Poker thoughts, BS and Talk

2006-12-09T17:37:00.000-08:00

Tiltwife does "Iron Man" well!!!! Today 25th, next month WORLD DOMINATION!!!

That's right, I am lucky enough to be married to a poker queen, and she rocked the "Iron Man" any two will do monthly donkament. WTG Tiltwife and I am very, very, very proud of you!!!!

Sorry for no updates folks, it's been busy, I'll make a new post this week and catch up.

2006-11-06T12:37:00.000-08:00

So about that poker thing….

Played a few hands and got killed, thinking about playing some limit, just to stave off the bleeding, I still like the $3 cap tables, the PL tables have become an all out draw fest, since I don’t believe in any two will do theory of poker its time to move to something else, I think I will try some 1/2 or even 2/4 and see what happens there.

Difficult to play poker when you suddenly find that your spaceship has been shot down by ugly covenant aliens, and it’s your job master chief to shoot anything that moves and save the universe. If you ask Tilt wife what present is my most favorite, it’s a trip to Half Price bookstore…used books, used everything. Tilt Son found a copy of “Halo”. OMFG this game is one big addiction, and yes jjok, there were dirty dishes in the house. Not much poker, but plenty of dead aliens the Tilt house over the weekend. Now if I can just figure out how to steal Tilt Son’s uber mega video card, and hardwire it to the laptop (not likely).

Thanks for reading, and comments are welcome!!!

2006-11-02T12:29:00.000-08:00

Why oh why, do I listen to the gecko?

Yes, I like the cap tables; yes I make money on the $3 cap tables. Yes, the gecko hates these tables, so what does he do? Sucker me into the $7.50 cap tables, land of the one outer and two outer outdraws….except I was the one being outdrawn. Not ready to move up to these limits apparently, due to the massive swings that occur, I’ll be back on the kiddy tables tonight were I can afford the outdraws. They make fly swatters; do they make one big enough for a 6’2” gecko?

On a good note…I saved 20% on my car insurance……

2006-11-01T18:09:00.000-08:00

(click on image to see it)

THE HUMAN RECOURSE DEPARTMENT NEEDS YOU!!!! PLEASE SEND YOUR BANK ACCOUNT, ITS LEGIT...REALLY!!!!!

post your bank account number in comments, I'll forward to my new employers.

2006-10-31T07:45:00.000-08:00

Redemption!!!! Hallelujah!!!

So it didn’t start off well, at all. Lost about $30 last night in the first few hours continuing the downswing and then I had a eureka moment. No matter what I am holding, on these tables you are going to the showdown, more often then not. AHA!!! I’ve trained on the donkey $3-$6 tables at Harrah’s; I know how to play this game. Must have best hand by the river, must outdraw fish.

I ended up making up all my losses and getting up over $4. Not a monster profit there, but enough of a profit to show that my strategy was working. It’s really not about aggression any more from what I see, and if I am wrong, comments would help. Although the tables are fairly tight (2-3 players seeing it to the river) it is enough of a shift that the strategy in my opinion must shift. I am opening up what I go in pre flop with, and folding if I don’t make anything worth drawing to. I have also stopping making crying calls on the river, why? The fish always have something, although top pair top kicker worked out okay too.

Hopefully now that I figured a strategy that seems to work – the fish won’t adjust dammit!!!

Thanks for reading, comments are welcome!!!!

2006-10-30T09:56:00.000-08:00

WTF? Or wow, these PP players really, really suck!!!!

According to Two plus two forums, there have been roughly 2000 players added to FTP since the ban, and according to other bloggers and myself, these people suck at poker. Not just suck a little, but OMFG what the hell are you doing in this hand and how the hell do you hit a flop with Q frigging 9 OFF? And make trips? And then the other asshole that called sucks out the nut flush with A 9 c? Oh did my aces ever flame out on that hand, and then my KK dies to 9 7 off, when you flop a straight….NH sir, please stay, just stop getting lucky. I know, you want these people to play, I know that you will win over the long term; I know that we need the fish, but HOLY CRAP I am tilty. This is why I stopped playing poker last night, and proceeded to get the shit kicked out of me by the robot on jungle gin (thanks pogo.com, my ego really needed that kick in the shorts)….apparently I still have not paid off that karmic debt that I owe, and I am still paying.

Seriously, I know that I am not supposed to tilt, and If I do, stop frantically typing into the chat box (I have stopped doing this, but I lost a few fingers chewing them off) YOU ARE AN IDIOT!!!!. But short of drinking myself into oblivion, I am having trouble figuring out how to respond. I do like the way JJOK responded by bullying someone with the hammer, JJOK you are my hero, but hell, he sounds more pissed off than I do. Not to mention that I am whining about losing about ten bucks total and it sounds like he has lost a lot more than that.

We need to not scare off the fish, but somehow, we need to be able to weather these horrific bad beats without completely going insane….Waiter, make mine a double scotch…easy on the ice, and second thought…just give the *(**&%&^& bottle.

Thanks for reading and comments are welcome!!!!

2006-10-24T12:07:00.000-07:00

Thank you Party!!!!

Have to say I really, really, really hated party, the interface sucked, couldn’t stand the donktastic players, and blah, blah, blah. The truth is, it wasn’t the site, it wasn’t the players, it was me. Since playing at full tilt I think I have been playing better, and have learn to “feel” the board much better. I still have a few leaks I have to work on, about my blinds. I have a bad habit of protecting my blinds and running into trouble, and really, really tilting when it doesn’t.

Since party has left the US, more tables are being played at full tilt. However, I would say the play has gone down, but I am in a better position to take advantage of the poor play. Have to send out a HUGE shout out to tiltwife, she came in a DESTROYED the two tables I was on, catching me in the crossfire a few times, oh well; it goes into the same account. We had the pleasure of playing with the old gang a bit, vgas was there (my favorite bad luck charm), casino205 was playing better than ever, glad I stayed out of her way for the most part.

I think I am going to dip my toe back into the SNG world, and see what I find; I seem to be making it deeper into these things, except for the damn Mookie, lol.

Not much else to say, thanks for reading and comments are welcome!!!!!

2006-10-23T12:04:00.000-07:00

Dammit, the fish I caught was me!!!

Played cash games last night….blech. I do better for the most part on these cap games, not sure why yet, but I lost a ton of money in PL and cap last night. (ton = 20 bucks, LOL), read poor Bill lost like 100k in the last few weeks…and I am whining about $20 bucks, this reading blog thing has a bad habit about putting life in perspective. I have to say one thing I am proud of was I said, “Tilt – (I call myself Tilt, when I am addressing myself in the poker world), it is evident that the cards and flops are not going your way, time to shut it down, and I did.” Wish I had more discipline in other things. So I tried a 45 person $1 SNG (big money baby!!!!)

I get down to 600 chips from a start of 1500, and then get to 6500, when my bad luck charm vgas the gecko finds me…and of course I go out. I’m in the BB with 4 7 off, yes a mighty hand for sure, UTG raise the minimum $600, three callers….sure is a lot of money in this pot, I call. Flop comes 4 10 7 rainbow, WOOHOOO!!!! I am a superstar!!! My mad skillz at poker are NOT to be reckoned with, I WILL be on TV at WPT or something next month. Three players all in JJ and KK vs. my two pair, HA I got you. Turn is a blank, and the river is…..wait for it….a 10, giving UTG kings up.

This game sucks. (yes i know its not the game, but me....but I am stil pissed)

2006-10-19T07:44:00.000-07:00

Yep…Its official playing the mookie is like just lighting 10 bucks on fire.

10 things I learned while playing the mookie.

1. It’s a good way to blow the high from killing Mickey
2. The hammer does not win when it runs into AA
3. Defending your blind with Q Jo vs. A 10, makes you a chip donator
4. I managed to donk off all my chips faster than Mookie
5. Playing the hammer is ridonkulous….but funny.
6. Waffles is not a gecko and stole my frog avatar, but I look better.
7. The ten bucks I made playing a cap game went to pad someone else’s pocket.
8. This thing goes really late, luckily I didn’t have to stay up that long
9. Need to push the fold button more often
10. I’m better at cash games, but this is a lot of fun.

Yes, there was mass tourney pimping going on last night, in my quest to recruit players so that Al won’t put ugly pics up anymore…unfortunately it started. Need to STOP defending my blinds, a lot. There is no rebuy in this thing. I will win one of these things hopefully before we all get thrown in jail, maybe.

Thanks Mookie, it was fun.

Thanks for reading, and comments are welcome!!!

2006-10-18T17:01:00.000-07:00

Muwahahahahahaahah!!!! I am da MOUSINATER!!! DIE MICKEY DIE.

Yes!!! The snappy traps worked, and it is no more, bite me Dcon, your little foo foo overpriced piece of crap doesn't compare to the 99 cent two for one VICTOR mouse trap. I am feeling so good I am gonna take down the mookie!!! If I stay awake.

2006-10-18T10:31:00.000-07:00

DIE MICKEY DIE!!!! Full tilt has more fish, but they are kicking my ass….

Rumors to the contrary, I did not find a dead Mickey this morning, with mouse juices all over the floor. Apparently this thing is much smarter than I am….this also makes me lose complete faith in my intelligence after KK died to 99, the 99 flopped a boat, and I got stacked. Luckily it’s on the donk trenches of PL on full tilt one buy in is $10, meh. There is a definite increase in the number of PL tables, usually 2-3 were playing, and there have been consistently 5-6. Full tilt went down yesterday, I think to upgrade or frantically install some servers, good job FT, I am glad they are benefiting. May try to play the mookie tonight, although I could just take $10 and light it, it would do the same good.

I am going to give the snappy traps two more days to kill the vermin, and then the next investment will be for the tacky glue thingys that just catch the little bastard, didn’t really want to see the thing twitch for a few days, but oh well. I will be emptying the garage this weekend unless it’s raining, to see if I can find the nest that I am convinced it’s built.

Have to announce that I decided to cowboy up and stop lurking on 2 plus 2, and joined to post such fabulous posts, like “you’re an idiot.” And “this site sucks.” Hey, what can you expect from a mouse killer failure?

Still waiting on the rake back thing, have to say the support is nice, got an email that says,” due to the popularity….you gotta wait a few more days.” This one came recommended by the forums, sort of. Seems they are pretty careful about officially recommending anyone, but he’s got ads up, and actually responds when you talk to him, not bad.

Other than that, leaves are changing, fall is gorgeous, and it’s getting cold. Poker is meh, but I think I need to shift my play a bit, with all the new playing styles that have arrived.

Thanks for reading, and comments are welcome!!!!

2006-10-17T09:22:00.000-07:00

Thar she blows!!!!! Or Fishing is goot!!!

So like I flopped the flush, so like I bet the pot (yes I play low limit donk PL), so like I had two callers, so like the turn was a brick, so like I bet the pot again, so like, one guy called, last card is another club (4 clubs out there, uuugggghhh!!) So like the guy checked to me, I bet half the pot, he called, he had top pair no kicker. Thank God!! Party shut down and the fish have moved to full tilt!!!

Seriously, the guy had j 6o, no clubs. On a cap game one guy went in with 5 3 off clubs, and lost to my pocket nines. Ummm, where do I find more people like this? I never liked Party, and moved to full tilt about 6 months ago, I like the interface better and I am working my way to the custom football jersey, wonder if I could get thrown in jail for wearing it?

According to some of the poker ranking sites – Full tilt is moving up in the world, I have not tried out poker stars – which is now number one by the way, but full tilt is rounding out for third place, party is second??? They seem to have a big European base. Made contact with an affiliate to try out this rake back thing I have been hearing about, I’ll let you know if it works.

