18. Smile.
19. Logoff.

Well, well…Mr. UPS man brought my new laptop today and boy, it’s not only pretty, it’s light and it’s a real monster – performance wise. Wow. Delivered in less than 24h, installed/configured in less than an hour and I was off and rolling…now I can finally play wherever I want in the house…alright…it’s nice to play on a 22″ screen, but I’ll take some single or two table action on this one any day when I can lay my lazy behind down on the couch 😉

So…I played a little and won my first two headsup matches easily. Lost the third one. Then I switch to some PLO8 and I just couldn’t get a break. I was almost down and out…grind my way back…almost down and out…grind my way back…but every time I was back to even, or close to it, a ridiculous hand came down…just like the last one…KK23 double suited for me….AA34 double suited for my opponent…and yes, he has the same suits as me…go figure…nut flush vs second nut flush and I’m busto…wack!

After that I played some more HU and I dropped two matches…after that I really didn’t feel like playing anymore. It’s just that I’m stuck. Recently, I’ve had a few “good runs” and a lot of “bad runs”, but basically some of the bad runs were self-induced by either a) not quitting after getting (slightly) tilted or b) getting impatient against moronic players – what’s the point in playing flips against a donk who can’t win straight up? Well, the point is that if you get impatient and tell yourself that you’re “due” to win a coinflip, it isn’t the best decision you can make…

So…I guess I’ll either rest a little for the next few days or switch to some MTTs again as this SnG stuff is really wearing me down. I would really love to step up another level, but it wouldn’t be a wise decision as the roll is just not big enough for it…or would you start playing with a roll smaller than 20-25 buyins? I don’t think it’s a REAL bad idea, but then again, once you get into a little stretch where you drop three, four or five in a row, it’ll certainly have an effect on my play (“scared money isn’t smart money”), so I think I’ll have to stick to the currently level for a little longer…although it’s hard…playing against Donky McFish and Fishy McFish-Fish day in day out…

*lol* I still can’t stop laughing about this one fish. Yes, he was my downfall in a six handed PL 5-Card-Draw SnG, but hey, I’m still laughing. The setup was perfect, it’s early on in the SnG and I’m on the button. I look down at two pair, Queens and Deuces…not a monster hand, but good enough for a raise, especially as all players limped in front of me. So I pop it up to 100. SB folds…BB calls…BB+1 calls…BB+2 calls…BB+3 calls. Hmm…exciting. Let’s see how the draw goes. BB draws 3…BB+1 draws 3….BB+2 draws 3…BB+3 draws 3…I draw one…a brick. Nothing new there, but what the hell is going on here. All those guys called a +4x raise preflop OOP and now they’re drawing 3?! What the hell? Ever heard of starting hand requirements? So I’m guessing there are two guys with Aces and god knows what the others have. BB leads out. BB+1…folds…BB+2…folds….BB+3…folds…errm yeah…I raise…BB ponders long and hard, or at least it seems that way, and he raises….hmm…must have caught good my friend…I call…he shows? Fives full of fours. A friggin boat.

Quick rewind: he calls +80 preflop with a pair of fives OOP. He draws three. He draws what? Not only one of the remaining fives in the deck, but also a pair. Three perfect cards! Are you kidding me?

So after that hand I’m off to a real bad start and I lean back, curse my luck, go off a little in the chat and focus on the game again. A few hands later…I hold two pair again…my donkponent get’s involved again…draws three again…I draw one again…a brick…what does he show? Trip sixes…he called again preflop with his huge pair of sixes and drew out on me. Nice. Down but not out. A few hands later…I look down at a pair of Aces on the button…I pop it up AGAIN…my donkponent get’s involved again…I draw three, bricks, he draws three…what does he show? Aces and Kings with a queen kicker…hmm…not bad…yuck.

After those three ridiculous freezers (although the last one isn’t a real freezer, but let’s just say that hand #1 was an ultra-freezer and #2 was a freezer, so the average should be freezer), I’m down to roughly 320 in chips and the next time I start with two pair again…another opponent get’s involved…he draws three…I draw my usual brick and he shows his set…gg me.

