I love it when UB is on my side...

Check this hand out:

Hand #8514455-13527 at Perth ($5/$10 Hold'em)
Powered by UltimateBet
Started at 30/Sep/05 14:59:52

BillJoel is at seat 0 with $539.
chiva255 is at seat 1 with $151.
boogster is at seat 2 with $254.
gary betman is at seat 3 with $500.50.
speedy81 is at seat 4 with $100.
crimson_aces is at seat 5 with $217.
The button is at seat 1.

boogster posts the small blind of $2.
gary betman posts the big blind of $5.

BillJoel: -- --
chiva255: -- --
boogster: 9d Jd
gary betman: -- --
crimson_aces: -- --

Pre-flop:

crimson_aces calls. BillJoel folds. chiva255 folds.
boogster calls. gary betman checks.

Flop (board: Qd 8d Td):

boogster checks. gary betman bets $5. crimson_aces
raises to $10. boogster calls. gary betman calls.


Turn (board: Qd 8d Td 7h):

boogster checks. gary betman checks. crimson_aces
bets $10. boogster raises to $20. gary betman
folds. crimson_aces re-raises to $30. boogster
re-raises to $40. crimson_aces calls.

River (board: Qd 8d Td 7h 3h):

boogster bets $10. crimson_aces raises to $20.
boogster re-raises to $30. crimson_aces re-raises to
$40. boogster calls.



Showdown:

crimson_aces shows 3d Kd.
crimson_aces has 3d Kd Qd 8d Td: flush, king high.
boogster shows 9d Jd.
boogster has 9d Jd Qd 8d Td: straight flush, queen high.


Hand #8514455-13527 Summary:

$2 is raked from a pot of $205.
boogster wins $203 with straight flush, queen high.
----------------------------------------------------------------

And this one:

Hand #8514455-13529 at Perth ($5/$10 Hold'em)
Powered by UltimateBet
Started at 30/Sep/05 15:01:05

BillJoel is at seat 0 with $539.
chiva255 is at seat 1 with $151.
boogster is at seat 2 with $362.
gary betman is at seat 3 with $455.50.
speedy81 is at seat 4 with $127.
crimson_aces is at seat 5 with $122.
The button is at seat 3.

speedy81 posts the small blind of $2.
crimson_aces posts the big blind of $5.

BillJoel: -- --
chiva255: -- --
boogster: Ac Jd
gary betman: -- --
speedy81: -- --
crimson_aces: -- --

Pre-flop:

BillJoel folds. chiva255 calls. boogster raises to
$10. gary betman calls. speedy81 folds.
crimson_aces calls. chiva255 calls.

Flop (board: 6d Ah 9s):

crimson_aces bets $5. chiva255 folds. boogster
calls. gary betman folds.

Turn (board: 6d Ah 9s 2c):

crimson_aces bets $10. boogster calls.

River (board: 6d Ah 9s 2c 9h):

crimson_aces bets $10. boogster calls.



Showdown:

crimson_aces shows 6s As.
crimson_aces has 6s As Ah 9s 9h: two pair, aces and nines.
boogster shows Ac Jd.
boogster has Ac Jd Ah 9s 9h: two pair, aces and nines, jack kicker.


Hand #8514455-13529 Summary:

$3 is raked from a pot of $92.
boogster wins $89 with two pair, aces and nines.

I guess I can't complain too much about getting sucked out on or flopping hands that I have to call all the way to the river because I'm sure it happens to me just as often as it happens to all of the other players. The players who are successful in online poker are the ones who realize this "flaw" in their software.

It makes perfect sense that the online poker software balances the bankroll of players in order to maximize rake, which is what I've been saying all along. I still believe this. How they do it...I'm not so sure, but it has to be implemented in their software. So, if this is true, how do I avoid this "flaw"?

1) Drop down in limits to "weather the storm".
2) Only play premium hands and fold more often than not and call more often than raise. (especially when your pocket aces gets cracked 2 or more times in the same session).
3) Just stop playing for a little while or go to another poker room.

Here's one thing that I learned about my game over the past few days. Sometimes, it's more profitable to just call a player down to the river rather than to raise him on the flop. For example, let's say that you have AK in late position and an over-agressive player in the big blind calls with J-9. The flop comes K-J-6. The BB bets out. If you raise here, he may fold costing you the possibility of two big bets. If you just call, he will most likely bet out on the turn and river as well. Now, if you raise him on the turn, if he happened to make his two pair, you're probably going to have to pay him off. So, the best solution is to just call/call/call. And if he doesn't bet out on the river, then make sure you bet to get that extra big bet out of him.