Other than that, very little going on, still trading insults and chips with my favorite gecko online, kicking around the idea of drinking a case or red bull to participate in the mookie tomorrow night, was going to do a all in donk fest last weekend, but did not work out, been busy and tired.

One thing that is going on is that I am trying to kill a mouse in the garage…this is harder than it seems. Bought some way overpriced “humane” traps, to catch this thing. Thanks D-con, my review of them is they truly suck. Put out a snappy trap yesterday, baited it with peanut butter, but did not set it, peanut butter feasting went on last night, so today Mickey must die, and I’ll let you know if this works.

Thanks for reading, comments are appreciated!!! (Except from PETA)

2006-10-16T08:35:00.000-07:00

Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated…

Many things have been going on in the poker arena, some websites have stayed to serve the US, some have not, and luckily the ones that left I don’t play on. Have to give a big shout out to 2 plus 2 forums; they have been a great source to view what is happening at a rapid pace. The interview on with Annie Duke, Mike Sexton and the PPA guy was very good, but in my opinion, the movement is too disorganized, and needs more effective leadership.

I have been keeping an eye on the websites that stayed in the US and have seen some huge growth in some of them; it will be interesting to see the shakeout. One has to wonder if the listing of the poker companies on the stock exchanges led to their downfall, public companies garner public attention, it can be a good ride on the way up, but a devastating ride down. The founders made their money; it’ll be interesting to see the commitment level, or the changes that occur.

Poker has gone well, the low limit PL tables that I play are fishy, and the cap games are even better, tilt wife is hot on the trail of the iron man challenge and earning points like crazy, way to go tilt wife.

I was pursuing the iron man challenge also, but it started to feel like poker was becoming a job, and I don’t want poker to be that, once it feels like a requirement, it starts to suspiciously feel like a job, and I don’t want my hobby to be that way.

Big shout out to the Gecko, vgas, went to a NL $1 to $2 game, and apparently gutted some very fishy tourists, had to lay down JJ last night to the evil gecko, but his re raise smelled like a huge over pair, and it was. KK vs. JJ, I laid them down, no reason to be a 4 to 1 underdog.

The grumbling at the tables has been interesting, about suck outs and such, I think that I am ignoring it more often. I have always maintained the idea that no matter what two cards you hold, you still have five cards to get through, and those five community cards have a bad habit of changing your hand more often then not. I read a great article in card player about poker logic, and I think I have been applying that more. If there is a re-raise, lets get to the flop, and see what hits; I don’t like to have all my money in pre flop if I can help it.

Long huge rambling post, but it has been awhile, good luck all.

Thanks for reading, comments are welcome!!!!.

2006-10-09T10:17:00.000-07:00

Winning – Is it everything?

It’s a little late, but I finally watched the final table for the main event last night, yes Jamie Gold is an ass, but he won. The question is what did he really win? He won a nice lawsuit for shooting off his mouth, really is that a surprise? He won the main event, for playing with deception, and getting people to call when he had the hands, he also got phenomenal cards and flops, so does every luck box. In a way the Jamie Gold win, while it broke record books, did nothing but show that mouthy luck boxes can win poker, and look really, really bad doing it.

The behavior at the WSOP and on the internet has seriously deteriorated, I like what the farmer said to the guy that was criticizing his play, in essence, “I’ll play my game, you play yours.”

I have been guilty of responding to people that criticize me on the tables, and I agree with the farmer, leave me alone, if I donk off my chips, that is my choice. The class has left the game, and I think that many of the lousy behaviors have to do with the popularity of poker, and the need for ratings. It’s more fun to watch people make fools of themselves, however, it’s not a role to follow, and that is the mistake.

Doyle Brunson was honored for many different things at the WSOP, why? He is classy all the time, so are many other pros.

It is about winning, but it is more about how you win, than anything else

2006-09-28T06:39:00.000-07:00

Ummmm.....mental note: Before making brash statements or talking trash...make sure you will not go home, sit in the recliner, and go straight past snooze into coma....you might miss The Mookie!!!

2006-09-27T10:26:00.000-07:00

Mookie!!!!! I will put on exhibition style poker tonight...Either flame out early or take the whole thing!!!! Oh yes, one day the title will be mine.
Password for Tourney is vegas1

2006-09-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

There's treasure in that trash (or playing in the local $3-$6 brick and mortar game).

After going to our local B&M last night I think I prefer the all in Donk fest on full tilt ($5 buy in, max 900 players); once you last the first hour, actual poker gets played.

Stats last night are 6-8 players on a ten seat table seeing the flop consistently, Sklansky defines this as a loose game, really? Any two will do, hit that one or two outer and wooohooo!!! These guys are ready for the WPT, yes there were sunglasses, and yes there were ball caps. Yes it was frustrating, but with the winnings, Tilt Wife and I had a very nice late dinner at the Toby Keith Bar grill thing. Beer batter cod and chicken fried steak, and we were stuffed. Big shout out to the fried wonton pulled pork things, they were good, and I'm not sure what they were really called.
Tilt wife had the biggest pot of the night at about $72, she had pocket 8's in the BB, called a button raise and made a set on the flop. She checked and smooth called the flop, led out the betting on the turn (even with a scary straight and flush draw out there) and boated up on the river to take it down. Two calling stations stayed to the river and paid to see the boat. The original pre-flop raiser folded once Tilt Wife led out the betting. Heh, heh -- he had to learn the hard way that pre-flop raises on this table was useless. WTG Tilt Wife!!!! (I gotta get me some of those poker gods who viciously protect her bb). I was mostly card and flop dead the whole night, had small pocket pairs that missed the set, and folded to the players playing the weak ace, no need to make any crying calls, I knew they had it.

Before our online poker playing days, Tilt Wife and I played this $3/$6 limit game, many times. I have to admit that back when we were playing, I was not as good as I thought I was. I felt very comfortable with my reads at the table last night, and Tilt Wife was dead on with hers. This game is fishy, but if you don't have a boat, flush or straight, by the time it is all said and done, don't be in the hand. Had a nice hand 7d8d that made the straight and two calling stations stayed in. (I think all calling stations must be related to Curious George -- they just gotta see what you have). People are there to play poker and give their money away, who am I to complain about taking it?

Thanks for reading and comments are welcome!!!!

2006-09-23T15:31:00.000-07:00

Melale’s analysis/opinion

"If you raise with AK - A10, and I know this, I'll take a chance with two live cards”

Quoted from my own entry. I have copied this to point out that I said I would take a CHANCE with two live cards. Everyone see the emphasis on CHANCE?

Taking a chance is exactly what I was doing. I was hoping for the straight, the flush or possibly two over cards to a small pocket pair. I had repo clown (the psychic clown) directly after me and Swimmer right after Repo. I was not ready to tangle with the chip leader (Repo) until I got some much needed chips and I have difficulty getting a good read on Swimmer. To me, it was time to make a move, get some much needed chips or bust out. Was my hand dominated pre-flop? You betcha’. Did it end up as a total suckout because my hand was dominated pre-flop? You betcha’ again. Would I do it again? Absolutely – I have no regrets about how I played my hand.

What I do regret is that the spirit of my blog entry has been misunderstood and blown completely out of portion.

I wrote this blog entry after being insulted at the table for how I played my hand and knowing that more likely than not Dix would write it up as another “Mel Suckout” on the forum. I felt defensive and this defensiveness is reflected in the tone of my blog entry.

However; the spirit of my blog entry was to emphasize that knowing what your opponent makes a pre-flop raise with is just as skillful as the math in poker. Using the ability to read your opponent is a skill and one that should not be dismissed. I use this ability to the best advantage that I can. It is my style of playing poker. Right or wrong -- it is a style and a style that works for me.

Brad – I’m really not mad at you dude. I was angry/frustrated at the snarky comments on the table during the tourney, but mostly because I knew it would lead to another “Mel Suckout” tourney write up. Tilt does not have any hard feelings towards you either, which is exactly why there wasn’t any need or desire to open up a can of worms on you at the cash table Friday night. This may have started out indirectly by your comments on the tourney table but it has evolved into something that really is not about you. Does that make sense? Tilt would send you a private message as you have asked, but Dix banned his access to the forum.

Dix – I am hesitant to try and even explain my take on this whole situation to you because you have shown me that no one’s opinion matters to you. Your need to analyze and criticize anyone who does not agree with you is regretful and something that I’m sure you have heard before. I’m sure you wouldn’t listen to the likes of me when others have told you the same thing in the past and most likely will in the future. I have lost my respect for you and have no desire to be associated with you. Again – something I’m sure you have heard before. I will expect your close minded comments but honestly I do not care. They only show your true colors.

And for everyone else (anonymous included). LOL…I have enjoyed playing poker with you and will see you at the tables. I am truly sorry for this public display of disagreement. It has been some good drama – much better than any daytime soap opera. But – one that has not been fun and having fun was the idea.

2006-09-22T07:59:00.000-07:00

Poker...Skill or Luck?

What is more important, having a hand or knowing what your opponent has? I'll take reading your hand over having a perceived made hand any day. If I know what you raise with -- I know I can gut you. Trust me - I have the patience. If you raise with AK - A10, and I know this, I'll take a chance with two live cards, not only for the implied odds, but for the tilt odds too.

It does not matter what cards you hold vs. what I hold, and it really does not matter what you think of my play . What does matter is that I know what you have, and I will use it against you.

What I find funny is that when I get my read on you and destroy your "made" hand you tend to whine and rate my play as donkey. Well, I have to ask -- who is the real donkey? One who can't read their opponent or one who plays their opponent?

Poker is much more than just stats and cards. Poker is about having the skill to make it look like luck. I know what you have -- the question is....Do you have any clue to what I have?

TiltWife - aka: Melale

Thanks for reading, comments are welcome!!!

2006-09-21T09:40:00.000-07:00

I am the Mayor of Donkey pokerville…and I have the following resolution:

Resolved: To enter as many difficult tourney as possible thereby ensuring that I donk off all my chips and look like a fool that will play any two cards.

Status as resolution: Passed into law.

Objectives have been achieved by regularly NEVER winning a CWHG tourney, and then entering the tourney from hell, THE MOOKIE. (By the way CWHG group, it seems like an open tourney, come play, if you are feeling masochistic. Remember $11 buy in, click the link for details, and passwords!)

Great, now I can spend Wednesday, Thursday, and Sundays playing poker and looking like a fool. I am not sure which tourneys are more frustrating, the all in donk fests, the CWHG group, or this nightmare on 5th street. If you are looking for tough competition play the mookie. If you want to win at tourneys….don’t play any of these. Shoot the fish in the barrel on the cash games.

Big shout out to Vgas, made the Final table last night on the Mookie, WTG gecko!!!! Keep an eye on the site guys, and I’ll see ya there.

Thanks for reading, and comments are welcome!!!!

2006-09-20T13:46:00.000-07:00

Played a SNG last night….that was my first mistake.

9 player SNG + Tired Tilt + fish that plays 75% of hands dealt call anything + card DEAD = out on bubble.

Dammit.

Apparently being out on the bubble will be my middle name soon, I’d change my name legally, but I’d have to explain it to the judge and then most likely get arrested for being a poker player. This guy played everything. The hand I went out on he had A 6 hit the 6 with a KQ showing and called my bluffs all the way to the river. Sigh. Oh well, what can you do? When a luck box calls everything, and hits, you will get outdrawn, tough to switch table on an SNG, this idiot even took out the Gecko, but at least he made second.