Now, why am I laughing so hard about that fish in particular (and this SnG)? Well, tbh, I should be crying, but it doesn’t matter and it won’t change anything, so I might as well laugh it off. I mean come on, someone drawing three perfect cards, then 1 perfect card, then two perfect cards…can’t do much about that, now can you? Not really…so nothing to be mad about, especially considering the two following things:

1. I told the fish that the only way he could win anything would be if he was lucky and as soon as his luck ran out he would be busto in no time. Now remember, he got ultra-lucky against me and held over 4k in chips when I busted in 6th. Sure enough my prediction rang true as he busted in 3rd. *lol* good job there.

2. I look him up on Sharkscope and this is probably the BIGGEST fish I’ve ever seen. Honestly, tell me, how can you drop nearly 5000$ playing 5$ SnGs?! Poor sucker…

But enough about that SnG, I only played one headsup match after that disappointment and who did I play? A player from Stuttgart…well…that’s 20km from here…middle of the night, half-way across the world (pokerstars) and who do you meet at the table…a fellow german…lol…cool stuff. I won the match easily as he managed to bluff off his chips like crazy…and sharkscope says… …hence the title of this post…

In other news, I finally ordered my new laptop today. I was looking around for months now and it seemed that I just couldn’t find “the” perfect model. My requirements were:

1. max 14.1″ screen…15.4″ screens are fine, but having a 15.4″ screen means that the things is at least 16.x” wide (15.4″ + frame)…usually models sporting a 15.4″ screen are heavy (around 3+ kg)…and due to the big screen the battery runtime is usually low(er) too…

2. decent vga…integrated intel and stuff is cool, but not really…especially as I tend to hold on to laptops for quite some time (I bought my current laptop, an IBM Thinkpad, 6 years ago), so it should be at least up to par now so that’ll still be “okay” in a few years…

3. at least 1GB of ram…better 2GB…dual channel…yadda-yadda…

4. don’t care much about hdd size but 80GB would be fine and a DVD burner would be nice too…

5. shipped with Vista

6. not the most expensive one out there

7. service…at least two-year warranty with at pickup service or better…

8. screen resolution of at least 1024×768…but preferred would be some widescreen format (e.g. 1280×800)…

Given those requirements, it was a real hard task to find a compromise between some of them – 14.1″ models are usually far more expensive than 15.4″ models as 15.4″ is the biggest seller these days, so I guess the panel prices are way cheaper. Some models are still only available with Windows XP. Other models have 14″ screens, but only a 1024×768 resolution. Some models are looking good in pictures, but when you touch them in real life, they feel cheap and not really fit for everyday operation. etc etc

To make a long story short, I finally decided to go with the new Samsung R20-Aura line. There are only two models available in that line, so not much to chose from, but they are exactly what I was looking for. The difference between the models (Deva / Declan)? They’re exactly the same…except for the CPU…so chipset, ram, video card, hdd, dvd burner, software, everything is the same…

Deva – Core 2 Duo T7200 (2x2GHz, 4MB Cache)

Declan – Core Duo T2350 (2×1.86GHz, 2MB Cache)

Now, I always want to go with the newest stuff and all and a Core 2 Duo system would be nice, but I decided to go with the Core Duo model. Why? Let me explain…

Yeah, Core Duo isn’t the current line of Intel mobile processors, but it’s a kickass CPU and probably more CPU power than I’ll ever use (as this notebook will be used as a mobile computer, not as a desktop replacement) and you just can’t beat the price difference. I ordered it with 2GB of ram, 120GB HDD, DVD burner, Vista Home Premium, the whole shebang…and what’s the price difference between the two models (which are exactly the same minus the CPU)? 400 Euro (that’s roughly 545$)…you can keep your 2 between the Core and Duo for that fellows 😉

…the best thing is that I ordered it this afternoon and they called me up five minutes after I had placed my order to confirm everything. The said it would be shipped tonight and earlier on I received a mail with the UPS tracking code…wheee…it really left their shop tonight and now, in the middle of the night, I just rolled into the UPS depot for my area…so…I expect to be playing on and with it tomorrow…the excitement 🙂

Specs:

T2350 – 1.86GHz Core Duo

2GB Ram

Ati x1250 video card (max 256MB, which will leave me with 1.79GB of ram)

120GB HDD

DVD-Burner

Vista HomePremium

14.1″ Widescreen WXGA screen (1280×800)

Piano-style finish (shiny black)

Imagine the following setup: You’re playing a five handed SnG. Top two ITM. Payout is 70/30.

