Thursday

The weather has finally broken. It was very nice to get out and not feel like I was melting. I drove around with the windows down today and didn't turn on the air conditioner. Even though winter is right around the corner I am very happy to see the temps drop. I guess the next thing that will happen is the leaves will want to change color.

The big news for the day. I have been offered a job at Islands Casino. This will entail working as a poker dealer to start and then may have added duties added later on. The biggest part right now is the fact that I will be able to work at something that I find fun. I never thought I would have the chance to be a dealer since schooling is in Las Vegas or Seattle. Here the Manager of the poker room is going to get me started. The big hurtle will be passing the FBI background check. Lets hope everything will turn out alright.

Needless to say I am a little bit excited about this. Possibly starting next week. I have met some of the nicest people at this casino and they will be great to work with. At least they are down to earth and real. The job will be parttime so that helps with taking care of my parents. I am going to try and complete the Tax Service but will have to wait and see how the schedule looks.

Guess what is happening at our house the next few days? The roofing should be starting tomorrow sometime. This has been a long time coming.

Hope you have a good weekend.......I will......

Wednesday

I have been playing poker every day this week. I start out with the live game and then finish the day with 2 tournaments back to back.

Yesterday was not a good day for me. I got myself tilted and pushed with my last T$4500 and you know what? I didn't care. I was getting tired and basically was not getting any cards to go along with the 2 cards I had in my hand. Time to go home and take some time off.

Today I played the Live game and then one tournament. Drove myself home and the rest of the day was non poker related. Took my Dad over to see my Mom and then sat through my online Tax session. This year the Tax book is easier to read. Seems to make a little more sense to me. Did I just say that?

The roof on the house will be redone starting tomorrow. Off with the old shingles and on with the new. Hopefully everything will go alright.

I was reading a blog about having personal business cards. I decided what a great idea. This allows me to put my name out there and maybe network a little bit with my cards that really don't have much on them but my personal information.

I will be talking tomorrow with a person about a job. It would be fun to work in a field that you enjoy and its not a fulltime job. If it happens I will let you know what it is. If not then I keep plugging away working on the Tax class.

Have a fun day.....

Poker Monday

I got up early today and got myself ready to head out for the first day of Freeroll poker at Island Casino. Today the live cash game started at 9AM instead of 9:30 and I wanted to get there to see if we had any new players.

When I got into the poker room I noticed they put new table tops on each of the tables. Talk about slick. The cards and chips where just flying across the table. You had to be careful. We ended up with 6 players today. After having a good couple of weeks playing live at the $1-$6 level I am not having a good time right now. Got to figure out how to get this turned around.

The first Freeroll had a $200 house added. Played really well for a bit and then lost some hands and went out. That was the first one. I went over and played some more live cash and waited for the next freeroll to start. This one started with T$1500 and for $3 you could add T$1000. I started off really good and got from 30 players down to 20. The hand I should of played was two players going allin and I was sitting on AJ. Did I want to play for my tournament life with that hand. I decided with two players already allin I would fold. One turned up A4 and the other KQ. The flop came out with Ax4 with x on the turn and the J on the river. I could have taken out 2 players and had a monster of a stack. From that point on I was not getting the cards and finally went out with QJ ad got trip Jacks and the other player made trip Aces.

Overall it was a good session and will build from this. I will hopefully have some good news soon to share with everyone. I might have a new job. Got to keep low key about it for now. Not too high or not too low.

Our neighbor has been having a problem with mushrooms in his yard. I see him out in the yard digging through the grass to try and get rid of them. They are gone for the week and this is what I saw the other day.

I know he will not be happy when they get back home at the end of this week.

Need to do some studying with the taxes.

Have a nice day tomorrow......

Sunday

Today is one of those somber days. Where were you at on September 11, 2001? So many families lost loved ones. It is so sad to go back to the stories. So many kids as well growing up without their Dad or Mom. I wish all of the families peace today in their hearts.

I was so unsure about what I was going to do on Saturday. I had two tournaments and a cash game that could have taken my time. Instead what happened was I didn't sleep well Friday night and ended up not going to NorthernQuest this month. I didn't even go to Islands to play in the tournament that was by invite only. I felt that I was so tired that I took a small nap on the couch and didn't do a thing. I guess that answered all of the questions from Friday.

