Every three months, I host an event called the Spotted Cow Hold 'em Tournament. Today, we had 22 players that participated. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to finish in the money in any of the four tournaments I played - the first time that's happened. Each tournament had a $30 entry fee - with the Top Three getting paid out. Obviously, my friends are getting better at poker, since it's become a lot of work to win money in these events! :-)
In the 1st tournament, I finished in 4th place (one spot out of the money) after my AdJc was beaten by Bruce's Kh10h. Bruce was low-stack at the time and went "all in" before the flop after I made a significant raise. A Jack appeared on the flop, but a heart on the river left me with hardly any chips and essentially ended my tournament.
In the 2nd tournament, I finished in 9th place. I was staring at an AQ in the hole when the flop came A-9-2. My opponent (Steve F,) went "all in" - which I quickly called. He was holding an A7 and was a severe underdog to my AQ, but a 7 on the turn gave him two-pair and left me with exactly 12 chips, which disappeared a couple hands later.
In the 3rd tournament, I finished in 11th place. I played conservatively - simply because I caught no cards. I was eliminated 45 minutes into the tournament (most tournaments take 2 hours) and didn't win a single hand during this tournament. Ugh!
The 4th tournament had 18 players. I finished in 17th place and (again) didn't win a single hand.
So, after losing with the AQ in the 3rd tournament of the day, I didn't win another hand. Yikes!!
After the tournament, I played in some side games staked at $1-$3. I was treading water until the final two hands. Playing Omaha Hi/Low, I was leading each hand going into the river, but lost when my opponents each hit their card. In each hand, I flopped a set, but the river gave each of my opponents a straight. Oh, well. That's poker. All told, I lost exactly $47 in the side games.
Despite the fact that I lost $167 today, it was still a good day. Last year, I hosted my first Spotted Cow Tourney and we had 11 players. This time, I had NO PROBLEM finding 22 guys to play.
Daily Sketch: Down $167
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $166.70
July 30, 2004: Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained (or Lost)
Theresa and I went out with friends after work, so there was no gambling today. That's fine, since I'm on a bit of a losing streak. I'm hoping to be fully "refreshed" for tomorrow's Spotted Cow Hold 'em Tournament.
Daily Sketch: $0
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $333.70
Daily Sketch: $0
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $333.70
July 29, 2004: A Quick Fifteen Minutes
After taking a day off from work and golfing with Jared, Al, and Rob, I decided to play a quick 15 minutes of poker on UltimateBet tonight. Since I was only going to play 15 minutes, I thought I'd jump on a $5/$10 hold 'em table and take my chances.
Putting it mildly, the 15 minutes went horribly. I played exactly 27 hands and won 3 of them. Two of the three hands were split pots and I claimed the 3rd pot after I raised (holding QK) and everyone folded to me. All told, I think I made $15 in the three combined pots.
Before I could blink, I was down $150. The very first hand pretty much typified my 15 minutes. Dealt As2s, the flop saw two spades appear. Committed to the pot, I called the better and never saw a spade. I was immediately down $25 and never recovered. I lost the last of my money when my Qc10c lost to another player's QK after we saw a queen flop. I was down to my last $30 entering that hand, so I was stuck seeing if my pair of queens could hold up. The king kicker ended my short night. Ugh!
I won't be gambling again until Saturday night's Spotted Cow Tournament. For those of you unfamiliar with that tournament, be sure to check back. After playing ten Sit 'n' Go Tournaments the last couple nights and watching $150 disappear quickly tonight, I could use a break from on-line poker. While I haven't accumulated the results, my on-line poker play has been atrocious this month.
Daily Sketch: Down $150
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $333.70
Putting it mildly, the 15 minutes went horribly. I played exactly 27 hands and won 3 of them. Two of the three hands were split pots and I claimed the 3rd pot after I raised (holding QK) and everyone folded to me. All told, I think I made $15 in the three combined pots.
Before I could blink, I was down $150. The very first hand pretty much typified my 15 minutes. Dealt As2s, the flop saw two spades appear. Committed to the pot, I called the better and never saw a spade. I was immediately down $25 and never recovered. I lost the last of my money when my Qc10c lost to another player's QK after we saw a queen flop. I was down to my last $30 entering that hand, so I was stuck seeing if my pair of queens could hold up. The king kicker ended my short night. Ugh!
I won't be gambling again until Saturday night's Spotted Cow Tournament. For those of you unfamiliar with that tournament, be sure to check back. After playing ten Sit 'n' Go Tournaments the last couple nights and watching $150 disappear quickly tonight, I could use a break from on-line poker. While I haven't accumulated the results, my on-line poker play has been atrocious this month.
Daily Sketch: Down $150
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $333.70
July 28, 2004: Sit 'n' Go 'n' Go 'n' Go Some More. . .
In keeping with my promise, I played nothing but 10-man Sit 'n' Go Tournaments this evening:
(1) Sit 'n' Go $20(2): In an immediate improvement over last night's dismal performance, I take 2nd place in the opening tournament of the night and earn a quick profit of $38. When it gets down to two players, I am the chip leader. However, I can't hold the lead and settle for 2nd place.
(2) Sit 'n' Go $30(3): The night is young, but I seem to be reversing last night's fortunes. Again, I take 2nd place and claim a profit of $57 in this tourney. Coupled with my winnings from the previous tournament, I've already won back over half of the money I lost last night.
(3) Sit 'n' Go $30(3): My lucky streak ends at two. I finish in 6th place and never catch any real cards in this tourney. I only win two pots and I'm eventually eliminated on the 41st hand. Once, I do catch AA as the big blind, but everyone folds to me. That was one of the two pots I scooped. Ugh!!
(4) Sit 'n' Go $20(2): I think I'll stop at 2-2 for the night. In this tournament, I made one silly call on an open-ended straight and never recovered - on my way to a 5th place finish.
Overall, I earned a modest profit this evening. After playing ten tournaments over the last two nights, however, it's time to call it quits.
Daily Sketch: Up $40
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $483.70
(1) Sit 'n' Go $20(2): In an immediate improvement over last night's dismal performance, I take 2nd place in the opening tournament of the night and earn a quick profit of $38. When it gets down to two players, I am the chip leader. However, I can't hold the lead and settle for 2nd place.
(2) Sit 'n' Go $30(3): The night is young, but I seem to be reversing last night's fortunes. Again, I take 2nd place and claim a profit of $57 in this tourney. Coupled with my winnings from the previous tournament, I've already won back over half of the money I lost last night.
(3) Sit 'n' Go $30(3): My lucky streak ends at two. I finish in 6th place and never catch any real cards in this tourney. I only win two pots and I'm eventually eliminated on the 41st hand. Once, I do catch AA as the big blind, but everyone folds to me. That was one of the two pots I scooped. Ugh!!
(4) Sit 'n' Go $20(2): I think I'll stop at 2-2 for the night. In this tournament, I made one silly call on an open-ended straight and never recovered - on my way to a 5th place finish.
Overall, I earned a modest profit this evening. After playing ten tournaments over the last two nights, however, it's time to call it quits.
Daily Sketch: Up $40
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $483.70
July 27, 2004: Sit 'n' Go 'n' Go 'n' Go Down the Tubes . . .
As promised, I played nothing but 10-man Sit 'n' Go Tournaments all evening:
(1) Sit 'n' Go $20(2): I couldn't catch ANY cards in this tourney. I hung around for most of this game, but I was eventually eliminated in 4th place - one spot out of the money. Starting with 1,000 chips, I "peaked" at 1,070 and never got anything going. I was actually fortunate that the table was quite loose and I would have backed into 3rd place if an AK had beaten a 99 in a showdown of two other players at the table. As luck would have hit, however, another 9 appeared on the board and I was destined for the 4th place finish.
(2) Sit 'n' Go $30(3): In one of my worst showings in some time, I took 7th place when my KK "all in" bet lost to another player who called with AA after we saw a flop of Q-2-3. There wasn't much I could do about it. Unfortunately, my pocket cowboys were doomed to lose - especially after the relatively nonthreatening flop. Without another king to save me, I finished well out of the money.
(3) Sit 'n' Go $30(3): This one was difficult to stomach. Holding Ad-Kd halfway through the tourney, I called another player's preflop "all in" bet. As it turned out, he was holding a Jc 10c and he eliminated me when a 10 appeared on the board. I couldn't pair either of my cards and I finished in 5th place. Had I won the hand, I would've been the chip leader.
(4) Sit 'n' Go $20(2): The night is going horribly so far. Taking the early lead in this tournament, I started to play very conservatively - which would have worked if the table played loose. Instead, the players at this table were very tight and it took FOREVER to play out this table. My nice stack of chips was slowly whittled down, but I felt good holding an A-10 when the flop showed 2-3-10. A 6h on the turn seemed innocent enough and I decided to call another player's "all in" bet. He showed a 4c 5c under and I was eliminated in 4th place - one spot (again) out of the money.
(5) Sit 'n' Go $20(2): This is getting pretty ugly. In this tourney, my cards start cold. Whittled down to 625 chips I was sitting in the big blind and I'm dealt Ac 2c. I checked when it got to me and four players saw a flop of 2-2-Q. I immediately went "all in" and one player called holding A-Q. Wouldn't you know it, however? Another Queen appears on the river and his full house beats my full house. I'm eliminated in 6th place. Ugh!
(6) Sit 'n' Go $30(3): I think I'll quit for the night. I'm too disgusted to describe the way I lost this tournament. At some point, one needs to realize that it isn't your night. The only consolation I can gain is the simple fact that I earned $75 in bonus money tonight that I'll earn next month. However, that's little consolation when you lose twice that amount. Hopefully, tomorrow night's tournament action goes a little better. Ugh!!
Daily Sketch: Down $165
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $443.70
(1) Sit 'n' Go $20(2): I couldn't catch ANY cards in this tourney. I hung around for most of this game, but I was eventually eliminated in 4th place - one spot out of the money. Starting with 1,000 chips, I "peaked" at 1,070 and never got anything going. I was actually fortunate that the table was quite loose and I would have backed into 3rd place if an AK had beaten a 99 in a showdown of two other players at the table. As luck would have hit, however, another 9 appeared on the board and I was destined for the 4th place finish.
(2) Sit 'n' Go $30(3): In one of my worst showings in some time, I took 7th place when my KK "all in" bet lost to another player who called with AA after we saw a flop of Q-2-3. There wasn't much I could do about it. Unfortunately, my pocket cowboys were doomed to lose - especially after the relatively nonthreatening flop. Without another king to save me, I finished well out of the money.
(3) Sit 'n' Go $30(3): This one was difficult to stomach. Holding Ad-Kd halfway through the tourney, I called another player's preflop "all in" bet. As it turned out, he was holding a Jc 10c and he eliminated me when a 10 appeared on the board. I couldn't pair either of my cards and I finished in 5th place. Had I won the hand, I would've been the chip leader.
(4) Sit 'n' Go $20(2): The night is going horribly so far. Taking the early lead in this tournament, I started to play very conservatively - which would have worked if the table played loose. Instead, the players at this table were very tight and it took FOREVER to play out this table. My nice stack of chips was slowly whittled down, but I felt good holding an A-10 when the flop showed 2-3-10. A 6h on the turn seemed innocent enough and I decided to call another player's "all in" bet. He showed a 4c 5c under and I was eliminated in 4th place - one spot (again) out of the money.
(5) Sit 'n' Go $20(2): This is getting pretty ugly. In this tourney, my cards start cold. Whittled down to 625 chips I was sitting in the big blind and I'm dealt Ac 2c. I checked when it got to me and four players saw a flop of 2-2-Q. I immediately went "all in" and one player called holding A-Q. Wouldn't you know it, however? Another Queen appears on the river and his full house beats my full house. I'm eliminated in 6th place. Ugh!
(6) Sit 'n' Go $30(3): I think I'll quit for the night. I'm too disgusted to describe the way I lost this tournament. At some point, one needs to realize that it isn't your night. The only consolation I can gain is the simple fact that I earned $75 in bonus money tonight that I'll earn next month. However, that's little consolation when you lose twice that amount. Hopefully, tomorrow night's tournament action goes a little better. Ugh!!
Daily Sketch: Down $165
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $443.70
July 26, 2004: Sit 'n' Go Week Begins
At the start of the month, I mentioned UltimateBet's July "bonus bucks program" regarding 6-man and 10-man Sit 'n' Go Tournaments. During the past 25 days, however, I haven't really capitalized on this offer and, as a result, my bonus dollars have shrunk considerably. I started the month with over $200 in bonus dollars, and I believe that I fell below $100 this weekend. That means, however, that I've earned over $100 in bonus money this month by simply playing on UltimateBet. So, while my month-to-date sketch shows that I'm up over $600 in July, I've "only" won $500 - with UltimateBet essentially giving me the other $100 to play poker on their site during the course of the month. It's nice to get "free" money, isn't it?
With that being said, I am going to concentrate on playing 10-man Sit 'n' Go Tournaments this week and earn as many bonus bucks as possible by the end of the month (Saturday). Then, in August, I'll cash in those bucks by exclusively playing $2/$4 hold 'em tables. As best as I can tell, I earn approximately $8-$10/hr by playing raked hands on UltimateBet's site. While that isn't a huge figure, I'm guessing that I can play poker on UltimateBet 10-15 hours/week in August, which means that UltimateBet will pay me anywhere from $80 to $150/week to simply play on their site - regardless of how I do. That's fine with me!!
