tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-316076462024-03-12T19:04:59.627-07:00A Day Late & A Dollar ShortPart family man, part family doc, all poker player. jeciimd shares his thoughts with you...as if you'd care.
[under construction]jeciimdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16545108553145081101noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31607646.post-55000598670329742842008-02-05T14:00:00.000-08:002008-02-11T21:08:02.074-08:00<strong>CLEARING HURDLES...</strong><em>the journey to Oz continues</em><br />[<a href="http://jeciimd.blogspot.com/2008/01/odyssey-to-oz.html">part 1</a>]<br /><br /><br />So how does a guy who has spent 3 nights a week for 8 weeks, successfully navigating a minefield of bloggers in quest of a once in a lifetime international adventure find himself at the end of this journey without a passport? Simple, really. It never crossed my mind. <em>In fact</em>, for me it was never so much about the destination--but the journey. Winning for its own sake has always been its own reward. Why else have I found myself awake at 2 am playing the dookie? The BBT's have always been a chance for the blogger community as a whole to get together and play for something a little bigger than the usual--what ever that bigger may be. (And FWIW, I played BBT1 for the express purpose of winning the Wii--true story, <a href="http://hammerplayer.blogspot.com/">ask this guy</a>).<br /><br />After winning the TOC, only then did I actually check out the details of my impending trip--IMAGINE MY DELIGHT! Poker, golf, freeroll tourney, rubbin' elbows with the big guns. Clearly, this needed to happen.<br /><br /><br /><br />So, having decided to put my entire life on hold for a couple weeks while I skip down under for a little poker, my wife--also sans passport btw--and I spent the next couple days basking in the glow of what had now become our mutual victory. L had always wanted to go to Australia, of course her dream trip was more of an outback adventure than a <a href="http://w.fulltiltpoker.com/aussie-millions">casino royale</a>--but hell, it was free and it was now ours, so why quibble over the details. Our busy professional lives and our parenting responsibilities had put considerable strain on both of us, and a two week getaway seemed like, if you'll pardon the pun, just what the doctor ordered. Thankfully, my mother-in-law had agreed to come stay with the kids in our absence so we set about the business of travel preparations. The trip was just starting to take shape when a nasty fall left my mother-in-law with a broken arm and L and I with no babysitter.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Enter CJC, brother number 3 of 4 (not my poker padawan SRC1013_JD), who just so happened to have a passport--and further, had called the morning after my TOC win FROM his boss's office to (1) congratulate me (2) declare his passport status, and (3) assure me that he was available should he be needed. To her credit, L took her bad beat like a trooper with the following:<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><em>"I guess this means you'll just have to win so you can take ME next time"</em><br /><br />Her Christmas gift to me seemed to drive this last point home, when in an as-yet-unrivaled display of confidence L gave me a watch because "I was going to need a fine <a href="http://www.tagheuer.com/the-collection/link/men/calibre-s-chronograph/index.lbl?w=CJF7110.BA0587">timepiece</a> to wear at the final table." Bless her naive little heart...<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />At the time, not having a passport didn't seem to be such a big deal--just needed to pop over the post office, smile for the camera, and BINGO--1 passport comin' right up, sir. Of course, the last time I had needed a passport was in high school when I traveled to the Soviet Union as part of a highly trained team of supergeeks (details remain classified). It seems that obtaining a passport in the post-9/11 world has become considerably more of a headache and requires several weeks of advance planning.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />So 2 days after Christmas, on the recommendation of our good buddy Drraz, I sought the help of a passport expediting service. For those who don't know (as I didn't before this) expedited passports are only dispensed in select portions of the country, NONE of which were anywhere near Southwestern PA. Fortunately, there are services which can present your information to the state department in your stead, provided they have the appropriate documentation in a timely fashion. One of these is "verification of travel" which can take the form of a computer generated travel itinerary. It was about this time that I realized that the only confirmation I had regarding my trip was Al's congratulatory e-mail. Hell, I didn't even know my expected dates of travel.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Thus began a frantic stream of emails to Full Tilt explaining my situation and the time-crunch I had put myself in. During all this, I discovered that despite the tournament not starting until January 14, the plane for Melbourne actually left on January 7. So follow me on this--it's<br /><br /><br /><br /><ul><br /><br /><li>December 27 (a Thursday) I need to receive confirmation of a trip itinerary by </li><br /><br /><li>Friday, FedEx my documents to Washington D.C. by </li><br /><br /><li>Monday (New Years' Eve) for presentation to the state department on </li><br /><br /><li>Wednesday (January 2) and returned to me in PA no later than </li><br /><br /><li>Saturday January 5 for my departure to LA on </li><br /><br /><li>Sunday where I will catch a flight to Australia on </li><br /><br /><li>Monday. </li></ul><br /><br /><p>COMMENCE HEADACHE!</p><br /><br /><br />Miraculously, email confirmation arrived at around 1AM EST on Friday and I was able to get everything in the mail that day. <em>SIDE NOTE: Special thanks to "Chuck" at the post office who asked that I mention him should I be on TV for the tournament. (Sorry Chuck, this is the best I can do--but THANKS!)