Ok, it's friday. I don't wanna pump it up too much but tonight shall be quite a busy one for Harrah's Cherokee. That's right, I'm still here. How could I not be? Including last night, I've had 6 winning days in a row. I just haven't had a loser yet. Last night was good for $455. It truely is like taking candy from a baby. Really, I need to stop reporting such good results from here. I don't need a bunch of G-vegas knuckle heads invading on my gold mine.
I just checked out of the Harrah's hotel after a complimentary night's stay and I have to tell you, I don't remember the rooms being so nice. And of course the best part was the price. Now I'm at Tribal Grounds Coffee sipping on a triple 1/2 moon moka. 1/2 moon refers to the medium, 16oz size. I love this coffee. It's almost perfect, and I can't tell you why it's not perfect, it's just that I think perfect is impossible.
I plan to chill here for a bit and play a few 18 man SNGs on Stars before I make my way back to the casino. I intend to play for a long while today and then I'll have to figure out where I'm sleeping tonight. I don't have a room and I'm trying not to fork over $100+ for one. If I do well I'll probably get a room, or perhaps I'll just drive back home, sleep, and then drive back up tomorrow. If that happens I'll definately get a room saturday night. As for sunday, well I discovered a little secret that should give me a decent chance at a free room at Harrah's that night. I'll let you know how that works out.
Though I still have a lot going on in life outside of poker and money, it feels good to be back on the grind. I'm not sure how long it will last, this has by no means been chosen as a long term proposition. But I can't say. For the moment, I'm trying to keep my mind off of things that have been eating me alive and I feel so relieved. If I think hard about those things, I'll go nuts. So, poker is my baby sitter, and as a bonus, I'm killing the game. As for tonight, I'm shooting for my biggest win yet. I plan to get some food in a bit and then get myself into a game.
Gl me.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
On Tribal Grounds
What day is it? Oh yea, tuesday. Last post I mentioned that I hadn't been home since thursday. Well, I still haven't been home. I've spent most of my time in Cherokee and I'm still here. I'm currently taking advantage of 3 free hotel stays. The offer was for an area hotel as opposed to the main Harra's hotel, and I've been shuffled back and forth between the Econo Lodge and the Best Western, but the rooms are clean and very nice.
I'm just continuing to play in the poker room and I haven't had a losing session yet. Since I started on thursday, my four days have finished with wins of $136, $44, $307, and $238. I really need it to continue moving in this direction. Sure, I got it in behind three times yesterday and pulled through, but that's all part of the game.
I am still undecided about the drive to Vegas but after checking my offers at Harrah's online, I realize that I have plenty of free room offers over the next month, so I really don't have to be in a hurry. Right now, the plan is to keep milking the teet of the Cherokee electro-poker room. There are some real fish to be had up here, and I'm grabbing my share.
I just found a coffee house in Cherokee by the way. It's called Tribal Grounds Coffee and I have to say, I'm impressed. It takes a lot to impress me these days and it hasn't happened in quite awhile. These guys roast their own beans, and they handle the espresso in a more traditional manner than the modern, Starbucks-esque, fully automatic machines. I like to see a barista grinding and tamping espresso by hand. I have experience in this field and I worked hard to perfect my techniques, and I recognize when others are striving for excellence. The menu is creative, and on the bottom line, my drink tastes great. I feel like a certain level of care is being taken to create a coffee just for me, and that is worth as much as flavor. It presents a certain feel of quality. Until the day I own a coffee house or at least live in a town with a similar house to this one, I'll likely always be a Starbucks customer, drinking their industrialised version of what should be a special coffee drink, individualy handmade, one by one. But at least now, when I'm in cherokee, I can enjoy what originally made me so passionate about coffee.
So now, I'll order a brewed coffee and head over to the poker room to do my noble work, relieving poker players and gamblers alike of there disposable cash. I intend to play hard today and after the best sleep I've had in weeks, I feel ready. I actually feel empowered by the coffee experience I just had as well. I can't wait to visit this place in winter. Wish me luck kids.
I'm just continuing to play in the poker room and I haven't had a losing session yet. Since I started on thursday, my four days have finished with wins of $136, $44, $307, and $238. I really need it to continue moving in this direction. Sure, I got it in behind three times yesterday and pulled through, but that's all part of the game.
I am still undecided about the drive to Vegas but after checking my offers at Harrah's online, I realize that I have plenty of free room offers over the next month, so I really don't have to be in a hurry. Right now, the plan is to keep milking the teet of the Cherokee electro-poker room. There are some real fish to be had up here, and I'm grabbing my share.
