by john | Aug 8, 2010 | Poker
Last night marked the return to action of the degenerates of the Falstaff home game, albeit not in the Casa de Falstaff. We were at a secret underground bunker (Skoon’s man-cave) rather than my den because Suzy’s been laid up after foot surgery a couple weeks ago. She’s had issues with plantar fasciaitis (sp?) for several years now and had a procedure done where they send shock waves into her heel to break up nodules that have grown into the tendon. She’s healing up nicely and I expect she’ll be able to return to regular housecleaning and lawnmowing duties soon.
But the game coincided with some travel on the part of our merry band of goofballs. Special K is headed off to the desert to do his part making computers safe for democracy again (keep your head down and your butt dry, pal!) and A-List blogger Bobby Bracelet has now relocated to Charlotte, so it was a sendoff game for the K, and a welcome game for the Bracelet, and I’m pretty sure they were both happy with their results on the night.
I built a big stack early by catching cards and playing relatively tight, but the cards I was catching got me into a ton of hands, and the tiny bit of fold equity I had developed vanished before too long. I’ve played so fast and loose in this game for so many years, pretty much all I have to do is look at flop with chips in my hand and I’ll hear “call” from at least a couple of spots. And I don’t mind that. Most nights. When I’m not getting snapped off.
WARNING – BAD BEAT STORY – if you don’t like them, don’t read. But you’re not getting $1.
So I pick up Aces (for the second time on the night – first time I got the blinds) on the button. I raise from .50 to $4. SB calls, BB pops it to $8. Folds around to me, and I shove (not that impressive, since I only have about $30 more in front of me). SB calls, BB thinks for a while, puts me on the Hammer, calls. I turn over Aces, SB turns over AK, BB shows 88. Flop comes down something like 3-J-9. Turn 7. And you know what the river was right? Since I did put in the disclaimer that it was a bad beat story, it can only be the 10-ball coming from on high to piss me off and send me reaching into my pocket for a 3rd buy-in.
I had pissed away all my profits earlier by catching a set on the river against one of the more aggressive and bluff-happy players at the table, only to find out that he’d turned a bigger set. I hate it when you think you’ve rivered somebody only to find out you were drawing dead on the turn. And I blew the rest of my first buy in playing bad. So after having my aces cracked for my stack I sat out a couple hands, thought it over and remembered something that I read on somebody’s blog a long time ago – my job is to get my money in ahead. That’s all I can do. So I reached in for another buy-in, and reloaded. This was gonna be my last buy-in, since I have long since run out of real bankroll paying for real-world events and now can only grab a little cash when it’s time for a home game.
So then I went on a run, and then I got chirping chips, and then I started to play hands blinds in Omaha, and I got stupid lucky and ended up ahead for the night. But since there was a bad beat story, I figure it’s only right that I relate a couple of winning hands as well. I’d been flopping big hands all night and underplaying them and getting run down because of it all night. Flop two pair, play it too slow and lose to a bigger two pair or flush – that kind of thing. So I decided that the next time I hit a flop hard, I was gonna bet the shit out of it. So I call a preflop raise in late position with 55. Button calls behind me, and three of us see a flop of J-5-x. Original raiser (same guy that turned a set of kings to my rivered set of fives earlier) bet out about a pot-sized bet, and I shoved all in over the top for $106 more. Button thought for a minute and called all in for less. Original raiser thought for a little while and folded. Uncle Phil was the button and turned over his cracked aces, and my set held up. At that point I was about even on the night.
A little while later I called a preflop raise with 87s, and the flop came down 8-J-x. T led out with a bet, and I called, hoping to catch something. Jim the Knife came along as well, and I hit another 8 on the turn. T led again, I called, and Jim stuck around. River was the case 8, and this time I pulled the trigger and raised when T led. Jim thought and thought but finally threw away 99. T thought for a minute and called with her Jack, and I showed my quads to drag a very healthy pot.