Now we are beginning a new week and it seems they just keep getting busier as the weeks go by. I will be studying for the Tax class and spending my mornings at the Island Casino playing the cash game and then at least the first tournament of the day.

The contractor came over yesterday and started working on our roof.

As you can see far right is what he was working on because we had lost a lot of shingles due to the wind. Time to get it repaired before winter. The part on the left is being taken care of this week and the front part will get a complete new roof. I will show you when it is complete.

I walked out to the car yesterday and noticed this from our neighbors garden and had to take a picture of it to show them.

It is so pretty and I noticed today it was already shriveling up. If you don't catch it the one or two days that it is open you will miss it for the year.

Today I am watering the back yard and will study chapter 4 in the Tax book. I will be going to a job fair tomorrow to meet some tax people from the company that owns the one I am taking my courses through. I believe you call this networking. Hopefully I can land a job with them or the one I am studying with.

Have a good week.....

Confusion

Here it is Friday and I feel sort of confused. What should I do this weekend?

I know I am going to Spokane and I was going there to play in the $3-$6 Limit Spread game. I have been playing at NorthernQuest in Spokane the last couple of months and have done fairly well.

This is the dilemma I am facing right now. I have been working real hard on my tournament play at Islands Casino. I cashed in the tournament yesterday and I cashed today as well. Am I on a roll and should I play in the tournament tomorrow morning with the $125 buyin or take the money and play the cash game like I was going to anyway? This is a hard decision for me.

I get to Spokane early and the cash game starts around noon. I will be sitting there about 3 hours by that time. If I get into the tournament I will start at 10 and that is sitting only about an hour. Now, the next part is where do I have the best opportunity to cash? I am doing well in tournaments at this time and I have been leaking money in the cash game. If I play the tournament can I get myself to the final table? This is a group of people I don't know since I play here in Tri-Cities.

I stopped by Mom's Assisted Living place and seen the flowers my sister gave my Mom over a month ago. They are still looking nice.

I am not sure what they are but they are nice. The Director has them in her office since one of the other residents likes to take flowers and put them in her room. At least someone can see them.

We are having a new roof put on our house this next week. In order to do that I had to close down my stock portfolio. I feel sad about this but then again it wasn't going anywhere fast. I would really prefer getting a motorhome and travelling a little bit. Change my outlook on life.

Have a good weekend and I will let you know my decision......

Playing the Game

I have been playing the game the last couple of days. I get up and get myself ready and drive to the Island Casino. When you walk into the
casino you better have your sunglasses off. The lights are low except
over the tables.

I have gotten so I like a certain seat at the table when I sit down. I
like to be able to see the action and I usually don't like being on the button right off the bat. We get about 5 or 6 people in the morning who like to come in and have their coffee and play some $1-$6 Limit Spread
and not have to worry about putting in a big buyin. In fact you can
even have breakfast comped by playing in the game. I haven't tried that yet.
I usually eat before I take off in the morning.

We play for about an hour and we sit around and talk. Basically about nothing but it is fun trying to get the Monte Carlos during the hour.
We try to crack the aces if we can and we work on getting the high hand
for the morning time. This gets us ready for the Tournament that gets started right after we get done.

On this day I was doing well. I even got to the final table and this was what my chip stack looked like.

I went out in 8th place this day with my two pair loosing to a full house. Just another day playing the game I enjoy.

Took a drive north of town the other evening and this is what I saw.

It really looks like it is coming up out of the sand. It is close to the river where they take the sub nuclear power plants to their final resting spots. This thing is huge. Can you imagine what the rest of the submarine looks like? I would love to get inside the tower and look around.

Have a good day.....

Thursday Poker

This morning I played the $1-$6 Limit Spread at Islands. It was nice to sit down and play the game and not be so concerned about the bankroll. I have been moving upwards with the BR this past week. And yes, it has been growing as well.

I have always kept books about where I am at with each game that I play. Being at Islands right now and playing with this group of players has been fun and we enjoy the hour we just sit and play the cash game. I think we enjoy trying to crack the best hand more than just working for the best hand.