Of course, UltimateBet will stop paying the bonus bucks when I exhaust my supply - which emphasizes my need to accumulate as many bonus bucks as possible during the final week of this month. At a minimum, I'd like to play ten $30(3) tournaments this week and, consequently, earn $150 bonus bucks. If I find success in the tournaments, I may play some $50(5) tournaments (to earn more bonus bucks) - but I'm only going to do that if I find success in the $30(3) tournaments. At the least, I believe that I'll finish the month with (at least) $350 bonus bucks sitting in my account - all waiting to be "cashed in" during August. I'd probably hafta play A LOT of poker in August to earn all that money, but I'll earn it eventually.
Unfortunately, I won't know exactly how many bonus bucks I've earned (during the month) until August 8th. That's when everyone's account will be credited with all of July's tournament bonus bucks. Regardless, it's time to jump on the Sit 'n' Go Tournament wagon and ride her the rest of the month!
Tonight, I had time to play one $20(2) tournament and a $30(3) tournament - with each lasting nearly 45 minutes. In the $20(2) tournament, I finished in 2nd place and won $60 - for a net profit of $38. I was almost eliminated in 4th place when my AK nearly lost to an AQ. Pre-flop, I went "all in" and thought I was done when a Queen flopped. However, a King on the river saved my hide and I went on to the 2nd place finish.
In the $30(3) tournament, my fortunes hinged on one key hand. With six players remaining, I held a 99 and lost to an AK when the Ace appeared on the river. The loss left me with the short stack at the table, while a win would have given me the chip lead. From that point on, I kept battling but I was eventually forced to go "all in" with an iffy A8 and lost to another player that (unfortunately) was holding an AA at the same time. Ooops! I finished in 4th place - one spot out of the money - and suffered a net loss of $33 in that tournament.
So, overall, I made exactly $5 tonight. However, more importantly, I made $25 in bonus bucks that I'll eventually earn next month. In all honesty, if I break even playing tournaments this week, that will be ok, since I'll be earning the bonus bucks at the same time.
Daily Sketch: Up $5
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $608.70
With that being said, I am going to concentrate on playing 10-man Sit 'n' Go Tournaments this week and earn as many bonus bucks as possible by the end of the month (Saturday). Then, in August, I'll cash in those bucks by exclusively playing $2/$4 hold 'em tables. As best as I can tell, I earn approximately $8-$10/hr by playing raked hands on UltimateBet's site. While that isn't a huge figure, I'm guessing that I can play poker on UltimateBet 10-15 hours/week in August, which means that UltimateBet will pay me anywhere from $80 to $150/week to simply play on their site - regardless of how I do. That's fine with me!!
Of course, UltimateBet will stop paying the bonus bucks when I exhaust my supply - which emphasizes my need to accumulate as many bonus bucks as possible during the final week of this month. At a minimum, I'd like to play ten $30(3) tournaments this week and, consequently, earn $150 bonus bucks. If I find success in the tournaments, I may play some $50(5) tournaments (to earn more bonus bucks) - but I'm only going to do that if I find success in the $30(3) tournaments. At the least, I believe that I'll finish the month with (at least) $350 bonus bucks sitting in my account - all waiting to be "cashed in" during August. I'd probably hafta play A LOT of poker in August to earn all that money, but I'll earn it eventually.
Unfortunately, I won't know exactly how many bonus bucks I've earned (during the month) until August 8th. That's when everyone's account will be credited with all of July's tournament bonus bucks. Regardless, it's time to jump on the Sit 'n' Go Tournament wagon and ride her the rest of the month!
Tonight, I had time to play one $20(2) tournament and a $30(3) tournament - with each lasting nearly 45 minutes. In the $20(2) tournament, I finished in 2nd place and won $60 - for a net profit of $38. I was almost eliminated in 4th place when my AK nearly lost to an AQ. Pre-flop, I went "all in" and thought I was done when a Queen flopped. However, a King on the river saved my hide and I went on to the 2nd place finish.
In the $30(3) tournament, my fortunes hinged on one key hand. With six players remaining, I held a 99 and lost to an AK when the Ace appeared on the river. The loss left me with the short stack at the table, while a win would have given me the chip lead. From that point on, I kept battling but I was eventually forced to go "all in" with an iffy A8 and lost to another player that (unfortunately) was holding an AA at the same time. Ooops! I finished in 4th place - one spot out of the money - and suffered a net loss of $33 in that tournament.
So, overall, I made exactly $5 tonight. However, more importantly, I made $25 in bonus bucks that I'll eventually earn next month. In all honesty, if I break even playing tournaments this week, that will be ok, since I'll be earning the bonus bucks at the same time.
Daily Sketch: Up $5
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $608.70
July 25, 2004: Sunday Morning Poker
I'm a little burned out and wasn't in the mood to gamble today, but I wanted to win back the $33 I lost yesterday. So I played on a $2/$4 hold 'em table for one hour this morning on UltimateBet.
The hour went relatively well. Intent on keeping any potential losses to an absolute minimum, I played very conservatively. The strategy worked fine, and I finished the hour ahead by $37.50. Since I (barely) offset yesterday's losses, I was content to quit and, consequently, spent the rest of the day watching the NASCAR race.
FYI . . . my NASCAR fantasy team is currently sitting in 4th place (out of 62 entries). I believe that the top 7 teams are guaranteed a payout, so I'm "in the money" right now. Since the NASCAR season ends around the same time the NFL season starts, I'm hoping that some NASCAR winnings will help offset the costs of the four fantasy football leagues I will be joining this fall.
Daily Sketch: Up $37.50
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $603.70
The hour went relatively well. Intent on keeping any potential losses to an absolute minimum, I played very conservatively. The strategy worked fine, and I finished the hour ahead by $37.50. Since I (barely) offset yesterday's losses, I was content to quit and, consequently, spent the rest of the day watching the NASCAR race.
FYI . . . my NASCAR fantasy team is currently sitting in 4th place (out of 62 entries). I believe that the top 7 teams are guaranteed a payout, so I'm "in the money" right now. Since the NASCAR season ends around the same time the NFL season starts, I'm hoping that some NASCAR winnings will help offset the costs of the four fantasy football leagues I will be joining this fall.
Daily Sketch: Up $37.50
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $603.70
July 24, 2004: Art & Kim's Wedding Day
Other than my multi-table tournament victory on July 10th, my on-line poker play has been TERRIBLE on Saturdays. With that in mind, I decided to simply play one 10-man $30(3) tournament on UltimateBet (during the morning) prior to attending Art & Kim's wedding later in the afternoon. After all, I'd rather not lose a lot of money today - and the wedding should help me accomplish that goal.
Similar to most tournaments, I was able to make the Top Five without doing much. I had accumulated 1,470 chips when I was dealt 88 in the small blind. I matched the big blind (after three people called) and we saw a flop of 2-3-6 (rainbow). I quickly decided to go "all in." The big blind called my bet (he had more chips) and he revealed a 4-5 under to complete the straight. Ooops!! I guess I should've raised pre-flop, as I'm sure the big blind would have folded to a large bet.
The turn and river didn't help me, and I was eliminated in 5th place - two spots out of the money. Time to retire for the day and live to fight another day!
Daily Sketch: Down $33
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $566.20
Similar to most tournaments, I was able to make the Top Five without doing much. I had accumulated 1,470 chips when I was dealt 88 in the small blind. I matched the big blind (after three people called) and we saw a flop of 2-3-6 (rainbow). I quickly decided to go "all in." The big blind called my bet (he had more chips) and he revealed a 4-5 under to complete the straight. Ooops!! I guess I should've raised pre-flop, as I'm sure the big blind would have folded to a large bet.
The turn and river didn't help me, and I was eliminated in 5th place - two spots out of the money. Time to retire for the day and live to fight another day!
Daily Sketch: Down $33
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $566.20
July 23, 2004: Home Game
Tonight, I was the host of the monthly low-stakes game(.$25 antes/ $.50 max bets). The combatants: Jared, Rob, Tom, Dean, and myself.
In customary fashion, we started with a $5 hold 'em tournament. I was the first player eliminated after going all-in (with a JK) after seeing a 334 flop. Dean called with an A7. A jack appeared on the turn, but an Ace on the river proved to be my downfall. Rob went on to win the tournament and Dean held on for 2nd place.
Over the next few hours, I lost $10.50 in a wide variety of dealer's choice games. Rob continued his winning ways and cleared approximately $70 during the course of the night - which is quite substantial when you consider the low stakes we were playing. My $10.50 in losses may have been the 2nd best performance of the night - as I don't know that anyone (except Rob) won money.
We concluded the night with another $5 hold 'em tournament. Similar to the first tournament, I was the first person eliminated. Jared won the tournament and Rob took 2nd place. It was a VERY good night for Rob! Jared's victory may have actually allowed him to break even for the night, so maybe I had the 3rd best performance of the evening.
If nothing else . . . It's better to give money to my friends than the Injuns or on-line strangers.
Daily Sketch: Down $20.50
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $599.20
In customary fashion, we started with a $5 hold 'em tournament. I was the first player eliminated after going all-in (with a JK) after seeing a 334 flop. Dean called with an A7. A jack appeared on the turn, but an Ace on the river proved to be my downfall. Rob went on to win the tournament and Dean held on for 2nd place.
Over the next few hours, I lost $10.50 in a wide variety of dealer's choice games. Rob continued his winning ways and cleared approximately $70 during the course of the night - which is quite substantial when you consider the low stakes we were playing. My $10.50 in losses may have been the 2nd best performance of the night - as I don't know that anyone (except Rob) won money.
We concluded the night with another $5 hold 'em tournament. Similar to the first tournament, I was the first person eliminated. Jared won the tournament and Rob took 2nd place. It was a VERY good night for Rob! Jared's victory may have actually allowed him to break even for the night, so maybe I had the 3rd best performance of the evening.
If nothing else . . . It's better to give money to my friends than the Injuns or on-line strangers.
Daily Sketch: Down $20.50
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $599.20
July 22, 2004: A Visit to Potawatomi
Chris, Ty, and myself visited the Indians at Potawatomi this evening . . .
Starting at a $10 blackjack table, the night began rather suspiciously when the dealer received a blackjack on the very first hand. I proceeded to lose the next two hands, and most of my night seemed an uphill climb trying to catch up. During the first hour of play, I never got ahead, although I finished only $5 down. Considering some of the ugly hands I was being dealt, I felt fortunate to be so close to even. Thankfully, the only time I wagered $25 during the first hour, I was dealt a timely blackjack. That certainly helped me stay close to even!
Things improved during the next hour, and I finished the 2nd hour up $20. At the same time, however, EVERYONE at my table was ahead (including Chris). In fact, my $20 profit seemed rather meager, as everyone else at my table seemed ahead at least $100 (including Chris).
The guy playing at 3rd base on our table was a particularly "interesting" fellow. Among other things, here are some examples of his play:
(1) He regularly stayed on 14, 15, or 16 when the dealer showed a face card.
(2) He doubled down with an A-3 against a dealer's face card.
(3) He hit a hard 17 (twice) against a dealer's face card.
(4) He split 5's against a dealer's 2.
The last situation proved quite interesting. The dealer (naturally) assumed that our 3rd baseman was doubling down with his 5's and the dealer proceeded along - eventually drawing to 20. Only after the female dealer had given herself a couple cards did our 3rd basemen declare that he had intended to split the 5's - not double down After a couple minutes of discussion with the pitboss, our 3rd baseman was allowed to split the 5's and everyone at the table ended up winning their respective hands when the dealer eventually busted with her new cards. To put it mildly, it was "interesting" to watch our 3rd baseman play. Surprisingly, however, he didn't lose all his money.
As mentioned, I was up exactly $20 after two hours. During the next 10 minutes, however, my cards improved and I suddenly found myself up exactly $89. Unfortunately, I lost the next two hands and decided that it was a good time to leave the table - up exactly $69 after 130 minutes of play.
Wandering away from the blackjack table, I quickly found myself near the $1 Wheel of Fortune slot machines. I hadn't intended on playing the slots tonight, but the allure of the machines was too much to resist. I walked up to a machine, sat down, and got ready to stick a $100 bill into it. However, I realized that I didn't have a bucket and decided to get up and seek one out, in the unlikely event I actually won some money and needed something to hold my coins. After all, there's nothing worse than hitting a nice jackpot and not having a container for all the chips!
It took less than a minute, but by the time I had found a bucket and wandered back to "my" machine, someone else had taken my seat and was already playing at my spot. So, I picked a nearby machine, put my $100 bill in, and started playing.
I varied my betting (between $2/spin and $3/spin) and got "the Wheel" to spin when I had shrunk to $74. At the time, I decided that any spin that resulted in me accumulating more than $100 was good enough for me, and I was ready to quit. Strangely, I won exactly $25 on that spin (the minimum) and found myself sitting at $99 - just below the $100 mark I had established. Doh!!
Short $1 of breaking even at the slots, I spun three more times before earning another spin of the wheel. It's pretty unusual to hit two spins so quickly, so I was quite pleased. Knowing that I was going to accumulate a minimum of $25 on this 2nd spin of the wheel, I declared that I was going to quit, regardless of the result.
The wheel started spinning and stopped on the $150 mark. Quickly, I hit the "cash out" button and watched as the machine spit out a paper token for $240 - resulting in a net profit of $140 on the machine. Woo Hoo!!