Bankroll has taken a few hits lately due to donkey tilt play, registering for the 50 million charity tourneys and everything else Dix is pushing in his new career as tourney setter upper. Somehow I am getting sucked into some kind of Omaha game, not even sure if I spelled it right. There is also some bad beat for cancer thing on full tilt that I am now in, Dix pushes all of this on us willing gambling addicts like a dealer pushes crack on his addicts. 1-800 bets off anyone? Speaking of that, I heard a story about a guy that won a seat in the WSOP, only to be denied because he had registered with 800 bets off, 5 years ago. Guess that program works, eh?

Have to say that the “kiss my ass” post has gotten the most comments of any other posts on this blog, have to figure out how to offend someone that is not a friend, and stir up some controversy again, if I can just do one of those a week, this blog might actually get interesting to read. However, that might require effort, so much for that idea.

Looking forward to the Continental Wide Home game Thursday night, I know the Gecko, will be all dressed up, I tried to get him in another bet with me, but he keeps ignoring me. Need to move up in these damn points thingy’s that Dix has created, I still think his points Scheme is rigged somehow, LOL.

Time for a founding member to win one of these things folks!!!!

Thanks for reading, and comments are welcome!!!!

2006-09-19T09:20:00.000-07:00

Controversial subject = Many comments (good) except feelings hurt (not
good!!!)

Hey at least I know people are reading!!!

All right folks, I thought that given the comments the last day, this warranted a post all on its own, plus I have been playing Tilty Donkey poker, and want to drown my sorrow alone, heh heh.

I want to apologize for the offense that was taken on Sunday to the IM comments that were made. This is a sore point for Tilt wife and I, we truly love the game of poker. We read Card Player, watch any poker programming on TV, and play as much as we can. I know that we are lucky that we both share a love of the game, the competition, and how each hand that we play can teach us something new.

We also enjoy the chatting and general camaraderie that goes along with the game and we enjoy the twice weekly tournaments of the Continental Wide Home Game. (Props to Dix for doing a great job putting together each week).

One of the things that Tilt Wife and I enjoy is playing on the same table or tourney. We do not collaborate; we are actually competing with each other. If anyone saw the hand last night, I raised her blind, with AK sooted; she called and of course made two pair on the flop, and completely and totally stacked me, when I did not hit my flush. To quote Dix,"Eh, that's poker". I missed my draw, offended the poker gods that protect her blind, and suffered the wrath, LOL. It is easy to misunderstand the context of either email or IM; I do it all the time.
No hard feelings folks, and I think the best recourse is to move on, and let it go....I'm going to miss the comments though, heh heh.
Tilt.

Thanks for reading and comments are welcome!!!!

2006-09-17T21:13:00.000-07:00

Question mine and Tilt wife's integrity on a $5 dollar tourney, give me a break!!!!

Instigator (9:50:55 PM): player and player seem a little upset you guys at same table together
Instigator (9:51:04 PM): i wouldnt worry about it
Tiltwife (9:51:26 PM): no - they know we don't do that
Tiltwife (9:51:31 PM): especially player
Instigator (9:51:40 PM): player wasnt mad was she?
Tiltwife (9:51:43 PM): no
Tiltwife (9:51:47 PM): i don't think so
Instigator (9:51:59 PM): that comment made me think so
Tiltwife (9:52:05 PM): if anyone thinks we play together they are nuts.
Tiltwife (9:52:14 PM): any moron can do that with im chat
Instigator (9:52:19 PM): i dont get mad
Instigator (9:52:20 PM): yeah
Instigator (9:52:49 PM): im gonna be down to 7th or 8th now cuz i was 50 min late
Tiltwife (9:54:04 PM): I think this will certainly move tiltpirate up in points. Ya'll tease him but he is really very, very good.
Instigator (9:54:35 PM): wow bad beat
Instigator (9:54:54 PM): yeah he is good and so are you
Instigator (9:55:05 PM): gonna watch final 3 take care

Let’s be realistic here folks, tilt wife and I may play on the same table, with the same people, almost every night…..let me say it right her and right now. We are not cheating, and let’s be realistic. Top prize at these tourneys is $50. Bottom line folks, we aren’t that hard up. We are playing these for the company, and the points. While the top prize is nice, it’s not nearly enough to put my soul on the line for. Ya bore me with your accusations dude, and you waste my time. If there really is anyone that thinks tilt wife and I play together, first things first, we don’t. Second thing is if you think that is happening have a big enough set of balls to ask outright.

3rd thing, KISS MY FROG ASS.

Tilt

Sorry for the rant readers, but I am a little pissed.

2006-09-15T08:13:00.000-07:00

That’s right folks…I wasn’t skeeered, but Deep Fried Gecko got served last night!!!!

Yup, Yours truly came in second last night, have to admit, when that guy in red raised it was pretty intimidating, luckily there were three table last night, and I was not on his. Have to give a big shout out to Tilt Wife; she raised his blind several times last night and we learned that poker pros DO fold. Poker on TV they never do, life lesson learned there folks.

I went heads up with chuckles, or more well known by his true name,” Mr. Aggressive”. The final hand came to AK, to pocket fives. My AK never hit, and his fives took it. I think I made the mistake of trying to get this aggressive player to fold pre flop. If I had just called the re-raise, I could have folded on the flop. Of course, hindsight is always 20-20, and I really can’t complain about two cashes in these things. These are tough, tough tourneys. The players are very skilled at poker, and tough to beat. I am calling out the Gecko with another prop bet (it’s a goody). Stay tuned for details.

Thanks for reading, comments are welcome!!!!

2006-09-14T08:14:00.000-07:00

LEE WATKINSON???? I ain’t skkkeeeeered…….much.

Yup, menu for tonight will definitely fried frog legs with gecko sauce. We are dead ladies and gents, dead and buried. Thanks to the inmate that hosts our twice weekly Continental Wide Home Game…and the fact that he likes to chat (little bit of pot calling kettle black here) he does get lonely in that padded room they keep him in. We now have a person that is signed up for our tourney…and his name is red. For the unwashed, that means he is a poker pro, either a sponsored by Full Tilt player, of a friend of Full Tilt. Either way, I am deep in the frying oil here.

I figure this will go one of two ways (shaking magic eight ball vigorously) We are a pretty tight aggressive group, I think he will raise a lot in the beginning, accumulate chips, fold to re raises, and go all in against the re raise once he has everyone on tilt and gets a hand.
The second option is that he is playing 18 tables and only plays when he has a hand. Of course he might not show, and then it’s a race to steal the chips. Oh look the ball floated into view, it’s says “deep fried frog legs tonight!!!!”

We’re screwed; I’ll post screenshots and results tomorrow.

Thanks for reading, comments are welcome!!!!

2006-09-13T09:30:00.000-07:00

Senator Pat Roberts you represent Kansas…I vote, and I contribute to political campaigns, you sure you want to blow me off?

Thanks Full Tilt and the Poker Player Alliance for organizing the poker march, thanks Greg Raymer for your support and your message, and thanks to all people that called in to their Senators, after this post, I will be emailing my Senator, to invite comments and to respond, Tilt pirate is a proud supporter of equal time…

I called and was patched through to the rudest woman I have ever spoken to, of course I could not get her name. When I informed her that I was a voter, and I wanted to make sure my senator would vote against this bill that is riddled with uninformed and sheer ignorance she said, ”anything else sir?” This would qualify as anything else. If my two Kansas senators support this Bill, no matter the party affiliation, I will vote for the person running against them in the next election, and I will donate to the election campaign of the opponent. Since I intend to be at the next WSOP in 2007, the contributions to the opponents’ campaign would be significant.

I have been in Sales a long time, one of the basic tenets of sales is never assume. Senator Roberts would do well, to inform his rude staff, never assume who is calling in; you never know what effects it might have. I will be emailing invites to view this post to local Player associations, local news organizations, and my most favorite, local talk show hosts. Let’s see what happens, hey the ride might be fun.

Tiltpirate

Thanks for reading, comments are welcome!!!

2006-09-11T14:09:00.000-07:00

I Remember…

I Remember getting out of bed, staggering to the shower, glancing at the TV, not really noticing the horrific images; it’s always on the news in the morning. I looked at the TV, saw the world trade center in flames, and thought to myself, “Oh look, the world trade center is on fire.” Then got in the shower for an important day of selling 30 second radio spots…Showered and begun to wake up, I think in the shower and mentally prepare for my day. Suddenly I realized the enormity of the images on TV, got out, and look at the TV and saw the second plane hit Live…My first thought was,”Oh my god, and my second thought was we are under attack.”

We lived in Las Vegas at that time, and I was very concerned, Hit a Megaresort with a plane, you will do some damage. We kept my Tilt Son out from school, and Tilt daughter went to her daycare, and we went to our separate offices Tilt Wife and I.

I listen to talk radio, and I remember the DJ who was from New York, “My God, Tower one has collapsed.” He talked about the FAA grounding planes, and driving to work, I went through the north end of the strip, to see a plane lining up to land I hoped. It did, but I remember that fear. I love to watch planes, see their majestic flight, but not that day.

When I got to work, I saw the second tower go down. MSNBC.com, was having trouble loading with the hits it was getting, most of the news websites were down. I worked for Clear Channel broadcasting, they made the decision to switch to national news feeds, and we waited and re-assured clients, did not run commercials, and lost a ton of money, serving the public. That was the right thing to do, great job Clear Channel, you did a great job that day.

Life got scary, the pentagon got hit, and we collected Tilt Kids, and went home. I remember the images over and over of those planes hitting the towers, seeing people jump from the buildings, the ominous wave of dust like a hot wind of death, engulfing that city.

We got hit, we got hit hard, and like the Toby Keith song, we started to hit back, like we needed to. I remember the unity, I remember the patriotism, I remember the fear, I remember the courage, the strength, the tears, the casualties, and the heroes.

We must never forget, we must never give up, we must fight, we will win, and we will stay free.

God bless you, your families, the men and women who lost their lives, the troops, and the families who survived.

Tilt

2006-09-11T09:01:00.000-07:00

CONGRATS TILT WIFE!!!!

Wow…Really..WOW.

Tilt wife hung on, and clawed her way to win the Continental Wide home game last night. She wins, and I am the first donkey to go out KK vs. AA, I STILL GOT A 20% SHOT TO WIN, Dix!!!! Nope, no suckout, but Tilt Wife got him.

Tilt Wife was patient, and waited to get all her money in with the best hand J 3 Sooooted, which killed Dix’s A J , soooooted, by boating up with a miraculous 3 on the river. Have not heard from Dix yet, he has been unusually quiet so far, most likely trying to shake off the monstrous hangover. Tilt wife proceeds to fry a gecko on the way to winning the tourney. Great job Tilt wife, I am very, very proud of you.

Buy in for this fiasco was $5.50, winner got $42.50, by the way, my account is a little low….Tilt wife…hint hint. This got me thinking bout watching TV poker, and how my viewpoint has changed.

You always see second place or third place finishers at these big tournaments looking upset even after cashing these huge amounts, and I always used to say,”I’d be happy with that money”. Nope, I would after I thought about it maybe, but I think right after finishing I’d be really really pissed for awhile, and god help the camera or mic that got stuck in my face, commence foaming at the mouth ranting and raving, is most likely what would happen….while it’d be funny to watch (I think), it be assinine to behold a la Phil Helmuth. Poker is war, to quote Dix “take no prisoners”, to steal a line from Highlander, “there can be one.”

Last night there was only one….Way to Go Tilt Wife!!!!.

Thanks for reading, comments are welcome!!!

2006-09-08T09:37:00.000-07:00

Rats!!!! I ended up sixth, and the blasted Gnome-Gecko conspiracy is the reason!!!!