You’re playing in that SnG and it’s obvious that second place isn’t really what you’re gunning for, first is what it’s all about. The first player is eliminated so you’re down to four handed. Then you look down at Aces. You raise, get reraise and reraised. You sit there with a big grin. You push and both players call. They show KK and 88…and your rockets hold up. You’re ITM with a 3:1 chiplead. What better spot to be in…and now, the jokester across from you is starting his trash talk how he’s going to take you down, yadda yadda. You sit there and laugh…you tell him that the only way he can win is if he get’s lucky, so let the cards speak and speak they do. Jab and grabble a little and soon enough he pushes preflop on the button…hehe…I got queens baby. Instacall…what does he show? 62o…alrighty…flop 6xx turn x river 6. Thank you very much. Yuck. A few hands later he does the same shit again. This time you don’t have such a monster, but you think he’s on a bullshit move, so you call with K9 s00ted. He shows Q2o. Errm yeah part #2…flop? QQJ…errm yeah turn no ten…river…no ten…and you’re out in second. Unbelievable.
After that I logged out of WPX immediately, because I didn’t want to throw away money as I was slightly annoyed, to say the least. I jumped over to PokerStars and played some headsup. Two easy Ws. Gotta love people who are transparent as glass. Raise: never, unless monster preflop. Bet: at least TP. Rest: check. That play is going to get you far boys, well, not really.

After those Ws, I jumped into a six handed SnG and it was a true drag. Doubled up early on, card dead after that. When I finally decide to take a stand preflop four handed (KQo UTG) the BB wakes up with AK…no help for me…and I’m out in 4th after 50 minutes of play. Now that’s double double -ev…I’m outta here…

Today I decided to redeposit with WorldPokerExchange. To my surprise the traffic level is still low and I really can’t figure it out. What would keep players from playing at a rakefree poker room? I really don’t know, maybe it’s the endless cycle of players signing up, then realizing that traffic is low, then leaving again…rinse repeat. I’m going to hang around for a while, like I did last year, as you just can’t beat rakefree, especially if you play a shitload of SnGs. Just think about it…if I play 10 HU SnGs per day, it’s 2,5$/5$/10$ juice (5$/10$/20$ SnGs)…per day. That is pretty hard to overcome, especially if you suffer from suckoutitis or riveritis 😉

After moneying two out of four SnGs, I decided to give PokerStars another spin, can’t be that unlucky all the time and indeed I hit it pretty good early on in my first HU match. Then I get rivered a few times again, or this match would have been over already, but still, I’ve got my opponent down to 640 and after (s)he minraises preflop we see a flop of AJ4 with two spades…bet raise raise raise raise call…and I’m way ahead against QJo no spade just like me…then the usual happens…

And we’re almost back to square one. Some chasing later I’ve got him/her down to about 500 again. This time we get it in again with TP vs SP…and lo and behold…my TP stands up and I score the W. Did it feel good, yeah, but I still don’t feel like playing another match tonight…not in the mood to get unlucky and logoff with a bad feeling…so I’ll leave it at that for tonight…

…as for headsup…that’s the only thing that annoys me a little when it comes to WPX…they don’t have HU tables…oh well…at least they’ve got five handed SnG…talk about playing short handed, good stuff…top two ITM…I guess those will be my feeding grounds for the next couple of weeks…

…it makes me want to puke, heya, makes me want to puke.

Oh brother, I thought I was over the whining, but after such a brutal session, it’s not easy, nowhere near easy to be honest. Started off by playing a peep at Full Tilt…donkaround big time…bust out in 8th. Oh well…turbo…what can I do, no hand in sight…need to make a move…didn’t work out.

So I jump over to PokerStars and play a 5$ headsup. I make a donkplay – calling an all-in with AKo preflop. Not a classic donk move, but why flip a coin against a donkbag. His fours stand up and I’m crippled and bust out a few hands later. So I decide to kick it up a level and resist the urge to click click click. Instead I do the whole think……click thing and it works out just fine. Until he sucks out on me like the best vacuum money can buy. So there’s goes 10$. After that I really thought long and hard about quitting, but nope, let’s play a “non-donk-level” one at 20$ a pop.