I picked up Aces one more time, for three on the night, and won about a $20 pot with them. So for anyone keeping score, that’s Aces for -$50, and 55 for $200. It’s never been said that I play cards well, but I sometimes play bad cards very well. I felt pretty good about last night’s game after I got off tilt for getting my aces snapped off and getting run down for the fourth or fifth time. My reads were usually pretty good, and that’s due in part to spending a couple hours every night playing on Full Tilt. I’ve been doing a bunch of little SNGs and have double my roll to a whopping $100 there. So I’m actually working on my game for the first time in a long time, and I’m seeing some results. Now let’s see if I can go another session without losing everything.
by john | Aug 6, 2010 | The Chosen, Writing
So I got proof copies of The Chosen in yesterday, so that I can send a few to local writers to get cover blurbs, and I was all excited. Yay! Hard copies of the book! Then I looked inside and saw that the margins sucked and the print was so small you couldn’t read the damn thing. Boo! The same thing happened with the proof copy of Red Dirt Review, and I thought I had taken care of that, but obviously not so much. So I spent a couple hours last night fiddling with the formatting, and ordered another proof copy. Hopefully it looks good. But on the up side, at least now my proof copies will have the right cover art, because my designer and I have finalized the cover. Check it out below. I think it’s fun, and captures enough of the spirit of the book to get people interested, and I like the red/yellow contrast. So check it out.
And I have decided to make a hardcover available, so there will now be three release dates for the book. Hardcover first, then paperback about a month after that, then ebook a little later. I’m not sure how long it will take Rob to get the ebook conversion done because I know he’s stacked up right now, so I’m still hoping for September. So hopefully for my birthday (next Friday in case you haven’t marked your calendars yet!) you’ll be able to order hardcovers. Then by Labor Day hopefully paperbacks and ebooks will be ready. I’m not sure how long it will take the ebook to be available in the Kindle store or iTunes, but it’ll be available on Smashwords as soon as the formatting is done. So now check out the cover by Lindsay, and lemme know what you think!
by john | Aug 4, 2010 | Theatre
And I don’t just mean two blog posts in the same month, although that might qualify as well.
Last night, after a production meeting for Annie (funny the kind of shows we’ll accept when we have to pay for a new roof, isn’t it?) I headed over to the auditions that my buddy Jimmy was having for his company’s season. Jimmy was auditioning a bunch of stuff throughout the year, and I basically put on my audition form that my schedule was retarded but we’d work something out if he needed me. I like Jimmy as a person, and respect the hell out of him as an artist, so I’ll work for him in bit parts and for no money just to be around the kind of energy he has going.
But after I’d read a couple of things for him, something odd happened – he asked me if I was going to sing. I don’t sing. Well, I do, but I’ve been told (repeatedly) that I don’t do it well. At all. But here was a guy with more parts than actors making it a welcoming experience to audition for his musical. And since it’s Cannibal: the Musical, it might be okay to be a little off-key to go with the off-color. So I went out back of the bar (auditions were in a dive bar on the back patio) with Mimi, the musical director, and sang an audition.
Let’s be clear – I have NO musical training. Like, none. So when she said, let’s sing your range, I barely had any idea what she was talking about. But she was patient, and apparently I matched notes with the keyboard well enough for her to get an idea of what I can (or more likely can’t) do musically, and it was a good experience.