Played the CWHG last night, that’s Continental wide home game; this is a tough field to wade through. Bluffing does not work, especially when the guy you’re bluffing possesses the nut flush that flopped, and oh yeah you have a heart draw with the six of hearts….bad tilt bad!!! This left me with 175 chips with 50 and 100 blinds. Really don’t think I will last long here. Managed to double back up to about 2k in chips, not really sure how, but got some decent hands finally, and got back in a comfort zone, of course, the hands dried up, the blinds went to the moon, and I went out in sixth.

This is a tight aggressive game, where position, and cards are a requirement, it also depends where you are sitting and who is on your table. The group of eighteen that we played with last night consistently win tourneys. If I attended blogger tourneys, I would assume that the level of play is the same level if not better, not like the weekend Donk fests I like to roll around in.

I think that playing at these levels improve your play and analysis, and you really have to take into account table dynamics and how everyone is playing, I could not really run any bluffs last night , because I spent the entire night short-stacked, I can’t believe that Gecko played aces, what a donkey!

The biggest mistake I made was pushing too hard with JJ, when I ran into Aces, oops!! Oh well, good play gecko, I’ll get ya next time.

Thanks for reading, comments are welcome!!!!

2006-09-07T08:12:00.000-07:00

I hate two outers….I hate two outers….

Have to admit last night was a stinging bad beat, but I ended up ahead. Dealt pocket 8’s called a re-raise and a call, hit a set on the flop 9-8-x, go all in to protect from the flush draw, runner runner nines, give my caller a better full house with his KK. Ouch. After two glasses of scotch and a ranting and raving fit of cursing, I got it back and then some, of course I killed a gecko’s JJ by making the nut flush, hee hee. It’s okay when I suck out, just not the reverse. At least I am honest; my poker game is all about me.

I think from reading all the blogs I read, everyone has a bad beat story, from pro to fish. It really doesn’t matter what it was, it doesn’t matter how it happened. If you play poker, you have one happen to you. The only thing that can be controlled is your reaction, and that is what I am proud of. Yes I did curse, yes I was pissed, but I did not tilt. I did not donk off my re-buy; I played solid poker and came out ahead. That is what I am proud of; I did not tilt and recovered. The continental wide home game tourney is tonight, wooohoo!!!

Thanks for reading, and comments are welcome!!!

2006-09-06T11:54:00.000-07:00

Tilt Family goes back to kindergarten…

Since I found out that my dad is reading Tilt Son-In-Law’s blog I thought he might enjoy this story about his favorite Tilt Grand Daughter (who doesn’t live in Texas)

This weekend I had to assemble a “memory page” for my kindergarten homework. (I really thought I was done with homework…sigh).

The memory page was on HUGE poster board and we (Tilt Daughter and I) were supposed to fill it with our favorite pictures of her 5 years on earth. Tilt Husband and I furiously dug through photo storage and assembled what we thought was a good sampling of her life. Tuna Bear made it to the memory page via a picture and even Tilt Papa made it via a map of Texas. We created, strategized and agonized over every picture and what to say underneath the picture.

We = Tilt Husband and I.

Tilt Daughter was very busy trying to get someone to open her Yogos fruit snacks. Tilt Husband finally folded like a cheap suit and opened the Yogos for her and even put them in a zippie so she could walk around the house and deposit them in her favorite hiding places.

We (Tilt Husband and I) finally finished four hours later. We worked so hard on the damn thing because it is due today (Wednesday) and we didn’t want to get a bad grade on our first Kindergarten homework assignment. Although Tilt Daughter will not be sharing her memory page with her class until FEBRUARY 2007 (yes, 2007) we had a deadline of this Wednesday via the very strict instructions from Mrs. Nazi (names have been changed to protect the guilty) (This is the same nazi teacher who sent a note home telling me that cupcakes are not a healthy snack. Duh…. Like I didn’t know that. I believed they made an excellent “first day of kindergarten snack”)

So – the memory page was completed and sent off to Nazi Kindergarten today. Tilt Daughter was very proud of all the, ahem, work she did on it. She tells me this morning on the way to school that when she grows up she wants to be an artist just like mommy. When I explained to her that I wasn’t an artist but an accountant she kind of went blank for a bit and then asked, “What do accountants do”? I was trying to come up with a good answer when she said, “do you count to 100 everyday”? I said yes, and she proceeded to count to 100 to show me that she can be a good accountant too.

Who can argue with such innocence? She makes life so easy sometimes.

2006-09-05T10:30:00.000-07:00

No poker…if that’s what ya want…no poker for you!!!!

I did not really play yesterday, a few hands here and there, but I just wasn’t in the mood. I was stunned by the loss of Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter. Wow….I wonder what the odds are of that barb, puncturing the heart. I really have two different mindsets on this, and since this is not going to be a poker post…ya get both!!!

One side of me has to stand up and applaud this guy for doing everything he did, and how he was able to succeed in his passion, and share that passion with everyone he met. He was an environmental ambassador for sure, and one that deeply enjoyed what he did. This was a person that had a deep set of beliefs and was willing to stand for them. He was lucky enough to die doing what he enjoyed; bringing the animals everyone usually runs in fear from, to our living rooms so that we could safely be educated about them…and of course laugh about his antics and his accent. He was strong enough in his convictions, to argue with Matt Lauer, when he was blasted for taking his young son in the croc pen with him. He stood up for what he believed in, and he lost his life among the creatures he loved. My most recent memory of him was that FedEx commercial with him getting bit by the snake; that was very funny.

That’s one side, here is the other: He died doing what he loved to do and being with the animals he liked to be with, but what about his kids? Now his wife gets to raise his babies alone, and without him. So what about the money and the life he set up for them, so what about the animals he saved, and so forth. So what about state funeral and the memorials; he’s dead, and will not be there for anything else with his kids. It’s a heavy price to pay to do what you love, and he’s not the only one paying the price.

I’m not knocking him, or anyone here. Nor do I want to speak ill of the dead, I just want to consider by viewing what other people have done, and try to learn from that. As parents, husbands, and fathers…we can only do our best.

Thanks for reading, comments are welcome!!!

2006-09-04T06:50:00.000-07:00

Some tourney thoughts….Cashed two for three.

I have played three tourneys this weekend, two $5 dollar buy-ins, and a 9 person $1. I cashed in both $5 tourneys, and got taken out by my favorite AJ (need to learn how to fold that hand, once in awhile, that and frigging AQ) in the $1 tourney…oh well. The first $5 tourney, was one of those Donk fest max 900 tourneys, and I places 40 out of 589. The second I got second out of twelve. The funny thing is that even though one of my goals is to win one of those donk fests, I am prouder of my second place finish in the Continental home game, hosted by Dix. This is a TOUGH field to navigate, however I stole a few pots away by beating up on Dix while he was short stacked, and bluffed the eventual winner out of a few pots, just to survive. The last hand that took me out I really can’t complain about, it really was either win or lose time. I think I need to lean heads up play better though, I watched the epic heads up battle in our first home game, that lasted about 45 minutes, the eventual winner was patient. Of course, I did get out with a set of two’s, but the flush draw was hit, and the board did not pair…..That’s poker. I think that in tourney play it is very important to analyze your play, and critical to adjust where your leaks are. I was defiantly trying out some new strategies this tourney, and they seem to work. I know that the donk fest was a severe lesson in patience, and to wait for a good hand, I did the same thing here….most of the time.

One of the players is going to swear off pocket nines, I think he is going to need therapy, massive therapy, and might even have some post traumatic stress syndrome to work through. He has had pocket nines, hit a set on the flop, gone all in, and been taken out by one opponent making a set of kings on the turn, and one opponent mad a set of queens on the river. It’s a bad lesson that sets can be broken, but he had no choice, and one cannot fault his play, at all. He got his money in with the best hand, and it did not hold. His play was very good, and he made great decisions, he just got outdrawn. It happens in poker, the toughest part is dealing with it, but in order to be good, you have to. I am glad that I play this tourney, it’s a tough field, but if you want to learn, this is a great way to do it. The players that I play with win tourneys, a lot, its not a luck fest, it is definitely skill. I just got lucky to get second….Heh heh.
Thanks for reading, comments are welcome!!!

2006-09-03T06:06:00.000-07:00

Ok…. I made a mistake…but I had a good tourney!!!!

First off I have to admit that it that it looks like I was wrong about Richard Lee, apparently he was dumb enough to be a bookie in San Antonio, Texas….duh. However I not changing my viewpoint on the ability of thugs (law enforcement professionals) to seize assets, property, and vacuum out your bank account…before you have been proven guilty in a court of law. They can take everything, and then you have to hire a lawyer, and win in court….before you get it back. This is wrong, and needs to be addressed. Soapbox deflated, end rant.

On to brighter things, I have to say I am rather proud of myself, I entered the nightly $5 holdem, max 900 players all in donk fest again last night. The biggest skill you have to have here is the ability to fold. I have to say that even though I busted out in the money (number 40 out of 589), which covered my buy in, I went out with AK versus 99, the villain’s 99 held up and I was out. Not bad, I think in retrospect, I should have just called his raise, and gone to the flop, I have the tendency to push heavy pre flop, which means it all left to the cards. I learned a lot, and I will be doing this again. Thanks to Tiltwife cheering me on, and keeping my head level.

The next continental home game is tonight; I am looking to redeem myself here…hopefully. My degenerate gambling host Dix, is denying that he every bet me anything…sigh. Oh well, I wish he was more gullible….That’s the best you get buddy, I release you from your massive gambling debt to me, in the interest of preserving our friendship….however, I STILL WON THE BET!!!!!.

Thanks for reading, comments are welcome!!!

2006-09-01T12:24:00.000-07:00

I win!!! I lasted a whole 26 mins…Dix ya owe me money!

Last night was the first continental home game tourney, and it was a blast!!!! Have to admit that I WAY underestimated the field that I was playing against…add the fact that my best hand was A9 and I went out on that one, the poker gods were against me. Best part is I won the bet with Dix he owes me $100 bucks, however he is trying to Welch on his gambling debts, due to some loophole in the contract….never really figured Dix for a lawyer. The final table lasted for at least 45 mins if not longer, and it was a war between two chip gladiators. Very impressive play folks, I look forward to it again on Sunday.

One of these things that was amazing to watch was how the winner did it; it was aggression pure and simple. Raise after raise took down the chip lead, and the title. I remember Mike Matusow saying in the World series of Poker main event,” You’re playing cards, I am playing poker” This heads up battle was poker in its purest form, and really made me proud to be included in the poker group that I play with.

I have written about arrogance in this blog before, and I will say it again. If you approach life and poker with arrogance you will lose, maybe not quickly but eventually. Although I would not call my mistake at this tourney arrogance (Shut up Dix!) I will admit that I underestimated the opponents. See I play SNG’s at full tilt, mostly the 9 table and the 45 table ones. I usually place in the money or win, pretty consistently. This was not to be the case, and believe me, while the game was truly awesome to watch, I’d rather be shoving the chips around too. I’d rather play than watch, but this one was worth watching.

Great job to all that attended, Dix…pay your debts, and see you all Sunday.

Thanks for reading, and comments are welcome!!!

2006-08-31T07:17:00.000-07:00

I think I may accidentally turning into a political blog…nah…but I do have to rant a little.

