Friday, February 26, 2010

getting ready to grind for the night

going to try and get in about 7 hours of poker tonight. I'd love to finish the month out strong as i've been running great and would love to cap it off with a couple winning days.

had a couple of meetings about summer baseball in the park league this week. first with our manager and another player about filling voids in our lineup and getting practice time for the team in the preseason. the other meeting was a league meeting of managers and officials where we discussed budgetary matters as well as the possibility of playing more all star games potentially in minor league stadiums and maybe with tv coverage. I was really excited about the prospect of that but I found it really funny that some of the coaches were more concerned about having to work around all star games with their best pitchers, than realizing how much fun all star baseball is. As an all star pitcher who has pitched in two of those games I can tell you that you want to go, and if you can pitch you do it. and if the games had larger crowds, at a great stadium, under the lights, and maybe even on tv you can bet that the players are going to want to play. To me the league is all about playing and loving the game of baseball, and the all star games are a ton of fun and a great way for the league to put on a great face and display some of the talent we have. we'll see how it all works out.

also picked up some tickets for dave matthews this summer when they come to town. considering how lousy the weather has been (and that we're now about as far into winter as you can get before things potentially start warming) I'm really excited for summer concerts. grilling some dogs and drinking some beers while tailgating with 90 degree weather preconcert is one of my favorite things about summer.

possibly going to look into going to tahoe or vegas for the first week of march madness. I'll update if I decide to hit the road.

on to the poker. hope everyone had a good week, and has a great weekend.

later

Monday, February 22, 2010

trippy

i see you reading my blog...

seriously though I've gotten like 15-25 hits more the last few days than normal. Who's out there reading? I mostly started this as a sort of journal to chronicle these last few years so I'd have something to look back on in the future. But I always think it's great if someone finds it interesting or even if it just gives them something to do while they are killing 5 minutes at work or school. So if you're out there reading let me know. Become a follower, link me to your google reader, and post in the comments section. If you have any questions for me or just want to tell me what a lousy writer I am that is cool as well. If you have any pointers for photography, want to know what rap lyrics I'm referencing, or whatever let me know.

finished about 1600th in the stars sunday million yesterday. It was their 40billionth dealth hand celebration so I decided to play (I mostly loathe tournament poker) because first prize was going to be over 1 million. So I played for about 5 hours, outlasted about 35,000 people, and cashed for $600. yay. this hand was fun though:

Poker Stars $200+$15 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t100/t200 Blinds - 9 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

oleram (UTG+1): t9530 M = 31.77
Rush Raiser (UTG+2): t15085 M = 50.28
aiepepito (MP1): t11675 M = 38.92
Hero (MP2): t13326 M = 44.42
Donnygoon (CO): t8750 M = 29.17
StarkNekked (BTN): t21599 M = 72.00
ZenDoKai (SB): t4235 M = 14.12
kookie-13 (BB): t8250 M = 27.50
janetdewit1 (UTG): t7650 M = 25.50

Pre Flop: (t300) Hero is MP2 with Kh Jd
4 folds, Hero raises to t555, 1 fold, StarkNekked calls t555, 2 folds

Flop: (t1410) Qh Td 2d (2 players)
Hero bets t800, StarkNekked raises to t2400, Hero calls t1600

Turn: (t6210) 3c (2 players)
Hero checks, StarkNekked checks

River: (t6210) Qs (2 players)
Hero checks, StarkNekked bets t3200, Hero raises to t10371 all in, StarkNekked folds

Final Pot: t12610
Hero mucks Kh Jd
Hero wins t12610

going to try a new theory tonight and try and do cardio, play a session, then lift, and then play a late session. For the most part I've been starting my days with lifting and cardio but a little research on my part has determined that my focus and mental stamina is probably hurt by doing fatiguing workouts beforehand. So I'm going to try and mix things up today and see if it helps me get in more hands.

later

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Okay I'm back up on my grind... you do you I'm just goin' do mine...

nice 2k sesh this afternoon after I broke even last night. Really feel like I'm playing well lately only a couple of plays I really wasn't a fan of. I made one bad play in a 4bet pot against an aggro reg who's range really didn't have enough bluffs in it for me to make the play. And I cost my self one huge pot when I raised myself off of a flush draw on the flop when I knew that the donk bettor was weak and the reg that called his bet probably knew that. Even though neither of their ranges are necessarily strong, I'd rather call and see a turn in position with a disguised hand than raise and reopen the betting and have to fold a hand with as much as 30% equity on the flop.

that might not make sense, but whatever.

other news... haven't played much plo lately. I played quite a bit early in the week and lost about 5 BI with some definite run bad, but probably mostly bad play on my part. I still have a ton to learn in that game about ranges and equity.

