Summer's almost gone

A beautiful sunny day at the end of August.
Summer's almost gone.
I'll have to enjoy it while it lasts.
So I took a +2 hour lunch break to reread 'Sit 'n Go Strategy' by Moshman in a quiet corner of a beautiful park.

It are the little things that make life bearable.

Winning at poker also helps.

I started playing again.
Took a slow start last night.
The ChipMeUp investment didn't pay of.
But today I won 2 out of 4 sit 'n go's at PokerStars.
So I'll just have to keep playing myself.
That's OK.
Tomorrow's another month.
Another Iron Man Challenge at Full Tilt.
Another 3 hours of poker a day for me.

But hey, it are the little things that make life bearable.

(little things & money)

A Quiet Sunday

Started my day with a good run in the early morning.
The rest of the day I'm just staying at home.
A lazy sunday.
Can't get out of the couch.
I just cannot stop reading 'Check-Raising The Devil', an auto-biography by Mike Matusow. It's a great book about an interesting man. From zero to hero, and back and forth a couple of times. A life full of variance.

Between chapters (well, after reading how Matusow staked Scotty Nguyen for the 1998 WSOP Main Event) I decided to finally try ChipMeUp. I've been checking this site for months but never really decided what I wanted to do with it. Basically, you can buy or sell shares of poker tournaments there. For now, I'm taking a shot at backing some guy (GoneWest) for 3% ($10) of his buy in for the PokerStars Warm Up (starting soon).
We'll see how it goes.

Just chilling and waiting till the $$$ comes shipping in!

Anyway, this is supposed to be about playing the game.
This is the fourth day I didn' play a single hand of online poker.
Maybe tonight...

The road will be long & troublesome.
Just wish I could get started...

'One more cup of coffee for the road,
One more cup of coffee 'fore I go'

Second Day Without Poker

Second day without playing any poker.
I watched this week's WSOP coverage over dinner.

The 'World Series of Poker: Main Event' broadcasts on ESPN are really great.
No Hellmuth jokes here. If you saw the show you know what I mean...
On the other hand, I greatly admire and respect Erick Lindgren. But there were a few hands that were maybe too advanced for me to understand... For example, limping behind in a multi-way pot with pocket aces and then call/ fold along the way? I understand he plays some super-advanced small ball-kind of poker. As a pro, he want to avoid coin flips at all costs during Day 1 of the Main Event.  But still, it's poker! Some agression wouldn't hurt, no?

Anyway, I had more important things on my mind this evening, really.
Spending money (instead or winning/ losing money) in front of my computer.
But spending it in the best possible of ways!
To travel...
Just bought a plane ticket for next January.

Sunshine, here I come!
On the road again...
It's been so long ago
Four weeks far away from here...
Time for a family visit.

It's going to be a holiday in Cambodia!

3 Days Off

I decided to give myself 3 days off of playing any poker,
starting today.

Since January I never went without more than 1 day without playing.
That's a long time.
Lots of lonely hours spent in front of a computer screen.
Numerous upswings and numerous painful downswings.

Sometimes you just need a break.

If I had the time I would go somewhere sunny.
But alas, stuck in Brussels for now.

I now all about variance and running bad, but still...
Barely brake even over my last 1000 sit and go's.
That's not a happy feeling.

Rereading Moshman's 'Sit 'n Go Strategy' for the fifth time now...
Playing around with this blog.
Watching all the sit and go video's on PokerVT one more time.
Absorbing all the information without getting upset about another bad beat.
Clearing my head...

Sunday I hope to return to the virtual felt relaxed, stronger and
ready to eat the fish alive!

Full Of Jacks

This is how you play pocket jacks...