Now for me even though I do enjoy what I am doing I must say I am serious
about keeping my BR in tact. I don't plan on doing anything to hurt what I have been doing. This process for me has been slow with the amount of hands I see in an hour each time I play. I need to keep the BR intact and keep looking forward.

I haven't updated the BR situation in a while in the blogs and so I sat down and went through my books and did some calculations to see where this sits. I am presently at about $375 to the good with the bankroll and this will continue to give me the opportunity to play this game. Yes, this is a low limit game and it will take me some time. I accept that, and I do get to play the $3-$6 limit game once a month. I do sit in this game about 3 - 4 hours at a time.

The other part of what I am doing was not planned for. I am playing in more tournaments now as well. Today I was able to chop the pot for 1st and 2nd place. Playing tournaments is not a winning game plan for growing the bankroll. You have to win a very large tournament with big money to keep playing. I play tournaments for the fun of the competition. Trying to play the game appropriately and working on the strategy that best fits my game. The way I see it is if I do well in the cash game, then that pays for the tournaments to get the opportunity at some point for the bigger win.

I guess it all comes down to attitude and how you accept yourself when you are playing this game. Are you able to make the proper decisions with the cards you are dealt? Can you tell the best story about what cards you want them to believe you are holding? Today I made a move on another player with 102 and he had AJ. The flop came down J10x. I went all in to tell the story I had the nuts. Was the decision right? I don't think so, but I had that gut feeling. Turn card was a 2. River was a blank. I win with two pair. He now sees my range of hands I am willing to play. This person raises quite a bit and I wanted to play a hand with him to tell the story that I play a wide range of hands. The next time I busted the player. Some stories last awhile. He thought I was loose and actually I was playing tight.

I plan on being at the table again tomorrow morning. Another table, another story. But we can have fun telling our stories to each other. I hope you are having as much fun playing the game as I am.

There are other things that are weighing in for my time. I try to juggle all of the needs but this one item allows me to focus on something other than what is happening with family and for a few hours I can play a game I enjoy.

Have a fun day.....

Tax School

I must say I have been rather busy lately. This week I started the Tax Service School. This will be the third time I am trying to get through this school.

The first time was years ago and I was working at the hospital as a Respiratory Therapist and I was at the class and was called away to go on a Neonatal transport. This happened two weeks in a row and I finally just decided I was behind enough I couldn't catch up.

The second time was last year when I was not working at all and I made as far as the midterm and had to stop because of Medical issues. For some reason I don't seem to be able to finish this class. I would like to get this done this time.

This time I am doing this at home and on the computer. This will give me the chance to relisten to the lectures and do the work from home. All the quizzes will be on the computer as well as the midterm and final tests. I really think it would be nice to have this and be able to work for four months and take the rest of the year off.

I have been playing poker. I did real well yesterday in the cash game and increased the bankroll by $61 dollars. Sort of a slow process for me but I am ok with this. I like the casino and the personnel and it makes it fun to play. NorthernQuest is coming up again in a couple of weeks and I will play the $3-$6 game again.

Have a fun week......

It's Hot here

This should be the final day that we have the opportunity to break the 100 degree mark. School starts this next week and for years I have seen the temperature start to drop when school gets going. Trees are already changing their color and I will enjoy some cooler weather. This summer we have not seen one day in the 100 degree area. What does that mean for this winter?

Poker for the last couple of days has been good. I played in the $1-$6 Limit spread and basically went down $8 and back to even with yesterdays up $8. I know I won't get rich with this low limit game but I am seeing hands and I am holding my own.

In a couple of weeks I will be going back up to NorthernQuest and will play in the $3-$6 game again. At least that is a once a month trip. The rest of the time I will be playing the lower limit here in town.

Evidently another casino in town is putting on some Freerolls and putting in $150 to the pot. Islands has now decided to play war with them and is starting, this next week, Freerolls of their own. They will have them everyday and they are putting $200 into the pot. Here I am trying to play more cash and this free money now in the freerolls is sitting there for the taking. I will be playing the cash game before the tournament and then get into the tournament and see what happens.