I just found a coffee house in Cherokee by the way. It's called Tribal Grounds Coffee and I have to say, I'm impressed. It takes a lot to impress me these days and it hasn't happened in quite awhile. These guys roast their own beans, and they handle the espresso in a more traditional manner than the modern, Starbucks-esque, fully automatic machines. I like to see a barista grinding and tamping espresso by hand. I have experience in this field and I worked hard to perfect my techniques, and I recognize when others are striving for excellence. The menu is creative, and on the bottom line, my drink tastes great. I feel like a certain level of care is being taken to create a coffee just for me, and that is worth as much as flavor. It presents a certain feel of quality. Until the day I own a coffee house or at least live in a town with a similar house to this one, I'll likely always be a Starbucks customer, drinking their industrialised version of what should be a special coffee drink, individualy handmade, one by one. But at least now, when I'm in cherokee, I can enjoy what originally made me so passionate about coffee.
So now, I'll order a brewed coffee and head over to the poker room to do my noble work, relieving poker players and gamblers alike of there disposable cash. I intend to play hard today and after the best sleep I've had in weeks, I feel ready. I actually feel empowered by the coffee experience I just had as well. I can't wait to visit this place in winter. Wish me luck kids.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
This is Now
Thank God, I have my car back. It's nothing special, mind you, but it's mine. I've been without it for several weeks now due to the need for $1200 in repairs. The thing has taken me everywhere since December of '03 including an 18 hour drive through an ice storm from Myrtle Beach to New York to see Maiden, as well as to Vegas and back. I've splept in it, and I've regained my sanity on numerous occasions while just speeding it along America's highways. It's only a base model Chevy Cavalier, but as I said, it's mine.
I picked her up thursday from the garage on Poinsette Highway in G-vegas. I drove it straight home, grabbed an already packed bag with a few day's worth of clothes and my laptop and off I went. Today is saturday and I haven't been home yet. I've slept in two different hotels in two different states and tonight will most likely be no different. And get this. Next week, I may just drive her back to Vegas to pick up the rest of my stuff from storage. If I do decide to make the 6 day trek, BadBlood will be in vegas from wednesday through sunday and we will definately hit a Steel Panther show.
So, where did I end up on thursday after hitting the road in TheTrooperMobile? I'm glad you asked. I decided to drive up the mountain to Cherokee to hit Harrah's electronic poker room. The state won't allow the casino to have cards, but thanks to the good folks at PokerTek Inc., they now have a poker room. I parked the car and walked directly to the room. I deposited $300 onto my players card and then loaded $100 onto a 1-2 NL table. I immediately began working, watching every player and listening to the things they said. As is my standard, I needed to know who knew who, who was a regular, who was a grinder, who was a dumb redneck gambler, who was up, who was down, etc. The buy-in is $100-$300 and there were stacks from $40 all the way up to $600.
I folded the first 5 or 6 hands and then on my first button I was dealt 77. Now, I bought in for only $100 for several reasons. One of those reason is so I could comfortably make this play. After several limpers, I limped from the button, and then the SB made a pure-silly raise to $6. Then the key to the hand took place. As expected, 4 players called before it got back to me. When the action reached me the first time around, the pot held $9, not nearly enough to try and take. But now, the second time around, the pot was up to $32, and my stack was $96. Had I called and saw the flop 6 ways and flopped my 8-1 set, then yes, I could have gotten a bigger pay-off. But I chose to make the obviously +EV shove and took the pot without a flop. I knew that no one would call, and if they did I was probably flipping at worst and with the dead money in the pot, shoving my small stack to increase it by 33% was by far the best play. I make the same play from early position with AK. I would prefer a raise to $12 and 3 calls so I can steal $48. The point is, I shove and give myself two ways to win the pot. If they all fold, I win. If one doesn't give me credit for a hand and calls, then lets flip with dead money in the pot. In the end, I win either way. That play is not so much about poker, but +EV gambling. There are times when I feel strongly that a guy has a monster and I don't make the play, and therin lies a little poker. But really, it's all about reaching out there and grabbing the free money.
A bit later, the button raised to $7 and I had limped early with 10s7s. I called as did several others. The flop dropped 10c9c7c. The board sucked, but I was in the mood to gamble and make my 2 pair be the winner. I checked and seat 9, who had proven himself inept, bet out $20. Seat 1, who had established himself as a grinder, called and told his buddy to his right that he was stuck in this hand and allowed the guy to peek over and see his cards. I watched this very closely and though I didn't know exactly what he had, I knew by his comment that he was none too happy about the fact that he was "stuck in the hand." I knew he liked the absolute strength of his hand, but I also realised he was affraid of the all important relative strength of his hand due to the suited, 6 way flop. So the action came to me and feeling totally unaffraid of seat 9 calling me, I used my image to demostrate a monster to seat 1. I shoved for $120.