Poker Stars $15+$1 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t75/t150 Blinds - 7 players - View hand 251521
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
MP: t1350 M = 6
CO: t1540 M = 6.84
BTN: t2855 M = 12.69
SB: t990 M = 4.40
Hero (BB): t2900 M = 12.89
UTG: t2160 M = 9.60
UTG+1: t1705 M = 7.58
Pre Flop: (t225) Hero is BB with J J
2 folds, MP raises to t1350 all in, 3 folds, Hero calls t1200
Flop: (t2775) K J J (2 players - 1 is all in)
Turn: (t2775) K (2 players - 1 is all in)
River: (t2775) Q (2 players - 1 is all in)
Final Pot: t2775
MP shows K Q (a full house, Kings full of Queens)
Hero shows J J (four of a kind, Jacks)
Hero wins t2775

It's all randomness, of course. Just a coin flip preflop. Still, there's pleasure in flopping quad jacks. (...especially when the villain rivers a useless a full house)

Beta

This is still only a beta.

FilthyRichFish.Org BETA
it should be for know and for the near future

If you don't know where you're going
you're probably not going to get there.

Lots of ideas for this blog going through my head.
I opened up and closed the Full Tilt and PokerStars clients already a dozen of times.
Reading tweets from people I don't now.
Checking my Iron Man Status.
Staring out of the window.
Thinking about maybe playing some poker
or got these blog-ideas worked out.

But I just can't do it right now.

The sun sets over the city.
I stare out of the window

...and all I'm able to do
is sit and wait.
Longing for her.

(until longing changes
in frustration
changes in anger
changes in
passing out
after too much
lonely booze)

But, after all, this is just a beta.

Vagabond Strikes Back!

Last night I had the very difficult choice between watching reruns of 'House M.D.' on TV or play in in the weekly SNG series of PokerVT (a training site I'm a member of) on PokerStars.

No idea what to choose.

Luckily, my Mac Tv-tuner( EyeTV) screwed up and didn't start recording at the set time.
So I gave the SNG Series a shot.

It was great.
I didn't have so much fun playing poker in a long time.
First it was really cool to try to beat my fellow PokerVT-members on the virtual felt.
We're exchanging strategy in the Poker VT forms all the time.
Putting theory into practice against them was a lot of fun.
And of course, sitting at a table with our SNG teacher and poker pro Derek 'Derk' Willams was a great experience.
My results adding to the pleasure as I'm currently ranked third in the 'PokerVT weekly SNG series'- leaderboard!

So today's the last day of my August holiday and, for the first time in a while, I made a profit during the Full Tilt Happy Hour as well.
Cashing 4 out of 8 SNG's and winning 2!
Maybe it sounds less spectacular than it is.
But it really is a big deal right now.
I desperately needed a win to break this depressing downswing.

Let's hope things go uphill from here!

Now I should try and enjoy the sunshine a bit before it's back to work tomorrow...

Sit & Go Sadness

I played only about 20 SNG's this weekend.
Sit & Go Sadness is here.
Things didn't really work out.
Cashed a few times but wasn't even able to win one.
Let alone two.
Bye bye, $50K freeroll...
Of course, I blame randomness and variance.
Down about -$200 for the weekend.
Things could be better.
But hey,
a least I own a domain name and got this blog started...

Sunday Morning Run

It's the best part of the week.
The only time I ever feel like this city is mine.
Sunday morning 8 a.m.
Running trough deserted streets and abandoned parks,
over quiet roundabouts and empty parking spots.
Ignoring all traffic lights.
Someone walks his dog.
A drunk lays passed out in a lawn.
Everything is quiet now.
The city's still asleep.
The first sunbeam of the day
Running faster/ further
At peace.
Soon I'll arrive home.
Tired and satisfied.
A hot shower and breakfast.
Time to login... I might be finally ready for 'Sit and Go Madness' at Full Tilt.
Only 10 hours left.
But it's never too late to win.

FilthyRichFish.Org

Hello boys and girls,

here we go...

I've been busy with starting this up for the past 2 days.

Probably because,

in poker,

it's a struggle from downswing to break even and back down.