Really enjoying watching the winter olympics. Good to see the US curling teams finally win some games yesterday. Also excited about the USvsCanada in hockey tomorrow night. Big Duke game tomorrow as well. A win does a lot towards securing a regular season ACC title. It was frustrating to see Ga Tech lose at Maryland when I really thought they should have won that game if they could have made some relatively easy shots in the second half. A loss by Maryland there and a win by us tomorrow would have nearly wrapped up the reg season title. Doesn't really matter that much though because to get a one seed we're going to pretty much have to run the table.

going to start preseason throwing this week. Start working my arm back into shape. workouts have gone great the last two weeks and I've been able to put on about 5 lbs. I'd like to get up to 195 again but that is going to take more leg lifting which I've been working hard on lately. I really hate lifting legs, but it does make a huge difference in my overall fitness, and I think it will help me be better prepared for the games this summer.

also going to start trying to plan the bachelor party pretty soon. should be interesting to see what kind of crazy shenanigans my friends figure out.

going to get a workout in and then go out with katy and some of her coworkers for drinks. Haven't gone out since last weekend so I'm definitely getting a little sick of the apt.

later

Saturday, February 13, 2010

And I'm grindin' til I'm tired...They say "you ain't grindin' til you tired"...So I'm grindin with my eyes wide..Lookin' to find a way through the day

booked a nice 8k sesh last night in about 4 hours. Pretty much all NL althought a little bit in a crazy plo sesh where I dropped 5 BI and ended up winning them all back plus another 3.

great win for the devils tonight, and great game for Zoubek. Awesome to see such a fantastic student athlete and teammate able to have a huge game during the biggest game of the year in front of the home crowd. We've got a chance now to go on a run down the stretch and a 1 seed isn't impossible. I think Kansas, Kentucky, and the top team in the Big East are pretty much locks to get a one seed. The fourth one is up for grabs and is likely going to go to another Big East team, Duke if it runs the table, or potentially a Big Ten team if one runs the table and wins the conference tourney (and some Big East teams lose down the stretch). I'm excited for the rest of the season and really pumped by how we played this week.

going to do a little work out and then get some dinner with friends. it's shabu hot pot night and then time to watch the 3pt and dunk contest. Hopefully I can get in a little session at some point today. Haven't grinded as much as I would have liked lately, but I've been putting in steady hours and getting good results.

oh and the winter olypics are great. The random events like ski jump are way more exciting than the random summer games events like pole vault. The best summer games events are great, but you are more likely to find some cool weird stuff when you flip to the winter games.

later

jim

Thursday, February 11, 2010

'Nique got robbed

watching late 80s dunk contests on NBAtv right now. just finished the 88 contest where Jordan repeated with some spectacular stuff including two foul line dunks and some nice double clutch windmills. But the way the scoring was supposed to go (points from qt and semis didn't carry over to the finals) Dominique Wilkins easily had the better three dunks in the finals and should have won. It should have been close, but Wilkins basically put up three 50s and Jordan repeated the foul line dunk to win it.

here's a youtube of the video. finals start at 2min mark:



this is great tv though, and if you have a chance to check these out I highly recommend it. If nothing else it's fun to watch the shorts get incrementally longer each year.

GO TO HELL CAROLINA! GO TO HELL!!!

great win for the devils. ended up not getting any snow (lame) and booked another small win playing PLO. Had a couple of beers so may not do any serious grinding tonight, but might play so more PLO in a few hours.

now for the terrapins on saturday. another big game and another must win.

later

jim

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

I'm amazing, yeah I'm all that...If I ain't on my grind than what you call that...Victorious, yeah we warriors...We make history, strive for victory

booked a nice 6.5k day. About 1.5 hours of PLO and 2.5 hours of NLHE. Don't feel like posting any hands, but I definitely ran really well. Gotta thank the poker gods for once again helping me with the run good.