But the new part, or at least the part where I was reminded of what it’s like for most people, was the vulnerability I felt auditioning. I haven’t really auditioned for anything for a couple years, and even then it wasn’t a big deal. I put myself in positions where I’m either one of the best people in the audition pool, or at least one of the best people for the role, or I’m pre-cast without auditioning because I run the company, or I audition on a lark and don’t really care if I don’t get a part. It’s been a long time since I actually felt like a real actor feels when I’ve auditioned. Like I wanted to do well, and had no idea if I was doing well or not. It brought back a lot of those early-actor fears and insecurities and wonders and newness and was overall very, very cool. I still don’t know if my schedule will let me do the show even if they do want me, but after going through that, I kinda really want to do the show now. It feels like it would be really interesting to go back to something so far outside my comfort zone and try to master it.
by john | Aug 1, 2010 | Fiction, Writing
I know, I don’t ever write anything here anymore. I haven’t written anything in forever, it seems like. And not just here, but pretty much everywhere. All my writerly attention has been focused on getting The Chosen ready for publication this fall. I put out a short volume of poetry a month or so ago called Red Dirt Boy, which is available online at Lulu. I described it as poetry for people who don’t like poetry, because I’ve had more than one person tell me they didn’t like poetry, but they liked my stuff. I guess I have a more discerning class of readers :). Or most poetry is intentionally obscure shit. One of those. You pick.
But I’ve got a cover design finalized for The Chosen, and I’m really excited about getting that rolling. The fabulous Lindsay Birmingham (buy her pictures!) did the graphic design for me, my niece Dianne did my editing, and Rob Siders is doing the conversion to e-book for an incredibly reasonable price. I found Rob through Joe Konrath’s blog, which is very helpful for anyone who is interested in the self-pub/e-pub world. I think that folks like Joe and Cory Doctorow are going to be required reading for writers in the new world, as the marketplace changes around us every day.
I decided that The Chosen will be primarily published as an e-book, not just because it’s faster, cheaper and I get to keep a higher percentage of the royalties than with traditional publishing, but because in the last six months and additional 3.3 million e-book readers have been purchased in the US alone. As a matter of fact, you can buy one of your very own here. No, I don’t think all, or even most people are using their iPads as e-book readers. Yet. But with Amazon announcing that e-books are currently outselling hardback books on their site, and with the addition of the Kindle app to the iPhone, Droid and iPad, it just makes sense. Plus, you’ll be able to buy the book for $2.99 on Amazon or $3.99 on iTunes, which gives me a much better shot at selling a pile of books to people who don’t know me than a $15 paperback on Lulu with a $5 shipping tag.
That said, I will do print-on-demand for The Chosen, because I know that a lot of people still want a real book in their hands. And I’ll do real copies for signings and book release parties and all that, because I don’t think anyone wants me to take a sharpie to the back of their iPad. But I can get a professional-quality e-book formatted with a great cover design for less than $500 out of pocket, so that’s the path to market I’m planning. I think the book will be ready for early September, and I’m toying with some ideas like a super-limited hardback run, or something like that.
I’m also working on the beginnings of another story (or two). I have this snarky teenage vampire character stuck in my head, and I can’t get rid of him, so I’ve started a story about a pair of 60-year-old teenage vampire detectives. I also have an end of the world story that I’m toying with about the death of technology and return of magic to the world, but that one’s slow to take off. I really need to win the Powerball so I can quit my job and just write for a living, but the redneck 401(k) hasn’t worked out for me yet.
I’m heading off to a comic con here in a few, then grocery shopping for the gimpy wife. She had minor foot surgery on Friday, so I’m on day 3 of nursemaid duty, which is about my upper limit. She’s recovering nicely and has Darvocet for the pain, so hopefully she’ll be in a place where I can go back to work tomorrow.
by john | Jun 27, 2010 | Fiction, Vampires, Writing
I think this is the beginning of a new book. Lemme know what you think. Also, I have a new collection of poetry coming out in the next couple of weeks, and I believe The Chosen will be available for iPad, Kindle and other e-readers by late September, with hard copies available from lulu.com. But check this out and let me know what you think, please.
I hate waking up in an unfamiliar place. I’ve slept in pretty much the same bed for the past fifteen years, so when I wake up someplace new, it really throws me off. When that someplace is tied to a metal folding chair in the center of an abandoned warehouse that reeks of stale cigarette smoke, gasoline and harbor water – well, that really started my night off on a sparkling note.