I know I absolutely hate it when I lead out and a preflop raiser behind me just calls because then, I have absolutely no idea what he has. If would've just raised me on the flop, then I can fold my hand knowing that he probably has a higher pair or perhaps two overcards. If he just calls, he could have anything! Perhaps, he's going to raise me on the turn? Should I bet out on the turn as well? If I bet out and he raises, then I'll have to fold. That's my thought process when a preflop raiser just cold calls me on the flop. It's just an idea.

Tight/Agressive is almost always the way to go, but sometimes being tight/passive works better.

Let's see, I made out on both of my stock picks: CHB and FLE. I bought CHB at 12.26 and sold at 12.78 a few hours later for a nice gain. I bought FLE around the same time at 12.38 and sold today at 12.59 for another nice profit. It's awesome when the stocks go exactly according to plan.

I'm holding CPST long at 3.91 and GDW short at 59.69 right now. CPST is killing me, but the stop on this puppy is 3.37, which is nearing as we speak. On Monday, the stop will be at today's low, which is 3.51. I'll probably end up selling this one for an ugly loss.

I'm playing in an absolutepoker freeroll tonight. It's for affiliates only and the winner gets an entry into next years WSOP main event as well as $1000 in spending cash. There's supposedly less than 100 players, so I give myself a better than 10% chance of winning this thing.

I'm on my way to making up the $1421 that I'm down. I currently have $450 in my UB account. Slowly, but surely. Going to a stock trading seminar tonight. Should be interesting.


Boogster

The good, the bad, and the ugly...

The Good
Golden Palace Casino gave me a $20 for free as a comp. I turned it into $400, but I lost $200 back. But I ended up cashing out with $200. Good.

I deposited another $200 into UltimateBet and brought it up to $1200 playing $5/$10 limit, $10/$20 limit, and $15/$30 limit.

I took the $400 that I had left in Bodog and brought it up to $1000 playing $5/$10 limit and $5/$10 NL.

The Bad
I lost all $1200 back at UB after I had an awful run of cards. Yes, I still think online poker is fixed. The software behind the game, at least.

The Ugly
I lost all $1000 back at Bodog as well. I lost the majority of it playing heads up at the $5/$10 limit table. What can I say, the guy that I was playing against was better than me...at heads up, at least. And I like challenges, especially when someone is better than me. And I'm way too stubborn to quit when I'm down.


So after The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly...I'm enforcing some new rules about my online poker playing.

1) When I get to $1000, I'm cashing out $800. No if, ands, or butttttts.
2) If I lose more than $100 playing heads up, then I'm quitting because my opponent is probably better than me. I can't let my stubborness get the best of me. As much as I want to be the best, there's always going to be someone better. For now, at least.
3) Don't let myself play for more than 3 hours at a time. I gotta make sure I get breaks in or else I play stupid.


I'm sure there'll be more. But that's it for now. In the meantime, I've deposited another $200 at UltimateBet. I have a lot of making up to do. Let's see:

$200 UB
$200 UB
$1000 Bodog
$21 Poker Stars

I think that's it from my latest deposits. So, that's $1421 not including the $200 that I just deposited. This is not to mention the ridiculous money that I lost in Vegas a few weeks ago. I'll get to that next time. That's a whole 'nother beast.

I don't think I've deposited so many times at UB in a long long while. I'm normally withdrawing, not depositing.

BTW...if you count my day trading account, then I've completely made up for my losses in Vegas plus more. But that doesn't really count because day trading is not really gambling. From my last trading update, I ended up taking a 4 point loss on GOOG. I should never have shorted it. TFSM finally gave me 10% after holding for about a week. I dumped it all today. I bought at 6.27 and it closed at 6.76 today.

I made about 20 trades today for nice profit. I'm currently holding EGO from 3.45 and CSE from 21.05. The gold sector looks poised for a bounce here, so I'll probably be playing a lot of them tomorrow. Here's a short list: BGO, CBJ, GSS, and GG. And the following two stocks just sprung up on my screen: CHB and FLE. I'll be watching those closely over the next few days.


Boogster

been playing at UB all day....

This hand sucked!!

Getting Hand History Information...
----------------------------------------------------------------

Hand #8514372-8269 at Buenos Aires ($10/$20 Hold'em)
Powered by UltimateBet
Started at 26/Sep/05 17:57:28

Fres is at seat 0 with $959.
Gioto is at seat 1 with $293.
crankmaster23 is at seat 2 with $1008.
cashwizard is at seat 3 with $365.
stormee36 is at seat 4 with $683.
boogster is at seat 5 with $470.50.
The button is at seat 3.

stormee36 posts the small blind of $5.
boogster posts the big blind of $10.