Seat 9 took no time to call off his remaining $80 or so. But next came the moment of truth. The action was back to seat 1 and he appeared stricken with grief over the fact that he may have to fold his made hand. He then said aloud that he flopped a straight, but I knew he was gonna dump it. He was fairly solid and I had just check raised my whole stack and another guy snap-called. I knew that he knew that I hadn't played many hands. After about a minute, his hand was flung into the virtual muck.
The tables automatically turn up the cards when players are all-in and seat 9's cards revealed the Ac and a 9 for a pair and the nut flush draw. This gave him 9 clubs, 3 aces and two 9's to beat me. That's 14 outs which made me about 51%-49%. I faded and all the monies appeared directly in front of me.
A few hands later, the button raised to $10. He seemed to do this on his button frequently. I called from the SB with AQ and we saw the flop 5 ways. The pot was $50 when the flop came JT5. The action checked to the button and he made a dreadful mistake. He bet a measly $10. Why he didn't just announce to the world that he'd missed, I'll never know. So now, knowing that he most likely had shit, I still had 3 players behind me. The pot was $60 and it was $10 to me. Getting 6-1, I decide to call and if anyone else stayed, then I'd decide what to do on the next card. If anyone check-raised behind me, I'd fold, but if they all folded, then it'd just be me and the guy with nothing and the pot would be mine. I could also hit a 10-1 shot with a K for the nut straight.
The best case happened when the other 3 players folded. The turn brought another J to the board and I checked. The button then reiterated his declaration of having missed by betting $15 into the $70 pot. I decided to reveal my fake strength and rasied it up to $45. He called quickly and I figured the guy must have AK or something. The river came a 7 and I led out for $60 into the $160 pot and he frustratedly snap-folded. I win. Gimme all the money.
My stack had grown to about $380. Then I drew in a big pot and missed a straight and then I called off way to much money with top pair and found myself right back where I had begun the session at $100. I was pissed, but I wrote it off to having my head out of the game for too long and I grinded back up to $236 before feeling totally spent. I left the casino and slept in a Days Inn somewhere along I-40 in NC.
I haven't been home since I left early thursday afternoon. I did leave the mountain, but as I type this, I'm sitting in a Starbucks in Ashvelle, NC, on my way back up the mountain. The game is easy there. The players I encountered were not very creative and really didn't seem to know where they were. They basically just played cards. I ran quite a few bluffs in small pots and every single one worked making it known to me that my read is strong. My intention tonight is to pull together all the funds I can for my possible trip next week. I'd love to have a little stake to put in a few sessions in Vegas.
Lately, I have become emotionally exhausted. There's a lot going on in my head and in my heart. What tomorrow will bring, I do not know. But right now, I'm going to try to live tonight, and tonight only. I tend to drive myself crazy at times, I just need to clear my head and go into Harrah's and hurt some people's bankrolls. This is now. This is now.
This is now...
You pulled me up from the dream
Let's compare scars you and I
You are always on my mind
I will never leave you behind
I picked her up thursday from the garage on Poinsette Highway in G-vegas. I drove it straight home, grabbed an already packed bag with a few day's worth of clothes and my laptop and off I went. Today is saturday and I haven't been home yet. I've slept in two different hotels in two different states and tonight will most likely be no different. And get this. Next week, I may just drive her back to Vegas to pick up the rest of my stuff from storage. If I do decide to make the 6 day trek, BadBlood will be in vegas from wednesday through sunday and we will definately hit a Steel Panther show.
So, where did I end up on thursday after hitting the road in TheTrooperMobile? I'm glad you asked. I decided to drive up the mountain to Cherokee to hit Harrah's electronic poker room. The state won't allow the casino to have cards, but thanks to the good folks at PokerTek Inc., they now have a poker room. I parked the car and walked directly to the room. I deposited $300 onto my players card and then loaded $100 onto a 1-2 NL table. I immediately began working, watching every player and listening to the things they said. As is my standard, I needed to know who knew who, who was a regular, who was a grinder, who was a dumb redneck gambler, who was up, who was down, etc. The buy-in is $100-$300 and there were stacks from $40 all the way up to $600.