My mood deteriorated even further when I heard a voice behind me say “It’s about time you woke up, bloodsucker.” I mean, seriously, why do people have to be so rude? It’s a condition, like freckles. I’m a vampire. Deal with it. But we can do without the slurs, thank you very much.
“Go easy on the bloodsucker, pal. I haven’t had breakfast.” Was what I tried to say. But since my mouth was duct-taped shut, it came out more like “Mm mmmm mm mmm-mmmmmmm, mmm. Mm mmmmmm mmm mmmmm.” My repartee was gonna need an assist if I was going to talk my way out of this. Of course, if my mysterious captor had wanted me dead, he’d had all day to make that happen, but instead I woke up tied to a chair. I tested my bonds, but I was tied tight, and whatever he had bound me with burned, so it was either blessed, and he was devout, or it was silver. My money was on silver. The true believers are more the stake ‘em in the coffins type than the kidnap them and tie them to chairs type.
“I think, bloodsucker, that since I’m the one with the stake, I get to call you whatever I want. And you, as the one tied to the chair with silver chains, get to sit there and do whatever I say.” My captor moved around in front where I could get a good look at him. I knew him, of course. It’s never the new guy in town who ties you to a chair, it’s always that kinda creepy guy who you’ve seen lurking around the cemetery for a couple weeks. The one that you’re not sure if he was there to mourn or for some other reason. And of course, it was always some other reason.
I’d seen this guy hanging around one of the big oak trees in my cemetery, near the freshest grave in the joint, for a couple of weeks. I never thought much of his wardrobe until now, but in retrospect he was wearing almost stereotypical vampire hunter garb. Black jeans, black boots, long black coat, wide-brimmed black hat. Christ, I bet he owned the Van Helsing Blu-Ray. I swore then that if I ever got the chance, I was eating Hugh Jackman’s liver. No, we don’t usually eat people, but liver’s liver, and I was pissed. I had been caught and trussed up like a Thankgsiving turkey by a skinny twenty-something who watched too many bad vampire movies.
This kid was white, about twenty-three, with mousy brown hair and looked like he played too much Call of Duty instead of getting a job. His skin was paler than mine, for crying out loud, and I’m dead! He was a hair over six foot, weighed maybe one-forty soaking wet, and either had an asthma inhaler in his front pocket or was happy to see me. God, I hoped it was an inhaler.
“Mmmm mmmmm mm mmm mmmm mm mm mm?” I asked, which was supposed to be more of a what do you want me to do type of query, but my mouth was still taped shut. The kid reached forward and ripped the tape off, taking a layer or two of skin with it. “OWWW!” I yelled, straining against my bonds. “You little rat bastard, I swear to God I am going to drink you dry and leave your body on the lawn like an empty bag of flesh!”
I admit, my similes need work.
“I don’t think so, bloodsucker. I think you’re going to do anything I tell you to, or I’ll just leave you tied up there to starve.” He had a point there. It’s not like there were very many people who would miss a vampire, and I hadn’t yet figured out how to get loose from whatever silver-lined bonds he’d created.
“Alright, what do you want?” I asked. Might as well find out right now if he wanted something simple or…
“I want you to turn me,” he replied. The look of hope on his face was a little pathetic, really, but there was a determination there that was disturbing. This was not going to be easy.
“No.” I wanted to get the short and simple part out of the way first, then we could move on to the lengthy explanations.
“Why not?” Wow, from zero to whiny little bitch in .4 seconds. If I’d ever had any thoughts of actually turning this scrawny little zit-farm into a vamp, they would have just evaporated.
“Because I don’t turn people. Because this life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Because I don’t know how to turn people. Because you’d miss all those romantical sunsets you probably write mediocre poetry about. Because it’s not fair to the ecosystem to add another predator. All of the above. None of the above. Pick a reason, kid, any reason you like. I’m not turning you.” I started to look around for another way to get out of this mess, but it didn’t look good for our hero. Or at least my hero, and it’s my story.