Fres: -- --
Gioto: -- --
crankmaster23: -- --
cashwizard: -- --
stormee36: -- --
boogster: 9h Ah

Pre-flop:

Fres folds. Gioto raises to $20. crankmaster23
calls. cashwizard folds. stormee36 folds.
boogster calls.

Flop (board: Qh Kh Th):

boogster checks. Gioto bets $10. crankmaster23
raises to $20. boogster calls. Gioto re-raises to
$30. crankmaster23 calls. boogster calls.

Turn (board: Qh Kh Th 7c):

boogster bets $20. Gioto raises to $40.
crankmaster23 calls. boogster re-raises to $60.
Gioto calls. crankmaster23 calls.

River (board: Qh Kh Th 7c Kc):

boogster bets $20. Gioto calls. crankmaster23
raises to $40. boogster calls. Gioto calls.



Showdown:

crankmaster23 shows Kd Qc.
crankmaster23 has Kd Qc Qh Kh Kc: full house, kings full of queens.
boogster mucks cards.
(boogster has 9h Ah.)
Gioto mucks cards.
(Gioto has 7h 6h.)


Hand #8514372-8269 Summary:

$3 is raked from a pot of $455.
crankmaster23 wins $452 with full house, kings full of queens.
----------------------------------------------------------------

don't you hate it when this happens?

Check this hand out:

Hand #8514444-8729 at Atlantic City ($5/$10 Hold'em)
Powered by UltimateBet
Started at 26/Sep/05 04:17:37

JakersDog is at seat 0 with $209.
IPokeHer is at seat 1 with $85.50.
oddy is at seat 2 with $182.
Bimpi is at seat 3 with $548.
BMcCloe is at seat 4 with $321.50.
boogster is at seat 5 with $339.
The button is at seat 0.

IPokeHer posts the small blind of $2.
oddy posts the big blind of $5.

JakersDog: -- --
IPokeHer: -- --
oddy: -- --
Bimpi: -- --
BMcCloe: -- --
boogster: Kd Kc

Pre-flop:

Bimpi folds. BMcCloe folds. boogster raises to $10.
JakersDog re-raises to $15. IPokeHer re-raises to
$20. oddy folds. boogster calls. JakersDog calls.


Flop (board: Ks 3c Qc):

IPokeHer bets $5. boogster calls. JakersDog raises
to $10. IPokeHer re-raises to $15. boogster calls.
JakersDog re-raises to $20. IPokeHer calls.
boogster calls.

Turn (board: Ks 3c Qc Qs):

IPokeHer checks. boogster bets $10. JakersDog
raises to $20. IPokeHer calls. boogster re-raises
to $30. JakersDog re-raises to $40. IPokeHer calls.
boogster calls.

River (board: Ks 3c Qc Qs 3d):

IPokeHer checks. boogster bets $10. JakersDog
raises to $20. IPokeHer goes all-in for $5.50.
boogster re-raises to $30. JakersDog re-raises to
$40. boogster calls.



Showdown:

JakersDog shows Qd Qh.
JakersDog has Qd Qh Ks Qc Qs: four queens.
IPokeHer shows Ac Kh.
IPokeHer has Ac Kh Ks Qc Qs: two pair, kings and queens.
boogster mucks cards.
(boogster has Kd Kc.)


Hand #8514444-8729 Summary:

$3 is raked from a total pot of $330.50.
$3 is raked from the main pot of $261.50.
$0 is raked from side pot #1 of $69.
JakersDog wins the main pot $258.50 with four queens.
JakersDog wins the side pot $69 with four queens.
----------------------------------------------------------------

I'd probably play this hand the exact same way every single friggin time. I must admit, it was pretty exciting though.

Boogster

NFL Sunday...

Here are my picks for the weekend:

Cinci -3 at Chicago
Jets -2 vs. Jacksonville
Tampa -3.5 at Green Bay
San Fran +6.5 vs Dallas

I'm 1-2 right now and San Fran is winning 21-6 in the 2nd quarter.

Here were my picks for yesterday:

VT -11 vs. Georgia Tech
USC vs Oregon State Over 70

I was 1-1 yesterday. So, it's been a breakeven weekend for me so far. Here's another website that provides some pretty good information on sports handicapping:

Statfox.com

I just deposited another $200 into UB. Gonna play a little more cautiously this time. I need to make up $400 cause I lost my first $200 deposit and another $200 at Golden Palace Casino. No more Blackjack for me...ever.

Boogster

Unbelievable...