</em><br /><br /><br /><p>Needless to say, I was a tad nervous about the timing of the process and the fact that I was pretty much cutting it as thin as I could on this one. But the plan was in place and seemed to be moving in the right direction. That's when I woke Friday night/Saturday AM with a fever and muscle aches the likes of which I have not experienced in some time. I'm not one who gets sick often, but when I do, I certainly do it right. As I lay shivering in my bed, I was persistently haunted by visions of countless Euro-LAGs playing trash against me and eliminating me from the tournament. </p><br /><br /><p>By Sunday, I was convinced that going to Melbourne was a horrific mistake and declared to my wife that I wasn't going. The timing couldn't be any worse. I was completely unprepared and miserable and really, what was the point? I was just going to lose anyway! Thankfully, by Monday I was able to get out of bed AND remain vertical for longer than 3 minutes at a time. My health and confidence restored, I resumed my preparations for the trip which was now less than a week away. </p><br /><br /><p>Things went relatively smoothly from that point forward. New Year's Eve was spent with my family, as T, A and J enjoyed their first Champagne Toast (Cider, actually) at midnight and 2008 was upon us. Just a couple days of work between me and the weekend, and the "Poker Trip of a Lifetime" would begin. That's when I received the following phone call:</p><br /><br /><p><em></em></p><br /><br /><p><em>THURSDAY January 3, 2008....approximately 5:10pm</em></p><br /><br /><p><em>"Mr. C? </em></p><br /><br /><p>"Yes?"</p><br /><br /><p><em>"Mr. C...I'm sorry to be calling, but it seems there's a problem with your passport application. We won't be able to have it to you by Saturday unless you can get a replacement copy of your birth certificate to us by 9am TOMORROW."</em></p><br /><br /><p>"WHAT!!!!!!?????"</p><br /><br /><p></p><br /><br /><p></p><br /><br />The wheels had finally flown off. Apparently the birth certificate I had once carried in my wallet but had since retired to the bottom of a desk drawer was damaged and unacceptable to the State Department. And of course, my hometown in CT (<em>not PA remember</em>) didn't provide for any electronic means of obtaining the birth certificate.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />It was at this moment that I almost completely lost it.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The dream was dying. The trip I had never really wanted but now wanted more than anything was slipping away. In a panic, I began dialing the city clerk's office in my hometown...and got the dog catcher's voicemail. Then I got the park and rec department's machine. It was at this point that I called in the cavalry--my grandfather.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="center">JEC I </div><br /><div align="center"></div><br /><div align="center"></div><br /><div align="left">Patriarch of my family AND, luckily for me, former mayor of my hometown who just so happened to have the home number of the only guy that could help me . And, as I soon found out from his wife, he was still at the office. </div><br /><div align="left">Within the hour he had me a new birth certificate and had run all over town looking for a means to get it to D.C. by 9am the next day. Having missed the Fed Ex pickup by 10 minutes, we decided to find out what brown could do for us...and were not disappointed (despite their best efforts to close up shop early). I would of course be remiss if I didn't mention my parents' own efforts during the course of this. So to Mom, Dad, Papa..and of course Joe Q...THANK YOU!</div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">Somehow I had managed to pull off the miracle, and with this coup came a feeling that no matter what happened--great things were on the horizon. Sadly, this theory would be tested not 36 hours later when my dog was struck and killed by a passing car 2 blocks from my house. In her honor, I took her little name tag with me and set it behind my chips at the table.<br /></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">Finally, the day had arrived for our departure. As I boarded the plane, I thought about all that I had been through just to get to this point. I had been riding a roller coaster of incredible highs and insufferable lows...and I hadn't even left the country yet. Despite my own admittedly poor planning, a big steaming pile of bureacratic BS, and a vaccine-resistant strain of the flu, it seemed that nothing would stand in my way--not even the untimely demise of little Mickey. Mine was a truly charmed existence.</div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">Melbourne was calling.....the time had come for me to answer.<br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><em></em>jeciimdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16545108553145081101noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31607646.post-40549497488977256172008-02-03T21:08:00.000-08:002008-02-03T21:50:11.749-08:00<strong>PUNCHIN' MY TICKETS</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><br />With FTOPS VII rapidly approaching, I compiled for myself a little wish-list of tourneys I hoped to play in. Friday night, I took care of number 1 on the list....<br /><br /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162989071553456978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 376px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 286px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" height="283" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XmYwQ2IpDCs/R6afNLUq61I/AAAAAAAAACE/NT0kDTCDzdQ/s400/ScreenHunter_01+Feb.+02+02.37.jpg" width="452" border="0" /><br />I have been anxiously awaiting the return of FTOPS, and in particular the HORSE event. Last time around, I made a pretty decent showing but came up just short of the money when I got a little too aggressive with hidden kings versus a guy with rolled up tens. Ironically, I had seen him get overly aggressive with a medium split pair and actually thought i was ahead DESPITE the multi-street capping. Live and learn I suppose.