For a skinny little gamer-geek, he’d done a good job tying me up. I guess that’s another thing we can thank the internet for – unlimited access to fetish porn has improved the knot-tying ability of men who can’t get dates. I couldn’t exactly see my hands, but by straining around, I could see that my ankles were tied to separate legs of the chair with those plastic zip-ties you get in the electrical aisle. I could see a silver necklace wound around each tie, and by the way my wrists felt, he’d done the same thing there. The chair was the standard metal folding type, the kind that gets sacrificed in countless professional wrestling matches. So I was pretty well neutralized. The silver sapped the strength from my arms just by the contact, and I couldn’t get enough leverage with my legs to do anything useful. I looked up to try and Jedi mind trick my kidnapper, when I noticed two things – one – he was wearing polarized sunglasses, which was a neat idea, although ultimately useless against my mental abilities, and two – he was crying.
“You have to turn me!” He wailed, tears streaming down his cheeks. “I don’t have anything left, and this is the only way I can think to get by.”
I couldn’t believe it, I was actually starting to feel sorry for the guy. “Okay, kid. Why don’t you tell me what’s wrong and I’ll see if I can help.”
“No one can help, but if I were one of the Undead I could help myself.” I swear I could actually hear him capitalize undead.
“You know that’s kinda my job, right? Helping people that can’t help themselves. Kinda like the A-Team, without the Mohawk and the van. Reach into my shirt pocket and grab a business card. I promise not to bite you, and as you know we Undead cannot tell a lie.” Total bullshit, but I’ve often found with people dumb enough to romanticize the whole vampire thing that a little mendacity goes a long way. He reached into my pocket and took out a business card. It had my name, James Black, and cell phone number under a logo that said “Black Knight Detectives, shedding light on your darkest problems.” Neither the company name nor the stupid slogan was my idea. And I prefer Jimmy.
“You’re a detective?” I nodded. “And you think you can help me?”
“Well, I can’t really know that until you tell me what your problem is. So why don’t you untie me, and we can talk about this like a pair of reasonable people?” I put a little mojo into my eyes, and he started towards me with a pair of wire cutters in his hand. And that’s when things went to hell.
by john | Jun 17, 2010 | Real Life
MONDAY MAY 17 2010
To Our Friends and Colleagues,
I am writing today to for your donation to Team Barbizon in support of the millions of people whose lives are affected by cancer. Team Barbizon is participating in an extraordinary event this July by joining 1700 other cyclists to ride for 24 consecutive hours to raise cancer awareness and support for noteworthy charities, including The Lance Armstrong Foundation and the Brain Tumor Fund for the Carolinas. Such an extraordinary event needs an extraordinary name: The “24 Hours of Booty!” This is the fifth year we have taken part in this worthwhile cause.
WHAT IS THE 24 HOURS OF BOOTY?
24 Hours of Booty is the official 24-hour ride of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which brings cyclists of all abilities together to raise vital funds for cancer research and survivorship. The event unites people who are passionate about fighting cancer. By benefiting both The Lance Armstrong Foundation and local, life-changing beneficiaries, the 24 Hours of Booty experience represents hope, challenge, remembrance and celebration.
ABOUT THE CHARITIES
The 24 Hours of Booty is a non-profit organization that directs fundraising to national and local cancer initiatives. Recipients include:
The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF)
The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) provides the practical information and tools people with cancer need to live life on their own terms. The LAF serves its mission through advocacy, public health and research.
The Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults (UCF)
The Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults (UCF) was established in 1997 by Doug Ulman, a three-time cancer survivor who now serves as President and CEO of the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The UCF’s mission is to support, educate and connect young adults affected by cancer.
The Brain Tumor Fund for the Carolinas
An organization dedicated to increasing public awareness of the impact of brain tumors along with providing support for the development of comprehensive treatment strategies and cooperative biomedical research efforts.