The match starts out pretty standard, raise and take it few times. Fold to a raise some times. About a dozen hands in my opponent is up 200 chips and we see a flop. I hold K7o. Flop comes down K75. He bets out small…I flat call. Turn K…bingo…check…check…river 8. He bets out pot…I raise…he reraises…I push…he instacalls…he show 46o for the straight…I’m up 2800-200. He pushes every hand after that and when I finally look down at the s00ted tourist (Ad7d) I call….he shows AsJs and it holds up. He’s up to nearly 500. “Normal play” resumes and he’s slowly but steadily chopping at my big stack. Soon enough he’s up to over a thousand again. I spare you the details, but let’s just say that he runner runnered and rivered my ass pretty good three times and after that I’m the one with slightly over 600 in chips. So sick. A few hands later I double up as he donkpushes into my turned straight. Back to square one. Win some lose some, get rivered some, get runner runnered some. Then take some pots again. I’m up around 1800-1200 again. I look down at 44…raise..he calls…flop comes down 468…he leads out, I raise…he calls…turn is a J…he pushes…hmm…do I fold bottom set here? Not really…with the preflop call…hmm…66…possible, but not likely…88…not really…JJ…hmm…not really…I can’t really put him on a hand, but I think I’m ahead here…oh well…what does he show…57o…errm yeah…nice call preflop…payed off big time too…so practically a “superstar move”, if you neglect the fact that this is  about the only flop that will win that huge pot for you (well…3-4-6 would be the other one)….crippled again…a few hands later we see an unraised flop of AAJ…me holding the J10…money goes in…he shows Ace rag and wins the match…there goes another 20$.

After that, I’m sitting here sick and thinking…what in the world is going on here? How come that a guy down to 200 in chips can come back to win it. How come that I flop a set he flops a straight? How come I’m ahead all the way betting and he sucks out a flush? How come that I get runner runnered? How come? This is just unreal. I get one cold deck early on (boat vs straight) and he get’s all the rest (I counted four major ones). What in the world is going on here? Am I the second Mike Matusow or was today just a bad spot to be me? I don’t know, but really, I’m feeling sick now and I curse my bad luck. Comeback from 200…get out of here…this is ridiculous…chip and chair, yeah…probably should have called every friggin all-in after he was down to 200…most likely would have won one of the next 3?! Who knows…I just thought that calling with 9, 10 and Q high wouldn’t be the best idea…work out perfectly, didn’t it…not really….so sick…so sick…

Today, I’m really sitting here and ask myself: Why do I even bother? Why? Why? Play donk number one, he chases like a champ, get’s lucky and goes ahead and tells me off about how he did nothing wrong etc. Well, boy, yes I played 93o to a raise. Yes, I knew you had big cards. Yes, the flop came down 9 high. Yes I knew I was ahead and bet it hard. No, you didn’t make a great play. No, it wasn’t skillful to call off your stack until you got lucky on the river. Yes, it really shows your class how you handle sucking out on someone. Wait, not really, so shut the fuck up donk!

Well, what can I say, I let it get to me, yet again. I really don’t know why I even bother getting involved in the chat with such morons. I know that they ain’t worth shit. If they get lucky, hell, they’ll win a match here and there, but overall they’re donating their money to the community. So, just switch off the chat and let them talk their trash bs. Let the cards speak.

So…well…I didn’t do that and I got kicked in the junk so hard that I can’t even sit anymore, gotta go lay on the couch as soon as this post is finished. One measly win out of 3 HU and 1 SH SnGs…pathetic…time to regroup and try something different again. Probably either move up (as even at the 10$ SnGs the play consists of 95% donks playing like shit, talking trash like they knew the first thing about poker) or play some cash again…

Well, yesterday saw me get one year older…one more year before the big 3 0. Had a great time with family and friends, no big party or anything – that’ll be next year. Today it was back to the grind and it didn’t work out all that great.

Started out with some six handed SnGs. The first one was nice, I busted player after player as the couldn’t fold their “gold” (TPMK, SPNK, etc). So I get headsup with a guy and I’m 3:1 in chips. One suckout later and we’re even. One cooler later and he’s got me out in 2nd. Oh well…ITM is ITM, but I would have loved to start the session with a W. The next one was coolered ultra-deluxe. After the following hand I was pretty much gone, well, not really as I made a nice comeback to 1.7k before running my KQ s00ted into AK.