<br /><br /><br /><p>After a near-miss satelliting into Sunday's Avatar Race (finished 3rd with top 2 getting seats), I was unable to play in any of the other qualifiers due to Super Bowl company. But I'm glad I decided to jump on late-night, because I punched ticket number 2 around midnight</p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162993649988594530" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 372px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 284px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" height="284" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XmYwQ2IpDCs/R6ajXrUq62I/AAAAAAAAACM/g3x0MXpkJOo/s400/ScreenHunter_01+Feb.+03+23.57.jpg" width="434" border="0" /></p><br /><p>Not a bad usage of my frenzy tokens I'd say. And even though my performance in general population MTTs has been less than spectacular as of late, I still get the feeling that business is about to pick up...</p>jeciimdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16545108553145081101noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31607646.post-49684938506600657692008-01-27T13:47:00.000-08:002008-01-27T20:16:11.182-08:00<strong>ODYSSEY TO OZ...A Preamble</strong><br /><br /><br /><strong></strong><br /><br /><br />As I've struggled to put into words the last month-or-so of my existence in the poker world--and in particular, my Aussie Millions Getaway--several things have been glaringly apparent. First off, I am more of a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">storyTELLER</span> than a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">storyWRITER</span>, and unfortunately that makes the whole writing process more cumbersome for me. Particularly when I start to ramble, drifting aimlessly away from my point...kinda like right there. Second, and perhaps more important--I loathe trip reports. To me, trip reports (or at least this one) had become synonymous with book reports. As a kid, I loved to read--still do as a matter of fact. I'd read 20-3o books a year for pure enjoyment. But ask me to tell you about that book in a manner that would make you care? Forget it. Books were a personal experience, and reports were like the receipt that proved you actually read them. Totally boring and lame.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />This trip deserved better. So I asked myself, "how can I share this amazing story with people without cheapening it?" I soon realized that the story didn't just begin in Australia, it began some weeks before. But to truly appreciate it, you're going to have to know a little more about me and the kind of guy I am.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />So here goes...<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I am a family practice physician practicing in a very, very small town in southwestern Pennsylvania that my wife and I moved to about 3 years ago. We have one of most of the necessities in town--grocery, school, post office, library--and exactly 4 traffic lights (although technically 2 of them aren't actually IN the town). Most of the local townsfolk are or are descendants of mineworkers who have outlived the coal mines that brought them here in the first place. We don't have a lot of luxury, but most of us have electricity and indoor plumbing, and wife and kids and I are fortunate to live in a particularly nice neighborhood in town. On the whole, despite the inconvenience of having to travel 90 minutes round trip for hospital rounds or most shopping beyond milk and butter, its a very pleasant existence. The big bonuses are that I am almost never more than 1 mile from my kids at any time in the day AND I actually get to practice medicine in a manner that makes me feel as though <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">I'm</span> having a significant impact on peoples' lives.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />My wife, L, is also a family doc but her office is about 20 minutes up the road in neighboring town. We have three wonderful and beautiful children--T (age 7), A (age 4) and J (age 2). Between our work schedules, cub scouts, dance class and any other obligations we may have--time is precious. Unfortunately, its a delicate balance that my wife and I have yet to master; so many days and nights are spent in "flying-by-the-seat-of-our pants" fashion as we strive to meet the demands of day-to-day life and still get the kids fed, bathed and in bed at a reasonable hour. As you probably can surmise, the slightest variation in the daily "routine"can really throw a wrench in the whole works.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />So imagine, if you will, that you are me. Now imagine you have just won a trip to Australia that leaves sometime in the next 2 weeks. And oh yeah, you don't have a passport. And the Christmas you are not done shopping for is only about 5 days away. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Feelin</span>' that tension in the back of your neck yet?<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />This is exactly the boat I found myself on the morning of December 20, 2007. How the hell was I going to pick up and leave the country for 2 weeks with such little preparation? What about the kids? What about my patients?<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />And oh yeah, I still didn't have a passport.jeciimdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16545108553145081101noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31607646.post-57522755325571468672008-01-11T18:16:00.000-08:002008-01-15T01:43:29.616-08:00<strong>LIVIN' IT UP DOWN UNDER</strong><br /><br /><br />To anyone who has been anxiously awaiting some semblance of a post since my TOC win, my apologies...the three weeks getting ready for this trip had been total chaos (its an insane story to say the least, but one that I simply haven't had time to put into words). Since arriving in Melbourne about a week ago, its been virtually non-stop activities courtesy of Full Tilt's overwhelming hospitality. Booze, poker celebrities, kangaroos--the whole nine.