Holiday weekend

As we move into the holiday weekend, Labor Day comes on the 5th of September, I tried to track back to see when I had that day off before starting my new career here at Lennox Industries. I had to go back FIVE years, when I was with Iron Mountain. I have been asked, don't you miss Frito...my answer is a very clear..."NO."

This would be an excellent opportunity to get away for the weekend and get some quality play at the tables. Maybe play a weekly tournament or two! The action seems to have grown, Harrahs has a Wednesday and Saturday tournament. The Beau and the IP have weekly tournaments. I understand Shorty's has a weekly tournament as well. This is my brief knowledge of some of the surrounding casinos. I hope to get back out there and travel to many of the poker rooms to check them out. My first excursion may be into Baton Rouge where I believe they have two poker rooms now, please correct me if I am wrong.

We are getting ready for a tropical storm and that is going to be fun.

I'll close with this, to anyone living in the Ponchatoula/Hammond area...where is the live action? Also, looking for participants in a dead money satelite. If you do not want to comment here e-mail me at bellyred@yahoo.com.

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

Understanding

I have been hearing a lot of alleged scams that have involved some of our seasoned pros! To my understanding, it all centers around...MONEY!


I understand that this world we live in is driven by the demand for more...but why compromise your morals for it?


I understand why we do, when we want more when we have less...sometimes we make some weak willed decisions in the pursuit of what that MONEY will get us! Want an example, look in the paper, watch the news.


I understand because I have compromised my integrity at a younger age and I will have to live with it and yes, if I could I would have willed myself to not make such a decision. Of course it was not illegal but in retrospect, it was not tottally cool and I hate that part of myself for going there. Maybe, if I get enough questions. I'll go there.


Poker has taken a big step backwards but it will be one of those things in life that will not go away. Texas Hold'em was not the most popular choice but it is today and could stay that way for sometime but another game may take it's place, hello omaha? Who knows, but the strategy and the ability to play with anyone and win will not go away.


Just understand...some of the integrity of the game got some dirt thrown on it, but overall it is straight up.


You all stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

Abrupt slow down on the learning curve.

Pretty wicked couple of days, two of the biggest sights, are shut down to U.S. players, Poker stars and Full Tilt. This has affected several friends that are not in close proximity of brick and mortar casinos and were making a comfortable living off of all of those lunch boxes on those sites.

Well I just wanted to get a quick opinion on what I think is going to happen:

I believe other poker sites are taking on U.S. customers but how are they going to pay them? This way of making a living is going to be hurt for the next few years. We will lose the Poker stars funded tournament series, we may lose poker after dark and the coverage of the WSOP. All may have been funded by those sites. Casinos are going to lose a percentage of players in the long run due to the lack of on-line play. Live tournaments and cash games at those tournaments are going to get a nice increase, especially at the lower buy ins, of people, but over time that will fade. The huge fields we had in the past are gone! Poker sites sent tons of these folks to play through sponsorship, through winning small buy in tournaments, or because people did so well and made the money through beating other people. Without being able to multi-table and show film of what was done to help with training videos there will be a set back in the learning curve. Before when you could play more hands in a month than an older seasoned pro who has 20 years under their belt, is going to go away...unless you like play money or you are moving out of the U.S. Poker will not die, it may fade a bit but it will still be popular but we may not get as many younger players in as their only means of playing for real money will be in casinos and most of the time they need to be 21, unless they can Phil Ivey their way in.

Again, Poker will not fade away into the night, it's popularity may fade a bit but we will have a new generation of lunch boxes and those who play in casinos should be ready to reap the riches!

Just my opinion...you all stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

April Fools Day!

What is up? Say? Where the heck did April Fools day come from? Just curious. My oldest daughter wants to team up with my wife to try to prank me, they think they will be successful but I asked them not to try. We will see what happens.