I folded the first 5 or 6 hands and then on my first button I was dealt 77. Now, I bought in for only $100 for several reasons. One of those reason is so I could comfortably make this play. After several limpers, I limped from the button, and then the SB made a pure-silly raise to $6. Then the key to the hand took place. As expected, 4 players called before it got back to me. When the action reached me the first time around, the pot held $9, not nearly enough to try and take. But now, the second time around, the pot was up to $32, and my stack was $96. Had I called and saw the flop 6 ways and flopped my 8-1 set, then yes, I could have gotten a bigger pay-off. But I chose to make the obviously +EV shove and took the pot without a flop. I knew that no one would call, and if they did I was probably flipping at worst and with the dead money in the pot, shoving my small stack to increase it by 33% was by far the best play. I make the same play from early position with AK. I would prefer a raise to $12 and 3 calls so I can steal $48. The point is, I shove and give myself two ways to win the pot. If they all fold, I win. If one doesn't give me credit for a hand and calls, then lets flip with dead money in the pot. In the end, I win either way. That play is not so much about poker, but +EV gambling. There are times when I feel strongly that a guy has a monster and I don't make the play, and therin lies a little poker. But really, it's all about reaching out there and grabbing the free money.
A bit later, the button raised to $7 and I had limped early with 10s7s. I called as did several others. The flop dropped 10c9c7c. The board sucked, but I was in the mood to gamble and make my 2 pair be the winner. I checked and seat 9, who had proven himself inept, bet out $20. Seat 1, who had established himself as a grinder, called and told his buddy to his right that he was stuck in this hand and allowed the guy to peek over and see his cards. I watched this very closely and though I didn't know exactly what he had, I knew by his comment that he was none too happy about the fact that he was "stuck in the hand." I knew he liked the absolute strength of his hand, but I also realised he was affraid of the all important relative strength of his hand due to the suited, 6 way flop. So the action came to me and feeling totally unaffraid of seat 9 calling me, I used my image to demostrate a monster to seat 1. I shoved for $120.
Seat 9 took no time to call off his remaining $80 or so. But next came the moment of truth. The action was back to seat 1 and he appeared stricken with grief over the fact that he may have to fold his made hand. He then said aloud that he flopped a straight, but I knew he was gonna dump it. He was fairly solid and I had just check raised my whole stack and another guy snap-called. I knew that he knew that I hadn't played many hands. After about a minute, his hand was flung into the virtual muck.
The tables automatically turn up the cards when players are all-in and seat 9's cards revealed the Ac and a 9 for a pair and the nut flush draw. This gave him 9 clubs, 3 aces and two 9's to beat me. That's 14 outs which made me about 51%-49%. I faded and all the monies appeared directly in front of me.
A few hands later, the button raised to $10. He seemed to do this on his button frequently. I called from the SB with AQ and we saw the flop 5 ways. The pot was $50 when the flop came JT5. The action checked to the button and he made a dreadful mistake. He bet a measly $10. Why he didn't just announce to the world that he'd missed, I'll never know. So now, knowing that he most likely had shit, I still had 3 players behind me. The pot was $60 and it was $10 to me. Getting 6-1, I decide to call and if anyone else stayed, then I'd decide what to do on the next card. If anyone check-raised behind me, I'd fold, but if they all folded, then it'd just be me and the guy with nothing and the pot would be mine. I could also hit a 10-1 shot with a K for the nut straight.
The best case happened when the other 3 players folded. The turn brought another J to the board and I checked. The button then reiterated his declaration of having missed by betting $15 into the $70 pot. I decided to reveal my fake strength and rasied it up to $45. He called quickly and I figured the guy must have AK or something. The river came a 7 and I led out for $60 into the $160 pot and he frustratedly snap-folded. I win. Gimme all the money.
My stack had grown to about $380. Then I drew in a big pot and missed a straight and then I called off way to much money with top pair and found myself right back where I had begun the session at $100. I was pissed, but I wrote it off to having my head out of the game for too long and I grinded back up to $236 before feeling totally spent. I left the casino and slept in a Days Inn somewhere along I-40 in NC.
I haven't been home since I left early thursday afternoon. I did leave the mountain, but as I type this, I'm sitting in a Starbucks in Ashvelle, NC, on my way back up the mountain. The game is easy there. The players I encountered were not very creative and really didn't seem to know where they were. They basically just played cards. I ran quite a few bluffs in small pots and every single one worked making it known to me that my read is strong. My intention tonight is to pull together all the funds I can for my possible trip next week. I'd love to have a little stake to put in a few sessions in Vegas.
Lately, I have become emotionally exhausted. There's a lot going on in my head and in my heart. What tomorrow will bring, I do not know. But right now, I'm going to try to live tonight, and tonight only. I tend to drive myself crazy at times, I just need to clear my head and go into Harrah's and hurt some people's bankrolls. This is now. This is now.