So, as it turned out, I didn't need to find a bucket, since Potawatomi's machines don't spit out coins. Thankfully for me, I wasn't aware of this fact and, consequently, didn't play the machine I had originally picked out. In fact, after taking my $240 token, I checked out my original machine and was pleased to see that the person who had taken my position was having no luck. So, all's well that ends well!! I played 130 minutes of blackjack to win $69, but I only played 5 minutes of Wheel of Fortune and won $140. Interesting, ehhh?
After hitting the mini-jackpot, I wasn't eager to lose any of my winnings, so I simply played a few hands of blackjack at a $5 table and quickly called it quits after losing $15.
Overall, the night was a success - thanks (again) to a lucky spin of a Wheel of Fortune slot machine. I think I'm starting to like that game! :-)
Daily Sketch: Up $194
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $619.70
Starting at a $10 blackjack table, the night began rather suspiciously when the dealer received a blackjack on the very first hand. I proceeded to lose the next two hands, and most of my night seemed an uphill climb trying to catch up. During the first hour of play, I never got ahead, although I finished only $5 down. Considering some of the ugly hands I was being dealt, I felt fortunate to be so close to even. Thankfully, the only time I wagered $25 during the first hour, I was dealt a timely blackjack. That certainly helped me stay close to even!
Things improved during the next hour, and I finished the 2nd hour up $20. At the same time, however, EVERYONE at my table was ahead (including Chris). In fact, my $20 profit seemed rather meager, as everyone else at my table seemed ahead at least $100 (including Chris).
The guy playing at 3rd base on our table was a particularly "interesting" fellow. Among other things, here are some examples of his play:
(1) He regularly stayed on 14, 15, or 16 when the dealer showed a face card.
(2) He doubled down with an A-3 against a dealer's face card.
(3) He hit a hard 17 (twice) against a dealer's face card.
(4) He split 5's against a dealer's 2.
The last situation proved quite interesting. The dealer (naturally) assumed that our 3rd baseman was doubling down with his 5's and the dealer proceeded along - eventually drawing to 20. Only after the female dealer had given herself a couple cards did our 3rd basemen declare that he had intended to split the 5's - not double down After a couple minutes of discussion with the pitboss, our 3rd baseman was allowed to split the 5's and everyone at the table ended up winning their respective hands when the dealer eventually busted with her new cards. To put it mildly, it was "interesting" to watch our 3rd baseman play. Surprisingly, however, he didn't lose all his money.
As mentioned, I was up exactly $20 after two hours. During the next 10 minutes, however, my cards improved and I suddenly found myself up exactly $89. Unfortunately, I lost the next two hands and decided that it was a good time to leave the table - up exactly $69 after 130 minutes of play.
Wandering away from the blackjack table, I quickly found myself near the $1 Wheel of Fortune slot machines. I hadn't intended on playing the slots tonight, but the allure of the machines was too much to resist. I walked up to a machine, sat down, and got ready to stick a $100 bill into it. However, I realized that I didn't have a bucket and decided to get up and seek one out, in the unlikely event I actually won some money and needed something to hold my coins. After all, there's nothing worse than hitting a nice jackpot and not having a container for all the chips!
It took less than a minute, but by the time I had found a bucket and wandered back to "my" machine, someone else had taken my seat and was already playing at my spot. So, I picked a nearby machine, put my $100 bill in, and started playing.
I varied my betting (between $2/spin and $3/spin) and got "the Wheel" to spin when I had shrunk to $74. At the time, I decided that any spin that resulted in me accumulating more than $100 was good enough for me, and I was ready to quit. Strangely, I won exactly $25 on that spin (the minimum) and found myself sitting at $99 - just below the $100 mark I had established. Doh!!
Short $1 of breaking even at the slots, I spun three more times before earning another spin of the wheel. It's pretty unusual to hit two spins so quickly, so I was quite pleased. Knowing that I was going to accumulate a minimum of $25 on this 2nd spin of the wheel, I declared that I was going to quit, regardless of the result.
The wheel started spinning and stopped on the $150 mark. Quickly, I hit the "cash out" button and watched as the machine spit out a paper token for $240 - resulting in a net profit of $140 on the machine. Woo Hoo!!
So, as it turned out, I didn't need to find a bucket, since Potawatomi's machines don't spit out coins. Thankfully for me, I wasn't aware of this fact and, consequently, didn't play the machine I had originally picked out. In fact, after taking my $240 token, I checked out my original machine and was pleased to see that the person who had taken my position was having no luck. So, all's well that ends well!! I played 130 minutes of blackjack to win $69, but I only played 5 minutes of Wheel of Fortune and won $140. Interesting, ehhh?
After hitting the mini-jackpot, I wasn't eager to lose any of my winnings, so I simply played a few hands of blackjack at a $5 table and quickly called it quits after losing $15.
Overall, the night was a success - thanks (again) to a lucky spin of a Wheel of Fortune slot machine. I think I'm starting to like that game! :-)
Daily Sketch: Up $194
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $619.70
July 21, 2004: A Couple Heads Up Tournaments
I ran some errands tonight, so I didn't have a lot of time to play poker. When the time came, however, I decided to "mix things up" a bit and, consequently, I played a couple heads up (one-on-one) tournaments on UltimateBet.
In the first $20(1) tournament, I played "spks9" in a game that lasted only 18 hands. Spks9 seemingly wanted to give me his chips and he continually called every bet I made. Of the 18 hands we played, I won 13 of them, which is a remarkably good percentage. Still, I shouldn't have won so quickly, but my opponent kept matching my bets - even when he had nothing. I wasn't going to complain, though, as I claimed a net profit of $19 after taking all his chips. For some reason, he wouldn't play a rematch game when I offered. :-(
Next, I went to a $10(.50) tournament and played "bswift" in a game that lasted 72 hands. Bswift was a very tight player (completely different from spks9), and it took a while for me to adjust. After 40 (or so) hands, I was hovering around 500 chips (after starting with 1,000) when I decided to "loosen up." Suddenly changing gears, I was able to get bswift to fold several hands I had absolutely no business winning. Then, in a big hand that he finally called, my Q9 defeated bswift's Q5 after another queen had appeared on the flop.
It still took some time to take all of bswift's chips. Playing so tight, it was very difficult to win any big pots against him. After losing with his Q5, bswift was slow to jump into any pots, unless he absolutely felt he had the lead. Slowly but surely, however, I eventually got his stack to shrink. Whenever bswift bet, I folded. Whenever he checked, I bet aggressively. The strategy worked perfectly and I eventually took all his chips. It was amazing that bswift NEVER check-raised me. Had he simply done it once, he would have really slowed down my aggressiveness.
After all was said and done, bswift couldn't have been an experienced player. Once I caught on to his playing strategy, it was surprisingly easy to take his chips. Maybe I should play more "cheap" $10(.50) heads up tables. If bswift is a typical player on those tables, it might be easy pickings.
I'm visiting Potawatomi tomorrow night, so I'm content taking today's modest winnings and calling it quits. Tomorrow's wagering will be relatively substantial, so there's no reason to risk a lot of money this evening.
Daily Sketch: Up $28.50
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $425.70
In the first $20(1) tournament, I played "spks9" in a game that lasted only 18 hands. Spks9 seemingly wanted to give me his chips and he continually called every bet I made. Of the 18 hands we played, I won 13 of them, which is a remarkably good percentage. Still, I shouldn't have won so quickly, but my opponent kept matching my bets - even when he had nothing. I wasn't going to complain, though, as I claimed a net profit of $19 after taking all his chips. For some reason, he wouldn't play a rematch game when I offered. :-(
Next, I went to a $10(.50) tournament and played "bswift" in a game that lasted 72 hands. Bswift was a very tight player (completely different from spks9), and it took a while for me to adjust. After 40 (or so) hands, I was hovering around 500 chips (after starting with 1,000) when I decided to "loosen up." Suddenly changing gears, I was able to get bswift to fold several hands I had absolutely no business winning. Then, in a big hand that he finally called, my Q9 defeated bswift's Q5 after another queen had appeared on the flop.
It still took some time to take all of bswift's chips. Playing so tight, it was very difficult to win any big pots against him. After losing with his Q5, bswift was slow to jump into any pots, unless he absolutely felt he had the lead. Slowly but surely, however, I eventually got his stack to shrink. Whenever bswift bet, I folded. Whenever he checked, I bet aggressively. The strategy worked perfectly and I eventually took all his chips. It was amazing that bswift NEVER check-raised me. Had he simply done it once, he would have really slowed down my aggressiveness.
After all was said and done, bswift couldn't have been an experienced player. Once I caught on to his playing strategy, it was surprisingly easy to take his chips. Maybe I should play more "cheap" $10(.50) heads up tables. If bswift is a typical player on those tables, it might be easy pickings.
I'm visiting Potawatomi tomorrow night, so I'm content taking today's modest winnings and calling it quits. Tomorrow's wagering will be relatively substantial, so there's no reason to risk a lot of money this evening.
Daily Sketch: Up $28.50
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $425.70
July 20, 2004: My First Royal Flush
After finishing 2nd in the only Sit 'n' Go Tournament I played last night, I thought I'd give it another shot tonight. Unfortunately, my luck didn't continue, as I finished 4th in a $30(3) tournament. Ultimately, I was eliminated with an Ac 4c that saw another ace appear on the flop. After going all-in, I was distressed to see my opponent holding an ace with a bigger kicker. Ooops!! I finished one spot out of the money.
Heading to a $2/$4 table, I decided to chase the $33 I had lost. Unfortunately, I quickly lost another $60 until my Ad Kd saw a 10d, Jd, & Qd eventually appear on the table. It's probably the first time I've gotten a royal flush while playing on-line, and the hand proved quite profitable. My opponent finished with a full house and was (naturally) distressed to see my royal flush. He actually started raising after the river had given him the full house, and I subsequently took home a healthy pot that nearly got me back to even for the night.
I was actually a little unlucky with my royal flush, however. Every 90 minutes, UltimateBet resets and offers a jackpot to the person who catches the best hand during that time frame. While my royal flush was (of course) the best hand during the 90 minutes, I didn't catch it until the 74th minute of that period. Unfortunately, someone else had already received a royal flush in the 73 minutes immediately preceding my royal flush, so I didn't win the jackpot. The entire jackpot ($142.50) went to the first player who had received the royal flush. Drat!!
Shortly after getting the royal flush, I retired. I won back half the money I had lost in the Sit 'n' Go Tournament, and that was good enough for me.
Daily Sketch: Down $16
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $397.20
Heading to a $2/$4 table, I decided to chase the $33 I had lost. Unfortunately, I quickly lost another $60 until my Ad Kd saw a 10d, Jd, & Qd eventually appear on the table. It's probably the first time I've gotten a royal flush while playing on-line, and the hand proved quite profitable. My opponent finished with a full house and was (naturally) distressed to see my royal flush. He actually started raising after the river had given him the full house, and I subsequently took home a healthy pot that nearly got me back to even for the night.
I was actually a little unlucky with my royal flush, however. Every 90 minutes, UltimateBet resets and offers a jackpot to the person who catches the best hand during that time frame. While my royal flush was (of course) the best hand during the 90 minutes, I didn't catch it until the 74th minute of that period. Unfortunately, someone else had already received a royal flush in the 73 minutes immediately preceding my royal flush, so I didn't win the jackpot. The entire jackpot ($142.50) went to the first player who had received the royal flush. Drat!!
Shortly after getting the royal flush, I retired. I won back half the money I had lost in the Sit 'n' Go Tournament, and that was good enough for me.
Daily Sketch: Down $16
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $397.20
July 19, 2004: A Quick Sit 'n' Go
I really wasn't in the mood to play poker tonight, but I decided to play one $20(2) Sit 'n' Go Tournament on UltimateBet. To be honest, I probably wouldn't have played this evening, but I didn't want the sketchbook to "go dark." If nothing else, this Sketchbook is definitely feeding my gambling obsession. Basically, I played the $20(2) tournament so that I could create an entry and keep all my loyal "fans" happy.
Typically, I play exceedingly tight during the first few rounds of these ten-man tournaments and I get bored folding every hand. So, with that in mind, I also played a $2/$4 hold 'em table (at the same time) during the first half of the tournament - to simply keep me occupied.
I won exactly $12 on the $2/$4 table. Again, it's nothing impressive, but at least I finished ahead, right?
The tournament went well. Without doing much and without paying a great amount of attention to the other players on my table, I found myself in the Final Five. That's when I quit playing the side table and focused on the tournament. I took a chance and went "all in" with pocket 3's and eliminated another player who called me with A-10, but he couldn't pair either card. We stayed at four players for quite some time, but I finally got into the money when the chip leader's JJ beat another player's AQ.
My cards got hot and the 3rd player was eliminated when I flopped two pair - holding JK. My opponent had QK, but he couldn't pair his queen and he was forced to settle for the 3rd place prize ($40) and left the table in a huff.
Holding the chip lead (barely), I was immediately dealt 77 and went all in. My opponent called with a suited A-10 and he took the pot when the turn and river both showed 10's. I was down to less than 500 chips (he had 9,500) and it took two more hands to clean me out. The 2nd place prize was $60, so I had a net gain of $38 in the tournament. Coupled with the $12 I had previously won at the side table, I decided to retire for the evening with a nicely rounded profit.
