Another miracle draw

God I'm getting sick of these. The most frusterating thing is how EXTREMELY bad this guy was, yet he kept hitting all these miracles on everyone.

PokerStars Game #11237200670: 5 Card Draw Limit ($0.50/$1.00) - 2007/07/31 - 14:32:08 (ET)Table 'Sita III' 6-max Seat #6 is the buttonSeat 1: Zophar101 ($9.05 in chips) Seat 2: icdoe ($13.20 in chips) Seat 3: Blkcatjayjay ($5.65 in chips) Seat 4: luckies888 ($16.35 in chips) Seat 5: HorneyHornet ($23 in chips) Seat 6: jfkpayette ($7.50 in chips) Zophar101: posts small blind $0.25icdoe: posts big blind $0.50*** DEALING HANDS ***Dealt to Zophar101 [Jc 8s 8h 4h 4s]Blkcatjayjay: calls $0.50luckies888: folds HorneyHornet: folds jfkpayette: calls $0.50Zophar101: raises $0.50 to $1icdoe: calls $0.50Blkcatjayjay: calls $0.50jfkpayette: calls $0.50Zophar101: discards 1 card [Jc]Dealt to Zophar101 [8s 8h 4h 4s] [8c]icdoe: discards 3 cardsBlkcatjayjay: discards 3 cardsjfkpayette: discards 3 cardsZophar101: bets $1icdoe: raises $1 to $2Blkcatjayjay: folds jfkpayette: folds Zophar101: raises $1 to $3icdoe: raises $1 to $4Betting is cappedZophar101: calls $1*** SHOW DOWN ***icdoe: shows [Tc 3s Ts Th 3c] (a full house, Tens full of Threes)Zophar101: mucks hand icdoe collected $11.50 from pot*** SUMMARY ***Total pot $12 Rake $0.50 Seat 1: Zophar101 (small blind) mucked [8c 8s 8h 4h 4s]Seat 2: icdoe (big blind) showed [Tc 3s Ts Th 3c] and won ($11.50) with a full house, Tens full of ThreesSeat 3: Blkcatjayjay folded after the DrawSeat 4: luckies888 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)Seat 5: HorneyHornet folded before the Draw (didn't bet)Seat 6: jfkpayette (button) folded after the Draw

Horse

So I decided to buy into last nights $4K Guaranteed Horse MTT and was pleased to come in 8th. Was semi short and picked up AA2c and pushed it hard. Got called by an 84Ad and they spiked a diamond on 7th, busto. Overall I was pretty happy with my play, a few minor errors. Some awful badbeats were survived, I had my rolled fives cracked by a miracle straight by a short stack. Had I won that hand, it would have put me close to the chiplead at the time and really allowed me to open up my game. Instead of bullying the table, I was forced to wait for some hands, but I managed. Not a huge profit margin, I think I won $98+, minus my buyin, but still happy with the results and I think the potential for further success is there.

I had 1 massive pot when I was short stacked around the 1st break, just after, where I ended up right back in it. It was during O8, a massive family pot to start out, so it was a strictly pot odds hand. Board on the river is 57J77 and I'm the in the SB and check, aggressor(the ultimate donator) in the BB pauses for a bit and bets. Donk 2 next to him, pauses and calls. I have 1010JQ and am getting about 20 to 1 odds to call. I think Donk 1 has either AA or a busted low draw and Donk 2 on a weak pair and busted low draw. Their reaction to the 2nd 7 lead me to believe they didn't have it. Turns out Donk 1 had AK and same for Donk 2. Went from 1K to 4.5K that hand and I was right back in it.

I love the royals

I'd found that preflop raising w/this bunch was not the best play and I could always get value out of them post flop on most good hands(bluffing is out of the question!). On this occasion I wish I had. I think I got good value out of it though postflop.