After that a little headsup SnG. W. After that, my mind is wondering if I should play a little “non-hold’em” again. I settle for a PLO SnG and I put myself on tilt. Not by bad play, but by chosing PLO playing against an absolute card-rack that doesn’t raise, ever. I bet and bet and bet into oblivion and the miracle card always comes on the end and/or my outs never hit. Now this is a little exaggerated, but it felt like it.

After that I should have cooled off a little, but I didn’t and promptly lost two headsup matches. The third one after that, I lost too. I couldn’t do anything about it either. I grind it out till I’m up 2200-800. I pop it preflop with nines, he raises, I reraise, he pushes…hmm…call…AJ s00ted…flop and turn are blank…J on the river. Back to square one. A few hands later he calls my all-in on an all-rags flop with KQ (I hold A5)…hmm…turn blank…queen on the river and busto. Nicely done sir.

Yuck. Poker is so cruel sometimes, oh well…one more can’t hurt. W…and I’m down and out for the night…better luck tomorrow…hopefully…

Started the poker day by playing some headsup, only three matches, two Ws. Tonight, I saw that Kat was hosting a nice donkfest, errm rebuy-tourney on FullTilt. The only problem, although it’s just a 1+1$ tourney, I’m busto at FullTilt. At least I was until tonight…redeposited some dough and off to the races.

The first table was the usual crazy ass rebuy style. Push push push. I did just that with any decent hand and it worked out pretty good. Although I had to rebuy after the first hand I played. AK vs small pair…K on the flop…but set for the opposition. After that I didn’t rebuy anymore…didn’t have to. So I didn’t make it quite to the top of the rebuy rank with a measly three rebuys (one to start with the double-stack and one after the AK hand).

The first hour is a blur, although I had some nice hands and got lucky sometimes too (especially in the A9 vs AJ hand…J on the flop…turn and river 9…wheee) – sorry Pokerwolf that you were my personal ATM early on. The sickest hand of the first hour was the following though – boy, never before did I wish to hold the hammer so badly 😉

At the first break I was sitting pretty, third in chips.

The second hour is a blur too, I didn’t take notes or anything, the only thing I remember though is that almost every other flop was a hammer flop (72x, 22x, 77x, 772, 722) – unreal, I’ve never before seen so many hammer flops in my life. I didn’t even need to mention that I didn’t have a hammer in any of those hands. One hand that sticks out was the following, money went in on the flop…so he was drawing slim to a queen or jack for the gutter ball…turn gutter ball:

After that I was able to recover pretty quickly, but just before the second break I managed to lose a coinflip AJ vs 44 to lose around 5k…so at the second break I was sitting in 9th (of 10) on a 7.5k stack…

The next minutes are all about steal, resteal and steal some more and we finally made it to the final table:

Two hands stick out in my mind on the final table…shortstacked mookie pushing in with 88…one raiser between me and him and I’m sitting there with JJ…two for one, cool…other player shows AA…no miracle for me…mookie busts out 9th and I’m down in chips again (although I’m still wondering how I didn’t go broke there).

Some steals and folds later and I look down at A10 on the button…one LP raiser preflop…and I decide to see a flop…it comes down 10 high and when he leads into me I thought: bs…so I push…wait…no, I misclick and only minraise leaving 1k behind…doesn’t matter though as he pushes over the top anyway…with the almighty powerful 96 s00ted for the four-flush…turn blank…river kills me…sigh…I guess I should have popped it preflop…then again…I can’t push all the time, just so that someone won’t get lucky on me 😉

Five final thoughts:

1. Why couldn’t it come heart heart one time if hearts need to come at all…I had the Ah damn it…

2. My read was correct…bs…didn’t hold up…all good and I guess it was payback as Pokerwolf was the one I sucked out on with the A9 vs AJ hand…so in the end it was the 1-1 for a draw..all good there…and at least he used the chips wisely to win the whole thing.

3. I’m really looking forward to see Waffles‘ recap, if he writes one, and what he’s got to say about his exit as bubble boy with yet another “beautiful” cold deck A7 vs AA…

4. Big shoutout to VinNay who single-handedly fueled our first table with a grand total of 18 rebuys. I guess his blog-addy runner-runner-rebuy is all too fitting 😉

5. Thanks again Kat for hosting, this was the best six bucks I’ve ever spent on 2.5h of pure donkerific poker fun 🙂