<br /><br />Fortunately, Pauly and the folks at <a href="http://www.pokernews.com/news/2008/01/aussie-millions-main-event-day-1a-andy-black-leads.htm">pokernews</a> have been gracious enough to keep you all up-to-date on my performance thus far in the Main Event. Hopefully, there will be more fun to report in the future.<br /><br /><p>I've always been pretty bad at the whole blogging thing, thankfully--the main event doesn't have a written exam portion. For now, just know that I am thankful to be enjoying this incredible experience, and I hope to one day have the time to sit and share it all with you. </p><br /><p>Cheers (oh yeah, they don't say "g'day" much).<br /></p>jeciimdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16545108553145081101noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31607646.post-85713487285316818582007-12-24T11:44:00.000-08:002007-12-24T11:51:23.298-08:00<strong><span style="font-size:130%;">MERRY CHRISTMAS</span></strong><br /><br />To all who happen across this, hope this holiday season finds you happy and well.<br /><br />And a special thanks to <a href="http://mookie99.bigopokerroom.com/">Mookie</a> for crafting my new ornament:) <span></span><br /><br />Merry Christmas to all!jeciimdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16545108553145081101noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31607646.post-33731123417014467282007-12-21T19:33:00.001-08:002007-12-21T20:12:18.553-08:00<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XmYwQ2IpDCs/R2yGYnAA7HI/AAAAAAAAABA/ljjhrfFLO0U/s1600-h/ScreenHunter_01+Dec.+21+02.07.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5146636231521660018" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XmYwQ2IpDCs/R2yGYnAA7HI/AAAAAAAAABA/ljjhrfFLO0U/s400/ScreenHunter_01+Dec.+21+02.07.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Words fail...</span></strong></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Some time around 2am EST amidst the excitement of planting the biggest, juiciest cherry I could ever imagine atop my very own BBT2 sundae, a funny thing happened...I was reminded that despite any progress I had made as a poker player, my blogging skills are laughably unrefined. I <em>wanted</em> to throw up a picture of the final leaderboard--much like the one above and complete with obligatory <span style="font-size:85%;">BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! </span><span style="font-size:100%;">header--but damned if i couldn't manage to get into my own blog without my computer freezing up. <em>Then </em>when I did, the best I could do was attach a file list screenshot (not very exciting). Finally I quit, after several unsuccessful attempts to preserve this, my single greatest achievement in poker-to-date, for all of posterity.</span></div><div> </div><div>This morning, a miraculous thing happened....my friends did it for me. </div><div> </div><div>As I sit and write this, I am still humbled by the compliments and respect that have been paid to me through the various blogs and comments across our not-so-little-anymore blogging community. Elated to say the least, but humbled.</div><div> </div><div>My sincerest thanks go out to Al, Mookie, Don and of course, my boy Hoy. You guys have put together something pretty spectacular here. And to all who have offered their congratulatory praise, thank you for helping to remind me that poker is a game of people played with cards...and that this particular group of people is better than most.</div><div> </div><div>It will be an honor and privilege to represent you all in Australia.</div><div> </div><div>Thank you.</div><br /><br /><div><strong></strong></div><br /><br /><div></div>jeciimdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16545108553145081101noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31607646.post-33505723925137017012007-11-21T22:33:00.000-08:002007-11-21T22:47:13.979-08:00DOOKIE DOMINANCE<br /><br /><br /><br />OK...before I get ahead of myself. Yes--I know--its the dookie. And turbo HORSE is only slightly below turbo razz and HOY's turbo 6max on the bell curve of supreme donkishness.<br /><br /><br /><br />That having been said, I managed to talk my little brother into signin' up tonight, despite the fact that he has limited experience in each of the individual games and NEVER played in HORSE format prior. Care to guess what happened?<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Wait for it....<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Waaaaaaaaiiiiiitttt forrrr itttttttt........<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5135552029065879058" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XmYwQ2IpDCs/R0UlXHICHhI/AAAAAAAAAAw/Jt5zGgIsU8M/s400/ScreenHunter_01+Nov.+22+01.30.jpg" border="0" /><br /><p> </p><p>So, little brother, this one's for you. Great job!<br /><span style="font-size:+0;"></span></p>jeciimdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16545108553145081101noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31607646.post-30849379263759408952007-10-25T09:14:00.000-07:002007-10-25T09:41:32.653-07:00<strong>NOT A BAD START<br /></strong><br />Geeked.<br /><br />The World Series (of baseball) started last night and that was the only way I could think of to describe my excitement level. After following a team through 162 regular season games (thank you directv baseball package) and 2 playoff series, not even Tim McCarver's innane ramblings can kill the excitement of starting lineups and the Star-Spangled Banner. Top that with your ace pitcher striking out the side to open the game AND watching your ROY candidate 2nd baseman hit a homer in his first world series at-bat....man-oh-man now I'm not even sure geeked covers it.<br /><br />As was the case Sunday, a big Red Sox game coincided with some BBTwo poker--unfortunately the results were not quite the same. For starters, the Sox had essentially blown the game open by the time the Mookie launched--so I don't really have the distracted excuse for my sub-par performance. Suffice it to say, I played too tight, got short and ran my small pair into Blinders' pocket queens ending my night. Looks like that elusive first Mookie title will have to wait another week. The night wasn't a total loss tho as I eeked out a victory in "Name that Donkey" and managed a 2nd place Dookie finish. Thanks again to Buddy and Sean for their endlessly amusing broadcasts and congrats to Riggstad and Iggy on their victories.