Was up to $600 and change from my initial $200 deposit. And then, wham....I was multi-tabling $5/$10 and the typical UB "run and done" happened. Now I'm back down to $150. It's unbelievable how many hands I lost to players who were aggressive only to hit their hands on the river. Here's an example:

Getting Hand History Information...
----------------------------------------------------------------

Hand #8514328-5163 at Victoria ($5/$10 Hold'em)
Powered by UltimateBet
Started at 24/Sep/05 12:35:47

cvillephil is at seat 0 with $209.
PlayToKill is at seat 1 with $301.
boogster is at seat 2 with $40.
Bizzle1212 is at seat 3 with $206.
jariley is at seat 4 with $427.50.
winner48 is at seat 5 with $343 (sitting out).
The button is at seat 0.

PlayToKill posts the small blind of $2.
boogster posts the big blind of $5.

cvillephil: -- --
PlayToKill: -- --
boogster: 6h 8d
Bizzle1212: -- --
jariley: -- --

Pre-flop:

Bizzle1212 calls. jariley folds. cvillephil folds.
PlayToKill folds. boogster checks.

Flop (board: 5s 7c 9s):

boogster checks. Bizzle1212 bets $5. boogster
calls.

Turn (board: 5s 7c 9s Tc):

boogster checks. Bizzle1212 bets $10. boogster
calls.

River (board: 5s 7c 9s Tc Qh):

boogster bets $10. Bizzle1212 raises to $20.
boogster goes all-in for $20.



Showdown:

Bizzle1212 shows Jh 8s.
Bizzle1212 has Jh 8s 9s Tc Qh: straight, queen high.
boogster shows 6h 8d.
boogster has 6h 8d 7c 9s Tc: straight, ten high.


Hand #8514328-5163 Summary:

$2 is raked from a pot of $82.
Bizzle1212 wins $80 with straight, queen high.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Okay...looking back at this hand, this player didn't actually hit his hand on the river and he played it exactly like he should have, but it's a hand that there's no way I could've gotten out of. I flopped nuts in an unraised pot preflop. There's absolutely no way I could've gotten out of this hand. This is the typical type of hand that you get when you're in the "done" part of the "run and done".

If it were just this hand then I wouldn't have made a big deal out of it, but it was the culmination of the hands that I got in the two hours that I was playing. Sucks.

Boogster

Maniacs...

Alright, I deposited $200 at UB. Started playing some short handed $5/$10 limit hold'em. I'm up a few hundred right now, but check out this overagressive dumbass.

Getting Hand History Information...
----------------------------------------------------------------

Hand #8514444-3610 at Atlantic City ($5/$10 Hold'em)
Powered by UltimateBet
Started at 24/Sep/05 00:57:27

boogster is at seat 0 with $320.50.
kramz777 is at seat 1 with $142.
quint51 is at seat 2 with $519.50.
trainwreck2 is at seat 3 with $20.50.
Toby135 is at seat 4 with $438.50.
JViolette is at seat 5 with $173.
The button is at seat 2.

trainwreck2 posts the small blind of $2.
Toby135 posts the big blind of $5.

boogster: Tc Ts
kramz777: -- --
quint51: -- --
trainwreck2: -- --
Toby135: -- --
JViolette: -- --

Pre-flop:

JViolette raises to $10. boogster re-raises to $15.
kramz777 calls. quint51 folds. trainwreck2 calls.
Toby135 folds. JViolette re-raises to $20. boogster
calls. kramz777 calls. trainwreck2 calls.

Flop (board: 9c 3h 4h):

trainwreck2 goes all-in for $.50. JViolette completes
to $5. boogster raises to $10. kramz777 folds.
JViolette raises to $15. boogster re-raises to $20.
JViolette re-raises to $25. boogster calls.

Turn (board: 9c 3h 4h Qd):

JViolette bets $10. boogster raises to $20.
JViolette re-raises to $30. boogster calls.

River (board: 9c 3h 4h Qd Qs):

JViolette bets $10. boogster calls.



Showdown:

JViolette shows 6h Th.
JViolette has 6h Th 9c Qd Qs: a pair of queens.
boogster shows Tc Ts.
boogster has Tc Ts 9c Qd Qs: two pair, queens and tens.
trainwreck2 shows 7d 8d.
trainwreck2 has 7d 8d 9c Qd Qs: a pair of queens.


Hand #8514444-3610 Summary:

$3 is raked from a total pot of $215.50.
$3 is raked from the main pot of $86.50.
$0 is raked from side pot #1 of $129.
boogster wins the main pot $83.50 with two pair, queens and tens.
boogster wins the side pot $129 with two pair, queens and tens.
----------------------------------------------------------------

boogster

So much for that....