Daily Sketch: Up $50
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $413.20
Typically, I play exceedingly tight during the first few rounds of these ten-man tournaments and I get bored folding every hand. So, with that in mind, I also played a $2/$4 hold 'em table (at the same time) during the first half of the tournament - to simply keep me occupied.
I won exactly $12 on the $2/$4 table. Again, it's nothing impressive, but at least I finished ahead, right?
The tournament went well. Without doing much and without paying a great amount of attention to the other players on my table, I found myself in the Final Five. That's when I quit playing the side table and focused on the tournament. I took a chance and went "all in" with pocket 3's and eliminated another player who called me with A-10, but he couldn't pair either card. We stayed at four players for quite some time, but I finally got into the money when the chip leader's JJ beat another player's AQ.
My cards got hot and the 3rd player was eliminated when I flopped two pair - holding JK. My opponent had QK, but he couldn't pair his queen and he was forced to settle for the 3rd place prize ($40) and left the table in a huff.
Holding the chip lead (barely), I was immediately dealt 77 and went all in. My opponent called with a suited A-10 and he took the pot when the turn and river both showed 10's. I was down to less than 500 chips (he had 9,500) and it took two more hands to clean me out. The 2nd place prize was $60, so I had a net gain of $38 in the tournament. Coupled with the $12 I had previously won at the side table, I decided to retire for the evening with a nicely rounded profit.
Daily Sketch: Up $50
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $413.20
July 18, 2004: A Peaceful Sunday Afternoon
I spent a decent part of the day watching the British Open - primarily because both of my fantasy golf teams were alive in Jim's pool. In the end, however, both of my entries fell short and I won nothing during this year's Open. In Jim's pool, my two teams finished 11th and 15th (out of 94 entries), so I didn't do badly. However, only the top 5 get paid. I don't know how I did in Bob's pool (yet), but I'm confident that I didn't win any money - primarily because I didn't have #2 finisher Ernie Els on either of my teams.
Oh well. The PGA Championship is only a month away!
After watching the British Open, I played some low-stress $3/$6 hold 'em on UltimateBet. Playing for less than an hour, I won $24. It's not a lot of money, but it was good enough for me. I'm still a little tired from the trip to Green Bay, so it's time to quit gambling while I'm ahead for the day.
Daily Sketch: Up $24
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $363.20
Oh well. The PGA Championship is only a month away!
After watching the British Open, I played some low-stress $3/$6 hold 'em on UltimateBet. Playing for less than an hour, I won $24. It's not a lot of money, but it was good enough for me. I'm still a little tired from the trip to Green Bay, so it's time to quit gambling while I'm ahead for the day.
Daily Sketch: Up $24
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $363.20
July 17, 2004: Leaving Green Bay
After exiting the casino at 3:30am last night, I wasn't going to get up early today and place any wagers before check-out time. I was smarting from the $300 I had lost after playing Wheel of Fortune last night, and I wasn't excited to lose any more money in Green Bay before driving back to Milwaukee.
After checking out of the hotel, Theresa, her mother, her aunt, and myself pooled together $30 of complementary chips the hotel had given us and headed to the casino for one final visit. Naturally, we decided to stop at a Wheel of Fortune slot machine and see how we could do.
Unfortunately, the $30 quickly deteriorated to $3. I declared that we were down to our final bet of the trip. Amazingly, we hit a $60 mini-jackpot on that last spin and we quickly cashed out - having doubled our money. We used the $60 for a hearty breakfast and, after distributing the leftover loot, I had an extra $8. So, I guess that's my daily sketch. Considering the fact that we were down to our final wager, I feel pretty good getting a free breakfast and pocketing an additional $8.
After all was said and done, I enjoyed my trip to Green Bay this weekend, although it was quite a ride. The $1,440 I won yesterday is easily the most money I've ever won on a single slot machine. Of course, the wedding was also quite nice. Congratulations Jen & Andrew!
Daily Sketch: Up $8
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $339.20
After checking out of the hotel, Theresa, her mother, her aunt, and myself pooled together $30 of complementary chips the hotel had given us and headed to the casino for one final visit. Naturally, we decided to stop at a Wheel of Fortune slot machine and see how we could do.
Unfortunately, the $30 quickly deteriorated to $3. I declared that we were down to our final bet of the trip. Amazingly, we hit a $60 mini-jackpot on that last spin and we quickly cashed out - having doubled our money. We used the $60 for a hearty breakfast and, after distributing the leftover loot, I had an extra $8. So, I guess that's my daily sketch. Considering the fact that we were down to our final wager, I feel pretty good getting a free breakfast and pocketing an additional $8.
After all was said and done, I enjoyed my trip to Green Bay this weekend, although it was quite a ride. The $1,440 I won yesterday is easily the most money I've ever won on a single slot machine. Of course, the wedding was also quite nice. Congratulations Jen & Andrew!
Daily Sketch: Up $8
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $339.20
July 16, 2004: Jen & Andrew's Wedding Day
Hanging out with Andrew, the boys decided that a day of poker would serve as a nice tune-up for a wedding. After all, what better way to calm your nerves than some card-playing in the hours immediately preceding the biggest moment of your life, right?
All told, seven men played a variety of poker games throughout the day. Starting with a simple $10 hold 'em tournament, I was eliminated in 5th place when my A-10 lost to Andrew's A-6 after I went "all in" before the flop. The six that appeared (on the flop) ultimately proved to be my downfall. If nothing else, at least I was eliminated by the groom-to-be, although he ultimately finished in 3rd place and out of the money.
After the tournament was completed, I lost exactly $34 in a variety of dealer's choice no-limit games that usually involved $.50 antes and maximum buy-ins of $20. Eventually, however, the games had to end as the start-time for the wedding neared.
After the wedding (which proceeded without a hitch), a decent contingent of party people headed back to Oneida. Theresa and I were already staying in the casino's hotel - so it was pretty easy to get "back on the horse". After all, I was eager to shake the memory of last night's $500 scalping.
Ouch! It still stings!
Heading down to the casino by myself (I was going to meet people down there), I stopped at the first $1 Wheel of Fortune machine I bumped into. Taking out a $100 bill, I was down to $36 when I spun again . . . .
The 1st reel stopped on a "Wheel of Fortune" symbol. The 2nd reel then stopped on another "Wheel of Fortune" symbol . . .
Now, for those of you unaware, three "Wheel of Fortune" symbols mean that you win the jackpot that's usually displayed on a large neon sign for everyone to see. At the time of my spin, the jackpot was over $1.8 Million! Personally, I don't recall hitting a "Wheel of Fortune" symbol more than a couple times in all the occasions I had played the game, so hitting two of them on one spin was already pretty amazing - with one more reel to be revealed.
Not surprisingly, the third reel did not stop on a "Wheel of Fortune" symbol. Instead, it stopped on a 7. By this time,Theresa, her mother, and her aunt had wandered down to the casino (from our room) and were watching me play. When the 7 came up, I was disappointed and thought I hadn't won anything. However, the machine "froze" and wouldn't let me play anymore
Theresa got pretty excited and pointed out that the machine was calling for an attendant. Upon inspection, we discovered that I had just won $1,440 with my two "Wheel of Fortune" symbols. Woo Hoo!!
After collecting the cash (Oneida did a GREAT job of getting me the money in about 10 minutes), I played a couple more spins and ended up clearing a profit of exactly $1,367 on that magical machine. After losing $500 yesterday, I was back in the black! Whew!!
FYI . . . because I'm sure I'll get asked: Oneida did not collect any taxes from my winnings. They did require, however, that I present my driver's license and a document containing my social security number. Without those two things, I would have had to wait to collect my money. Thankfully, my insurance card shows my social security number. On the other hand, if I had hit the $1.8 Million jackpot, who knows what might have happened.
Over the next few hours (I played until 3:30am), I played VERY conservatively with Brian L. at my side - and kept losing. After seeing me win big on the slot machine, I believe that Brian might have thought that my good luck would wear off on him. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. All told, I gave back $300 while playing Let It Ride, Roulette, Caribbean Stud, and Craps - all while playing at minimum betting levels ($5). The only table that proved successful was Roulette, where I cleared $70 when three 26's (my number) hit while I sat at the table. I probably should have stayed at the table, because nothing was working anywhere else. Thankfully, however, the Wheel of Fortune proceeds helped soften the blow of the money I was losing.
Overall, the night of Jen & Andrew's wedding was a gambling success. In addition to the $300 I lost after Wheel of Fortune, I also gave Theresa $60 that she predictably lost in the casino during the night. The $60 was a small dent, however, in an otherwise good night.
So, despite the fact that I couldn't seemingly win ANTHING at Oneida all weekend, I still came out ahead thanks to one lucky spin of Wheel of Fortune!! :-)
Daily Sketch: Up $963
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $331.20
All told, seven men played a variety of poker games throughout the day. Starting with a simple $10 hold 'em tournament, I was eliminated in 5th place when my A-10 lost to Andrew's A-6 after I went "all in" before the flop. The six that appeared (on the flop) ultimately proved to be my downfall. If nothing else, at least I was eliminated by the groom-to-be, although he ultimately finished in 3rd place and out of the money.
After the tournament was completed, I lost exactly $34 in a variety of dealer's choice no-limit games that usually involved $.50 antes and maximum buy-ins of $20. Eventually, however, the games had to end as the start-time for the wedding neared.
After the wedding (which proceeded without a hitch), a decent contingent of party people headed back to Oneida. Theresa and I were already staying in the casino's hotel - so it was pretty easy to get "back on the horse". After all, I was eager to shake the memory of last night's $500 scalping.
Ouch! It still stings!
Heading down to the casino by myself (I was going to meet people down there), I stopped at the first $1 Wheel of Fortune machine I bumped into. Taking out a $100 bill, I was down to $36 when I spun again . . . .
The 1st reel stopped on a "Wheel of Fortune" symbol. The 2nd reel then stopped on another "Wheel of Fortune" symbol . . .
Now, for those of you unaware, three "Wheel of Fortune" symbols mean that you win the jackpot that's usually displayed on a large neon sign for everyone to see. At the time of my spin, the jackpot was over $1.8 Million! Personally, I don't recall hitting a "Wheel of Fortune" symbol more than a couple times in all the occasions I had played the game, so hitting two of them on one spin was already pretty amazing - with one more reel to be revealed.
Not surprisingly, the third reel did not stop on a "Wheel of Fortune" symbol. Instead, it stopped on a 7. By this time,Theresa, her mother, and her aunt had wandered down to the casino (from our room) and were watching me play. When the 7 came up, I was disappointed and thought I hadn't won anything. However, the machine "froze" and wouldn't let me play anymore
Theresa got pretty excited and pointed out that the machine was calling for an attendant. Upon inspection, we discovered that I had just won $1,440 with my two "Wheel of Fortune" symbols. Woo Hoo!!
After collecting the cash (Oneida did a GREAT job of getting me the money in about 10 minutes), I played a couple more spins and ended up clearing a profit of exactly $1,367 on that magical machine. After losing $500 yesterday, I was back in the black! Whew!!
FYI . . . because I'm sure I'll get asked: Oneida did not collect any taxes from my winnings. They did require, however, that I present my driver's license and a document containing my social security number. Without those two things, I would have had to wait to collect my money. Thankfully, my insurance card shows my social security number. On the other hand, if I had hit the $1.8 Million jackpot, who knows what might have happened.
Over the next few hours (I played until 3:30am), I played VERY conservatively with Brian L. at my side - and kept losing. After seeing me win big on the slot machine, I believe that Brian might have thought that my good luck would wear off on him. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. All told, I gave back $300 while playing Let It Ride, Roulette, Caribbean Stud, and Craps - all while playing at minimum betting levels ($5). The only table that proved successful was Roulette, where I cleared $70 when three 26's (my number) hit while I sat at the table. I probably should have stayed at the table, because nothing was working anywhere else. Thankfully, however, the Wheel of Fortune proceeds helped soften the blow of the money I was losing.
Overall, the night of Jen & Andrew's wedding was a gambling success. In addition to the $300 I lost after Wheel of Fortune, I also gave Theresa $60 that she predictably lost in the casino during the night. The $60 was a small dent, however, in an otherwise good night.
So, despite the fact that I couldn't seemingly win ANTHING at Oneida all weekend, I still came out ahead thanks to one lucky spin of Wheel of Fortune!! :-)
Daily Sketch: Up $963
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $331.20
July 15, 2004: Scalped by the Oneida Indians
This afternoon, Theresa and I drove to Green Bay in preparation for tomorrow's wedding between Jen & Andrew. Arriving two (or so) hours before the rehearsal dinner, we decided to stop at Oneida for some light gambling to "warm up" for the weekend.
Playing Let It Ride, Theresa and I started out ok. I bought in for $100, we split the money, and we each played on a $5 table. After nearly an hour, we had worked our way up to a combined $175. However, after watching Theresa lose 11 consecutive hands and seeing myself lose 9 of 11 hands during the same run, we eventually got up and walked over to the craps table - down $80. Unfortunately, it only took 15 minutes to lose another $80. Thank goodness the rehearsal dinner was looming, or my losses may have become unsightly!
After the rehearsal dinner (mmm . . . an evening of tacos, margaritas, and beer), "the boyz" headed back to Oneida - arriving in the casino sometime around midnight. Jumping on a $1 Wheel of Fortune slot machine, I immediately hit a small jackpot and quickly cashed out with a $90 profit. From that point on, however, things quickly deteriorated . . .