There were better days.

Got to let all this negativity go.

Maybe I'll focus better this way;

reporting right from the frontline of the struggle for $$$...

It's a hard and brutal game.

Here we take no prisoners, no sir!

...

'Sit & Go Madness' is still running for another 24 hours at Full Tilt.

I think I'm ready to give it a go.

...

... and if, somehow, you don't have a full tilt account already... don't forget to sign up with the referal code VAGABOND... good things might happen to you... instant karma coming your way... bless you... and don't forget:

who needs pocket aces, 

when you got donkey nuts

Work In Progress

As of this afternoon I'm the proud owner of
FilthyRichFish.org ...
More coming soon!

How To Butcher Pocket Aces

Full Tilt Poker $22 + $2 Madness (Turbo) No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t40/t80 Blinds - 9 players - View hand 247434
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: t1185 M = 9.88
UTG+1: t1365 M = 11.38
UTG+2: t1425 M = 11.88
MP1: t1335 M = 11.12
MP2: t1260 M = 10.50
Hero (CO): t1360 M = 11.33
BTN: t1620 M = 13.50
SB: t1235 M = 10.29
BB: t2715 M = 22.62

Pre Flop: (t120) Hero is CO with A A
UTG raises to t240, 4 folds, Hero calls t240, 1 fold, SB calls t200, BB calls t160
 
The UTG raiser is a rock tight regular. 
If he opens 3x in this position there's absolutely no reason whatsoever to not reraise him. 
Absolutely no reason whatsoever! 
(Stupidity is not a reason). 
Most likely he'll call the reraise, we will be heads up on the flop and one of us will shove. 
That's how I would play it in a perfect world.
But, being braindead for a moment, I just called and the wild, crazy and extremely loose small blind calls as well...


Flop: (t960) 5 T 3 (4 players)
SB bets t995 all in, BB folds, UTG calls t945 all in, Hero calls t995

A disgusting flop but the pot's way too big to let it go...
Getting almost 4-to-1 against
(what I hope to be) 
a flush draw and a lower pocket pair...
Turn: (t3895) 4 (3 players - 2 are all in)
River: (t3895) 7 (3 players - 2 are all in)
Final Pot: t3895
UTG shows Q Q (a pair of Queens)
Hero shows A A (a pair of Aces)
SB shows Q 7 (a flush, Queen high)
SB wins t100
SB wins t3795

Well, what can I say? 

'Don't try this at home' 
aka 
'You Shall Not Slowplay Aces'

A Loose Shove (Filthy Bead)

My call might be a bit loose here but 
why, oh why, 
would someone want to shove 43o with a 50BB stack???

Full Tilt Poker $22 + $2 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 9 players - View hand 247063
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
BTN: t1485 M = 33
SB: t1470 M = 32.67
BB: t1500 M = 33.33
UTG: t1545 M = 34.33
UTG+1: t1500 M = 33.33
Hero (UTG+2): t1500 M = 33.33
MP1: t1500 M = 33.33
MP2: t1500 M = 33.33
CO: t1500 M = 33.33

Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is UTG+2 with A K
2 folds, Hero raises to t125, 1 fold, MP2 calls t125, 1 fold, BTN calls t125, 1 fold, BB raises to t1500 all in, Hero calls t1375 all in, 2 folds
Flop: (t3265) 7 7 4

Turn: (t3265) J

River: (t3265) 4

Final Pot: t3265
BB shows 4 3 (a full house, Fours full of Sevens)
Hero shows A K (two pair, Sevens and Fours)
BB wins t3265

Intro (Bing Blang Blaow)

It's almost 3 o'clock in the afternoon and I'm down -$96 for the day....
The road to richness is long and hard.
I can't give up now.
Once you're locked up in the game the tendency is to push it as far as you can...
So here we go again...
Soon it will be my time to say those words:
"Bing Blang Blaow!"
and hit it big.
$$$ is what I need.