So, I lost all of my $80 at the $3/$6 limit table at Poker Stars yesterday. Two hands that cracked me.

1) I had A-9 diamonds in middle position and limped in. A late position player raises. 5 players call. The flop comes 8-8-4 with two diamonds. Every checks to the initial raiser who bets out. I check-raise to represent trips as a semi-bluff. A Jack comes on the turn. I bet out and the initial raiser raises. Everyonen folds to me and we cap it. We cap the river as well. He turns over pocket Jacks. F*cker.

2) A few hands later, I flop top pair and check call the preflop raiser all the way till the river and he shows a high pocket pair. I'm proud of myself for fighting the urge to raise, but maybe that's cause I only had a few dollars left ;)

That's it for now. I've got a few hundred left in Bodog. I'll probably try to work my bankroll up from there now...until I lose all of that. It shouldn't take too long to lose it all since the weekend is coming up...and with the weekend comes football. Gonna try to reverse psychology picks this weekend.


Boogster

Nothing too exciting...

Let's see...I had a total of $65 left in my UB account, so I decided to see if I could bring it up to $1k or not. I think I cashed out at UB, that's why I had so little money in there. So, I started out playing in a $20+1 sit and go because I figured that that would be the easiest way to bring my total to over $100. Well, I busted out 7th I think...so much for that. With $45 left, I started grinding it out at the $2/$4 limit table. After a few rounds, I realized that I wasn't getting anywhere playing such low limits, so I cashed out with $40.

Okay, I had to figure out a new plan. I wanted to win money and quick, but I only had a limited bankroll, so my options were limited. Finally I decided to play some $20+1 headsup sit and gos. It was quick and I'm sure I can win a few with ease considering that I initially started my bankroll playing headsup sit and gos. I won two in a row, so that brought my bankroll up to $80. Then I started playing some $3/$6 and brought my bankroll up to $125'ish.

I know $125 isn't enough to sit at a $5/$10 table, but oh well. I didn't give a crap. I figured that I'd just play tight, win a few pots and hopefully have enough money so that I can really start playing to reach my goal of $1k.

After an hour or two, I had my bankroll up to about $275, but how quickly that goes in a $5/$10 table, especially when the person you're playing against is on his winning "rush". I played loose and agressive because that's pretty how I always play in short handed games. My final hand came when I had K-T offsuit in early position and raised it. One of the blinds reraised me and I called. The flop came T-8-2. He bet, I raised and he reraised. Uh oh...trouble. I should fold on the reraise, but I'm stubborn...especially when I have position. My opponent bet out on the turn and river and he turned over K-K.

Well, my quest to turn $65 into $1k failed. I'm going to try again one of these days because it's fun. As a matter of fact, I had exactly $21 in my Poker Stars account a few days ago. I decided to play in one of those 4 person headsup tournaments where the winner takes all. I ended up winning the tournament, so I have $80 in my account now. Should I try to parlay that $80 into $1k? Maybe...

What else. I ended up chickening out on taking the Skins -6 on Monday night because I didn't want to jinx them. I did say in my last blog that the skins was a LOCK though, didn't I? I'm telling you, reverse psychology in sportsbetting works! Pick the team that you think is a lock to win, then flip it and bet on the other side.

I won in all three of my fantasy football leagues this weekend. It was a good weekend with the exception of the fact that I got killed in sportsbetting. I actually made up a few bills on Monday night's game because I took the Giants -3.5 and the first half under 17 for the Skins vs. Cowboys game, but it still didn't make up for the beating that I took. I didn't take my own advice of flipping the bets! I'll try it next weekend.

Stocks...I'm short GOOG at 311 and long TFSM at 6.27. TFSM should pop tomorrow. It's been down 6 days in a row and it made a bottoming tail today and it closed above it's 20 day MA. It's a LOCK that I make at least 10% on this puppy.


Boogster

cashed out at titan poker...

After dropping my bankroll down to $580 (from $1500) at Titan Poker, I decided to cash out. I lost $700 at the $10/$20 limit hold'em table all within 2 hours, so I decided that the bad luck streak has come and it was time to get the hell out of there. I ended up winning $400 in a few weeks span, which wasn't bad, but I still lost close to a $1000 back. Sucks. Oh well.

I dropped a crapload in sportsbetting this weekend as well. Betting on NFL games is such a losing proposition. I don't even know why I bother. I guess it's all about the action. I'm not going to say how much I lost, but let's just say I had two bills on that Oakland game last night. They lost. Bastards.

