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Holdem last night was like my flight home Sunday.

10-Jun-08

Storm from above (by Jim B L)

Turbulent! We even had to land at a different airport, refuel and fly around the massive severe storm that prevented our first attempt at landing. The pilot tried to land but pulled up just before because of severe wind sheer. One person was so hysterical and afraid that she got off the plane when we landed in Fort Wayne, which is too bad because the flight after that went very well. The pilot said the storm was 50 miles long, had a 60,000 foot ceiling and 1 inch hail. It was freaky at times, but I thought the pilot used great judgement and we arrived perfectly safe.

Poker was quite the ride last night too, far less life threatening though. I’m playing 5NL now instead of 2NL, so the stacks are twice as large but I’m happy to say I haven’t let that deter me getting my money all-in. Now that isn’t to say that is always a good thing. LOL. Here is one of those not so good cases:

Poker Stars, $0.02/$0.05 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (CO): $5.53
BTN: $1.72
SB: $5.95
BB: $18.67
UTG: $9.46

Pre-Flop: K K dealt to Hero (CO)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $0.20, BTN raises to $1.72 and is All-In, SB folds, BB calls $1.67, Hero calls $1.52

Flop: ($5.18) 8 T 9 (3 Players - 1 is All-In)
BB bets $16.95 and is All-In, Hero calls $3.81 and is All-In

Turn: ($12.80) 9 (3 Players - 2 are All-In)

River: ($12.80) J (3 Players - 2 are All-In)

Results: $12.80 Pot ($0.60 Rake)
Hero showed K K (two pair, Kings and Nines) and LOST (-$5.53 NET)
BTN showed A K (a pair of Nines) and LOST (-$1.72 NET)
BB showed Q Q (a straight, Eight to Queen) and WON $12.20 (+$6.67 NET)

After pondering this hand with my brother today, I should have shoved it all-in preflop, and although I agree with that in this case I’m sure the hand plays out the same. Although I was rivered, I kept my cool and still made money by the end of the night. I played for about 3 hours and made $1.08, if that gives any indication as to how up and down the night was. I’m not complaining, I was happy to walk away up money.

Current bankroll: $112.89 | Move up a limit at: $200.00 | Started with: $2.00 from freeroll.

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Last day in San Antonio.

07-Jun-08

Waterfalls at Hemisfair Park, San Antonio

This photo is part of beautiful Hemisfair Park, home to the Tower of the Americas (photos of that soon). As you can see the park is full of small pools and waterfalls, it is a very peaceful and soothing park.

I can see why my wife was so excited to come back to San Antonio. I really don’t want to leave, but unfortunately our flight leaves about 7:00am Sunday morning. We’ve done a lot while here, but not nearly as much as we’d like, so I could see a full vacation to San Antonio being worth it someday. This will probably be my last post from San Antonio, then it’s back to reality.

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Remember The Alamo.

06-Jun-08

Remember The Alamo

I’m quickly finding out San Antonio is rich in history. Everyone has heard of the Alamo, but the Alamo takes on a whole new meaning when you actually get to walk the grounds where so many others stood their ground against impossible odds and gave their lives in a fight for freedom. As my wife said yesterday as we explored what is left of the Alamo, “I was never good at history so I don’t really like history, but to be in history is different and gives me the chills”. Such a true statement, being in the history makes it real, makes it all come together. I took a lot of photos but most just aren’t meeting my standards, I’m hoping to swing by one more time and get some better photos. The history in San Antonio doesn’t stop at he Alamo either, but that is for future posts.

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Day 2 in beautiful San Antonio.

04-Jun-08

Emily Morgan hotel - San Antonio (by Jim B L)In this photo is the Emily Morgan Hotel, where we are staying. It is a beautiful building, and my understanding is it was basically once a Medical / Doctors building (which I think are just fancy ways of saying it was a hospital). Either way, it is now a great looking hotel, and after just one night so far I’m very happy with our choice. My wife is into paranormal activities and has read the Emily Morgan is a great place to experience them, being the chances of encountering lost souls are high if this was once a hospital. Aside from that, the hotel is in a great location. You can see the Alamo from the hotel and it is literally about 20 steps across the street to the Alamo. I’ve walked around a good bit already and there is so much within walking distance. I’ve been taking loads of photos and hope I can post them semi-regularly while I am here. I don’t think playing holded online is going to happen though. I tried last night and the connection was so slow and unstable my hands were timing out and I was losing money without even being able to choose an action. Click the photo for larger sizes at my Flickr site. On a side note, I am looking for a good sports bar in downtown San Antonio to watch the Red Wings at.