Today I was reading my list of blogs that I normally run through and I agree with www.pokerlawyer.blogspot.com. Having something taken away from all of us that we enjoyed and was there for us to have the dream of making some good money by studying and working hard. You need to go read her blog.

Enjoying the weekend.....

Wednesday Poker

Now that my yard work was done over the last few days I was ready to
spend some time at the poker table.

I like the $1-$6 limit game and got sat down with my buyin. The best laydown of the day for me occurred on one of the first hands. I had 99 and wanted to see a flop. Looking for that set. The flop came xQx. The other person raised the pot and I asked her if she got the Q. I then layed down the hand and she showed me the Q. I know this is pretty much
a standard play but normally I would have gone fishing for that other 9.

The best play of the day was on the very last hand before the tournament started. I have 99 and we ended up getting quite a bit into the pot.
The board came 9JJ and after the flop the other person showed the
straight
and I showed my full house. That pushed me into the positive for the session.

I was also told today that Islands Casino will be starting a Poker League and for the first five weeks we will be playing one of the HORSE games each week. After that we will play NLHE. They will be doing the league in 5 week increments with the result having the leader winning a seat at the WSOP in 2012. Yes, I have a chance. I am now learning all of the games that we will be playing. I am presently reading a book by Sam
Farha on Omaha Hi/Lo. I will be finding out the schedule soon.

I am also starting the Tax class this next Monday and will be 6 hours of class time each week. Glad the classes are from 3PM to 6PM on Monday and Wednesday. This will allow me to keep my poker schedule in the mornings.

Someone on Twitter yesterday wrote this and I thought it was good. "Marriage, betting someone half your shit that you'll love them forever." We are all gamblers. You don't believe that then why do you have insurance? Your betting that you won't have an accident and the insurance is betting you will. Or is that the other way around?

Well, off to play the cash game this morning. Have a nice day.....

Monday

I got up this morning and decided that I wouldn't play poker today. I really needed to do some stuff around the house. I ended up mowing the front yard and since we do not have underground sprinklers I have to move the water around every hour to get this done. That alone takes 7 hours to get done. Tomorrow I will work on the back yard and get it done.

It has been so hot around here. I used to be able to stand the heat. Now I can't stay out in it very long. I think it has to do with being older. That is what my doctor usually tells me when I talk to him.

Today I signed up to take another Tax Class. This will be the third try to get this done. I started a number of years ago and every time I would get into it something would come up that would make me back away and not finish. I hope I can make it this time.

I took my coupons to Fred Meyer today and purchased some things that were on sale. Trying to understand how to make that work as well.

Have a good day......

Friday

I did play today. I stayed home and played at Islands Casino. I got to the casino at my usual time and sat down at the table. No one else was around but the dealers. So, today there was no live game.

I did play in the tournament with 12 people today. I must say I didn't last very long with 8 people remaining. One of those days when I couldn't get any cards and couldn't make any plays as well.

Even though we have not reached the 100 degree mark around here it is still guite warm in the mid 90's. It just takes a bunch out of you and you don't want to spend a lot of time outside.

I have come to the time of year when I must make some decisions. I have been trying to get through the Tax course and every time I attempt it I have some medical event that causes me to stop. Do I try it again this year? I do have an opportunity with one of the places to do the course online. This might be my best opportunity to get this done this year. I guess the only thing now is if I can get a job after completion or do they look at the people that take the class in person. I have a week to make this decision so will see what happens. I sent an email off to the company with my questions and will see if they respond.

Have a fun day........

Thursday

I think it is so sad that we have people moving to other countries so they can make a living playing poker. I don't blame them in any way shape or form. I think people need to do whatever they can to make a living. I guess it is hard to try and figure out why our government feels the need to control the fact we can't play poker.

I can understand if the companies are doing something illegal as laundering the payments back to the US but why make the American people pay for someone elses mistake. I hope that this can be taken care of soon. I know that if I get any calls for my opinion on voting my first question will be "Do they support Poker"? I hope a lot of other people do the same thing. We need to support those that will help us get our game back. Even if you don't play poker it could have been something you like to do. We need to be supportive and work together.