<br /><br />Game 2 and Riverchasers tonight...cya then!jeciimdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16545108553145081101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31607646.post-27870236223125117962007-10-22T14:26:00.000-07:002007-10-23T08:59:12.584-07:00<strong>CLEVELAND ROCKS, BUT THE NATION ROLLS...</strong><br />(and oh yeah, bubble-boy takes down the Big Game)<br /><br />Where to begin? I spent the early evening hours of Sunday in a bit of a quandry...my beloved Red Sox were about to play yet another game 7 to decide the American League pennant. I was feeling much the way David Ortiz described the team's mood --Confident, NOT comfortable, but confident. So as I sat down to watch the game, I couldn't help but feel a bit ridiculous signing up for the blogger Big Game. I mean, unless the game was decided in the first 2 innings, there was no way in hell poker was going to be anything but a mild distraction. But I figured, what the hell..I have the tokens, and its the BBToo. So F'it...Im in.<br /><br />In the early going, things went about as I'd expect....preflop raise here, missed flop there. Nothing to write home about (or here for that matter). As I got short I made a nice squeeze move with pocket 6s (sorry cmitch) and got called by pocket 5s. A nice double up there kept me around through the first break but several dozen unplayable hands later found me pushing pocket 3s into aces. Miracle 3 on the flop and I was feeling the thrill of my first dirty suckout in ages. Pocket kings to Kat's AQ moved me up the leaderboard and I floated along as the tourney field shrank.<br /><br />Somewhere in the midst of all this, the Sox broke out in the 7th as rookie sensation Dustin Pedroia cranked one to Rhode Island. I was smellin' a pennant when Tripjax pushed his ATo into my jacks and-irony of ironies-made his runner-runner straight on the river versus MY trip-jacks. With half my stack decimated I somehow managed to work my way to the final table, then the money, then headsup with none other than Trip. This time luck was on my side as I managed to overcome a 3 to 1 chip deficit to take down my first Big Game title after about an hour of headsup play. As it happened Trip and I got it all in on a king hi flop with me holding pocket kings and trip holding aces. Tough break for Trip, but he played great and we both know he's had my number on his fair share of occasions.<br /><br />So all in all, A great night. Sox win the pennant, I win a little respect (not to mention cash). And in the end, I learn that luckboxery can be a blast if it happens to hit you at the right times. <br /><br />Who knew?jeciimdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16545108553145081101noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31607646.post-71176664363155250292007-10-09T20:09:00.001-07:002007-10-09T20:12:44.578-07:00STARTING OVER<br /><br /><div style="WIDTH: 100%; HEIGHT: 140px"><a href="http://www.pokerstars.com/blog_tournament/"><img style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 10px" height="127" alt="Online Poker" src="http://www.pokerstars.com/blog_tournament/images/2007-1.gif" width="127" align="left" border="0" /></a> <p>I have registered to play in the <a href="http://www.pokerstars.com/blog_tournament/">PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker</a>! </p><p>This <a href="http://www.pokerstars.com/">Online Poker</a> Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.</p><p></p><p>Registration code: 9215620</p></div><br /><p> </p><p></p><br /><br /><br /><br />maybe this'll helpjeciimdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16545108553145081101noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31607646.post-65015029206536823022007-04-16T21:10:00.000-07:002007-04-17T18:12:08.437-07:00<strong>ANOTHER DEEPISH CASHLESS RUN</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />Not much to report here...the title kinda says it all: points yes, cash no. With nary a playable hand and a huge stack to my left--an alarmingly consistent fact of my life I've found--I had to revert back to the check-fold survival strategy. The "make-or-break" hand may have been right on the points bubble when I found pocket aces in the SB. With blinds of 100/200 and a stack of about 2600 the action went as follows:<br /><br />cmitch minraisese to 400 (at least i think it was cmitch)<br /><a href="http://smokkee.blogspot.com">smokkee </a>calls on button for 400, pot now 1100<br />Both have me significantly outchipped by a factor of about 3--perhaps more.<br /><br />So my options are to (A) smooth call and hope i don't get outflopped.<br />(B) Reraise and commit to playing out of position against at least one caller<br />(C) Push and hope one of them puts me on something like AK/AQ and decides to call with a medium pair or better. Or even better, they put me on a smaller pair and figure to chip up with one of those hands.<br /><br />The first option I don't like so much because despite the fact that I'm holding the momentary nuts, a lot of boards would be reasonable for them to play to a showdown. With a small stack and worst position, I'm at the mercy of the cards, and I've given them dirt cheap odds to crack my aces. My thinking on the second hand was similarly based on our relative stack sizes. Im seeing this hand through to the end, so even the raggiest of draws could lead to a suckout. After all, it is online poker.<br /><br />In the end I elected to push and hope one of them thought i was being cute with a squeeze or one of the hand scenarios described above. After cmitch folded, smoke did the right thing and released and i made it into the points continuing my turtle-sque quest for <a href="http://bloggerpokerchallenge.blogspot.com">blogger </a>supremacy. My evening ended when I got allin with AK suited vs. JJ and QQ. No help came, and I go home lucky number 13.