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I’m in San Antonio on vacation.

03-Jun-08

My wife and I flew to San Antonio Tuesday at 9:00 AM. As usual, we had a hiccup while connecting in Chicago, we were stuck in the plane and on the runway for an hour and 35 minutes before take off, but we’re here and so far what I’ve seen is beautiful. My wife has a conference for a few days, I’m just tagging along so we can make a vacation out of it. We did the same thing in October 2007 when she had a conference in San Diego and that was awesome. We get back on Sunday and I don’t expect I’ll be playing much poker or writing blog updates, if any. I’ll leave you with a photo from our San Diego trip, of me being a dork, something I’m very good at.

Looking up skirt in San Diego

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First holdem session after going up a limit.

01-Jun-08

Played my first session after moving up to $0.02/$0.05 no limit holdem, all things considered I think it went well. I started out a bit apprehensive, just getting a feel for the flow, but it didn’t take me long to just play my game. I was afraid I might let the larger pot sizes and bets dictate my play, but that never happened. Play seemed very similar to $0.01/$0.02, but it was only one session. I still played 3 tables, still loaded the default for each table, which in this case was $6.00 instead of $3.00 at $0.01/$0.02. I made about $8.50, nothing earth shattering, but another small step of hopefully thousands in my poker journey. I know it’s just one session, I know how fast things can go south, but this is a good start at the new level.

Le Forgotten (by べンジャミン)

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Made my first goal, bankroll is at $100.

31-May-08

Not good cards (by Jim B L)

Around September of 2007 I won $2.00 in a freeroll on Pokerstars, last night my bankroll went over $100 without ever putting any of my own money in. It’s been a grind, but that $100 was my first goal, and now I will be moving up to $0.02/$0.05 no limit holdem. I’m a bit anxious, maybe even slightly nervous, but very much looking forward to the next challenge. My new goal will be to get my bankroll to $200 and then move up again. I plan on starting on that next goal tonight.

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Any reasons NOT to upgrade my Flickr account?

30-May-08

Approaching 200 photos, time to upgrade? (by Jim B L)

My free Flickr account is approaching 200 photos, and Flickr only displays your most recent 200 photos on free accounts. My understanding of this is the older photos still exist, like if I linked to them in a blog, but finding them on my Flickr pages or in my tags and sets won’t happen. I can’t say I’m fine with that. That’s just one of many reasons I’m considering upgrading though. I would really like the unlimited sets and collections for better organizing, as well as having access to stats and original files. Honestly, the unlimited uploads and storage isn’t a big deal, I’ve never come close to my 100 MB per month limit anyway. I’m taking a lot of vacation time in June for one trip to San Antonio to northern Michigan for a 5 day golf trip, so I’ll be taking loads of photos. Now might be the time to unleash my Flickr account, are there any reasons not to?

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All-in preflop with pocket Aces.

29-May-08

Ace sunk to an all time low (by ThunderChild the Magnificent)
I can’t think of a better hand to get all-in preflop with than Aces, except maybe A3 suited. You know where this is going, don’t you? So I get dealt AA and get a big bet in front of me, I think it was $0.84 if I remember correctly, which is almost a stupid preflop bet at $0.01/$0.02 no limit. I shove it all-in and they call, I had him covered by about a dollar. One spade comes on the flop and then they go runner-runner spades for their flush. To add insult to injury they left the table instantly. I made the right play so I didn’t fume for long, and I made a nice comeback to still make money, bringing my bankroll up to $94.04, only about $6.00 until I move up!

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RoundersBuzz - Digg-like site for Poker.

28-May-08

I love poker, so much I tend to find myself reading about it on the web. It might be a blog like mine, a website full of news and articles on strategy, or maybe a forum covering interesting hands and scenarios. Recently I came across a website that might make finding the best of the best easier. RoundersBuzz is a Digg-like site focused on poker. Now obviously it isn’t nearly as large as Digg, but thats why I am posting about it, to get a little more action over there. With a growth in users there will be a growth in the quantity and quality of poker information. Knowledge is power, check out RoundersBuzz.

Sponsored by JT Web Media

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