Poker Front: Ya can’t keep a good man down, Dix was down day before yesterday, and spent all last night gutting fish, and leaving nothing for the rest of us (greedy person that he is) Continental home game tourney is tonight, I think the running bet on me is lasting 15 mins, if I last longer, Dix owes me $100…if last do not last that long I owe $1 to Dix, trust me its on my voicemail somewhere. I was thinking last night how bored I was folding cards at two sites…And then I realized; poker is about folding at the right time. You have to be able to fold, or you will lose. So I folded approximately 2032.56 hands last night…in an hour. Or that’s what it felt like, I am sure that Dix could post poker tracker stats and notes on me to refute that statement…but I’ll just delete them, heh heh.
Like the song says,” ya gotta know when to fold em”.

Home Front: Thursdays are fun…Tilt Wife and I trade off morning Tilt Children delivery duties, today was my day for our kindergarten Tilt daughter. Our deal is (yes it’s a bribe) if she has a good week, she can have a special treat on Thursday’s. Today we went to McDonald’s, she loves pancakes, but refuses to decide on what she wants to go with them until we are at the speaker thingy, no amount of begging, pleading, or yelling helps change this. Tilt Wife has been trying to convince me for years that she has inherited my stubbornness…..but I am too stubborn to agree with her. Tilt Son has his first football game today, I gave him the requisite fatherly advice that he looks forward to. He let’s me know how much he appreciates my words of wisdom by rolling his eyes at me…I take it as a compliment, if he’s listening enough to roll his eyes at me, maybe something sunk in. My advice was,” hit the guy with the ball, if he gets up, you did not hit him hard enough, hit him again, then hit the ref, when he gives you the penalty flag, then hit the coach, when he yells at ya.” Like he’ll listen, he’s a teenager. Have to admit, he is doing well, and I am very proud of him

Ranting and raving front: Richard Lee talked a little bit about what about what is going on…if he is really running a gambling sports book ring out of SAN ANTONIO,TEXAS (Link to story here)….then he is an idiot. I do not think this is the case, I think the overzealous thugs (San Antonio police department) has a budget and a quota to make for their asset forfeiture goal for the year, and decided to take a shot. It escapes me how this activity, confiscating property and money (it’s not a stretch to think they emptied his bank accounts, that’s SOP for these criminals errr law enforcement professionals.) protects us…the taxpayer. I know I feel safer knowing that these idiots are confiscating property and dollars….while rapists, murderers, and child molesters go free. Nice job, officer, I really appreciate my hard earned tax dollars at work. Its simple…you’re too busy robbing people hiding behind your badge and gun….I think I’ll at least even the odds a little. I can’t get the badge, and I don’t want one. But I can get the gun. I will be donating some of my money while I have it, to the Poker Players Alliance, if ya can’t beat ‘em, donate money to the campaign fund, you’ll at least get heard. If you donate enough, you can buy what you want.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Update:
link Little known fact, police can clean you out first...Then you get to go to court, know any attorneys that work for free, since the "law enforcement professionals" have your money?

Thanks for reading, comments are welcome!!

2006-08-30T07:13:00.000-07:00

Gotta love the ATMS at Party vs the luckboxes at Full Tilt.

Party gave me free money….idiots. I plan on taking that free money doubling up and bringing it either to Full tilt, or trying at Bodog…If anyone plays at bodog, some advice would be nice, I am working my way to the custom jersey on full tilt, I figure at my current point earn rate, I might get one in about ten more years.

I used to play on party, but got tired of the constant suckouts…lol…Looking back, I was not as good of a poker player as I thought I was. Now what I really can’t stand is the interface, I like Full Tilts better….ummmm we interrupt this story for some breaking news!!!!

Richard Lee of San Antonio Texas, had his house raided last night….property seized, and I am sure his bank accounts were emptied by thugs….errr police officers in San Antonio, Tx. Texas has always had a problem with gambling, it competes with the lottery. These are the same idiots that were arresting people in bars that were over the legal alcohol limit….because being drunk in public is illegal in the state of Texas.

Warning!!!! Warning!!!!!!! Warning!!!!! Soapbox inflating, activate ranting and raving powers.

I am so glad that these morons in public SERVICE are able to save me from myself. Thanks Government, you can spend away my hard earned money that I turn over to you for a bridge to nowhere in Alaska, save me from EEEEEEVILLL gambling. But I can play the lottery wwwwwoooohooooo!!!!.

What ever happened to responsibility? If I want to gamble, leave me alone. Apparently with the growth in poker, Vegas, Tunica, Foxwoods, and whatever casino is opening today; there seems to be people out there that want to gamble. To you people in public service…Shut up, and fix a pothole. Make sure Tiltkids has a computer to learn on in school. Get some help to people that need it and teach them to earn money, instead of sucking down my tax dollars. Oh yeah, and stop using laws that were for the “War on Drugs” to seize bank accounts and property to fill your public coffers. Stop trying to save me, serve the public, fix a pothole, and KISS MY ASS, its my money you’re spending, the least you can do is appreciate it.

Leave it to Texas to decide this is a good idea, love the state, was born there, but hate that government. It’s why Tilt family left, and will not go back.

End rant

Thanks for reading, comments are welcome!

2006-08-29T07:22:00.000-07:00

Do I play Poker, or does poker play me?

There is always one at every table, some idiot that calls you down and hits the one, two or three outer, to make whatever hand beats yours on the river. Once they have outdrawn you, they then proceed to glorify and praise themselves for playing so well. Of course, when you beat them, you are the donkey.

By this time you are tilting so bad, that you want to pick up the shotgun, and shoot the laptop…..not really the best solution, here. I have a temper, and I am competitive, while it is a good mix for the table, it’s a bad one, when I can’t control my emotions.

I look at this from a sales point of view, depending on what you are selling, and to whom you are selling, it can be very emotional. You want to touch the “hot button issues”, and present solutions to the, it is also not a bad thing to establish a relationship with your client, talk about kids, family, politics, whatever, just make the connection. Emotional connections with clients can lead to a very good and profitable relationship.

However, emotions and poker are very counter productive, you cannot connect to the players, you cannot connect with the inevitable outdraws bad beats etc. You have to be able to distance yourself from it. There are some blogs detailing a vicious losing streak…I have them too. You have a choice, admit that it is your game and fix those leaks, or get used to losing, it is really that simple. The simple math is this, 1 out of 221 hands you will get aces, and you will win 80% of those hands. Inevitably you will lose with aces. This is not something you can control; the only thing you can control is how you choose to react to it.

Thanks for reading, comments are welcome!!

2006-08-27T10:35:00.000-07:00

Tom Cruise, Two for the Money, or the price of arrogance.

Tilt Wife used to get pretty hot and bothered about Tom Cruise, he was a hottie to her, and to many other women. Apparently according a news story this morning, George Bush has a better popularity rating than Tom Cruise (although not by much). This man was probably one of the most successful Hollywood celebrity's ever. The key word is was, fired by paramount, and losing popularity, it will be a long comeback, if he makes it back.

Two for the money - John Anthony was on top of the world, money, cars, women. People were paying obscene amounts of money to this guy for the sports picks. HBO died and I have not seen the end yet, but I can guess.

Daniel Negreanu- 2004 he could not be beat, 2005 Daniel who? He is coming back in 2006, and he is still an awesome poker player, but the question is," What went wrong?"

Arrogance makes the mighty fall, you begin to think you are better than everyone, you surround yourself with people that tell you how wonderful you are,and you will start to believe it. The very best example of this is Aces cracked, so what if you have two of them, you still have to survive 5 cards on the board, and whatevey donkey called you. Pride goeth before the fall, but not by much. I have seen the mighty humbled at the poker table (Phil Helmuth anyone?), and we have seen the weak win. We have seen the donkeys hit the one or two outers, while we drown. It's a humbling experience and painful one. The only thing that can be controlled is the reaction to it. It's easy to go on tilt and became the donkey spewing chips in every direction, it's easy to get stuck and need to win, most of the time this fails, however it works enough times to give you hope. My best advice is to walk away, I rarely follow that advice though. Most of the time I became that chip spewing donkey, and I am irritated for days afterwards. That is why "Tilt" is in the name, heh heh. If Tom wants advice (I doubt he does), or anyone else. Ditch the moneygrubbing fans that want to tell you what you want to hear, and listen to someone that will tell the truth. It may be humbling, but right now the path that arrogance has set you on, will be much, much more expensive and ultimately more painful.

Stay grounded folks, stay centered, and don't believe the hype, it will cost you.

Thanks for reading, comments are welcome!

2006-08-25T13:42:00.000-07:00

BEST LAWYER STORY OF THE YEAR, DECADE AND PROBABLY THE CENTURY

A Charlotte, North Carolina lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars, then insured them against fire, among other things. Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars and without yet having made even his first premium payment on the policy the lawyer filed claim against the insurance company. In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost "in a series of small fires." The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason that the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion. The lawyer sued.. and WON!

(Stay with me.) delivering the ruling, the judge agreed with the insurance company that the claim was frivolous. The judge stated nevertheless, that the lawyer "held a policy from the company which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable and also guaranteed that it would insure them against fire, without defining what is considered to be unacceptable fire" and was obligated to pay the claim. Rather than endure lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000 to the lawyer for his loss of the cigars lost in the "fires".

NOW FOR THE BEST PART... After the lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company had him arrested on 24 counts of ARSON!!! With his own insurance claim and testimony from the previous case being used against him, the lawyer was convicted of intentionally burning his insured property and was sentenced to 24 months in jail and a $24,000 fine. This is a true story and was the First Place winner in the recent Criminal Lawyers Award Contest.

ONLY IN AMERICA! NO WONDER THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES THINK WE'RE NUTS...

2006-08-25T07:15:00.000-07:00

Daaaaddddddiiiiieee…..The toilet water is BLUE!!!!!

Yes, that would be my five year old Tilt Daughter. Yes she is spazzing over the new Vanish thingy’s that Tilt Wife put in the potties yesterday. It was actually extremely funny. Like most five year olds, mine has established routines, mess with the routines, the Tilt House because pure chaos. Trying to convince the five year old that it was okay to do her business in the blue water used every negotiating skill tactic that I have learned in over 20 years of selling. It got me thinking, about change.

Every poker book, article, blog, rant, or whatever, will usually address this. Today I follow the herd.

There is a guy we play with in the PL trenches on Full Tilt, he is a very solid poker player, and has like 5 million hand histories in his poker tracker database. One of the things that he will always say about me is how unpredictable I am, and it is difficult to put me on a hand. Other players would probably agree, I made 2 pair last night with K3 not even soooooted, but got flushed at the end, made a boat with 89o and trashed two players. I think you must shift your game to the environment you are in. Tilt wife regularly destroys the Omaha Hi LO tourneys on PP; she even switched to my account name to see if playing as a male would change anything (more on that, in her post). To a poker player being predictable is death, having a routine, gives off tells, and it will nail you in the end.

Accept that the potty has blue water sometimes, shift gears, and have fun. It’s more fun to win with 64 sooooooooted (a favorite hand out our continental home game) than with aces.

Thanks for reading, comments are welcome

2006-08-24T12:50:00.000-07:00

Shit…I knew better…Shit…I still did it.

You know if you light that match and stick you finger on it…it’s gonna be hot. You know that if you throw a rock at that wasp nest they are going to come after your ass, and sting the beejebus out of you. You know if you pick that scab, it will be bleed. So what, maybe that WON”T happen this time.

Yeah, and maybe I’ll win the freaking lottery too.

Maybe…just Maybe, if I type it 80 million more times, and bore the three readers I have to tears, and run them off, I will get it straight in my head…you must have the correct mindset and attitude to play poker. If you are in a pissy mood, don’t play, watch Blade kick the ever living shit out of a blood sucking vampire, take a sleeping pill and move on.