<br /><br />Heh...who knew smokkee's screen even HAS a fold button? I'll have to adjust my notes.<br /><br />See y'all at the <a href="http://wilwheaton.typepad.com">Wil.</a>jeciimdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16545108553145081101noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31607646.post-40287484893163220652007-04-16T15:12:00.000-07:002007-04-16T17:54:07.765-07:00<strong>IRONY AND A CONTEST OF SORTS</strong>....<br /><br />Irony. An inconsistency between what you think should happen and what actually happens. For example, a well-educated guy who in the real world seemingly never shuts up finding himself at a loss for anything to put on paper....or a blog. Sad really. Because with each passing day the block gets thicker and thicker and i find myself in danger of becoming "that-guy-who-only-has-a-blog-to-justify-playing-in-blogger-only-tournaments-but-never-really-posts-anything-on-it." A horrible state to be in, let me tell ya, not only because of the tremendously cumbersome title, but also because, quite simply:<br /><br /><br />I DON'T WANT TO BE <strong><em>THAT </em></strong>guy.<br /><br /><br />But I think I've come up with a solution. As I've struggled to get this blog off the ground I've become more and more impressed with the die-hards who can crank out thoughtful, interesting posts on a daily basis. And while I recognize that daily posting is probably not within my capabilities, being interesting and thoughtful oughta be. But like I said, I need a little kick-start. So beginning this week, I will be soliciting suggestions for blog-topics from the community. Just throw out an idea in the comments section of this blog, and if I turn it into a post--I'll buy you into a blogger-tourney of your choosing (<a href="http://hammerplayer.blogspot.com/">Mondays at the Hoy</a>, <a href="http://mookie99.bigopokerroom.com/">The Mookie</a>, <a href="http://www.alcanthang.com/poker/">Riverchasers</a>....heck I'll even swing over to Pokerstars and buy you into the <a href="http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/">Wil</a> if you like). I do also reserve the right to respond to criticism by others--and that in and of itself doesn't warrant a buy-in, no matter how <a href="http://sirfwalgman.blogspot.com/">pathetic</a> your <a href="http://sirfwalgman.blogspot.com/">cries for help </a>may be. So good luck, and thanks in advance.<br /><br /><br /><br />Moving right along to the Big Game last night, I abandoned my check-fold strategy in favor of some actual poker playing. Unfortunately the results were eerily similar--i.e. deep run, points, no cash. But I did have fun with this hand:<br /><br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5054182151839270146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XmYwQ2IpDCs/RiQP445_xQI/AAAAAAAAAAo/7q2cSeCkjg8/s400/ScreenHunter_01+Apr.+15+22.19.jpg" border="0" /></p><p></p><p>At the time I thought I had played the hand pretty well; imagine my surprise today when I learned that I had mistaken boredom for another shining example of Waffles' D-caliber play. OOOOPS! My bad. You see, as of late, Sir Waffles has decided to take pot-shots at my play. Im not sure why, exactly, but I can't help but relish the irony. Because make no mistake about it--pointing in each of the <a href="http://bloggerpokerchallenge.blogspot.com/">BBT </a>tournies without cashing is a dubious accomplishment--but then again so is luckboxing your way to one blogger tourney win in 8 months. My record speaks for itself, and no amount of verbal diarrhea can change yours.</p><p>So Waffles, if you're out there, let me leave you this thought to ponder. A 13 week tournament series is kind of like a golf tournament. Winning requires several rounds of consistent play with a few big shots thrown in at the right time. To win the big prize you have to be within striking distance when it gets to crunch time -- 7th place through 6 events does just that. I know this, Tiger Woods knows this, and YOU should know <strong><em>this</em></strong>: you don't want either one of us to even be able to sniff the lead come Sunday.</p><p>See y'all at the tables.</p><p></p><p><br /></p>jeciimdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16545108553145081101noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31607646.post-75491542423346309302007-04-12T21:30:00.000-07:002007-04-13T21:26:28.231-07:00<strong>NOTHING TO SEE HERE</strong><br /><br />As bloggers go......it appears that I am not very good at posting on a regular basis. I mean, if you--the reader--are going to take the time to read something I've posted, the LEAST I can do is make it worth your while. Problem is, I've been having difficulty coming up with anything earth-shattering to share. Because really, who wants to read about this:<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5053127617109017842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" height="269" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XmYwQ2IpDCs/RiBQy45_xPI/AAAAAAAAAAg/fZF55cXVEVA/s320/ScreenHunter_01+Apr.+13+00.00.jpg" width="321" border="0" /><br /><br /><br />Or this.......<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5052768115461440738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XmYwQ2IpDCs/Rh8J1I5_xOI/AAAAAAAAAAY/ev8t61OGh0I/s320/ScreenHunter_02+Apr.+11+00.53.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Incidentally--kudos to <a href="http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/">Wil</a> for being at the forefront of tournament innovation with his bold selection of "Heads-Up Pot-Limit Omaha" for this week's second chance Tuesday tourney. Unfortunately No-Limit GUTS was not available as an option, so we'll have to make do with Pot-limit O8 for next week. (<em>SEE??? even the jokes are lame!!!)</em><br /><em></em><br />Thank God the Big Game's coming so I can check-fold to the money and still have nothing to write about. See y'all then.