Looking forward to the games tomorrow, we have VCU and Butler and on the other side we have Kentucky and UCONN! I'd like to see Butler play UConn and UConn get the win, they need to represent the Big East! I am very happy about where Butler is as they barely beat Pitt so I am one who wants the team that beat my team to finish it out and they seem to be doing so.

I have been grinding out online a tad bit, it has been fun nothing substantial to talk to but I really want to get back to a table, feel the chips, and felt someone. I hope to do this in the WSOP circuit event coming to Harrahs New Orleans, soon. Through that I hope to take the family to Vegas, visit my sister, see some friends and maybe get a tournament in, but cash games will be played!

Still going through a lot of my magazines, notes, books and what not and it is amazing how much you can miss when you are not playing on a normal basis. All successful players have a sense about things at the table, a "spidey sense", and I remember when I had it. That feeling of when to call someone down with King high and when to lay down a set of jacks when broadway was made on the river. Now, it takes me time to get my rhythm back but this is the price you pay when you work as an exempt manager, supporting 3.5 kids and a wife. When you come home, it is tough to leave the little ones and wife as they are all just awesome to be around. However, there is always that itch that wants to get back to playing on some type of consistency. Just me blabbing away...so until next time.

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

Know yourself...then maybe wins will come.

Over the years playing poker you learn a lot of things through normal play, talking about hands with others, reading about poker etc. These lessons can stay with you, they may become your culture and you just do before thinking or they may be things that you used to do, switched your game up and may have forgotten but one day you re-read something or over hear something and it reminds you of a piece of your game that you could possibly go back to.

My wife really hates the fact that I have books, magazines and notebooks full of notes and has asked me to start getting rid of...something. I started by looking through my poker magazines and I happened upon an interview in Cardplayer August 2009 with Matt Hawrilenko, under the Capture the flag section with top cash game pros. Matt talked about an important aspect of his game and that is not learning to read your opponent's hand but learning to read your own hand. Here is an example of what he means, "Suppose someone raises, the big blind defends, and the board comes j-6-5 with two hearts. Some guys in the big blind will never check-raise a 6. All they will check-raise is a jack or any sort of straight draw or flush draw. So, when he check-raises, the bulk of his distribution will be flush draws and straight draws. If the board runs out Q-J, there are a lot of guys I'm calling down here with king high, because their hand distribution is just so heavily weighted toward drawing hands that have missed. This is where good players just eat people up. It's very important to have the appropriate mix of different types of hands in every situation. When I was really improving, that is the thing I focused on the most."

My take is this, when you are playing tell a good story in every hand that you play, bet size correctly to get the most value and represent your hand correctly, in doing so your game will improve and your wins will add more green to your pockets! Stay within your comfort zone and play to win, but try not to bluff bad!

Stay nice as Rice and Mello as Jello!

Attention to detail

As an Ops Manager for Frito Lay, I am pretty laid back and not hyper aggressive. I tend to let most things go and allow my people a lot of leeway. I come down on the big things and continue to coach and train on the smaller issues. Working in the environment that I do it is important that you pay attention to details, address them before they become bigger issues. I know, it's only chips, but it is a business and it exists to make money. My point is when I am at the table I am very opposite of how I am at my job. I am very aggressive at the poker table, sometimes too aggressive for my own good. I make good reads and have been able to play a loose aggressive game for most of my poker experience. Recently however, I have transitioned to a more tight aggressive game. I don't get to go play very much so I have to reduce my negative variance. The key though is to watch out for the details. How did his hands move when he saw the flop, people have learned to control their facial features, however they still have not been able to work on the neck down. Watch and observe if you are not in the hand and see if they move towards the table or away after the flop and if he/she goes to the river what did they have? Usually when they move closer, their hand is pretty strong. Moving away sometimes indicates weakness. These are a couple of the basic reads. As you play, continue to observe the table when you are not in a hand. I know that others like to watch the ball game, cocktail servers or what have you, I suggest you watch the other players and how they might put a chip on their cards or keep the left hand on for a strong hand or their right had on for a weaker hand. How they bet could also indicate strong versus weak...if they throw in a big chip, they might be strong, if they bet smaller chips and try to make them look right, might be weakness. Consider this, because I am still working on this myself, when you are playing this game you are playing with real money, do everything in your power to get it in for the most profit. Observe the other players because when you do get into a situation you may have seen something from your opponent that would give you that extra insight to make the right decision. Pot control, bank roll management, bet sizing. These concepts will always be important as you continue to try to become a pro or if you are a pro. I just wanted to give my two cents...get out there and make the right decisions and you will eventually be rolling in the dough!