Yeah right, so I get on, my PL trench table, and proceed to turn $4 into $20. Woohooo!!! I am the table god; do not mess with me, except someone forgot to read the sign. Enter shark avatar – Anybody got a net? Enter hyper aggressive I’ll raise ya with anything Donkey (same guy) enter sooooted AK – I should just fold these, I win more with soooted 6-4 (stupid poker books, I’m gonna burn ya for heat in the winter) Enter flop from hell (freakin dealer, this site is rigged!!!) QQ10 rainbow, and this guy raising my continuation bet. Too much aggression, time to fold...I’ll catch this idiot soon enough. Play a few more pots, but I am too weak and cold decked and now down to $8. Oops. After trading insults with him, he leaves, apparently I was able to put him on tilt (it seemed like a good plan)….but he left. This REALLY improves my bad mood.

Still doubled up, but not as much, thank god I stayed off the NL tables, I’d be signing a second mortgage today, or auctioning of a tiltchild….wonder if someone would actually buy one???

Moral of the story, if ya can’t focus, ya shouldn’t play.

Thanks for reading, comments are welcome.

2006-08-23T09:01:00.000-07:00

I think that girl is a guy…

If you read this blog then you know that I primarily play on Full Tilt, TiltWife and I play with the same group of friends, pretty much every night, in what one of the players describes as,” The home game that spans across the continent”. He’s right, and it is funny. We merrily chat away most of us plying two table and chatting on the home game one, our group has about 6-8 player pretty consistently, and I am always amazed at the different types of people that land in the empty seats. Some people get intimidated by all of us chatting in the window, and run for the hills. One guy stated that we might be colluding and trying to take his money…it’s a nickel and dime table, and PL besides, yes we are all there to take YOUR money, sigh. Where do these people come from?

One person sat down last night, and it was a female avatar, but….they seemed to act, talk, and play like a male. I read an article about those huge online games like world of warcraft that had some statistics about men playing women online, and it got me thinking? Would there be an edge to gain by playing as a different gender online? This person pretty much blew their cover by stating, “I am playing 5 tables and surfing pr0n.” I could be wrong, and Tilt Wife will be the first one to tell you that my radar is lousy, but this sent alarm bells ringing even in a redneck like me.

I did feel slightly bad for this person, since every time they got a huge over pair AA KK QQ, it was crushed by someone that made a set, my last hand on a NL table it was KK vs. TT (me) and I got a ten on the flop. Mamma said there’d be days like these, glad I wasn’t me.

Poker is going well, I have had some pretty decent success at the NL table at the .10 .25 range, and the PL table has it usual variance. That’s poker, what can you do?

Thanks for reading, comments are welcome.

2006-08-22T14:31:00.000-07:00

Inflating soapbox…..proper PSI achieved…standing on soapbox…Begin psychotic ranting and raving in ….3…. .2…. 1

Its that time of year again….Buying the “right” school clothes, the must have brands, forever disappointing your children because all their friends have on and they don’t…blah.blah..blah…this is not the rant.

TiltSon likes football, this was okay when we watched it together in the living room…This was even okay in middle school, they were not as obsessed as high school. This is not the rant either.

Enter the rant: Why is it, that the parents of the child are expected to happily torture their friends and colleagues by selling some useless piece of worthless crap for some insane over-bloated price to support the school? I sell for a living,I enjoy selling what I sell. I did not sign up to sell cookie dough, engraved toilet paper, monogrammed wrapping paper and $100 candles that you could buy in Walmart for $5, in order to support football, or band, or whatever. The last time I looked at my paycheck, seems a hefty chunk went to taxes, just like I paid property taxes, gas taxes, tobacco taxes, phone taxes, I picked my nose in public taxes, and just about every frigging thing they can tax, I have paid. It has been my understanding…that this money would be allocated for education, sports, music, whatever…where did it go? I realize that we need bridges in Alaska for the two people that drive to the airport once a year, let THEIR taxes pay for that. Let mine go to what it should…Is this selfish? Yes. Do I care? No.

If you are a coach, stop threatening your kids about the fundraising and making the parents feel obligated, or you might get the same answer TiltSon’s coach will get very soon: You work for me, if you have a problem, here is a quarter, and my cell phone number, leave my son out of it, you can talk to me. I will choose how much we participate, not you, not my son. These are extra curricular activities, not academics. Deal with being second in priority.

End rant

2006-08-21T09:57:00.000-07:00

IF YOU SEE THIS GUY RUN AWAY…..FAST!!!!

Name: StockWizard
Last known table: Hinson .25 .50 NL full tilt, Saturday Aug 19th, 2006
Hand selection: Any two will do!!!! Any Sooooted will raise, any two outer go all in!!!!
Known issues: He will win, and crush aces and kings repeatedly with miracle draws, will then gloat and insult you.
Moment to remember: email from full tilt revoking chat privileges…heh heh, talk trash now idiot.

This guy was amazing in the worst way, cracked aces with Q 3o, called the raise, and bet all the way down hit the 3 on the river for two pair, and then called TiltWife a bitch. Little boy…you are lucky this is the internet, I am from Texas, if you want to lose body parts insult my wife, of course, ya better pray I get there first, lol.

This made me think, because at this point, this game turned into “grudge” poker, and a mission to take this idiot down. It wasn’t worth it, and it sucked. Instead of enjoying my poker time, I hated it. I think next time, if a trash talking idiot shows up, I am either going to mute him or move, why ruin my night?

Is that realistic though, this guy was the worst I have ever seen in about 2 years of playing poker, and was able to outdraw very very successfully and consistently, it seemed. Can these sites be hacked? I guess they can, but you would think they would catch it, is he playing at low enough levels where it gets lost in the noise? Or is it selective perception (I think this is it).

I’d rather play and enjoy the game, a friendly relaxed atmosphere, that is the table I want to be on, if its not, I am leaving and moving.

As always thanks for reading and comments are always appreciated!

2006-08-17T08:13:00.000-07:00

Have not played poker…but had to get this out.

I was watching GSN high stakes poker last night (DVR rocks), I don’t usually watch commercials, but since I was feeling crappy I forgot to fast forward. I end up seeing the worst commercial I have ever seen for an online poker site called Ultimate bet.

Now I know that the current trend is to get celebrity poker players to be affiliated with these online sites, I have no problem with that, and can even see the logic in it. However, just because you are a professional poker player, doesn’t mean that you can act. Antonio Esfandiari (the magician) looks and acts like a complete moron in this ad. After seeing that commercial, if I had an account, at UB, I’d kill it, the screen name, the password, everything. UB you’re dead to me…sleep with the fishes.

Let’s be realistic here, there is a reason that there are professional actors that do commercials, there is a reason that professional (sometimes) lawyers practice law, and so on. Antonio’s ego and big head come through the commercial more than any believable acting ability. Having been in advertising for a long time, I remember the networks and the advertising agencies all crying over the death of the 30 second TV commercial since the DVR came into play, it’s a very simple formula guys, put crap like this on the air, you will lose the viewer, all you are doing is burning money. Way to go!!!!

Thanks for reading, and comments are welcome, I’ll be playing poker again soon once I beat this bird flu thing.

2006-08-15T06:05:00.000-07:00

Friends don’t let friends play above their limits….except for my insane degenerate gambling buddies!!!

Yep, got crack? I’m in. Got Coke? I’ll do a line with ya. Name your poison, I’m ALL in, because apparently….I did not listen to Nancy and learn how to “Just say, “NO””. I’m a sucker for peer pressure with a weak lack of confidence. Know what made me realize this? My buddy vgas, who gets me into more shit online than anyone, finds me in my nice little PL trench at nickel dime, and says, "hey come play this table, I bought in at $30 and I’m up to $90.” Should have turned off the chat and IM and just stir fried his little gecko ass in the trenches….Do I do that? Do I have any willpower at all? Of course not, why else would I be bitching? Off I go to this table from the ninth plane of hell, bane of my existence, buy in with $20, and fold 80 hands….This is great, not only am I playing above my comfort level (bad Tilt, baaaaad), but I am getting shit for cards, and I am sure as hell not doing a hammer bet at this beast.

Then comes pocket 7’s, in my LP…followed by a $2 raise in MP. Shit…..all right, I’ll donate, vgas you piece of Sh*t, I’m gonna get you, even though you are not in this hand…..and someone else calls, 3 players see the flop of Q 10 and a 4 I think, rainbow. All check to me…Hmmmmmm…..bet $3. EP caller folds, and then……the original raiser takes the entire 15 seconds to…..Fold. Heart pounding and the obligatory adrenaline rush later I win. Hey…..that play worked…..it almost gave me a coronary but it worked.

Still got off that table got back to nickel and dime land in PL and played a NL table….doubled up on the NL table, and lost 3 $4 buyins at the PL table. I’m gonna move up slowly, and try not to have that heart attack, that my degenerate gambling addict online buddies have side bets on.

Big shout out to TiltWife…who took my last buy in at PL, Pocket 2’s versus Pocket 10’s she makes a boat with her pocket 2’s to destroy my 10’s….The worse part of the whole disaster? She laughed at me for about an hour afterwards….Love ya TiltWife.

Thanks for reading and comments are always welcome

2006-08-14T11:44:00.000-07:00

Another Father/Son Football outing = Another TiltWife post

I have been finding myself playing Omaha Hi-Lo more often than NL Hold-Em. I think it is because I enjoy the whole “math” concept and trapping the morons on PP who think the deck certainly has another 2 in it that will drop. I typically play one or two sit-no-go tourneys a day and find myself winning or placing most of the time. Like most tourneys on PP you have to wait out the first 6 or seven hands while the ultra aggressive morons bleed their stacks before you start your own engine. It is always amazing to me how the same characters come in each night, guns blazing, only to bust out in 10 minutes. To help me keep patient and play my “A” game I tend to play on a small cash Omaha table during the tourney. It helps me to focus and to not get bored and get to big for my britches.

Because I am usually playing a tourney and the cash game at the same time I tend to keep my play very tight on the cash table – not wanting to get involved in case I am in “take down moron PP mode” on the tourney. Which is why the following hand surprised me on a .20/.40 PL Omaha Hi-Lo:

UTG – limps in for blind amount (.20)
2nd position – FOLDS
3rd position – FOLDS
4th position – limps
5th position – limps
6th position – limps
7th position (button) me – Looks down to see AceC, AceS, KingC, 2S. Exellent raising hand with all the limpers. I raise to the max pot.
LB – FOLDS
BB – Calls
All else fold with the exception of 5th position who also calls.
FLOP is JackC, JackS, ADiamond
SWEET – I have Aces over Jacks on my little sailing boat. No possible low on this hand so I know milking this hand would not be beneficial.
BB – checks
5th position – bets out .10 (typical play for this person – calls any raise if they can lead out with the first bet).
Me (button) – I know that the BB has a hand because he had been folding to raises pre-flop unless he had a good starting hand and he isn’t a blind protector. I hoped he had a Jack. I raised to ½ the pot to see what he would do.
BB – He calls. (Hmmmm…..I hope he just didn’t flop quads on me. – is that a small amount of bile accumulating at the bottom of my throat?)
5th position – FOLDS.
TURN = King D
BB – checks
Me (button) – Well, if he has Kings then that just improved his hand, but mine is still better. I bet the pot.
BB – Calls (Uhhhhh…..man-o-man, this guy has got to have Quad Jacks. Boy is TiltPirate going to be pissed that I got married to this hand)
RIVER – KING H
BB – Checks
Me (button). Well I know he doesn’t have Quad Kings because I have a King. If he has Quad Jacks then I have to pay him off. I look one more time to see if there is anything I’m not seeing (Royal or low str8 flush). No, nothing that would be scary, scary unless he has those other two jacks. Oh well, it’s only money and if he’s got me, he’s got me. There’s a fresh bottle of tequila in the pantry so I bet the pot.
BB – Calls. He had Pocket Queens, the 4C, and the lone AceH. I rake in the whole pot and try to start CPR on myself.