The Keep Pounding Fund
Honoring the late Carolina Panthers player and coach Sam Mills and former player Mark Fields, this fund benefits the Blumenthal Center for Cancer Research at Carolinas Medical Center.
Johns Hopkins Medicine
At Johns Hopkins, The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center has active programs in clinical research, laboratory research, education, community outreach, prevention and control. It has been dedicated to better understanding human cancers and finding more effective treatments.
On behalf of all those whose lives are affected by cancer, we thank you for supporting the 24 Hours of Booty, the event’s participants, and ultimately the cancer community. With your donation, we can make a positive impact on our local cancer community and the cancer community abroad. Your generosity and support make a tremendous difference.
To make a donation to Team Barbizon please follow this link. Donations made to this link (Esthere’s page) will be distributed amongst all the teammates.
by john | Jun 4, 2010 | Comics, Real Life, Writing
Had a great time today at the Heroes Convention walking around, talking to different creators about their books, buying way more stuff than I had budgeted (at some point I’ll admit that my “budget” for a con is really what I have in my pocket, as I may refuse to stop before I spend that much), and attended a great panel by some Marvel editors, writers and artists about how to break into the comic business.
I also passed out a bunch of business cards and talked to a bunch of folks about Choices, my novel. If you’re one of them and came here trying to remember what exactly you were supposed to do when you got here, click here to read my novel.
So here’s what I think I’ve decided over the past few days – despite the money issues that we’ve run into over the past couple of weeks (i.e. me putting my foot through the roof and hastening the $4,000 new roof we have to put on the house), I’m going to push a lot harder over the next year to make this writing thing work. I wrote my novel last year and then decided to take a year and try to get some publishing credits before I moved forward with it. Well, I’ve had 13 poems and one short story published since January, and I haven’t submitted anything since the beginning of April, so I’m going to consider that mission accomplished.
So now on to Step 2 – publish Choices. I’m thinking it needs a new title – maybe something like I Made the Devil Do It, or just The Choosing, but it needs a better title. But regardless, I’m actively soliciting an editor from my friends who have done that type of work, and I’m actively soliciting a cover design. I plan to have it published in ebook format hopefully by Labor Day, but certainly by the end of the year. I’ve found a guy who will do the conversion to epub and kindle format for a reasonable price, so I hope that I can get it all ready to go for about $500. I also hope that my editor will work on commission, but I think that won’t be a problem. So I’ll have it out in ebook format this year. I’ll also do some print on demand stuff, so that I can have copies to sign, and people that don’t own a Kindle, Nook or iPad will still be able to buy the book (although you can read ebooks on computers, too). If I set the price at $3, I’ll get a little more than $2 of each ebook sold, and it should be fairly simple to get some folks to take a flyer on a $3 ebook. Especially if I can get some good reviews going. So some of you may be solicited for reviews in the coming months.
I’ve already started my next novel, as well as a pair of short stories that may form the basis of a collection. I also have a script for a comic in the can, which just needs an artist, but that may need to wait until the beginning of ’11 to get much traction, as the rest of this year will be spent focusing on the novel(s) and getting the first one ready for public consumption.
So that’s the plan. For now at least, but as you know these things are subject to change without much notice. I’ve picked up more freelance design gigs to help pay for the roof and replace income from poker writing that has gone away (mostly due to my choice, as it was interfering with the day job). I know it seems counterintuitive that I would add freelance theatrical work to replace freelance writing, especially when my ultimate goal is to be a writer, but the poker writing was more of a scheduling conflict with the day job, and I found that writing for that medium for so long really started to step on my creative writing. I really envy folks like Pauly or Otis, who can still turn out really top-notch material after so many years in the poker biz.