My goodness, are we ever going to settle the stock market down. Just when you think it might stop and rest for a bit there it goes again. One day my stocks are up and I am looking good and the next day the stocks are down and I am not so happy. I guess if I was real nervous or upset about this whole mess I would just sell my stocks and put my money under the mattress. I am not ready to do that yet. I am still a believer in the American Dream and I hope it works out for us.

Back in 1970 I was given a watch from my first boss I ever worked for. He gave me a Wittnauer watch. I wore it for awhile and then put it away and it has been stored for a long time. I finally pulled it out today and took it down to the Jewelers to see if they could spruce it up. I am sure it still works just needs to be cleaned. He is also going to open it up and take a look at the serial number to see when it was made. I know when I got it it was not new so it will be over 41 years old. I will either keep it or sell it and I am not sure yet what I will do with it. I don't wear watches anymore so we will see.

Today was not a poker day for me. I spent the morning driving my Dad to his appointments. I will play tomorrow for sure just not sure yet whether it will be here at Islands Casino or Legends Casino. I guess I will know in the morning how I feel about either one. I like the fact I can play here but if I go to Legends I can play longer and in a $3-$6 game as well.

Have a good day......

Wednesday

When I got up this morning my intention was not to play poker today. I was going to play on Friday and possibly play at Legends. The decision had not been made yet. I made a list of things around the house as well as places I needed to go. There were things I needed to accomplish today.

It was during my process of getting my shower and getting dressed for the day that I realized that today was the Freeroll for Islands Casino and that if I played in the live game for at least 30 minutes my name would go on the list of participants first. Well, that makes it a done deal. I am now headed to Islands to play some live $1-$6 limit and then play the tournament. Wait, didn't I say at some point that I wanted to back out of playing tournaments? Come on now, this is Free. Can't pass on that one.

I sat down at the table and bought in for the usual $20. I then proceeded to loose the $20 on hands that were good but the other players had one better. I did end up buying in for another $10 and that would be it for the day. One of the hands I played was KK. The flop came QQQ. Now with that flop you have to be good right? The Turn and the River were cards that didn't matter. I turned over my cards for the Full House and the other person turned over AQ. Wow, that was my luck today.

As the next hand was being dealt one of the dealers mentioned that my hand qualified as the "Regressive Bad Beat Hand" and it was worth $500. It would pay out for Me at $300, since I got the Bad Beat, and $100 for the person giving the Bad Beat. The rest of the table would split $100. I am up for this one since $300 would be nice for my bankroll. They of course would have to have Security look at the tapes and then would pay out the money. It took some time but when they did finally call the dealer she told me they did not have both cards the KK's and the AQ in the same frame on the table and would not pay out the $500.

Oh my Goodness, I was flipping a lid at this point. How could security miss such a hand when they have cameras all over the joint. I just figured my luck. The three dealers that saw the hand and others said this is not right since they would be out money as well. At this point the big boss walked into the Casino and he was immediately taken aside and told what happened. He said he would go see for himself. He made a phone call to the dealer eventually and he made the decision to pay out the $500 since it was the right thing to do.

After I was paid the money the FreeRoll was getting started. I sat down in my spot and I could do nothing wrong as far as playing the correct hands and getting the cards when I needed them. I was busting people and building my chip stack. My decisions were right on at what to do. I guess you could call this "being in the zone".

There were 50 runners and I was able to get to the final table and for this tournament they paid 5 spots. My goals are always to get to the final table first and then get to the money. Once at the money I will then play for the win. We finally got down to 4 players and one of the chip leaders needed to go to work. We decided to chop the money 4 ways at that point. My part was $65.

It made for a very interesting 3 hours of my day.

Have a good day......

Tuesday

Today for me was a no poker day. I decided to give myself some time and just think about the game and do some study in the books. I read quite a bit from the Bluff Magazine and also reading two books at this time. One from Annie Duke and the other from Elky Grospellier. One of the things that I have to continually think about while reading these books is that they are about the No Limit Tournament game and not so much about the Low Limit Cash game that I play now. I still do tournaments but not as often. I am trying to specialize in the Cash Game. Maybe tomorrow I will go play at Islands in their $1-$6 game.