I'm gonna see if I can get it all back tonight when my skins play the 'boys. You know I've got a problem when I "try to get it all back" in one bet. :) Right now, the 'boys are favored by 6 at home. The over/under is 35.5. The cowboys haven't lost to the skins at home in 10 years. Tonight should probably be no different. Especially since the skins have switched QBs. Tonight will be Mark Brunell's first start this season.

Using reverse psychology (because every pick I make seems to go the other way), since I think the cowboys are going to win and cover, the skins will most likely win and cover. Make sense? If you suck at picking games, the idea is to make a pick and then bet on the other side. I've never actually tried it myself, but I'm sure it'll work because I can't pick games to save my life.

I'll probably end up betting on the over/under for tonight's game instead of the line. We'll see come game time.

My fantasy football teams. I should win all three leagues tonight. Even though my franchise player Peyton Manning didn't perform well, my other players got me enough points to give me the "W".

Made a few bills in the stock market today. I bought NVAX at 1.56 this morning and sold at 1.65 for some nice change. I also took a small loss after shorting PD at 116.31 and covering at 116.66. I also sold my shares of ABGX at 12.17 for a small gain. The only position that I have right now is TTWO...I'm short at 22.77.

I'm out. Go skins!


Boogster

Lost $97 last night...

We started off with 6 players playing $2/$5 NL. Everyone bought in for $200. Within the first 15 minutes, I found myself all-in with pocket kings and a board of Q-J-9-2. The other player called and showed Q-T. The river brought a blank and I doubled up. Nice start!

Throughout the night, I think I played one too many hands and I definitely played them too aggressively. My aggressiveness comes from my limit hold'em game. I need to tell myself to tone it down a little bit when I'm playing NL.

On this one hand, I had pockets 8s and raised it to $15 preflop. I get 4 callers. The flop brings a 2-3-4 rainbow. I bet out $45 and I get one caller. The turn brings a King. I bet out $110 and the other player calls all-in for around $110. Believe it or not, he had K6 for a gutshot and happened to make his King on the turn. WTF?? Bastards.

Anyways, I ended up losing $97 total.

I've been playing at Titan Poker. My bankroll is up to around $1500 now. I've been mainly playing $10/$20 and $5/$10. I'm not sure if the fish are out in full force or if I'm just getting lucky. Time will tell.

Boogster

Made a killing today...

Made a killing in the stock market today...from GV (+10%) and ABGX (+3%). Enough to cover my gambling woes from Vegas. Yes...that's how BAD it was in Vegas. The sad thing is that I'm going to have to pay taxes on these short term capital gains and I'm not going to be able to deduct my gambling losses. I guess I could, but I'm not gonna. Oh well, can't win them all. No more blackjack...that is, until the next time I visit a casino. :)

Who am I kidding, I logged onto Golden Palace Casino last night and played some live BJ. I'm an idiot. Or maybe I just need the number to gambler's anonymous. Nah...I didn't make a deposit, I just played with my $43 in comp money, which was converted over to real cash. I didn't even know that I had comp money.

So, here's a hand from Vegas that costed me a lot of money. In an $8/$16 limit hold'em game, I had KQ suited in middle position. An early position player raises it to $16. I call. A late position player reraises to $24. The big bling cold calls. The early position player reraises and then it's capped at $40 by the late position player. Like a dumbass, I call all preflop raises for $40 with KQ suited. I imagine that I was a huge underdog...probably Aces, Kings and then a medium pair.

The flop brought a Q-8-3 rainbow. The early position player bets out, I call and the late position player raises. We all call the raiser. The turn brings a blank and everyone checks to the late position player who bets. Everyone calls again. NOw there's about $328 in the pot. The river brings another blank and everyone checks to the late position player who bets out once again. The big blind folds, the early position player calls and I fold.

The late position player shows KK. The BB said that he had AQ. And I imagine the early position player had either AQ or JJ. Man did I get crushed on this hand. I should've folded to the reraise preflop! KQ ALWAYS gets me in trouble!!!

So, I'm playing in a home game tonight with an old coworker of mine. He normally plays $5/$10 no limit in the casinos, so he's not afraid of the higher limit games. But I've seen him play before. He's very loose and passive. I've never actually played against him and his friends before, so this should be interesting. I'm gonna bring about $500. Let's see if I can get some more of my "losings" back from Vegas.

I'm also thinking about playing in the $500 buy-in tournament at the Borgata next Tuesday. I'm going to see how I feel next week before I make a decision.

Boogster

Slaughtered in Vegas...