This will also result in more regular posting here, as I focus on keeping the muscles flexed, as it were. So I’m back, for now at least.
by john | Apr 19, 2010 | Poker
Wherein I play some hands good, some hands bad, some hands mediocre, and bust out just a little out of the money. For my non-pokery readers, this is a heavy poker post. If you’re not into that, read an archived post for a little while.
So last night was the first BBT5 invitational tournament, and I was both happy and disappointed with my performance. Happy that I went deep, busting two out of the money in a tough field, and disappointed that I pissed away a big chip lead in two really poorly played hands. Of course, there was some debate that I acquired the chips in poorly played hands, so that’s only fair I suppose.
Let’s start with two hands that I played (in my mind) well, that built my stack up huge in the middle going of the tournament. In my mind, where I am a good poker player (which, sadly, only is true inside my head, but it’s my blog, so deal with it)these two hands exemplify how my game works when I’m on my game. And for a little while during this tournament, I was on. In the first, I laid a huge suckout on Lucko to double up and grab a bunch of chips. In the second, I won a coin toss against Bayne and pretty much played it as well as I could to get a bunch of his chips. Later on, we’ll go through the steps of the courtesy double-ups I granted Doc Chako and Julius Goat to show that I know when I suck as well as having a few delusions about when I play gOOt.
In the first hand, I was in the small blind with Lucko directly to my right. Lucko had been there for a while, and what I know from his game is that he’s a solid, experienced, aggressive tournament player. He had done some fairly predictable things in the orbits since he sat down, raising in late position almost every time it folded to him, and I surrendered my blinds every time like a good little donkey. In this hand I decided to defend my blind with 9s-3s, mostly planning to (a) call, then fold if I missed the flop entirely, setting up a chance to call and check-raise later with a monster or (b) call with trash and if I hit my baby flush or something stupid like a pair of nines on a non-paint board to snap off a steal by catching my garbage. My thoughts on his range were – 40% any two big cards, 40% any pocket pair, 20% any two napkins with the button. Of course I didn’t break it down that coherently in my conscious thoughts, it went more like this in my head “Lucko is a good player, he likely has a real hand. If I hit my trash and he misses his real hand, I might get a pile of chips out of him.” He had me slightly covered, but we were both pretty deep at this point.
The flop came down A-2-4 in some arrangement of suits, no flush draws. Now I’m thinking he probably hit his Ace, but if I peel one and hit my gutshot I can almost certainly get a bunch of chips, and maybe even double through Lucko here. So I check, he makes a fairly decent-sized c-bet, maybe 2/3 or 3/4 pot, and I peel one off. The turn brings my 5 to give me the wheel, and I check my straight, pretty sure that if he has an Ace, he’ll fire again. He fires again, and I put out a healthy raise. Lucko thinks for a moment and moves all in over the top. I snap-call, he shows AK and is drawing dead. Lucko’s crippled, and goes out a little while later, but not before griping in the chat about how these are the “worst tournaments ever,” and making a few snide comments about bloggers. Now let me make it clear, I am not a good poker player. Most days, I’m not even mediocre. And I think Lucko is a better tournament player than me by a mile. Which all combined to let me double through him in that hand. I may not be a good poker player, but I play with some very good poker players, and I have only stayed alive by learning how to match up against a better player – figure out what they think you should do, and do something different. I couldn’t peel one for the gutshot against BadBlood or Special K, because while they are good players, they have enough hands logged against me to know that I’ll do that, and I would never have gotten a turn bet out of them, much less the re-raise. With Lucko and I not playing each other very much, I used his solid game against him for a double up.