WHAT??? I almost had complete heart failure because you’re only another PP moron who wouldn’t fold? I can almost (almost) see calling after the flop. But after the King on the turn, certainly you know that you are drawing dead? Right, right?

It’s not like I either one of us had just sat down – we had both been here for at least 45 minutes so he certainly would have had enough time to rate my pre-flop play. (Which, by the way – this was my first pre-flop raise on this table for this session).

Now I have to change my notes on him from TA (tight/aggressive) to CPPM (complete party poker moron).

Nothing was said – no “nh”, no explanation for his bonehead calls. He stayed for two more hands and then just quietly left. I’m hoping he had a full bottle of tequila in the pantry too.

2006-08-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

Is it possible to be too aggressive in poker?

I had an interesting discussion last night with one of my online poker buddies, the primary point was,” Is there a time when someone can be too aggressive in poker?”

We see it on TV all the time, the person with the worst hand wins a pot simply by being aggressive….sure, the reason we see that hand on TV is because…. it makes great TV. The problem with that is that there is a difference between “Hollywood” (not the website) or TV poker. We all know this because we are smart know it all bloggers.

I have changed my game a little of late, to where I am noticing actual table position and hopping around a table to make sure that I get optimum position, I have improved my hand selection for the most part, still have to play sooooted 6-4 and 8-10, but more for sentiment then anything else, and it has been helping. My bankroll is heading back up, instead of down.

The most important part is that I have been folding to aggression, unless I have the immortal nuts, the best part of this is that after folding so long to the aggressive players, I usually end up stacking them, because they think they can get me too fold by aggressive play. Not sure if this is a great strategy since I have only been doing it for about 2 weeks, but its working and I’ll keep ya updated.

Meanwhile, Tilt Son has started football, I was up at 4:50 am this morning, this whole responsible parent thing sucks…..a lot.

Thanks for reading, and comments are always appreciated.

2006-08-10T09:33:00.000-07:00

Is it bad to double up on a friend?

Poker has been described as a battle and a war; you can win the battle but still lose the war. I think that is what I have been doing lately, winning the battle, but losing the war. I changed that though and have stopped the maniac play that was fun, but catching up with me, tightened up the hand selections, and folding to overt aggression.

I have also been massively talking shit to my buddy vgasshawn, which is great fun; the bad part is that he is a good player and tough to trap. After finishing freelancer last night, yes the galaxy is safe once again, thanks to Tiltspacepirate, woohooo!!!!! I logged on to full tilt to join our nightly game, and attempt to crush vgas. Except we missed each other pretty much, and I stacked one of my other friends. I had pocket Aces she had pocket kings, oh well, she gotten me many times.

And then out came Tiltwife swinging……Isn’t there a law about your wife re-raising your monster raise? There should be…..

Thanks for reading, comments are always welcome

2006-08-09T14:43:00.000-07:00

Hey!!! I won last night….When does the meteor hit?

Like that NickelBack Song, “Something’s gotta go wrong, cause I feel way too damn good.”

Saw waffles playing last night, way to go dude, maybe I can get out of trenches and play in that limit one day, not yet though.

Aces held up, KK got cracked but I folded to aggression, cracked a guy's aces with a str8 holding q-j, tough to complain, it went pretty well last night.

Makes me wonder though, I would say that the reason for my success last night was folding to aggression, being aggressive when I had the hand, feeling when I was in danger, and generally playing tight aggressive poker. Instead of trying to make something happen with lousy cards, I was patient.

I know that the books recommend this style of play, and that is what we should do, but I have to whine a bit. It’s easy to win with the str8’s, the nut flushes, and so on, but it sure as hell is a lot more fun to win with 64 sooooooted and cultivate the maniac image so you get paid off more often.

Maybe it’s the middle of the road approach that needs to happen, thoughts?

Thanks for reading, comments are always welcome.

2006-08-08T12:35:00.000-07:00

TiltWife’s first post

As I am taking teenage son to manly, man football outing, tonight’s entry comes from “TiltWife”:

Hi! I would like to introduce myself, I am whom my husband so fondly calls “TiltWife” in his blog entries. I would like to say that I am not a wife that tilts easily, mainly because I’ve got a pretty easy going husband that will eat whatever I cook.

I am very happy that my husband and I have found another thing in common, our love for poker. He has been playing for much longer than I, but I have really picked up the concept of “poker” instead of “cards” much to fast for him to ever put me on a hand.

I am a math person by nature (it’s what I do all day) and I am a mother of a teenage son and a preschooler. Needless to say, I can calculate quickly in my head plus I am VERY good at knowing when someone is lying. This has caused me to get into trouble a lot. Mostly because I am not allowed to play at the very “male” home game that is run by one of my husband’s co-workers any more. It seems that they do not like it when a “giiiiiirrrrlll” bluffs them out of a pot or when she keeps calling your incredibly large bets with middle pair because she can see the vein popping in your neck and she tells you so. I have taken my fair share of poker butt whippings trying to bluff so it is hard for me to understand why some men (and I use that term loosely) get so uptight when a woman sits down at the table. We women have been lying to the male population since the beginning of time – “I’m not sure where the remote is” or “The kids ate the last of your Oreos that you had hidden at the bottom of the pantry” or “I have a headache”. (The last one has NEVER been used in our house, LOL). Why do you think we can’t bluff at the poker table too? Isn’t bluffing part of poker? Isn’t poker gambling? Can’t you win with any two cards? That’s what all the male poker commentators say all the time and what every poker book says that I have read.

If you find yourself being on of those small minded kind of guys who gets offended when a woman sits at the table and wins, then you better find a new hobby, passion, career. Because we ladies are here to stay. We invaded your voting rights, we drink your beer, we steal your sweats (and they look better on us) and we aren’t going anywhere. Especially if you still have chips on the table.

So go ahead, raise my blind. I’ll take it, but I’ll remember. And TiltHusband calls my memory the “MEMORY OF DEATH”. But just know, if I raise you’re blind you are better to fold. Play poker with me, not “cards” and certainly not “bully” because trust me sweetheart, mine are much bigger.

2006-08-08T07:50:00.000-07:00

Ummm…..There seems to be a difference between PL and NL.

This became glaringly obvious last night as I spewed chips in both games. The fishy PL games I play on Full tilt are “loose” with 4-6 players seeing the flop easily. The tight NL game I ended up on had 2-3 players seeing the flop…..maybe. After bouncing my head off the brick wall a few times (I’m not that quick, thank god I play micro limits), and after I lost a buy in, I had a realization…..wait for it…..this is going to be good…..These are 2 different games.

Wow….Very profound, Eh?

These games require two different strategies, and it may be a bad idea to multi table playing 2 different games that require 2 different styles. Okay…..now what? I need to multi table at PL or NL, but not mix them.

Need to play the environment here to, NL is definitely fishy, but with less players hitting the flop, need to tighten up hand selection.

This might work or I may need to “suck it up and reload” to quote my favorite Villain.

Thanks for reading, and comments are always welcome

2006-08-07T10:51:00.000-07:00

Aye laddie, I come from the clan of Tilty McTilt…

Shoot the voodoo doll, draw the spell in salt, life was set to be on Tilt this weekend, and nothing was going to stop it.

TiltWife and I play on Full tilt (yes the name is appropriate) we tend to play nickel dime PL hold’em. We’re not talking life changing money here folks. Enter Tight-I-know-how -to-play-better-than-you-because-I-read-Phil-Helmuths-book-odds-spouting moron (or target).

We have some regular players out there that we play with, it’s a party table, and we drink, curse ancestries, and generally have a good time. We had moved our regular group to a different table, but that is a different blog entry (saving material, for the inevitable writers’ block). This guy butter somethingorother follows us. He started out friendly and was content to complain about his blind being raised repeatedly (heh heh, thanks target) so I started raising his blinds, often. Then he raised TiltWife’s blind. This is bad…very bad, and usually results in a horrific suckout, which after the smoke and screaming clears, TiltWife simply states, “don’t raise my blind, expletive.” Heh heh, he raises, she re-raises, and he calls. His pocket queens end up chopping a Broadway str8 that my wife made on the turn, and he filled in on the river. Chopped pot, enter Tiltwife comment, “don’t raise my blind asshole.”

This guy goes nuts. He completely loses his mind, how could she re-raise, etc. TiltWife begins questioning his manhood, intelligence, and anything else she can question (see why I fell in love with this lady?). The absolute most hysterical line that he typed in this was,”Five bucks may not be much to you people, but it is a lot to me.” Now that the entire table is after this guy, (yes most of the people that find there way to our table are aggressive shit talking maniacs) he shuts down his chat, and ignores us. Then his friends start in, like this idiot has some entourage. So now, instead of at least arguing with some asshole on the table that I can get chips from, since he is on tilt, I am now arguing with observers that won’t shut up or sit down and donate.

Sunday, it was time to fix computer that TiltSon downloaded some very bad malware on. Take off SP2 off XP, backup everything to burned CD, and begin re- install….updates…..six hours later…..XP is installed and fully updated, tonight Office goes on. I hate computers, fire up the laptop, and time for Poker in the La Z Boy. Enter online poker maniac buddy villain….”Tilt, Tilt come play this 50k satellite tourney thingy with me!!!!” Says Villain-Buddy…. “Okay” says dumb Tilt redneck. Get in this thing, it’s a maniac free for all, it’s worse than play poker and more frustrating…”Why am I here?” Hour and a half later I re-raise all in to this gecko that has been stealing my blinds all night, AQo (mine) to his 10 10….shit, I hate AQ and AJ I lose more money with those hands….I’m out of course 52 out of 180 maybe

Go to cash tables, proceed to bleed chips and lose $30 and go broke to my buddy villain…..his best quote.” Suck it up and reload.” I’m reloading ya bastard….but it’s the shotgun that’s getting reloaded not chips.

As always, Thanks for reading comments and thoughts are always appreciated.

2006-08-04T11:15:00.000-07:00

Warning!!!! Actual Poker talk ahead….I actually doubled up in a session.

I finished blasting space fools last night to oblivion and decided to crawl back on that bull called poker, I was a little nervous from all of the abuse that I have taken in the last two weeks, but I need to get ready for degenerate action filed weekend.

The short story is, this tight aggressive guy to my right was bluffing into the wrong pot and out of position. I am holding 89 sooooooted, he has j-10 o. 3 players limp in, flop comes QQ10, rainbow. Hmmmmm I am last, everyone checks to me….Bet half the pot, TAG calls me. Turn is a J giving me the str8, He bets, I raise all in he calls. His 2 pair does not improve (thank you poker gods, we even now?) and I double up.

So that’s what that feels like, I’d forgotten.

A little housekeeping here, thanks to everyone that has stopped by, I really appreciate it, it is nice to know that my ranting and raving entertains.

As always, Thanks for reading comments and thoughts are always appreciated.

2006-08-04T07:35:00.000-07:00

Careful in the tank, this fish fought back!!!!!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=399046&in_page_id=1770&in_a_source=

This poor guy really got caught by the fish!!! Guess our sport of choice is not as dangerous

2006-08-03T08:18:00.000-07:00

Tooooo Infinity and Beyond!!!!! Yes I’m a space pirate….sort of.