Wandering back to the same craps table I had visited that afternoon, I lost another $240 in 45 minutes. To say the table was cold would be an understatement. Then, I went to the blackjack table and lost the only 8 hands I played ($100). To say the table was cold would be an understatement. Next, I went back to the $1 Wheel of Fortune machine and lost another $100 in about 10 minutes. Needless to say, things weren't going well!
I completed my night at the Caribbean Stud table - a game I hadn't played in years. Playing for (at least) an hour, I won exactly $9. At one point, however, I was down nearly $160 and actually felt quite fortunate to take a small profit from the table. A couple three-of-a-kinds during the last 15 minutes helped recoup some of my previous losses.
Still, it was an ugly day with the Injuns. I believe that today's performance would qualify as a scalping! :-(
Daily Sketch: Down $501
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $631.80
Playing Let It Ride, Theresa and I started out ok. I bought in for $100, we split the money, and we each played on a $5 table. After nearly an hour, we had worked our way up to a combined $175. However, after watching Theresa lose 11 consecutive hands and seeing myself lose 9 of 11 hands during the same run, we eventually got up and walked over to the craps table - down $80. Unfortunately, it only took 15 minutes to lose another $80. Thank goodness the rehearsal dinner was looming, or my losses may have become unsightly!
After the rehearsal dinner (mmm . . . an evening of tacos, margaritas, and beer), "the boyz" headed back to Oneida - arriving in the casino sometime around midnight. Jumping on a $1 Wheel of Fortune slot machine, I immediately hit a small jackpot and quickly cashed out with a $90 profit. From that point on, however, things quickly deteriorated . . .
Wandering back to the same craps table I had visited that afternoon, I lost another $240 in 45 minutes. To say the table was cold would be an understatement. Then, I went to the blackjack table and lost the only 8 hands I played ($100). To say the table was cold would be an understatement. Next, I went back to the $1 Wheel of Fortune machine and lost another $100 in about 10 minutes. Needless to say, things weren't going well!
I completed my night at the Caribbean Stud table - a game I hadn't played in years. Playing for (at least) an hour, I won exactly $9. At one point, however, I was down nearly $160 and actually felt quite fortunate to take a small profit from the table. A couple three-of-a-kinds during the last 15 minutes helped recoup some of my previous losses.
Still, it was an ugly day with the Injuns. I believe that today's performance would qualify as a scalping! :-(
Daily Sketch: Down $501
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $631.80
July 14, 2004: A Quiet Week (so far)
As promised, I haven't gambled on-line since Sunday. I know that many of my "fans" are disappointed, but what can you do? :-)
Today, I submitted my fantasy golf teams for Bob and Jim's separate British Open pools. In Bob's pool, it's (again) simply a matter of selecting four golfers. The total accumulated earnings of those four golfers determine your final score. Each entry costs $25.
Team #1: P. Mickelson, T. Woods, D. Love III, & S. Garcia.
Team #2: T. Woods, R. Goosen, P. Harrington, T. Bjorn.
In Jim's pool, he uses a complicated system of handicapping golfers. All told, you hafta pick eight golfers for your team, and (at a minimum) five of those golfers MUST make the cut to have a chance of winning any money. Each team costs $10.
Team #1: R. Goosen, P. Mickelson, I Poulter, E. Els, P. Harrington, S. Appleby, D. Love III, & J. Furyk.
Team #2: P. Mickelson, P. Casey, S. Garcia, V. Singh, T. Woods, R. Allenby, L. Westwood, & I. Poulter.
Wish me luck!!
I'll be in Green Bay for the next several days, so the sketchbook will "go dark" for awhile. However, when I return, I'll update the website and let you know how I did at Oneida. Last time I visited that casino (in January), it was a wild ride. At one point, I was down $700 before hitting a nice jackpot on a slot machine and eventually came out ahead nearly $150. I certainly hope this weekend's ride isn't nearly as wild, although I wouldn't mind the same final result. See ya!!
Daily Sketch: Down $60
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $130.80
Today, I submitted my fantasy golf teams for Bob and Jim's separate British Open pools. In Bob's pool, it's (again) simply a matter of selecting four golfers. The total accumulated earnings of those four golfers determine your final score. Each entry costs $25.
Team #1: P. Mickelson, T. Woods, D. Love III, & S. Garcia.
Team #2: T. Woods, R. Goosen, P. Harrington, T. Bjorn.
In Jim's pool, he uses a complicated system of handicapping golfers. All told, you hafta pick eight golfers for your team, and (at a minimum) five of those golfers MUST make the cut to have a chance of winning any money. Each team costs $10.
Team #1: R. Goosen, P. Mickelson, I Poulter, E. Els, P. Harrington, S. Appleby, D. Love III, & J. Furyk.
Team #2: P. Mickelson, P. Casey, S. Garcia, V. Singh, T. Woods, R. Allenby, L. Westwood, & I. Poulter.
Wish me luck!!
I'll be in Green Bay for the next several days, so the sketchbook will "go dark" for awhile. However, when I return, I'll update the website and let you know how I did at Oneida. Last time I visited that casino (in January), it was a wild ride. At one point, I was down $700 before hitting a nice jackpot on a slot machine and eventually came out ahead nearly $150. I certainly hope this weekend's ride isn't nearly as wild, although I wouldn't mind the same final result. See ya!!
Daily Sketch: Down $60
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $130.80
July 11, 2004 (Part 2): PartyPoker Cruise
Once a year, Party Poker hosts a poker cruise. The finals are broadcast on television and the winner of the entire tournament takes home well over $1 million. This afternoon, I played in a satellite tournament in a quest to get on that cruise. The regular entry fee is $215, but I won a small qualifier tournament a couple months ago that only cost $25 and, consequently, won my way into today's tourney. Since the $25 entry fee was paid before I started sketching, today's tournament doesn't have any impact on this sketchbook - unless I win!
The tournament started at 2:00pm. Here's my log from today's tourney:
2:00pm: 1,377 players have signed up to play in today's tourney and the top 22 finishers (regardless of order) will win the poker cruise valued at $10,800. The average stack is 2,384 chips, although no one at my table has less than 2,500 chips. I have 3,000 chips, which is the most chips allowed in this tournament. During the past two months, bonus chips were earned by simply playing poker on PartyPoker - but everyone has been capped to 3,000 chips. At a minimum, everyone has at least 1,000 chips.
2:01pm: It's the 2nd hand of the tourney and I'm dealt AA. I win 100 chips when no one calls after I bet on the turn. An AA on the 2nd hand sounds like a good omen, doesn't it?
2:22pm: I'm dealt Ad Kd. Nothing hits and I'm down to 2,875 chips when the guy to my immediate right hits his flush holding 4s 5s.
2:27pm: The first player in the tournament is eliminated. He wasn't sitting at my table, but he must have played terribly to lose (at least) 1,000 chips in less than 30 minutes.
2:48pm: After winning a couple hands during the past 20 minutes, I'm dealt Ac 7c. Three clubs flop, but I lose a big pot when my opponent reveals a full house he catches on the river. Ouch!!
2:59pm: Holding As 9c, I lose a big pot to another player holding Ah Qd. Unfortunately, I was "stuck" when the ace flopped and I became a calling station to the guy holding the AQ.
3:00pm: All players are given a 5 minute break. I have 2,405 chips. A total of 1,327 players still remain and the average stack is 2,474 chips, leaving me just below average. I really should have gotten out of the As 9c hand!
3:15pm: The first player from my table is eliminated. Coincidentally, it's the player that started with "only" 2,500 chips. Meanwhile, the chip leader at my table has 4,535 chips. I'm sitting at 2,330 chips. There's still plenty of time left in this tourney, so I'm not overly concerned about my shrinking pile of chips. If I simply play smart, my chip count should start to increase (I hope!).
3:18pm: I'm dealt AA for the 2nd time. Shockingly, three other players start a raising war and we cap the betting at 200 chips (apiece) before seeing the flop. All told, 875 chips are in the pot before we see any community cards.
3:19pm: I've just won my table's biggest pot of the tourney: 1,375 chips. After seeing three spades on the flop (neither of my aces was a spade), the betting slowed down. I kept betting, but everyone eventually folded and I never had to show my cards. Just like that, I'm up to 3,180 chips. Thank goodness no one was holding two spades!
3:33pm: The number of eliminated players is increasing steadily. We're down to 1,172 players and I'm playing very conservatively. You can't win the tournament this early, but you certainly can be eliminated if you start playing foolishly.
3:53pm: I'm getting sleepy. All this folding is wearing me out! Since getting those Aces, I haven't seen a flop. To put it mildly, my cards have cooled off. I'm losing my blinds, but I'm still alive - albeit I'm down to 2,480 chips. The average player has 3,489 chips.
4:05pm: The 2nd hour's five minute break commences. To put it mildly, I'm in trouble. I'm down to 1,580 chips and I need to catch some cards very soon if I want to make it through this next hour, much less reach the Final 22. There are 802 players still alive. The average stack is 4,109 chips and the tournament's overall chip leader has a whopping 16,895 chips. No one at my table has less chips than me. If I don't catch something soon, there may only be a couple more entries . . .
4:06pm: Wow! Do you believe in miracles? The first hand after the break, I'm dealt A9 and raise pre-flop. One other player re-raises me and I call. The flop is Q 9 4. I bet and I'm subsequently raised. I re-raise, fully aware that this is probably the hand that finishes me off. Ultimately, I end up "all in" and am shocked when all the pot's chips come my way. The other player had AK. My pair of 9's hold up and I'm back over 3,000 chips.
4:17pm: Miracle #2 occurs. Dealt AQ as the big blind, I call a raise and four players see the flop. The flop comes 8s As 2s. I bet and everyone calls. The turn card is another ace. I bet again - fully aware that my 3-of-a-kind is losing to any flush. Sadly, everyone calls my bet and I get very worried. The river is a 2c. Now I've got the nut full house and only one person calls my bet. I take the entire pot when my opponent shows a flush. Just like that, I'm up to 6,360 chips!
4:27pm: This is becoming a magical hour! I'm dealt Qs Qc and immediately raise. The flop comes 10s 8s 2s. I bet and one player calls me. The turn is 10d and I bet. I'm called and the river is a 4c. A little nervous, I check. My opponent checks and I take home another nice pot when he shows Ah Ks. Apparently, the players in this tournament are intent on chasing AK until the bitter end. I'm up to 7,560 chips. Wow!
4:33pm: Despite the success of my last half-hour, other players are apparently having even better luck. The overall chip leader, for example, has 27,710 chips. There are 574 players remaining. Personally, I'm relieved to be one of them. The average player has 6,075 chips. Time to wait for the next wave of good cards!
4:46pm: Ouch! Dealt Ac 9c, I call a pre-flop raise. When two clubs come out on the flop, I'm committed to the chase of the final club. Unfortunately, another club does not arrive and I'm down to 4,360 chips that quickly. Had a club appeared, I would have been over 10,000 chips. Time to regroup!
5:06pm: Moments before the next break, I'm dealt Kd 3d as the small blind. I raise after everyone else at the table folds to me. The big blind re-raises me and I decide that I need to make a stand, as my chip count has fallen to 2,960 chips and I've already got 800 chips in the middle. I eventually commit all my chips to this hand and I'm happy to see my opponent holding 9-10. I'm in the lead! Unfortunately, a 10 comes out on the board and my tournament ends when no king appears. I finished in 339th place.
FYI . . . my best finish in one of these tournaments is 79th place last February. Unfortunately, the magical hour didn't complete itself this afternoon. Things would have turned out differently if I had hit a club on the 4:46pm hand, but what can you do? That's poker!!
The tournament started at 2:00pm. Here's my log from today's tourney:
2:00pm: 1,377 players have signed up to play in today's tourney and the top 22 finishers (regardless of order) will win the poker cruise valued at $10,800. The average stack is 2,384 chips, although no one at my table has less than 2,500 chips. I have 3,000 chips, which is the most chips allowed in this tournament. During the past two months, bonus chips were earned by simply playing poker on PartyPoker - but everyone has been capped to 3,000 chips. At a minimum, everyone has at least 1,000 chips.
2:01pm: It's the 2nd hand of the tourney and I'm dealt AA. I win 100 chips when no one calls after I bet on the turn. An AA on the 2nd hand sounds like a good omen, doesn't it?
2:22pm: I'm dealt Ad Kd. Nothing hits and I'm down to 2,875 chips when the guy to my immediate right hits his flush holding 4s 5s.
2:27pm: The first player in the tournament is eliminated. He wasn't sitting at my table, but he must have played terribly to lose (at least) 1,000 chips in less than 30 minutes.
2:48pm: After winning a couple hands during the past 20 minutes, I'm dealt Ac 7c. Three clubs flop, but I lose a big pot when my opponent reveals a full house he catches on the river. Ouch!!
2:59pm: Holding As 9c, I lose a big pot to another player holding Ah Qd. Unfortunately, I was "stuck" when the ace flopped and I became a calling station to the guy holding the AQ.
3:00pm: All players are given a 5 minute break. I have 2,405 chips. A total of 1,327 players still remain and the average stack is 2,474 chips, leaving me just below average. I really should have gotten out of the As 9c hand!