I did get to spend some time looking over my couponing stuff. Yes, I am trying to coupon more. I am not going to be one of those that will have a backroom full of stuff. I just can't get into all of that but I do want to save some money when I can. We have a friend that is doing this couponing stuff and she posted on FaceBook about her finds. I looked at that and couldn't figure out how she did it. Well, after I sat down and looked over my websites I have I finally found out what she was looking at. I then took off for the store and was immediately hit with the fact that I was a little bit late in my shopping for the same deals. The shelves were empty for the products she bought. Oh well. Another day and better planning.

We had dinner with some friends tonight and our discussion turned to Pharmacies. We really feel that they are trying to kill all of us Baby Boomers by not allowing us to have certain medications that are needed. They don't seem to care that we are getting older and we need our meds. Some of that is our government as well taking things away or so we can pay for their salaries and/or their big bus. Don't get me started on the political stuff. Maybe I should open up a bit.

Stock Market has been crazy. I have decided to just hang on with the three stocks that I have and they are ARR, CIM and FTR. The first two are REITS and I get a Dividend from them. As long as the interest rates stay down, and they are supposed too, for the next couple of years. I hope they will do well for me. The third one is a telecommunication stock and it also gives a dividend. I guess for now I am in a hold position. I still hate to see the market going up and down like they are. I read today that some of the issues have to do with the flash traders. I guess those are the ones that have robot computer trading. Wouldn't that be nice. What about the rest of us folks trying to make it the old fashioned way.

As you have noticed on this blog I have included a little bit more than the usual just poker. I have decided to go back to writing everything in one spot instead of breaking it out into three seperate blogs. Hopefully this will work out better and maybe I will keep up better with writing.

Enough for this blog. Have a fun day......

Monday

Today I was back at Islands playing the $1-$6 Limit game. I talked with the dealers today about their night games and they said they just like everyone else play a $2-10 to $100 games.

It looks like I will have to settle in to either Yakima or Spokane to be able to play the $3-$6 game. I wouldn't mind a $2-$4 game as well but you just can't find it in this town.

Today I played the $1-$6 game and came out positive again. It is nice to finally figure out what I need to do to play positive cash.

I only get one hour each morning at this game before they start the tournament. I just need to play the game and walk away from the tournament when it starts. It would be better for me. I am getting more comfortable sitting and playing live with the live cash chips in front of me.

Have a good day......

NorthernQuest

I was excited to finally play in a $3-$6 game again. Arrived in Spokane at the NorthernQuest Casino and got myself signed in for the game.

It took about 2 hours before the game was started. It gave me time to have lunch and get ready for the time spent playing.

I really don't have anything bad to say about how I played. I did loose a hand with QQ when an Ace came on the flop and I decided to continue playing and took it to showdown and did loose when the other person showed his Ace.

He was playing real loose for the entire time and I also thought he was just trying to get me off of my hand. I did play from the blinds a 23 and ended up with a full house at showdown. That really helped me to stack some chips. If I would have gotten that hand any other time I would have thrown it away but being able to see a flop with everyone limping in it made it worth seeing.

I ended the day in positive $$. I decided today to break out the games to find out how I am doing in each of them. The $1-$6 is in the negative. The $2-$10 is really in the negative and the $3-$6 game is over my normal buyin in the positive. Guess which one I need to spend more time at. Which means I need to spend more time at Legends and NorthernQuest. Both of them mean more travelling to play.

I will be working on the $1-$6 game this week to see if I can get it back into the positive. I think I am playing way to many hands. It is hard when it only costs you a $ to enter the pot. That is the improper thinking on how to play the game. I don't do that in the $3-$6 game so I shouldn't do it in the lower limit.

Have a good week.....

Friday

This morning I played at Island Casino in the $1-6 limit spread game. This game only goes for about an hour before the actual tournament starts. At least I am getting some time in.

Played in the tournament as well and today I came in 8th place at the final table. They had about 20 starters for the morning.

We will be leaving early tomorrow morning and I will be playing at NorthernQuest. It could be a $2-4 or $3-6 Limit game. It doesn't matter to me.

On a different subject, I have been doing some reading on diets. I don't like the word diet and will not do any of it. I understand it has to be a life style change and you have to want to do that. Sometimes the finances will push you towards doing something different.