<br /><br /><em></em><br /><em></em><br /><br /><br /><p><br /></p>jeciimdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16545108553145081101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31607646.post-34498384185603181122007-02-19T18:51:00.000-08:002007-02-19T20:00:09.922-08:00<strong>INTERMISSION</strong><br /><br />Today I'd like to take a break from the apparent uber-post I'm composing regarding last week's O8B tourney and put up a quick post that's a little more strategy oriented....and I know what you're thinking; considering there is virtually no strategy discussion in my last post, that shouldn't be a very difficult task. Hey, it's my blog, and if I wanna ramble on aimlessly about my daughter, or my lack of enthusiasm leading up to what would be the biggest cash of my life, then that's my prerogative, right? Besides, I happen to believe that there's a helluva lot more to this game we love than just cards and probabilities.<br /><br />Anyway, I was hoping to solicit some opinions regarding a hand that occurred very early-on at my table in the FTOPS Main Event. For those who don't know, the main event was a super stack tourney--a rarity as far as I have seen at Full Tilt--as everyone started with T5000 as opposed to the usual T1500 of nightly guarantees or T3000 of the weekly double stacks. Personally, I had never played in a tournament of this structure, and part of why I found this hand interesting the role that structure played in how the hand evolved. Also, I would like to initially present the hand in as generic a fashion as possible so as not to bias the responses. OK? Here goes...<br /><br />As I said, this was very early on, inside the first level of the tournament in fact. The table to that point had been playing decidedly tight, and all players involved had roughly their starting stacks. Blinds were 15/30 and the action went as follows:<br /><br />UTG player A min raises to 60<br />Player B, to UTG's immediate left, re-raises to 240<br />Pot is now 345, action is folded around to the small blind, player C<br />Player C re-raises to 810, making the pot now 1050<br />Big blind and player A both fold<br />Player B pushes ALL-IN<br /><br />Assuming neither player has demonstrated any particular tendencies and this is the first time they are playing against each other, I would like you to consider the following:<br />(1) What range of hands do you put each player on given the action thus far?<br />(2) If you were involved in the hand how would u play:<br />AA? AK? KK? QQ-JJ? smaller pairs?<br />*for this one I'm interested in how you would play them from<br />either seat*<br /><br />So if anyone happens to read this, I look forward to your thoughts. And I promise to get to the point about my FTOPS tourney soon.jeciimdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16545108553145081101noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31607646.post-54982839097251129032007-02-18T14:05:00.000-08:002007-02-18T21:53:52.001-08:00<strong>Valentine Validation</strong><br />Ahhhh...Valentine's Day. The original "Hallmark Holiday." A day for lovers to express their undying devotion in the form of chocolate and greeting cards. Its also the day when, as my dad once told me<br />"<em>You better come home with flowers....or don't come home at all"</em><br />Funny, dad never said anything about poker.<br /><br />This year's V-day was a little different than years past. Dinner was out from the word go thanks to my daughter's dance lessons, so the possibility of playing that night's FTOPS event was never in question. Although, I have to admit it was fun pinning the blame on hoy...to explain, a quick seque if i may.<br /><em></em><br /><em>About a month before Valentine's Day, I was as I am every night, playing on Full Tilt, when hoy pops onto the IM</em><br /><em></em><br />Hoy: hey man, jump in this FTOPS sng sat with me<br />ME: i don't know, im kinda tired<br />Hoy: c'mon it'll be fun...its O8B<br />ME: ugh...u know I hate O8B<br />Hoy: you'll be cool if u do....<br /><em></em><br /><em>Now, I should point out that I was not a big fan of O8B at the time, and hoy frequently uses the peer pressure line...in large part because he knows it irks me. But, i figured what the heck, and signed on. About ten minutes in he adds</em><br /><em></em><br /><em></em>Hoy: oh, btw, its on Valentine's day....that's not a problem is it?<br /><em></em><br /><em>Greeeeeeaaaaaattt. So now I'm in a satellite that if I win I get into a Wednesday night tourney that's sure to go late AND as an added bonus--there's a pretty good chance the wife will be none-too-pleased.</em><br /><em></em><br />Well, needless to say, I did in fact win the satellite seat. I'm also happy to report that my wife handled it like a pro...<br /><br />ME: Uh...honey. I..uh....won a seat into one of those FTOPS tourneys last night.<br />Mrs.JECIIMD: That's great honey.<br />ME: Yeah....uh....there is one glitch tho.<br />Mrs.JECIIMD: Oh...(growing suspicious)<br />ME: It's on Valentine's Day.<br />Mrs.JECIIMD: Oh.....(pause for guilt inducing hug)...That's ok..(kiss)...<br />I don't need some Hallmark Holiday to know how much<br />you love me. (another kiss)<br /><em>And then, the kicker a'la Adrian from Rocky II...</em><br /><em>"Win"</em><br /><br />Heh...no pressure.<br /><br />The passing weeks did little to improve my enthusiasm. My game was on life support, as was my bankroll. Thanks to a UIGA-induced reluctance to keep any significant amount of funding online, as well as a frustrating stretch of non-cashes, I found myself in the days leading up to FTOPS#6 playing in a myriad of low-stakes sng's and...sigh...full tilt point satellites. It was a true low-point in my young online "career."<br /><br />When the day finally arrived, a snowstorm closed the dance school...so dinner was back on the table. And for a brief moment, I actually considered skipping the tourney in favor of a late reservation. Like I said, I was in a bad frame of mind when I sat down to play....and found Toto Leonidas sitting to my immediate right.<br /><br />Now anybody who watches poker as much as I do knows that Toto's a dangerous, aggressive pro. And though I'd never seen him play anything but NLH, I figured I was in trouble. Two thoughts immediately popped into my head:<br />(1) At least he's to my right<br />(2) Maybe I won't miss tonight's episode of "Lost" after all.