I got slaughtered playing Blackjack in Vegas! Oh man, did it suck. Let's just say that I'll probably stick to poker from now on. Who am I kidding...I'm a gambler...if there's action, then I'm there. Definitely no more blackjack for a few weeks though! Bad, bad, bad! Now you know why I didn't post a blog while I was there...because I was losing money...tons of it!

The Casino Affiliate Convention (CAC) was pretty cool. I met up with most of our affiliate managers. You know, the guys and gals who pay us. It was pretty cool placing faces with the voices and the emails. This whole convention was a just a huge networking ploy. Everyone pays $600 to get in just to schmooze with others who have also paid $600. It's all good though. It's nice to see how other people make money in their businesses. I met a lot of great people there and I have a slew of new ideas that I'm sure you'll see at boogster.com in the upcoming months.

Well, it's 4AM right now. I'm still jet lagged. I played a little bit at Titan Poker and I'm up close to $1k now from $200. I'm not sure if the fish are out in full force or if I'm just in one of those lucky streaks. I was playing some $5/$10 and $10/$20 limit. We'll see what happens in a few days.

So, anybody else playing in a fantasy football league? I'm playing in three. One costed me $250 to join! But the winner gets a few grand, I believe. I lost my first game, but I'm pretty confident that I'll make the playoffs this year. It sucked to see my boy Javon Walker tear his ACL though. Luckily I have a few backup wide receivers who are pretty good. I'll post my team in another blog. It's too late right now.

Stocks...I took a small loss on GOOG. Good thing cause it skyrocketed to $313 in a few days! I shorted it this morning at $309 and covered at $303 for some nice change. I'm all cash now. I'm looking at two stocks for tomorrow: ABGX and GV. Both have made new highs within the last weeks and are now retracing back to the 20 day MA. It's a lock that I'll get 10% from each of them. I'm not even sure if I'll have time to trade tomorrow though. I have a few meetings lined up.

I don't know if any of your read Mike Matasow's interview in the latest Cardplayer magazine, but if you haven't, you should definitely read it. He's so candid in this thing that it's ridiculous. Seems like he's a definition of the word "gambler".

Mike Matasow Interview

Alright, I'm out. Time to get to bed. Sun's almost coming up.

Boogster

Played in a Free NL Tourney Tuesday Night...

I decided to play in one of those free NL tournaments on Tuesday night. Believe it or not, they actually make you order at least $10 worth of food and/or drinks now! Kinda of a stupid rule, but I guess a lot of people were going there to play and not ordering anything. Honestly, I think it's a stupid move on their part because there were only about 16 to 17 players for this past tournament. Although, each of those players spent at least $10, the fact that there were only less than 20 players there, it made the bar seem a lot less crowded. Customers are drawn towards crowds. The less customers in the bar, the less likely other non-poker playing customers are likely to show up.

Anyways...I'm unlikely to go back to that place to play because of this new rule. Although I usually spend more than $10 at the bar anyways, I don't want to feel obligated to do so. This is just another example of poor marketing techniques. Free Hold'em tournament on off nights - GOOD IDEA. Force players to spend money - BAD IDEA.

OK...getting back to the tournament...I NEVER EVER do well at these things. I don't know what it is. I think it's because I have this idea that players will call on anything, so I'm a little too cautious when I really should be playing a little more agressively. Not only that, but I see players playing garbage hands to the river, so I tend to play a little more loose.

Anyhow, I busted out real early. I had pocket tens in early position and raised it to $60. Blinds were at $20/$40. Three other players call...all with position over me. The flop comes 356. I bet out $125 (I had $100 left). One player behind me calls. I put her on pocket eights or pocket nines. An 8comes on the turn. I go all-in for $100 more and she calls. The river brings a J and she flips over AK for the nut flush. Stupid B*tch! Just kidding. She played it right. Even if I would've put it all in on the flop, she still would've had the odds to call.

I'm just unlucky. And I'm supposed to be a "good" poker player? WTF?!?

Oh well...those stupid free tournaments are garbage anyways (probably because I've never won one!). Heh.

What else...I've still been playing some Blackjack. I've been having some crazy swings. Up, down, up, down, up. I cashed out $500, $755, and $500 over the past few days. I'm still up about $1k overall, so I'm still in good shape.

Stock check. I've been trading left and right. Too many trades to keep count. Let's see, I stopped out of GSS for a nice loss. Made some loot on SVA and NVAX. Scalped LU for a penny. Lost a little on CPN today. And now I'm short GOOG at 296.74. GOOG turned to the downside on the 5 minute chart. I'll probably cover at 293.