3:15pm: The first player from my table is eliminated. Coincidentally, it's the player that started with "only" 2,500 chips. Meanwhile, the chip leader at my table has 4,535 chips. I'm sitting at 2,330 chips. There's still plenty of time left in this tourney, so I'm not overly concerned about my shrinking pile of chips. If I simply play smart, my chip count should start to increase (I hope!).
3:18pm: I'm dealt AA for the 2nd time. Shockingly, three other players start a raising war and we cap the betting at 200 chips (apiece) before seeing the flop. All told, 875 chips are in the pot before we see any community cards.
3:19pm: I've just won my table's biggest pot of the tourney: 1,375 chips. After seeing three spades on the flop (neither of my aces was a spade), the betting slowed down. I kept betting, but everyone eventually folded and I never had to show my cards. Just like that, I'm up to 3,180 chips. Thank goodness no one was holding two spades!
3:33pm: The number of eliminated players is increasing steadily. We're down to 1,172 players and I'm playing very conservatively. You can't win the tournament this early, but you certainly can be eliminated if you start playing foolishly.
3:53pm: I'm getting sleepy. All this folding is wearing me out! Since getting those Aces, I haven't seen a flop. To put it mildly, my cards have cooled off. I'm losing my blinds, but I'm still alive - albeit I'm down to 2,480 chips. The average player has 3,489 chips.
4:05pm: The 2nd hour's five minute break commences. To put it mildly, I'm in trouble. I'm down to 1,580 chips and I need to catch some cards very soon if I want to make it through this next hour, much less reach the Final 22. There are 802 players still alive. The average stack is 4,109 chips and the tournament's overall chip leader has a whopping 16,895 chips. No one at my table has less chips than me. If I don't catch something soon, there may only be a couple more entries . . .
4:06pm: Wow! Do you believe in miracles? The first hand after the break, I'm dealt A9 and raise pre-flop. One other player re-raises me and I call. The flop is Q 9 4. I bet and I'm subsequently raised. I re-raise, fully aware that this is probably the hand that finishes me off. Ultimately, I end up "all in" and am shocked when all the pot's chips come my way. The other player had AK. My pair of 9's hold up and I'm back over 3,000 chips.
4:17pm: Miracle #2 occurs. Dealt AQ as the big blind, I call a raise and four players see the flop. The flop comes 8s As 2s. I bet and everyone calls. The turn card is another ace. I bet again - fully aware that my 3-of-a-kind is losing to any flush. Sadly, everyone calls my bet and I get very worried. The river is a 2c. Now I've got the nut full house and only one person calls my bet. I take the entire pot when my opponent shows a flush. Just like that, I'm up to 6,360 chips!
4:27pm: This is becoming a magical hour! I'm dealt Qs Qc and immediately raise. The flop comes 10s 8s 2s. I bet and one player calls me. The turn is 10d and I bet. I'm called and the river is a 4c. A little nervous, I check. My opponent checks and I take home another nice pot when he shows Ah Ks. Apparently, the players in this tournament are intent on chasing AK until the bitter end. I'm up to 7,560 chips. Wow!
4:33pm: Despite the success of my last half-hour, other players are apparently having even better luck. The overall chip leader, for example, has 27,710 chips. There are 574 players remaining. Personally, I'm relieved to be one of them. The average player has 6,075 chips. Time to wait for the next wave of good cards!
4:46pm: Ouch! Dealt Ac 9c, I call a pre-flop raise. When two clubs come out on the flop, I'm committed to the chase of the final club. Unfortunately, another club does not arrive and I'm down to 4,360 chips that quickly. Had a club appeared, I would have been over 10,000 chips. Time to regroup!
5:06pm: Moments before the next break, I'm dealt Kd 3d as the small blind. I raise after everyone else at the table folds to me. The big blind re-raises me and I decide that I need to make a stand, as my chip count has fallen to 2,960 chips and I've already got 800 chips in the middle. I eventually commit all my chips to this hand and I'm happy to see my opponent holding 9-10. I'm in the lead! Unfortunately, a 10 comes out on the board and my tournament ends when no king appears. I finished in 339th place.
FYI . . . my best finish in one of these tournaments is 79th place last February. Unfortunately, the magical hour didn't complete itself this afternoon. Things would have turned out differently if I had hit a club on the 4:46pm hand, but what can you do? That's poker!!
July 11, 2004: So Much for the Winning Streak
In the two hours immediately preceding today's NASCAR race, I decided to test my luck on Empire's $5/$10 hold 'em tables. Unfortunately, the poker gods were not shining upon me and I gave back $172. After winning the last two days, today's losses were particularly disturbing. It really seems that on-line poker has become more of a crapshoot for me - which I'm not too excited about. The fact, however, that I'm keeping this sketchbook probably saved me money today. I was really tempted to keep gambling and try and recoup the $172, but I thought those losses would look bad enough on today's sketch, so I used some self-discipline and quit before things got out of hand. After all, on-line poker isn't going away and there was no reason to chase bad money while I was on tilt.
Today's crushing defeat came after four clubs appeared on the board during one particular hand. Holding the Ace of Clubs, I bet aggressively and was defeated when another player showed two clubs in his own hand that allowed him to take the pot with a straight flush. Ouch!! That hand alone cost me over $80.
Still, I'm up for the weekend, so I can't be overly disappointed. I'm back "in the red" for the month, but the amount is much more manageable than it was two days ago.
Anyway . . . after today's losing session, I cashed out all the money in my Empire account and plan on taking that money to Oneida this upcoming weekend. I will not be gambling until I'm in Green Bay on Thursday - so the sketchbook will "go dark" for the next few days.
Daily Sketch: Down $172
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $70.80
Today's crushing defeat came after four clubs appeared on the board during one particular hand. Holding the Ace of Clubs, I bet aggressively and was defeated when another player showed two clubs in his own hand that allowed him to take the pot with a straight flush. Ouch!! That hand alone cost me over $80.
Still, I'm up for the weekend, so I can't be overly disappointed. I'm back "in the red" for the month, but the amount is much more manageable than it was two days ago.
Anyway . . . after today's losing session, I cashed out all the money in my Empire account and plan on taking that money to Oneida this upcoming weekend. I will not be gambling until I'm in Green Bay on Thursday - so the sketchbook will "go dark" for the next few days.
Daily Sketch: Down $172
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $70.80
July 10, 2004: Time to Start a Winning Streak!
Today, I went golfing with Ty, Jared, and Terry at West Bend Country Club. I didn't shoot particularly well and ended up losing $6 to Ty in straight up competition - wagering a buck a hole. At the same time, Jared and I teamed up against Ty and Terry and I lost an additional $10 in that competition. Overall, it wasn't a successful day of gambling on the links, but I had a good time.
After the round of golf, I headed home to my computer (of course!) and played some more hold'em tournament action (single table) on Empire. First, I entered a $30(3) tournament and finished out of the money. Then, I played a $20(2) tournament and finished in third place - which came with a reward of $40. So, after those two tournaments, I was down $15 playing on-line poker and down another $16 on the golf course today.
Wanting to take a nap after a hard day of golf, I decided that I'd enter one more tournament - a simple $30(3) multi-table hold 'em tournament that started with a modest 40 players at 6:00pm. First place was scheduled to receive $480 and payouts went down to 5th place ($108).
After one hour of conservative play, I was sitting on 650 chips - after starting with 1,000. At that point, I was quite frustrated. When I signed up for the tournament, I didn't notice that it was a regular hold 'em tournament (not no-limit), so it was going to take some time to play - more than I had hoped. Due to the fact that you couldn't go "all in" and betting limits were capped, only 7 people were eliminated in the first hour. I was getting pretty tired (I really wanted to take a nap!) and envisioned that it probably wouldn't take long before I'd be done. Blinds were 50-100 and, sitting on 650 chips, I figured that I was probably going to need to sacrifice most of those chips the first time I received any type of hand and simply take my chances.
The first hand after the 1 hour break, I was dealt AA and bet aggressively. I got a couple of callers and finished the hand with 1,750 chips when my pocket rockets held up. On the final bet (after the river), I was "all in" when I put the rest of my chips into the pot to simply match the minimum bet that was required.
From that point forward, the cards were VERY NICE to me. Slowly but surely, my stack of chips increased. With the blinds increasing to respectable numbers, people started to fall out of the tournament. At the 90 minute mark, we were down to 21 players and I had over 3,000 chips. Over the next 30 minutes, I got REALLY good cards and people were eliminated very quickly. In fact, when we hit the two hour break, I had 6,800 in chips and we were down to 8 players. At that point, I simply started to pray that I could hold on for 5th place. At the time, I was sitting in 4th position.
I took another 30 minutes, but we finally whittled the field down to 5 players - without me getting eliminated. In fact, by the time the 6th place player ran out of chips, I had become the chip leader and had vaulted all the way up to 13,000 chips. To say my cards were good during that period would be an understatement. I received JJ twice and KK once and both times I received the Jacks, another Jack ended up appearing on the board. When I received the Kings, they held up when no aces appeared.
Ultimately, I played myself into the Final Two when the remaining players started playing very loose. Now that we were all in the money, the chips started flying and I had no problem watching three other guys get eliminated. When there were only two of us remaining, I was sitting on 20,060 chips and the other guy had exactly 19,940 chips. Needless to say, it was anyone's game!!
The key hand in our heads-up game saw me being dealt 10-Q. The flop came 8-J-K. Holding the open-ended nut straight, I bet aggressively and my opponent raised. Calling him, the turn saw a 9 appear. Now I had the nut straight! Again, I bet and my opponent raised. Ultimately, the betting was capped when my opponent kept raising my raises, and we finally saw the river. I don't recall the river card, but it was something tiny and seemingly inconsequential. I believe it was a 4.
Again, the betting got crazy (after the river) and, after all was said and done, each of us had approximately 6,500 chips in front of us and nearly 27,000 chips sat in the middle. Without doubt, it was easily the largest pot of the night. I showed my straight and he showed J-K. His two pair wasn't enough and I now held a commanding 33,500-6,500 chip lead. Wooo hoooo!
It didn't take long for me to "polish him off" and win the tournament. Devastated from the big hand, my opponent started to play recklessly and it took less than 5 minutes for me to claim his last 6,500 chips. I claimed the 1st place prize of $480 - or a net gain of $447. Not bad for two hours and 49 minutes of work, ehhh?
So, it appears that I've rid myself of the "evil" losing demons that plagued me during the first part of the month. Over the past two days, I've offset all of this month's losses. Whew!! It feels good to be back "in the black" this month!
FYI . . . This is the first time that I've ever won a multi-table tournament. Earlier this year, I netted $250 when I took 12th place in a much larger tournament. The $447 I netted from today's tournament is a new personal record. Needless to say, it feels pretty good! :-)
Daily Sketch: Up $416
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $102.20
After the round of golf, I headed home to my computer (of course!) and played some more hold'em tournament action (single table) on Empire. First, I entered a $30(3) tournament and finished out of the money. Then, I played a $20(2) tournament and finished in third place - which came with a reward of $40. So, after those two tournaments, I was down $15 playing on-line poker and down another $16 on the golf course today.
Wanting to take a nap after a hard day of golf, I decided that I'd enter one more tournament - a simple $30(3) multi-table hold 'em tournament that started with a modest 40 players at 6:00pm. First place was scheduled to receive $480 and payouts went down to 5th place ($108).
After one hour of conservative play, I was sitting on 650 chips - after starting with 1,000. At that point, I was quite frustrated. When I signed up for the tournament, I didn't notice that it was a regular hold 'em tournament (not no-limit), so it was going to take some time to play - more than I had hoped. Due to the fact that you couldn't go "all in" and betting limits were capped, only 7 people were eliminated in the first hour. I was getting pretty tired (I really wanted to take a nap!) and envisioned that it probably wouldn't take long before I'd be done. Blinds were 50-100 and, sitting on 650 chips, I figured that I was probably going to need to sacrifice most of those chips the first time I received any type of hand and simply take my chances.
The first hand after the 1 hour break, I was dealt AA and bet aggressively. I got a couple of callers and finished the hand with 1,750 chips when my pocket rockets held up. On the final bet (after the river), I was "all in" when I put the rest of my chips into the pot to simply match the minimum bet that was required.
From that point forward, the cards were VERY NICE to me. Slowly but surely, my stack of chips increased. With the blinds increasing to respectable numbers, people started to fall out of the tournament. At the 90 minute mark, we were down to 21 players and I had over 3,000 chips. Over the next 30 minutes, I got REALLY good cards and people were eliminated very quickly. In fact, when we hit the two hour break, I had 6,800 in chips and we were down to 8 players. At that point, I simply started to pray that I could hold on for 5th place. At the time, I was sitting in 4th position.
I took another 30 minutes, but we finally whittled the field down to 5 players - without me getting eliminated. In fact, by the time the 6th place player ran out of chips, I had become the chip leader and had vaulted all the way up to 13,000 chips. To say my cards were good during that period would be an understatement. I received JJ twice and KK once and both times I received the Jacks, another Jack ended up appearing on the board. When I received the Kings, they held up when no aces appeared.
Ultimately, I played myself into the Final Two when the remaining players started playing very loose. Now that we were all in the money, the chips started flying and I had no problem watching three other guys get eliminated. When there were only two of us remaining, I was sitting on 20,060 chips and the other guy had exactly 19,940 chips. Needless to say, it was anyone's game!!