<br />I realized that the table was giving a lot of respect to Toto pretty early on...so the random donkage was kept to a minimum. Noone wanted to mess with him unless they had the goods, so i was able to play a fairly textbook style (yes, i've read some on it) throughout the first hour or two. I even won a few hands off him in the early rounds, building confidence and accumulating chips. He too managed to build a big stack early, but I used my position effectively to chip away some. Eventually, he took a few beats and I found myself with a fairly decent stack....which i tried to donk off in an ill-advised fit of bounty hunting....and soon he was gone.<br /><br />That's when it got really fun.<br /><br /><br /><em>[to be continued...]</em>jeciimdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16545108553145081101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31607646.post-92033471511877290912007-02-01T19:01:00.001-08:002007-02-01T20:27:20.185-08:00STOKIN' THE FIRE<br /><br />Psssssssssst.<br />I have a secret...and it's a doozey.<br />Fortunately, noone reads this blog--so I feel its safe to share it here.<br />But if you happen to have accidentally come across these words, please, I implore you--don't tell anyone.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">I'm a fonkey.</span><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Or at least that's what <a href="http://hammerplayer.blogspot.com">my boy </a>would have you believe. And you know what else? He makes some very valid points. As a general rule, playin' AJo against an allin reraise is a loser. Plain and simple. No Sklansky-esque typeset necessary--but nice touch just the same. Then again, I can't remember the last time I peeked at my hole cards and thought, </span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">"SWEET! POCKET THREES!"</span><br /><br />Now before this turns into one of those he said, hoy said "rant battles"...I need to be clear about a few things; first and foremost, there are few blogger opponents whose game I respect more than Hoy's. My own game has improved on practically a nightly basis from the day I first started playing with him. For that my good friend, I can only begin to thank you.<br /><br />Second....and this is the part that's gonna sting.....he overplayed his hand and got caught.<br />There. I said it. No takin' it back.....Now I know what he's thinking -<br /><br />"I couldn't possibly disagree more"<br /><br />But its true.<br /><br />Not because the hand I was holding was so good, but because I was able to accurately put him on a range of hands that told me that I was not likely that far behind, if at all. And that he was banking on the fold that never came. At that point, the cards became secondary.<br /><br />A simple fact that often gets lost in our blogger discussions is that we tend to overemphasize statistics in order to make sense of the play in question. We do this because its tangible and reproducible. But we forget that playing better cards does not make us better poker players. Recognizing good situations to get our money in the middle and acting on them is what makes us better players. And stringing together a bunch of those situations mixed with a little luck, that's how we win tournaments.<br /><br />So was mine a great play? Not especially. But a solid one nonetheless, given the circumstances. And if that makes me a fonkey, well a fonkey I be.<br /><span style="font-size:78%;"></span>jeciimdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16545108553145081101noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31607646.post-47415292549290314242007-01-26T19:20:00.000-08:002007-01-26T20:34:14.390-08:00<span style="font-family:arial;">For some time now, I've toyed with the idea of starting up a poker blog...which is funny when you consider that until about 6 months ago, I wasn't even sure what "exactly" a blog was. Then I ran into an old friend (drraz) at a token SNG at full-tilt. In what is unquestionably the coolest moment I have yet to experience at a poker table, I was able to re-connect with a guy I had seen or heard from for many years. In a previous life--one before poker that is--I considered him one of my most trusted friends until our careers took us in different directions and we lost touch. In the years between, we had each picked up the game and sought to conquer it. Then through dumb luck alone, we found ourselves playing poker together via the internet...I wonder if the boys in Washington would appreciate that as much as I do....probably not.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Soon after, I was invited to join a regular private tourney on pokerstars "mondays at the hoy", where I was introduced to an eclectic collection of poker addicts known as bloggers. Like I said, I wasn't too sure what a blog was. Thankfully someone was more than willing to help...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>ME:</strong><em>so...uh...what's a blog?</em></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"><strong>Mr. Helper: </strong><em>blogs are ghey</em></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">Needless to say, I was not in a big hurry to start blogging after that exchange, but I was curious; so I started reading in search of my own definition. I found strategy posts, rants, blatant honesty and complete fabrication; soon, I knew what a blog was...but I didn't know what it was I had to say.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">Truth is....even as I type this, I'm not sure what it is I have to say, or for that matter, whether anyone would care to read it. But what the hell, life's about trying new things, so here goes nothing, right? Hopefully I'll be able to offer a unique perspective on poker and life as I see them.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">One thing's for sure--the blogger community has become an invaluable resource in the expansion of my game--and I for one think its time I started giving back</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Not chips though...those I think I'll keep.</span>jeciimdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16545108553145081101noreply@blogger.com8