This is now...
You pulled me up from the dream
Let's compare scars you and I
You are always on my mind
I will never leave you behind
Monday, June 29, 2009
The Poker
Yo. It's 11:29am monday morning and I'm in an unlikely Starbucks. Who knows how I actually found myself here, but I am here, and I like it. I'm having today's first taste of the life that coffee breathes into me on a daily basis. I love it, but yesterday I got a little shaky and I'm beginning to wonder if I'm overdoing it. Then again, I could have been shaky for a number of reasons I wouldn't know about since I haven't seen a doctor in about 18 years. Perhaps soon I will go get checkd out. "That won't be neccessary Doc, I assure you my prostate is fine..."
I'll tell you what I need. Poker. I need about 4 days sitting around a poker table with a dimepiece (money, not a hot chic), preferably in Vegas, but anywhere I can find an above ground game. I just feel the need to multiply said dimepiece. I worry that my brain has been turned to mush during the last 3 months, but there's only one way to find out. I'm gonna work on it and get back to you.
For the time being, while I search for a job and what not, I'm grinding away at small stakes 18 man SNGs on Stars. It's definately a +EV situation, but I have no idea what my long term ROI would be. The thing is, even if it was a soaring 10%, then my expected value from each $6.50 SNG would only be $0.65. And therein lies the problem with low stakes SNGs, for me at least. I generally 4 table, and the average time to win one seems to be around the 45 minute range. Of course, my profit would come from every one that I play, not just the winners, so including the ones from which I bust out early, I'm not sure of the average time spent in each SNG. Anyway, if we were to estimate the time at 20 minutes per tourny and I keep 4 tables going, then I would be making $7.80 per hour. Hmmm, now that I think about it, that's not so bad for $6.50 SNGs. The real problem is that I'm estimating a lot here and I don't have nearly enough of these behind me to figure a reliable ROI figure. Whatever.
I'm not really being disciplined about grinding online. My mind is consumed by other things. But hopefully, soon I'll be a bit more settled and I can I'll be able to focus just a little more on bettering my game and my position in the world of poker. I've invested way to much time and effort to just cast it aside completely. I'm ok with the way it is now, I just feel like I want to hit a room and do work for a few days. Maybe I'll look into the newer West Virginia rooms. Could you imagine the dummies that must be waiting there for me?
Tonight I'm off to deal the Oreo game. I may end up at the Gemini after that, we'll just see. The night will be devoted to grinding out some money from somewhere, hopefully I won't have to knock over a liquor store on the way home. On second thought, I may do that anyway, fuck 'em.
I'll tell you what I need. Poker. I need about 4 days sitting around a poker table with a dimepiece (money, not a hot chic), preferably in Vegas, but anywhere I can find an above ground game. I just feel the need to multiply said dimepiece. I worry that my brain has been turned to mush during the last 3 months, but there's only one way to find out. I'm gonna work on it and get back to you.
For the time being, while I search for a job and what not, I'm grinding away at small stakes 18 man SNGs on Stars. It's definately a +EV situation, but I have no idea what my long term ROI would be. The thing is, even if it was a soaring 10%, then my expected value from each $6.50 SNG would only be $0.65. And therein lies the problem with low stakes SNGs, for me at least. I generally 4 table, and the average time to win one seems to be around the 45 minute range. Of course, my profit would come from every one that I play, not just the winners, so including the ones from which I bust out early, I'm not sure of the average time spent in each SNG. Anyway, if we were to estimate the time at 20 minutes per tourny and I keep 4 tables going, then I would be making $7.80 per hour. Hmmm, now that I think about it, that's not so bad for $6.50 SNGs. The real problem is that I'm estimating a lot here and I don't have nearly enough of these behind me to figure a reliable ROI figure. Whatever.
I'm not really being disciplined about grinding online. My mind is consumed by other things. But hopefully, soon I'll be a bit more settled and I can I'll be able to focus just a little more on bettering my game and my position in the world of poker. I've invested way to much time and effort to just cast it aside completely. I'm ok with the way it is now, I just feel like I want to hit a room and do work for a few days. Maybe I'll look into the newer West Virginia rooms. Could you imagine the dummies that must be waiting there for me?
Tonight I'm off to deal the Oreo game. I may end up at the Gemini after that, we'll just see. The night will be devoted to grinding out some money from somewhere, hopefully I won't have to knock over a liquor store on the way home. On second thought, I may do that anyway, fuck 'em.
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