The key hand in our heads-up game saw me being dealt 10-Q. The flop came 8-J-K. Holding the open-ended nut straight, I bet aggressively and my opponent raised. Calling him, the turn saw a 9 appear. Now I had the nut straight! Again, I bet and my opponent raised. Ultimately, the betting was capped when my opponent kept raising my raises, and we finally saw the river. I don't recall the river card, but it was something tiny and seemingly inconsequential. I believe it was a 4.
Again, the betting got crazy (after the river) and, after all was said and done, each of us had approximately 6,500 chips in front of us and nearly 27,000 chips sat in the middle. Without doubt, it was easily the largest pot of the night. I showed my straight and he showed J-K. His two pair wasn't enough and I now held a commanding 33,500-6,500 chip lead. Wooo hoooo!
It didn't take long for me to "polish him off" and win the tournament. Devastated from the big hand, my opponent started to play recklessly and it took less than 5 minutes for me to claim his last 6,500 chips. I claimed the 1st place prize of $480 - or a net gain of $447. Not bad for two hours and 49 minutes of work, ehhh?
So, it appears that I've rid myself of the "evil" losing demons that plagued me during the first part of the month. Over the past two days, I've offset all of this month's losses. Whew!! It feels good to be back "in the black" this month!
FYI . . . This is the first time that I've ever won a multi-table tournament. Earlier this year, I netted $250 when I took 12th place in a much larger tournament. The $447 I netted from today's tournament is a new personal record. Needless to say, it feels pretty good! :-)
Daily Sketch: Up $416
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $102.20
July 9, 2004: Swimming Raffle
.Since my luck was running low, I thought I'd try to win a raffle through Ericka (and her swimming daughter). The drawing is on Sunday, but the $6 went out the door today - so it hits the sketchbook today.
Tonight, I went back to Empire Poker for about 2 hours of action before visiting Bastille Days with Theresa. Starting with an account balance of $100, I placed 2nd in a a $30(3) 10-man tournament and won $90 for the accomplishment - netting me $57 ahead.
Feeling confident, I hit the $5/$10 hold 'em tables and won another $95. Thankful that I had ended my losing streak, I headed to Bastille Days feeling a little better about my seemingly deteriorating poker skills. I ended the night with $252 in my account.
Daily Sketch: Up $146
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $313.80
July 8, 2004: A Visit to Potawatomi
Now I know that I'm on a bad streak!
Tonight, I visited Potawatomi's poker tables. All told, I played for nearly 4 hours and ended up losing $67 - my first loss in six trips to the casino. During those 4 hours, I won exactly 3 hands. While each hand was pretty substantial, the fact that I was able to play for 4 hours and win only 3 hands is astounding. It got to the point that other players at the table were commenting how little I was winning.
While my cards were quite unexciting, one particular player was dealt KK, KK, AA on THREE CONSECUTIVE HANDS!!! I was dealt 99 once during the night, yet this guy received those three monster hands in a row!!
While I was losing my $67, the guy sitting next to me admitted that he had lost $1,200 in the 9 hours he played. The best line of the night came when he confessed . . . "I knew it wasn't going to be my day when I realized I was down a grand." At the time, I was down almost $100 and confessed that I already knew it wasn't going to be my day and it only took $100 to realize that. Despite his losses, he still chuckled.
Daily Sketch: Down $67
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $459.80
Tonight, I visited Potawatomi's poker tables. All told, I played for nearly 4 hours and ended up losing $67 - my first loss in six trips to the casino. During those 4 hours, I won exactly 3 hands. While each hand was pretty substantial, the fact that I was able to play for 4 hours and win only 3 hands is astounding. It got to the point that other players at the table were commenting how little I was winning.
While my cards were quite unexciting, one particular player was dealt KK, KK, AA on THREE CONSECUTIVE HANDS!!! I was dealt 99 once during the night, yet this guy received those three monster hands in a row!!
While I was losing my $67, the guy sitting next to me admitted that he had lost $1,200 in the 9 hours he played. The best line of the night came when he confessed . . . "I knew it wasn't going to be my day when I realized I was down a grand." At the time, I was down almost $100 and confessed that I already knew it wasn't going to be my day and it only took $100 to realize that. Despite his losses, he still chuckled.
Daily Sketch: Down $67
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $459.80
July 7, 2004: One Quick Tourney
Tonight, I played a "quick" one-on-one $10(1) tournament on UltimateBet. Within the first twenty hands, my chips outnumbered my opponent's chips by a margin of 1,450-550 (we each started with 1,000 chips). Then, my opponent's internet connection went out and the software automatically started to fold him. He had been reduced to 120 chips when he finally reconnected. Frustrated, he immediately went preflop "all in" with Q5 and beat me to double-up. The very next hand, he went preflop "all in" again (with A4) and was able to again double-up. I didn't have great hands in either case, but I jumped at the chance to end the tourney quickly.
Armed with nearly 500 chips, the "quick" tournament turned into a marathon. All told, we ended up playing 177 hands - which is more than double the normal tournament. My opponent battled all the way back and was leading 1,100-900 when I was dealt 5s 6h. The flop came up 3d 4d 7h. Merrily, I called my opponent's opening bet of 200 chips. The turn came Ac. Again, my opponent made a substantial bet and I called. After seeing a river of Jd, my opponent went "all in." I quickly called and found myself on the short end of the stick when my opponent flipped over Qd Kd for the nut flush - beating my straight. Ughh!
Daily Sketch: Down $11
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $392.80
Armed with nearly 500 chips, the "quick" tournament turned into a marathon. All told, we ended up playing 177 hands - which is more than double the normal tournament. My opponent battled all the way back and was leading 1,100-900 when I was dealt 5s 6h. The flop came up 3d 4d 7h. Merrily, I called my opponent's opening bet of 200 chips. The turn came Ac. Again, my opponent made a substantial bet and I called. After seeing a river of Jd, my opponent went "all in." I quickly called and found myself on the short end of the stick when my opponent flipped over Qd Kd for the nut flush - beating my straight. Ughh!
Daily Sketch: Down $11
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $392.80
July 6, 2004: Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained
As promised, I didn't gamble today. Instead, I watched on television as the Brewers took a 2nd consecutive game from the Chicago Cubs and I watched two hours of the 2004 World Series of Poker.
Daily Sketch: $0
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $381.80
Daily Sketch: $0
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $381.80
July 5, 2004: It's Time for a Serious Break
According to last month's sketch, I won 8 of the 11 times I played poker on-line. If I were to guess, I'd say that I win about 67% of the time I play on-line, so June's 8-3 winning percentage (73%) isn't outrageous. After today's play, however, I am now 0-4 in July and have given away most of my winnings from last month. I don't think I'm playing any differently, but something is obviously not right. With that in mind, I am taking a serious break (at least a week) from on-line poker. At the end of last month, I had taken most of my winnings out of my poker accounts and I'm in no mood to start playing with my "real" money right now.
Today, I played 4 hours on Empire Poker's $5/$10 tables. Since I had lost the previous three days on UltimateBet, I thought I'd change my luck by moving to a different site. Unfortunately, it didn't work!
During my first session (about an hour), 74 hands were played at my table and I won 3 of them. That's a winning percentage of 4.1%. With only six people sitting at the table and all things being equal, each person should win approximately 16.6% of the hands. I lost $103 during this session.
During my next session (about 90 minutes), 108 hands were played at my table and I won 6 of them. That's a winning percentage of 8.3%. During this session, I lost another $74. Thankfully, one of the six hands I won was pretty significant, so my losses could have been much worse during this session.
During my final session of the day, things started looking up. I won 9 of the first 41 hands I played (22.0%) and had won back $124 of the $177 I had lost earlier. At that point, I was actually starting to believe that I might finish ahead for the day. After all, I was within $43 of break-even and I was on a roll. Then, the roof fell off!
Here was Hand #43 of my final session:
*** Hand of the Day ***
Preflop: Six players at the table. I'm the big blind ($5). The first player raises to $10. The 2nd and 3rd players each call. The 4th player folds. The 5th player (the small blind) raises to $15. Yours Truly feels lucky and calls the additional $10 with a 10d 6d. Everyone else calls. A total of $75 is in the pot.
Flop: 6h, 2h, 10s
Player #1 (the original raiser) bets $5. The next player calls. The next two players fold and Yours Truly raises to $10. The other two players call. A total of $105 is in the pot.
Turn: Qh
Player #1 bets $10. This worries me. Is it possible he's sitting on a flush? If so, he's obviously beating my two pair. The 2nd player calls and I also call. A total of $135 is in the pot.
River: 10d
Bingo! Bango! Bongo! I've just hit a full boat!! Player #1 bets $10. Even if he hit the flush on the turn, I've got him beat. The 2nd player calls. I raise to $20. Player #1 raises to $30. Player #2 folds. I cap the betting at $40. A total of $225 is in the pot.
Result:
I show the 10d 6d. I've got a full house and the $225 from the pot will put me ahead for the day. All is well and good in my life! It's a miracle, but I'm back in the black!!
Player #1 shows Qd Qc. He's also got a full house, but his Queens over 10's beat my 10's over 6's. He wins the hand and takes home a HUGE pot! I lose $75 on this hand and I'm now in the hole by $118. It's not an insurmountable hole, but I had firmly believed that the $225 was mine before seeing those Queens.
From that point on, I played 52 more hands and one exactly one of them. No . . . that isn't a typo. I won exactly ONE MORE HAND during the next 45 (or so) minutes. To say that my cards went cold would be an understatement. On the hand I won, I was dealt A7 and bet $5. I was called by one other player (the guy in the big blind who simply checked). The flop was 77A. I checked - not wanting to scare him out. He subsequently checked. The next card was a Jack. I bet $10. He folded. To put it mildly, it was a nothing pot. I won $7 on that hand (the small blind plus the big blind). That was the one hand I won.
After all was said and done, I lost exactly $218 today during the course of 277 hands. I won exactly 19 of those hands - or a winning percentage of 6.8%. In case you're wondering, the site tracks your play - so I can say with certainty that these were my stats for the day. To put it mildly, that is losing poker!!
So, for those of you who enjoy reading my daily gambling updates, it's about to slow down. I'd like to visit Potawatomi once during the next week (or so). However, other than that, I don't envision any gambling from me. At least these last few days didn't affect my pocketbook, since I've been playing with last month's winnings. Still, it doesn't feel good.
Daily Sketch: Down $218
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $381.80
Today, I played 4 hours on Empire Poker's $5/$10 tables. Since I had lost the previous three days on UltimateBet, I thought I'd change my luck by moving to a different site. Unfortunately, it didn't work!
During my first session (about an hour), 74 hands were played at my table and I won 3 of them. That's a winning percentage of 4.1%. With only six people sitting at the table and all things being equal, each person should win approximately 16.6% of the hands. I lost $103 during this session.
During my next session (about 90 minutes), 108 hands were played at my table and I won 6 of them. That's a winning percentage of 8.3%. During this session, I lost another $74. Thankfully, one of the six hands I won was pretty significant, so my losses could have been much worse during this session.
During my final session of the day, things started looking up. I won 9 of the first 41 hands I played (22.0%) and had won back $124 of the $177 I had lost earlier. At that point, I was actually starting to believe that I might finish ahead for the day. After all, I was within $43 of break-even and I was on a roll. Then, the roof fell off!
Here was Hand #43 of my final session:
*** Hand of the Day ***
Preflop: Six players at the table. I'm the big blind ($5). The first player raises to $10. The 2nd and 3rd players each call. The 4th player folds. The 5th player (the small blind) raises to $15. Yours Truly feels lucky and calls the additional $10 with a 10d 6d. Everyone else calls. A total of $75 is in the pot.
Flop: 6h, 2h, 10s
Player #1 (the original raiser) bets $5. The next player calls. The next two players fold and Yours Truly raises to $10. The other two players call. A total of $105 is in the pot.
Turn: Qh
Player #1 bets $10. This worries me. Is it possible he's sitting on a flush? If so, he's obviously beating my two pair. The 2nd player calls and I also call. A total of $135 is in the pot.
River: 10d
Bingo! Bango! Bongo! I've just hit a full boat!! Player #1 bets $10. Even if he hit the flush on the turn, I've got him beat. The 2nd player calls. I raise to $20. Player #1 raises to $30. Player #2 folds. I cap the betting at $40. A total of $225 is in the pot.
Result:
I show the 10d 6d. I've got a full house and the $225 from the pot will put me ahead for the day. All is well and good in my life! It's a miracle, but I'm back in the black!!
Player #1 shows Qd Qc. He's also got a full house, but his Queens over 10's beat my 10's over 6's. He wins the hand and takes home a HUGE pot! I lose $75 on this hand and I'm now in the hole by $118. It's not an insurmountable hole, but I had firmly believed that the $225 was mine before seeing those Queens.
From that point on, I played 52 more hands and one exactly one of them. No . . . that isn't a typo. I won exactly ONE MORE HAND during the next 45 (or so) minutes. To say that my cards went cold would be an understatement. On the hand I won, I was dealt A7 and bet $5. I was called by one other player (the guy in the big blind who simply checked). The flop was 77A. I checked - not wanting to scare him out. He subsequently checked. The next card was a Jack. I bet $10. He folded. To put it mildly, it was a nothing pot. I won $7 on that hand (the small blind plus the big blind). That was the one hand I won.