Wayyyyyyy back a long time ago, Microsoft came out with this game called Freelancer, which was a spin-off of a game called privateer….this game is VERY VERY addictive. Worse than meth, heroin, coke, or even poker. Once you start playing this beast, you are sucked in, and don’t want to eat sleep or move as you point and shoot. The most difficult part of this game is to lose the joystick, and use a mouse. They only way this worked out on my fancy schmancy laptop (thanks dell and Amex rewards) was to have mouse envy over the wireless mouse I got TiltWife for her birthday. After drooling and making very subtle comments of “wow, that’s a cool mouse can I borrow it?” I have my own. I have been playing this stupid game for the last 3 days, can’t sleep, can’t breathe, and am ready to launch my cool space ship, and point and shoot at everybody. Is there poker somewhere in this post? Nope, because I have not been playing it that much, but I will this weekend, I will enter into a few of those HUGE tourneys again, and one of those mansion thingy’s. Just needed a break.

This game was collecting dust since in my conspiracy minded redneck brain (there is always a conspiracy, we just may not discover it), I have decided that it’s the gaming industry’s fault that we have to upgrade our computers every six months. Let me take a moment to inflate my portable soapbox so that I can bellow properly……….

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Begin ranting and raving like a mad lunatic:
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Why is it that in order to play some stupid game that we have to shell out $50, we have to upgrade to a newer video card with more thingy’s on it, that cost 200 times more than the stooooooopid game in the first place, then we need a better processor, and oh yeah, our hard drive sucks, put it simply a $50 stupid game, will cost us 2k to play…..ummmm where do I sign up? Now we don’t only have to buy the $50 software game, the 3k computer, but we have to pay $50 a month to play it online? This game that we are playing for entertainment is costing us $3600 per year…. If that isn’t a conspiracy then, I do not what else it could be.

Deflating portable soapbox, breathing oxygen, a bit dizzy from ranting and raving

End Speech
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So like, once I finish this stupid addicting expensive game, I’ll be back at the tables…Until then….TOOO INFINTY AND BEYOND!!!!!!!!

As always, Thanks for reading comments and thoughts are always appreciated.

2006-08-02T09:22:00.000-07:00

So….once in a while you get cards that connect and win…Right?

I think that I am experiencing a downswing, it certainly feels like one; either that or I have a karma debt I was previously unaware of and the time has come to pay up. I won’t bore my two readers with the details, but nothing is holding up. Aces high kicker, should just fold, sets…why bother, boats…just check and call. Quads, don’t hold em, fold em.
Okay had to get some details out, sorry. There is a brutal reality here, you may hold pocket aces, (just fold and avoid the humiliation of J7o hitting a straight…with just the 7, and have that idiot, call you the bad player). You still have to survive your opponents’ cards randomly connecting with the cards that the dealer is flinging down. In the long run you’ll win, at least that what the book says, I’ll tell you what to do in the short run…..ready?

Drink heavily, I’m a single malt man myself...

As always, Thanks for reading comments and thoughts are always appreciated.

2006-08-01T12:32:00.000-07:00

OMG Time Warner is Blocking Internet gambling sites!!!!....Well not really

TiltWife played 2 tourneys last night crushed both…..Yes I am jealous, she been playing poker a year less than me….But I am very proud of her, and I love to talk poker with her. Maybe if she wins a really big one I can become a stay at home degenerate gambler, one can dream…However, I digress.

Got ready to truly crush the nickel dime PL cash games last night on Full Tilt, I was ready, I was going to make them remember my name, there would be altars built to the legend that I would become….only to find that I could not login, the software would not connect, neither would party, bodog.com would not come up. OMG Time Warner has blocked these sites, or so I assumed. Does this mean we are about to get raided by the cops? What is going on?

Finally logged into 2+2, guess what, many people are experiencing this….hmmmm. Apparently no one know what is happening, and since its now WAY past my bedtime, time to go to bed, and figure out how I am going to get my degenerate gambling fix from now on. Does this mean I will have to lug myself to the (gasp!) casino that is 40 minutes away? Nope, not gonna do it, if I have to get some micro wave transmitter flux capacitor thing that’s what we are gonna do, I hope its shiny!!!

Guess what? TiltWife tried fulltilt this morning before leaving….everything is fine.

Rattttsss!!!! It was a good conspiracy while it lasted….

As always, Thanks for reading comments and thoughts are always appreciated.

2006-07-31T07:13:00.000-07:00

Blech…..Poker….

I played a few rounds yesterday, nothing really that wonderful, I think I wasn’t in the mood to play, and I wasn’t getting cards. When I am playing in this state of mind, I usually try to make something happen. The only thing that happens is I lose….a lot. So I tried a new strategy. Stop playing, do something else.

It was amazing, I achieved what I wanted to do, and that was to relax. It got me thinking, which is the point of this beast of a blog. Why play poker? What is the point? It is to relax? Is it to compete? I think this is more of an internal question, and something that TiltWife and I talk about all the time. We have dreams of crushing the World Poker Tour or World Series of Poker just like everyone. Playing poker for me is an interest or a hobby, and something I love to do in my spare time I wonder what would happen, if it was my job?

Would I still like it if I had to play it? I am not so sure, in fact, I think I wouldn’t. Take for example last night. Not in the mood, don’t want to play, don’t feel like grinding it out. I feel the same way about working on Monday, but it is work (that’s why it’s a four letter word). I saw an interesting segment on WSOP where they were talking to Nick Schulman, WPT winner at 22 ish. He said that he only focused on winning the tourney that he was in, and was not prepared for the attention that came with it. I understand this, which goes with just trying to win bigger and bigger tourneys. However, at some point, the question needs to be asked. Is poker the career that Nick wants? I hear stories all the time about people that turn their passion into their work, if it’s your passion, how do you escape it.

I have always believed in work to live, not live to work mindset. What do you do when your passion is your work?

As always, Thanks for reading comments and thoughts are always appreciated.

2006-07-30T05:47:00.000-07:00

Yep I'm at Full Tilt on fulltilt.com

First big tourney last night, max of 900 players allowed to play only 640 signed up, as the clock was ticking down, the number of registered players was going up like crazy, it was fun to watch. Tilt Wife tried to join me, but a gremlin attacked her laptop and delayed her to where she couldn't register. I finished 178 out of 640, really not a bad run for my first time. The reality is that I made a mistake, and booted myself out. There is no other way to look at this. $5.50 buy in (yes I know huge stakes, but better to make the mistakes at this level, they are cheaper) Top prize was about $750, 63 places paid. By the time the hour break hit, half the field was gone. I was stack average most of the time through the tourney, until the antes hit, I took a few hits, but I was doing okay.

Then came the problem hand, and it was truly a donktastic site to behold. Q9 soooooooted and diamonds no less. I was hypnotized like a redneck staring at a shiny bass boat, and to complicate matters, I was in early position and believed that my tight (obviously only in my mind) table image would allow to swoop in like an eagle and steal the blinds and antes worth about 25% percent of my stack. Heh heh it was a good dream, while it lasted.

Needless to say I ran into AQ sooooted of clubs in late position, and lost.

These are the mistakes that I think I made:

1. I was shortstacked - should have waited for a better hand, and just slogged through the blinds and antes, BB was 2 seats away from me.

2. Hypnotized by soooooted....This one will be tough to battle, I am a redneck and get hypnotized easily by shiny objects.

3. I may have been shortstacked but I still could have survived about 10-12 orbits at the current level, this was not a good spot to push.

4. I raised too much, the pot was at 550, I raised to 1500, committing half my stack and no where to go, when I was reraised.

All in all a good learning experience, and one I will continue.

I will post this goal now for all of my readership to see (all 2 of you, and one is Tilt Wife)

I will not stop entering these tourneys, until I win first in one, and I will not increase my levels until I have won 5 tourneys at this level.

So shall has it been typed, so shall it be done.....maybe?

Thanks for reading, comments and thoughts are much appreciated .

2006-07-29T22:18:00.000-07:00

Full Tilt tourney report

My first huge Tourney 178 out of 640...more to follow, going to bed

2006-07-29T06:07:00.000-07:00

Poker Thoughts and rambling galore

Played a little last night, it's intimidating to read some of the other poker players out there and the amount of money they risk. At the moment I play nickel dime PL on Full Tilt, I figured this was the least expensive way to work out leaks in my game, and to work on not tilting (it's why it's in the name). There was this one guy at the table that was weak tight obnoxious, this is the type of guy that never tires of telling the table what a wonderful player he is, what wonderful plays he makes, has the nuts, raises, and proclaims "I never bluff". Spare me from Rocky morons that play well, so I can't take their money. He didn't get much of mine either, but in my early days, this yakking drivel, would have made me play any two cards just trying to suckout and destroy him......Expensive way to play, and losing way to play. Bad Tilt, bad.

I read a post on (http://highonpoker.blogspot.com) High on Poker about some difficulty in life that is making him poker tilt. I left a comment over there, but I would like to discuss a little more in depth here.

Its been said many times and many ways that poker is much like life, ups down, and yada yada. I think that life can interfere with poker if you let it and the reverse is true also. I also think that playing poker well is directly related to comfort level. If life is in the way, your comfort level is down, and with the lack of focus, you will not notice the subtle nuances that give you the read you need to have. Thus a session that leaves you stuck and tilting. I was playing last night with a group that I often play with, the bad thing is that they are a good group of poker players, and tough to beat, but I was comfortable playing, I know their playing patterns, so I could type my first post, work on this beast (is it ever finished?) and satisfy my degenerate action cravings. I am a lucky degenerate in that TiltWife plays online tourneys (kills them while I drool in jealousy), plays cash games with me, and loves to talk poker with me. Lucky TiltPirate, and I am very...very grateful about it.

Whew!!!! Long rambling post this morning, do they get shorter? Or am I that guy at the table that can't shut up?

2006-07-28T19:58:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my new blog of Poker, life, and BS. I have been playing poker for about two years, live and & online, and what I have learned is that I don't know anything about this game. I am not going to post silly bad beat stories, or "OMG if I had only called I would have made quads with the 2-5 soooooted". Heh, why bother, we all have those stories and tales of defeat, and complete destruction of our enemies. I want to provide a forum to let out my frustration, possibly a reasonable discussion with a few unreasonable ones thrown in for fun. Of course, what I envision this project to be may not be what it turns out, but I am willing to ride that ride, and we will cross that bridge when we get there.

I was thinking about what my first post should say, I want to be like the blogs I read: www.suckout.blogspot.com for one. A big shout to Scurvydog. It's an impressive blog, and one worth reading.

Now that you know about me a bit, I can get to the first post:

I have a background in sales, one of my more tired jokes is when I was born, I sold the doctor a new pair of gloves...ha...ha. The most successful sales people that I know, have many things in common, but one thing I am going to focus on is....Mirroring your clients.

This technique is used to make your client feel more at ease, ie if they have kids in sports, talk about your kids in sports, etc and etc. Comfortable client = increase in sales= boss shuts up until next month = tiltpirate happy. You can see the progression, I have to draw it in crayon for my bosses, but that is another topic, for another blog.

What does this have to do with poker? Easy, it is very horrible play to mirror the donktastic plays that go on online and in the live rooms. I read today in USA Today that pros play only 20 to 30 percent of their hands. I wish I knew that 3 years ago, I'd probably have a lot more money in my wallet. Fun to play the hammer, but expensive, fun to play any sooooted cards, but costly when they lose. I watch people play and win hands that I lose with, and wonder what karma debt I owe. I think I played better poker and won more when I knew less, however, that is only my mind trying to put a pattern to the chaos that is poker.

Goal for me: ABC poker may be boring, but its what increases the bankroll, I want to start playing these larger online tourneys, abc poker with a bit of gamble may get me there, we'll see.