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

Recent Biloxi Trip

Greetings and salutations! It has been a long time since I put some words down and it is pretty awesome how big the site is! My time away from poker...SUCKS! However, I am enjoying my life as a husband and father, but...

So, I recently made my first move at a live game in Biloxi and I decided to try out the Hard Rock. Here is a quick review...the room is pretty small, only five or six tables. It is located on the right when you walk into the casino, can't miss it. The floor staff, very cordial and open to any questions, really appreciated the customer service. Dealers on a scale of 1-10, '8'. Very personable, and moved the action as best as they could. Also, was fun playing with a couple of them as well, when they got off an put jackets on, love that they can do that in mississippi. Very knowledgeable as well. Another interesting highlight, if you are a rock, very tight. There is not a time rake, they only rake the pot and that is maxed out at $4.

My play was average, there were many spots that I missed opportunities and many times that I made mistakes. The frustrating thing for me was that I made some bad calls and did not play aggressively when it warranted it, basically I was not prepared and the results showed it. I also may have played a little too long, however I had a ball!

The one highlight that I will talk to is this hand, now I had several highlights but this one just reminds me of those grinders that I used to play with and myself, several years ago. Okay, so I am on the button and action gets back to me and I look at two black jacks. Let me talk to Pocket Jacks up to the time I get them. In the previous five hands three people had pocket jacks and made considerable raises, took down the pot and showed them. Back to my hand, I am on the button, under the gun calls, middle calls, highjack calls, so I make it $17 to go, sb folds, bb folds...why 17, we have $11 in the pot, make it $17 and the price of another $15 for $28 was the wrong price...at least that was my thought, and I didn't want to make it look like I had pocket jacks by making it $20 or more. Hi jack is the only caller. I have some history with the hi jack seat, younger player, local, seems to be respected and has played a very good tight aggressive game. Earlier he made me lay down a big hand, so I respected the call and at the same time wondered what he would call with after limping? So my range was A weak, small to medium pair no higher than pocket 8's. He also had me covered. The flop is mixed 2 7 9, he checks and I bet out about $35. He thinks and calls...FRAK! He might have a set and is going to squeeze the milk outta me! Nah, he probably thinks I am making a continuation bet. The turn is a 3 offsuit, no flush possibilities. He checks I bet half the pot, again he thinks for a few seconds and calls. CRAP! Am I beat! The last time he got me off a hand, he had bet into me. The river brings a red JACK, he checks again and I bet 75% of the pot, he thinks about it and calls! Huh? I show my set and he acts like he let me get there and gets pissy! He had not acted like this ALL NIGHT! We were somewhat friendly and I quickly asked did you have me before that jack, he says of course I did. I smile and insert my headphones and stack my chips. BOGUS I think. Now he pulls out about $1000 and sets up. Got me covered again, he did this because I must have put him on tilt and he was going to try to get involved with me and try to snap me off, I was laughing inside because I used to do this and have seen it done many times before. He then goes and talks to an asian kid at another table, who also has a large stack, and they are looking at me while talking...maybe it was in my head but I really affected this guy that bad I should have broke it off in him later. I didn't get that opportunity but someone else did, taking a few hundred from him. So yeah, that was my highlight, I think I tilted a local and it was freaking fun! Yeah, I rambled through this one, hope you enjoyed it. Until next time be it poker or something else...stay frosty and...

You all stay nice as rice and mello as jello!