By the way, I'm heading to Vegas on Saturday. It's the Casino Affiliates Convention (CAC) being held at the Stardust. I'm planning on meeting up with all the people that pay us. Including the guys from Titan Poker, Sportsbook, and Bodog. Let's see if we can get some more deals with these sites. I'll try to work it for both of us. I'll be back next Wednesday morning. I'll try to put a blog up during my Vegas trip.

Boogster

Hooked on online Blackjack with live dealers...

Alright, so I'm hooked on online blackjack with the live dealers. I can't stop playing the stupid game even though it's a completely negative EV game. From what I've been reading, the house has a 1% advantage over the players, UNLESS...you know how to count cards.

So, in comes the Red 7 Count. Here's a link that describes this card counting strategy:

http://www.blackjackforumonline.com/

It's pretty money. You gotta check it out. Basically, the way the card counting system works is, all cards from 2-6 and red 7s are considered +1 and all face cards and aces are considered -1. When you have a positive count, your chances of winning are greater because there are more face cards and aces in the deck. The more face cards and aces, the better chances of you winning.

With the Red 7 count and the basic blackjack strategy...found here:

Basic Blackjack Strategy

You can actually have an advantage over the house! Yup. Well, I decided to give the card counting system a go. It actually wasn't too hard counting cards while playing online because the action is a lot slower than if you're sitting at a casino table. Not only that, but it's not obvious that you're counting cards when the dealers can't see you.

My initial experiment didn't go too well. I had a positive count of about 16 and I decided to push my bet to $200....twice. And it didn't quite work too well. Umm...let's just say that I went from $1200 to $0. Heh...not good. Fortunately, I was able to get some of that back after redepositing. I'm still about -$900, but I guess $1600 of that money was winnings, so technically, I'm still up about $700.

It still sucks losing $1200 though because once you win, you already consider the winnings as your own money. You don't consider it as "winnings" especially AFTER you've already cashed out!

I've given up on the card counting for now because it seems too boring to me. It seems like a grind because you're only supposed to push your bet when you have a high positve count. Sometimes that could take forever! I need action! If I wanted a grind, I'd be playing poker. :)

If you haven't given this online blackjack a try, you have to try it out. It's fun...and it's definitley NOT fixed. Make sure you go through our link to sign-up, so that we both get paid for your sign-up.

http://www.boogster.com/signup.asp

Boogster

NFL Challenge 2005

NFL Challenge 2005 is up! Register now to win a Free 42" Panasonic Plasma TV!


Boogster

$28 win in Monday night NL game...

I played in my regular Monday night game and took home $28. I'm trying to figure out why I hardly ever clean house in this game. Even though I win consistently, I hardly ever win a decent amount (greater than $100). Perhaps I'm a little too passive? I know I'm definitely too loose. Although, most flops in this game are seen 4 or 5 ways, so I'm kind of "forced" to play more hands than I normally would because of the pot odds.

So, if I'm playing too loose and too passive, then that'd make me "loose passive", which is probably the worst type of player out there. The player that usually loses. I don't know, I guess I just can't help being loose because of the limits. Obviously, if I were playing in a higher limit game, there's no way that I'd be seeing so many hands preflop.

Oh well... I'm not really playing in this game to make money. I'm mainly playing to learn to how to read players better and to optimize my strategy in higher limit games. Although, I must say, after playing in this game, I tend to play a little looser in the higher limit games.

Well...here's one hand that I remembered from Monday night:

1) I had 66 in middle position and make it $5 to go. 3 or 4 players call. The flop comes 258. An early position player bets out $10. One player in between, calls, as do I. The turn brings a 7, giving me an open ended straight draw. The early position player bets out $10 again. The player in between folds and I call, hoping to either catch the straight on the river or bluff him out. I was fairly certain that he had an 8 and a high card. The river brought a T. He bet out $10 again, and I pause for a second and make it $40 to go. The pot now had over $100 in it. There's a straight on board and an overcard...I was getting roughly 2.5 to 1 on my bluff. He ended up folding. He didn't show his cards, nor did I, but nice bluff huh?

That's it...that's pretty much the only hand that stuck out in my mind from the Monday night game. I guess it's because I sucessfully pulled off a bluff. There's something exciting about pulling off a bluff...a little mini-adrenaline rush. It's similar to calling someone else's bluff with Ace high. I don't know, it's hard to explain. It's definitely not the same "rush" as staring down a pocket Aces.

Alright...time to get to bed. I spent the entire day working on the NFL Challenge 2005, which should be up and running soon. It's gonna be awesome and it's going to be FREE. If you have checked it out yet, make sure you hit up www.boogster.com for more details. The FAQ is up.

Boogster