I have been trying to purchase food that we will use and hopefully get us to live a little bit healthier. Having read "On a Dollar a Day" and some others that have given me ideas of ways I can cook and still enjoy eating foods we like. Got to think outside of the box sometimes.

Travel is something that I really want to do and would like to find a motorhome that someday I can get out and see some sights. I have been reading about "Couch Surfing" or staying in homes that are open for people to stay in. Such interesting concepts and have never thought about that way of travelling.

Of course non of this can happen while I am taking care of my parents. Someday I hope it can happen. In the meantime I read travel blogs and I dream that someday that it will be me out there seeing what the US has to offer.

Have a good weekend......

What have you done lately?

Having found the cash game and the tournaments that I like to play and not hurting my bankroll completely. I feel I can play at Islands Casino and get the hours in as well as seeing the cards that will help me improve my game.

On Monday I was there at the Casino around 10AM in the morning and they got a $1-6 game going. I ended up cashing out positive in this one and it felt good to finally turn this around. I just need to be more patient and with the blinds small enough I can wait for the hands I want to play for.

I also bought in for the tournament and of course did not cash but the time spent working on my game was good as well as the buy in was cheap enough that anything I brought in with the cash game prior to the tournament helps out for paying the buyin.

Today I went back and again played in the $1-6 cash game and anybody that was playing in the game was signed up first for the Freeroll that started at 1100AM. They ended up having about 40 people start the tournament and I ended up at the final table and placed in 8th place.

My best play was JJ's and the flop came out with 3 spades. Since I was first to play I bet and put pressure on the other player. He ended up folding. I talked with him later and asked him what he had and he said he had KK's but was afraid because the size of my bet, that I had the flush and so he threw it away. Pressure does work.

I am going to continue to work on my game at Islands Casino. I will be deciding what days I want to play as I don't need to be playing every day and to get some type of balance in my playing and the things I need to do at home. Of course it looks like Wednesday will be one of those days.

I went back through my Poker ledger and broke out my Tournament play as well as my Cash game time. Tournament play has got to be for fun and so I need to find lower buyins for those and I think I found it and the cash game tells me I need to stay away from the $2-10 games as they are not helping my bankroll any. I do better with the $1-6 and the $3-6 games.

This weekend I will be at NorthernQuest and will play in their $3-6 game. Looking forward to the time and hope I run good.

Have fun.....

I am not done yet!!!

I decided to play in the Jokers Casino afternoon tournament. This is the one I enjoy playing at $40 buy in and it gives you T$10,000 in chips and has 20 minute rounds.

Today I was at a table with some very good players. One of them plays down in LA and he does well. Another person I have seen play before and he is very strong.

Both of these players are on my Left. Not where I want them but that will make me play tight and see how I do against some better players.

I was chipping up nicely and had not had to run up against these guys very much. I was being taken off of hands by the betting these guys where doing so I knew I would have to take a stand soon.

One hand I got was AA. I raised pre-flop and was called by two people. Both of the people I did not want to play with. On the flop game 243. I made a continuation bet and was called. On the turn was a J. I again made the bet and was called. On the River came a blank. I went all in. The person tanked and he said he couldn't call me. I had him covered as well. I talked with him later and he told me he had two pair but felt I had the straight with the way I played the hand. Thats what I wanted.

The next one was AK. This one came down to me and the person that plays in LA. I bet pre-flop again and he called me. The flop came out xxx and I made a continuation bet. He called me again. The turn came out another brick for me. I made another bet and he then called again. The river came a K and I went all in and he sat there and contemplated a call. He took a bit but eventually folded. I must not have showed I was running scared or he would have called me. He didn't show what he had. He said he put me on AK from the start but still he couldn't call me. He started talking about how he should have 3bet me on the flop. I think I had both players confused a little bit.

Hopefully in tournament poker I am learning it is not always the cards you have to play. I need to take this new aggression and use it constructively and not get wild with this type of play. This is what Jerry Yang was doing with his hands.

I did end up bubbling the final table and was in 11th place today. My KJ lost to AJ.

I will look at my schedule for the week and will be playing at NorthernQuest on Saturday this week. Looking forward to the $3-6 Limit game.