Full Tilt Poker Game #3094019880:
Table Lost Tree (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - Limit Omaha H/L - 16:35:12 ET - 2007/07/29
Seat 1: FranklyZappa ($25.65)
Seat 2: marlboro111 ($41.15)
Seat 3: Zophar ($14.25)
Seat 4: Lucky Luckster ($2.55)
Seat 5: 010162 ($35.85)
Seat 6: slykwyly ($8.05)
Lucky Luckster posts the small blind of $0.25
010162 posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Zophar [Kc 2s Ad Jc]
slykwyly calls $0.50
FranklyZappa folds
marlboro111 folds
Zophar has 15 seconds left to act
Zophar calls $0.50
Lucky Luckster calls $0.25
010162 checks
*** FLOP ***
[Ac Tc Qc]
Lucky Luckster has 15 seconds left to act
Lucky Luckster checks
010162 checks
slykwyly bets $0.50
Zophar calls $0.50
Lucky Luckster calls $0.50
010162 calls $0.50
*** TURN ***
[Ac Tc Qc] [7s]
Lucky Luckster checks
010162 bets $1
slykwyly calls $1
Zophar raises to $2
Lucky Luckster calls $1.55, and is all in
010162 calls $1
slykwyly calls $1
*** RIVER ***
[Ac Tc Qc 7s] [4s]
010162 checks
slykwyly checks
Zophar bets $1
010162 calls $1
slykwyly calls $1
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Zophar shows [Kc 2s Ad Jc] a Royal Flush, for high
010162 shows [6c 7c 3s 5s] a flush, Ace high, for high and 7,5,4,3,A, for low
slykwyly mucks
Zophar wins the high side pot ($2.20) with a Royal Flush
010162 wins the low side pot ($2.15) with 7,5,4,3,A
Lucky Luckster mucks
Zophar wins the high main pot ($4.85) with a Royal Flush
010162 wins the low main pot ($4.85) with 7,5,4,3,A
Lucky Luckster adds $10
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $14.55 Main pot $10.20. Side pot $4.35. Rake $0.50
Board: [Ac Tc Qc 7s 4s]
Seat 1: FranklyZappa didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: marlboro111 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: Zophar (button) showed [Kc 2s Ad Jc] and won ($7.05) with HI: a Royal Flush
Seat 4: Lucky Luckster (small blind) mucked [9s Qs Js 8h] - HI: a pair of Queens
Seat 5: 010162 (big blind) showed [6c 7c 3s 5s] and won ($7) with HI: a flush, Ace high; LO: 7,5,4,3,A
Seat 6: slykwyly mucked [4c Qd 8c 4d] - HI: a flush, Ace high

Still running well

I've never found a game to be as profitable at lower stakes as 5 card. To not make 10BBs/100 is unusual. I passed along a general game theory to an aquaintance and he's having as much success with it as I am.

With my overall success in Horse MTT's, I think I should really focus on the guaranteed tourneys on Full Tilt. I think I could run a ITM % of 30 at minimum. I've been able to discipline myself to be successful I believe. Going to have to see how that works out.

The forum has been going smoothly for almost a week now. What a difference, There's been alot of activity with some good discussion. Hopefully its progress will continue.

Overall it's been a quiet weekend. I did play in a good homegame on Friday night and as usual my #1 villian at the table sucked out on me again. Everytime I play this guy he sucks out. If I get in behind he wins, if he gets in behind and dominated, he wins.

2 nearly back to back hands killed me. We play little S&G's and the blinds had gotten real high 3 handed. In the SB, I push him w/KQ, he calls w/K7c. Flop comes 886 rainbow. Turn 9. Of course what peels on the river?

3 hands later, I'm now short so I push w/67s in the sb and he calls in the BB w/A2. Flop comes JQ4. Turn 6, yeah! But wait, there's still the river. And of course, what does that bring? Ugh. Live poker is rigged.

Downswings

I like to read some of the blogs of the high stakes players and recently Brian Townsend discussed his current downswing of $3,000,000. That is utterly amazing. He seems annoyed by it, but not distraught in anyway. I would be going insane. He says that his Full Tilt account is down to only $150,000 and not playable because it's short. If I had $150K to kick around w/online I'd be ecstatic. Just another example of how far my poker world is from the big guys.

If $3mil. is a bearable loss, I wonder how much he's really won?

Cooler's

I hate hands like this. I think capping was the correct play given his weak draw. Amazingly perfect for him though. 3 hands later had an underset outdraw my set of aces. Ugh. I guess I can't complain, if people didn't play as weakly, it wouldn't be so profitable overall.