After all was said and done, I lost exactly $218 today during the course of 277 hands. I won exactly 19 of those hands - or a winning percentage of 6.8%. In case you're wondering, the site tracks your play - so I can say with certainty that these were my stats for the day. To put it mildly, that is losing poker!!
So, for those of you who enjoy reading my daily gambling updates, it's about to slow down. I'd like to visit Potawatomi once during the next week (or so). However, other than that, I don't envision any gambling from me. At least these last few days didn't affect my pocketbook, since I've been playing with last month's winnings. Still, it doesn't feel good.
Daily Sketch: Down $218
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $381.80
July 4, 2004: Happy Independence Day!!
Last night, I made a $1 wager with Andrew regarding our predictions for the winner of the Pepsi 400 NASCAR race. Drafting five racers, Andrew took Li'l E with the #1 pick. I took Michael Waltrip #2 and Andrew selected Jeff Gordon with the 3rd pick. Mr. Gordon won the race, so I lost a buck to Andrew.
Playing on-line for 45 minutes this afternoon, I lost $71.71 on a $5/$10 table on UltimateBet. Unfortunately, that makes three consecutive losing sessions. Considering the fact that I had only three losing sessions during the last 16 days of last month, I'm definitely on a bit of a losing streak.
Frustrated with my losses, I then ventured to a $20(2) tournament in an attempt to "settle down" . . .
*** Hand of the Day ***
Preflop: Six players (of the original ten) are still playing. DCZimm calls 60 chips to match the big blind. Blue_Thunder goes all in with his last 165 chips. Yours Truly (holding 9c 9s) has 935 chips and calls the 165 all-in bet. Doggie_Fizzle (big blind) folds. DCZimm calls the 165 chips. Everyone else folds.
Flop: 2d, 4h, 9d
Yours Truly goes all-in with my last 770 chips. DCZimm (who has more chips than me) calls my all-in bet.
Turn: Qs
No betting - since Blue_Thunder and Yours Truly are already all-in and DCZimm has called both of our bets.
River: 4s
Again, no betting.
Result:
Blue_Thunder shows 4d Ad (three fours)
Yours Truly shows 9c 9s (full house - nines over fours)
DCZimm shows Qh Qc (full house - queens over fours)
And so my day of on-line poker ended. Ugh!! I had the winning hand after the flop (when I went all-in), but DCZimm caught his Queen on the turn. That's poker for ya!
Daily Sketch: Down $93.71
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $163.80
Playing on-line for 45 minutes this afternoon, I lost $71.71 on a $5/$10 table on UltimateBet. Unfortunately, that makes three consecutive losing sessions. Considering the fact that I had only three losing sessions during the last 16 days of last month, I'm definitely on a bit of a losing streak.
Frustrated with my losses, I then ventured to a $20(2) tournament in an attempt to "settle down" . . .
*** Hand of the Day ***
Preflop: Six players (of the original ten) are still playing. DCZimm calls 60 chips to match the big blind. Blue_Thunder goes all in with his last 165 chips. Yours Truly (holding 9c 9s) has 935 chips and calls the 165 all-in bet. Doggie_Fizzle (big blind) folds. DCZimm calls the 165 chips. Everyone else folds.
Flop: 2d, 4h, 9d
Yours Truly goes all-in with my last 770 chips. DCZimm (who has more chips than me) calls my all-in bet.
Turn: Qs
No betting - since Blue_Thunder and Yours Truly are already all-in and DCZimm has called both of our bets.
River: 4s
Again, no betting.
Result:
Blue_Thunder shows 4d Ad (three fours)
Yours Truly shows 9c 9s (full house - nines over fours)
DCZimm shows Qh Qc (full house - queens over fours)
And so my day of on-line poker ended. Ugh!! I had the winning hand after the flop (when I went all-in), but DCZimm caught his Queen on the turn. That's poker for ya!
Daily Sketch: Down $93.71
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $163.80
July 3, 2004: A Little More UltimateBet
Originally, I had planned on visiting Potawatomi this morning. However, after playing on Empire relatively deep into last night, I was tired this morning and decided to postpone my next visit to the Injuns. If nothing else, I've learned that it's not a good idea to play poker if your heart isn't into it.
Instead, I played 90 minutes of low-stress $2/$4 Hold 'em on UltimateBet. Similar to yesterday, I wasn't able to make any progress for the pocketbook. After those ninety minutes, I found myself down exactly $13.69. The only consolation I gained was the fact that I lost nearly $350 less today than I lost last Saturday while playing on-line. So, I almost feel ahead of the game!
In case you're wondering, the $13.69 loss would have been a little higher - except for the bonus dollars I earned while playing today. I actually lost exactly $22 while playing poker, but I earned $8.31 in bonus dollars during the 90 minutes I played. That doesn't sound like a lot of money (it really isn't), but it should gradually add up as I keep playing on UltimateBet. The $8.31 would have been higher if I had been playing a higher stakes table (i.e. $5/$10). As of this moment, I have approximately $140 more bonus dollars in my account that I'll eventually earn as I continue to play on UltimateBet.
Daily Sketch: Down $13.69
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $70.09
Instead, I played 90 minutes of low-stress $2/$4 Hold 'em on UltimateBet. Similar to yesterday, I wasn't able to make any progress for the pocketbook. After those ninety minutes, I found myself down exactly $13.69. The only consolation I gained was the fact that I lost nearly $350 less today than I lost last Saturday while playing on-line. So, I almost feel ahead of the game!
In case you're wondering, the $13.69 loss would have been a little higher - except for the bonus dollars I earned while playing today. I actually lost exactly $22 while playing poker, but I earned $8.31 in bonus dollars during the 90 minutes I played. That doesn't sound like a lot of money (it really isn't), but it should gradually add up as I keep playing on UltimateBet. The $8.31 would have been higher if I had been playing a higher stakes table (i.e. $5/$10). As of this moment, I have approximately $140 more bonus dollars in my account that I'll eventually earn as I continue to play on UltimateBet.
Daily Sketch: Down $13.69
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $70.09
July 2, 2004: UltimateBet Tournaments
Tonight, I focused on UltimateBet's $20(2) six-man Sit 'n' Go Tournaments. For every tournament I play in July, I get $10 bonus dollars that I'll earn when I go back to regular Hold 'em tables. So, despite the fact that I paid $22 to play each tournament, it will ultimately cost me $12/tournament after I eventually earn the bonus dollars.
Unfortunately, things went VERY poorly tonight. Playing two tournaments at a time, I NEVER finished in the money. In a six-man tournament, 1st place is awarded 70% of the pool and 2nd place gets 30%. All told, I played in six tournaments and I took 3rd place four different times and I finished in 4th the other two times. The net result was a total loss of $132. Yuck!
If nothing else, I learned that I'm NEVER going to play multiple six-handed tournaments at the same time. Simply put, the action is too fast. I couldn't really track the other players and simply played my cards, which isn't a good strategy. I thought I could use that technique to (at least) break even while earning significant bonus dollars, but I guess not.
Frustrated with my performance on UltimateBet, I headed back to Empire Poker's $5/$10 Hold 'em Tables. Needing to play 234 hands to earn my $100 sign-up bonus, I probably played too late into the night chasing the bonus dollars. I eventually played all 234 hands and earned the bonus, but I couldn't make any real progress where it counts - the pocketbook. All told, I lost exactly $24.40 during those 234 hands - despite the fact that I was up nearly $150 at one point. Thanks to the $100 bonus I earned, however, I actually made $75.60 on Empire during the night's session. However, that still wasn't enough to offset my dismal performance on the six-man tournament tables earlier in the evening.
Now that I've earned my $100 bonus from Empire, there isn't a need for me to play a lot of poker on that site. With that being said, I cashed in a good amount of my account and I'll start looking into other sites and the sign-up bonuses they offer. With UltimateBet's opportunity to earn bonus dollars via tournament play, however, there really isn't much of a need for me to play on another site right now. I guess we'll see what happens on UltimateBet during the next week (or so) before deciding if I'll join another site soon.
Daily Sketch: Down $56.40
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $56.40
Unfortunately, things went VERY poorly tonight. Playing two tournaments at a time, I NEVER finished in the money. In a six-man tournament, 1st place is awarded 70% of the pool and 2nd place gets 30%. All told, I played in six tournaments and I took 3rd place four different times and I finished in 4th the other two times. The net result was a total loss of $132. Yuck!
If nothing else, I learned that I'm NEVER going to play multiple six-handed tournaments at the same time. Simply put, the action is too fast. I couldn't really track the other players and simply played my cards, which isn't a good strategy. I thought I could use that technique to (at least) break even while earning significant bonus dollars, but I guess not.
Frustrated with my performance on UltimateBet, I headed back to Empire Poker's $5/$10 Hold 'em Tables. Needing to play 234 hands to earn my $100 sign-up bonus, I probably played too late into the night chasing the bonus dollars. I eventually played all 234 hands and earned the bonus, but I couldn't make any real progress where it counts - the pocketbook. All told, I lost exactly $24.40 during those 234 hands - despite the fact that I was up nearly $150 at one point. Thanks to the $100 bonus I earned, however, I actually made $75.60 on Empire during the night's session. However, that still wasn't enough to offset my dismal performance on the six-man tournament tables earlier in the evening.
Now that I've earned my $100 bonus from Empire, there isn't a need for me to play a lot of poker on that site. With that being said, I cashed in a good amount of my account and I'll start looking into other sites and the sign-up bonuses they offer. With UltimateBet's opportunity to earn bonus dollars via tournament play, however, there really isn't much of a need for me to play on another site right now. I guess we'll see what happens on UltimateBet during the next week (or so) before deciding if I'll join another site soon.
Daily Sketch: Down $56.40
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $56.40
July 1, 2004: A New Month Begins . . .
Today, UltimateBet announced an amazing promotion that I plan to capitalize on:
"Between July 1st and July 31st, every time you play in an 6-handed or 10-handed Sit 'n' Go Tournament, you'll earn bonus dollars equivalent to 50% of your buy-in. A $5 Sit 'n' Go earns $2.50 bonus bucks. A $50 Sit 'n' Go earns $25 in bonus bucks, and so on. Then, any time you like, you can roll those bonus bucks into greenbacks just by playing in any racked game from $.25-$.50 on up. Best of all, you can earn up to $800 bonus bucks each week during this period. All during July, the more you play, the more we pay. It's as simple as that."
While I can't imagine that I'd ever earn $800 in bonus bucks during any particular week, I'm about to wander away from the regular Hold 'em tables, as I begin to focus on the Sit 'n' Go Tournaments. I've always liked small tournaments and I've had moderate success playing them. Unfortunately, these tournaments don't usually pay bonus dollars, so I haven't played many Sit 'n' Go Tournaments during the past three weeks. However, with this promotion hanging out there, I'll be "all over" UltimateBet's Sit 'n' Go Tournaments during the next 31 days.
Simply put, this is an amazing offer. Basically, I'm going to have the opportunity to play one-table tournaments for 1/2 the price - as long as I earn the bonus dollars I'll accumulate while playing these tournaments. Even if I simply break even in these small tournaments, I'm going to make a good amount of money from all the bonus dollars I'll accumulate and eventually earn when I played raked tables.
It should be interesting. We'll see how I do. I can't devote 100% of my time to UltimateBet, however, since I still need to play exactly 234 more raked hands on Empire (by July 23rd) to earn my $100 sign-up bonus. After being forced to close my PartyPoker account last month for the opportunity to get the $100, I definitely don't want to waste the opportunity to pick up this free money.
Daily Sketch: $0
Month-to-Date Sketch: $0
"Between July 1st and July 31st, every time you play in an 6-handed or 10-handed Sit 'n' Go Tournament, you'll earn bonus dollars equivalent to 50% of your buy-in. A $5 Sit 'n' Go earns $2.50 bonus bucks. A $50 Sit 'n' Go earns $25 in bonus bucks, and so on. Then, any time you like, you can roll those bonus bucks into greenbacks just by playing in any racked game from $.25-$.50 on up. Best of all, you can earn up to $800 bonus bucks each week during this period. All during July, the more you play, the more we pay. It's as simple as that."
While I can't imagine that I'd ever earn $800 in bonus bucks during any particular week, I'm about to wander away from the regular Hold 'em tables, as I begin to focus on the Sit 'n' Go Tournaments. I've always liked small tournaments and I've had moderate success playing them. Unfortunately, these tournaments don't usually pay bonus dollars, so I haven't played many Sit 'n' Go Tournaments during the past three weeks. However, with this promotion hanging out there, I'll be "all over" UltimateBet's Sit 'n' Go Tournaments during the next 31 days.
Simply put, this is an amazing offer. Basically, I'm going to have the opportunity to play one-table tournaments for 1/2 the price - as long as I earn the bonus dollars I'll accumulate while playing these tournaments. Even if I simply break even in these small tournaments, I'm going to make a good amount of money from all the bonus dollars I'll accumulate and eventually earn when I played raked tables.
It should be interesting. We'll see how I do. I can't devote 100% of my time to UltimateBet, however, since I still need to play exactly 234 more raked hands on Empire (by July 23rd) to earn my $100 sign-up bonus. After being forced to close my PartyPoker account last month for the opportunity to get the $100, I definitely don't want to waste the opportunity to pick up this free money.
Daily Sketch: $0
Month-to-Date Sketch: $0
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