big game tomorrow, and snow coming in the afternoon. Looking like it'll be around 6-8 inches so that could be fun. Should be able to get some afternoon grinding in before game time. Haven't decided if I want to go out for the game or just chill in the apt with katy. probably be an evening decision.

for lost fans out there check out these links.
http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/02/02/lost-premiere-damon-carlton/
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20313460_20341211,00.html
http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/02/09/snap-judgment-tonights-episode-of-lost-needless-to-say-spoiler-alert/

This guy is a huge fan and does episode recaps that go deep into the metaphors, mythos, and easter eggs that have become a part of the show. It's a great way to fill in the blanks for stuff that you may or may not have noticed while watching.

later

jim

pic o the day:

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Your grind and my grind 'aint the same, dawg... I'm the catalogue, you're the same song

didn't get much done this weekend after I had a nice 6k friday night. spent most of the time catching up on sleep, hanging out with katy and her mom, and then watching the super bowl on sunday night.

big game coming up on wed for the devils. We really need a win, and then we can start seriously considering what it's going to take to win the regular season crown in the conference. A 1 seed is not totally out of the picture for this team because others are going to lose between now and tourney time. But its probably going to require us to win both the regular season and tourney in the ACC. hopefully we can pull it off.

also read about half of klosterman's eating the dinosaur today. good stuff, really enjoyable. the only dissappointing thing is reading it really makes we wish I had a chance to dialogue with the writer. A lot of the stuff he writes I agree with, and some of it I don't, but either way a back and forth discussion would be immensely enjoyable. That kind of niche intellectual stimulation is rare and always leaves me thinking about a lot of things. that's pretty vague but it's a blog so what'd you expect?

need to get my grind on as I've only logged in about 16k hands so far this month.

here's another pic, from the maine coastline this summer when I took a drive with my sister to get some good seafood:

Thursday, February 4, 2010

I'm on a Mission, that n*****z say is Impossible...But when I swing my swords they all choppable

got hit with the deck after my third straight day of run bad. now even for the month. time to let my liquid swords take over. big days of grinding coming up.

oh and I like the colts in the superbowl, I'd probably just bet them straight moneyline (which I know sucks but it's prolly the right bet). But if you gotta go with the saints then you might as well bet the over too (56.5) because I don't see them winning a low scoring game. If you can find any place that still has the colts at -4 or closer snap that up. It's going to end up being -6 by game time.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

frustrating start to the month

was up 5k in about an hour yesterday mass tabling FR, finished down $500. At first I felt like I must have been playing horribly, but looking back at the session it was mostly coolers. for the most part when I had a SDable hand I lost. my attempts at bluff catching were no good, and I lost pretty much every medium to small pot.

overall really frustrating, but I'm planning on grinding a lot this month so I'll just have to get past it and move on.

Monday, February 1, 2010

hand reading not the strength of 1/2 PLO players

So ive been playing some 1/2 6max plo on tilt just to mix it up every once in awhile. I still very much don't know what i'm doing, and I'm very bad at folding preflop (42/28/9 style ftw) but I find that I have a pretty large edge in the games just because my experience in NLHe gives me a better understanding of bet sizing and hand reading than most of the regs. for the most part these guys play fairly transparently but I would assume if I play enough they'll realize how loosely and aggro I'm playing and start to play back at me. until then I'll just keep running them over from late position.

my winrate through about 3k hands is something like 19ptbb/100 which is pretty absurd and obviously totally unsustainable. But I wouldn't be surprised if my actually winrate in these games was close to 10ptbb/100. Now I'm sure if I moved up to 2/4 the regs would immediately be much better and I'd probably be breaking even at best. but for now while I'm still mucking around and learning the game I think I'm profitable in these small stakes games.

hoping to have a heavy month of grinding in february since I didn't play as much as I would have liked in January. Just under 60k hands overall and I'd really like to be closer to 100k each month this year.

other than that not much to report. duke was pitiful on saturday and I was really dissappointed in our defense and offensive rebounding. Just not good. I thought we let the officials take us out of the game early on, but it's up to the coaches to get the players to adjust to the way the game is being played and called, and they clearly didn't. Zoubek had by far his worst game of the season, and the plumlees weren't much better. We can't beat good teams with 80% of our big men playing awful.

thats all for now. taking a break and then htiting the NL tables. probably play on stars.

later