PokerStars Game #11145282468: 5 Card Draw Limit ($0.50/$1.00) - 2007/07/26 - 13:10:43 (ET)Table 'Hekate II' 6-max
Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: sisterview ($4.50 in chips)
Seat 2: Zophar101 ($13.80 in chips)
Seat 3: poeticplayer ($18.80 in chips)
Seat 4: junebug8111 ($13.35 in chips)
Seat 5: Ave_Cizar ($34.10 in chips)
junebug8111: posts small blind $0.25
Ave_Cizar: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to Zophar101 [2c 2s 9s 2h 9h]
sisterview: calls $0.50
Zophar101: raises $0.50 to $1
xSeeMeOnTVx joins the table at seat #6
poeticplayer: calls $1
junebug8111: folds
Ave_Cizar: folds
sisterview: calls $0.50
sisterview: discards 3 cards
Zophar101: stands pat on [2c 2s 9s 2h 9h]
poeticplayer: discards 3
cardssisterview: checks
Zophar101: bets $1
poeticplayer: raises $1 to $2
sisterview: folds
Zophar101: raises $1 to $3
poeticplayer: raises $1 to $4
Betting is capped
Zophar101: calls $1
*** SHOW DOWN ***
poeticplayer: shows [7d 7s Ad Ah Ac] (a full house, Aces full of Sevens)
Zophar101: shows [2c 2s 9s 2h 9h] (a full house, Deuces full of Nines)
poeticplayer collected $11.25 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $11.75 Rake $0.50 S
eat 1: sisterview folded after the Draw
Seat 2: Zophar101 showed [2c 2s 9s 2h 9h] and lost with a full house, Deuces full of Nines
Seat 3: poeticplayer (button) showed [7d 7s Ad Ah Ac] and won ($11.25) with a full house, Aces full of Sevens
Seat 4: junebug8111 (small blind) folded before the DrawSeat 5: Ave_Cizar (big blind) folded before the Draw

Leaps

I think the FT Forum is going to start taking some positive leaps forward. There's been alot of behind the scenes work recenlty which should lead to some quality changes. Next step is to get a few more higher level players involved. People who think on the next level, not just gambooolers.

I must say, I do still love to play 5 card draw. It's such easy money. I think people sit down and play, thinking they know how, and just gamble away. Constantly people limp with shorts or OESD's/flush draw's, call raises and miss. Or when they do hit they don't get paid off because it's obvious that they actually made a big hand. Bleeding chips w/horrible odds and no value when they do improve. Thanks for the donations.

10%

After two years of participation in the Full Tilt Forum, I was asked to become a moderator. I was pretty happy with the idea and was good feeling appreciated. The duties don't consist of alot, but I think it will serve me well in the long run.
I think the primary reason I was chosen was because I generally don't get into arguements with everyone and am not constantly insulting everyone else. It seems like some people like to insult others, just for the sake of it. There are a couple that are more witty or clever about it, but the result is the same. Pointless? I think so. Just another form of bullying. Don't know when bullying lost it's appeal, but I think it's merits were gone by the time I hit drinking age.
Also, I've been pretty successfull in Forum tourneys which leads some to think I can play well, thus having something meaningful to say. I think I have the ability to play well, but am not yet a good player. To me that takes consistency, patience and wise bankroll management. None of which I've conquered yet. I'd say I have atleast any 2 of the 3 working well about 60% of the time. During this time, I'm usually winning, but not alot. On the occasions where I'm running all 3 aspects, I figure about 30% of the time, I feel like I am killing the table. This isn't a rush of hands that I'm talking about, it's just being completely dialed in. Getting max value out of good hands, minimum losses from bad hands, great post flop decisions. Great post flop decisions, my god how important that is, really another topic in and of itself.
Then there is the 10%. Oh that 10%. I absolutely hate that 10%. That 10% is where I blow up. That 10% almost always wipes out my excellent 30%, plus some. Happens about once a week or 2(used to be more frequent). I take some badbeats, nothing tiltworthy, but bad. Then I take a couple of more. The it hits like a fucking sledgehammer. The TILT. I start playing crappy hands way more aggressively, bleeding units, chasing horribly, just to get that fish who took my money several times by playing horribly and getting lucky. Somehow I convince myself that if I play badly, I'll do him the same injustice. Doesn't work. All that I've done is destroyed my hard earned bankroll.
I've gotten alot better about it, but still not there yet. Strange thing is, it rarely happens to me live. I wonder if being able to see the idiot that just handed me and others badbeats is soothing in some respect. Online the idiot doesn't have a face and will often leave quickly. Live the idiot has a face and usually sticks around. Who gave me the badbeat? That idiot there, the one with rotten teeth and 3 chins. Inside I'm pointing and laughing, outside nothing. Online idiot I'm screaming at like it means something, just becoming more irate.
Once I feel I can control it online, then maybe I'll move up my bankroll a bit. It's funny how I worry about losing a $20 hand online when it's not a big deal at all live. $20, that's funny.

What the hell am I thinking

Ahh, Oak Island and the legendary treasure of the Knights Templar. It's always fascinated me, but not sure if it's more because of the legend, or because of the incredible quest, the real tortures people will endure to find something out of most likely nothing. Driven by hope. Sort of like this blog. I wonder how many poor souls will come here hoping to find something in the nothingness. Or will there occasionally be something worthwhile in the nothingness? IDK.