Now, am I saying that taking a card off drawing for a gutshot was a mathematically correct move? No. But was it really a very bad move? Also, I posit the answer is ‘No.” Of course I didn’t go into nearly as much detail thinking through the hand in progress as I did explaining it here, but that’s what thin-slicing is all about. And if you’re not familiar with the term, read Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, which every poker player should read anyway. It went more like “He’s stealing my blind again, I need to defend. This hand is easy to get away from if I miss, and if I hit, it’s unlikely to help his hand. I call.” Then something like “He probably hit the ace, so the only way I pay off another bet is if I make my straight, but if I get there he’ll fire again, and I might get him to call a raise, too. I call.” Then “Got there. If I check, he’s almost guaranteed to bet. I check.” Then “Got him. Now let’s see if he’ll call my raise.” Then “Wow. If he really has 3-6, then he’s way, way more creative than I give him credit for, and he deserves all my chips, but I’m almost 100% sure I’m good here. I call.” Then “well, that went well.” So, that’s a long-winded way of saying if you insinuate in the chat box that I’m an idiot, you’re stuck with a long-winded explanation of why I just flat outplayed you.
The next hand pretty much played itself for both of us. I had the button with T-T, and put in a 3xBB raise, which was the identical raise that I made any time I opened a pot all night. Bayne was in the SB with A-J, and called. Reasonable action all the way around. Flop came down X-J-T, and We both checked. I thought I was being all sneaky, and so did Bayne. Tricky poker players :). I don’t remember the turn action, but I think Bayne bet and I raised. The river was another Jack, and I think Bayne checked and I bet about 1.3x the pot, or maybe a little more. I remember pressing the pot button and starting to scroll down, and then I thought “waitaminit, this would be a really good time to overbet. If he folds, I don’t lose out on anything, but if he has a Jack, it’s gonna be hard for him to not call me. So I overbet the pot, Bayne called, and I showed my boat. That one kinda played itself, but I was really happy about adding a level to my thinking on the river bet sizing.
Then I got moved to a new table and donked off all my chips. First I was in either late position or a blind with A-Q, and Chako raised preflop. I thought about three-betting, but decided against it, then the flop came down X-Q-K. Doc led out, I put in a big raise, and he went all in. I called to see his K-Q, and felt like the moron that I was. No Ace for me, too bad, so sad. I could have easily gotten away from that hand with second pair, top kicker, especially when I thought to myself that he had started behind and outflopped me. But sometimes we get in the habit of wanting to fabricate bad beat stories, and that’s what I subconsciously did there. I wanted to be able to whine about Doc’s preflop hand and him catching up and all that shit, but I really can’t, because I played it bad. It was absolutely one of those self-creating bad beat moments, and I gave away a bunch of chips in the process.
I did it again a few hands later when I called Julius Goat preflop with Ac-Jc, and then raised him on the Ace-high flop. I could certainly have gotten away from his re-raise, but I wasn’t quite smart enough, and was trusting in my suckout mojo too much. He showed AK, and I had given away 60% of my stack in two hands. I never really recovered, and although I could have probably folded my way into the bottom tier of the money, when I flopped 2nd pair and the up and down straight draw on a T-Q-K board holding QJ I decided that it was time to double up or go to work on the PokerStars blog. I went to work while JJOK went on to win the thing. Congrats, dude! And thanks again to Full Tilt Poker and AlCantHang for putting this together! I had Dave from Poker from the Rail at my starting table and it was fun playing with him for a while. I’ll be back next week to try and play a little better, and without the distraction of a work assignment that evening, so maybe I’ll do a little better.
by john | Apr 17, 2010 | Real Life
Sitting in the car waiting for Suzy as she goes into the bowels of Hell (Wal-Mart on a Saturday). We’ve been out running errands for an hour or so now, and that’s only resulted in one brief fight, which is pretty good for us. I’m checking out the WordPress app for iPhone and it’s not bad. Of course the auto correct on the spelling has been my saving grace so far…
Did a short reading last night at Just Do It at Theatre Charlotte, and that was well-received. Sold a book, which is always good, and when I got home I realized that now I REALLY have to order more, because I’m down to less than ten copies. So I’ll make that happen sometime this week, as well as publishing the free shipping coupon that LULU sent me this week. So if you’ve been holding out to see me in person to buy the book, now you can get it shipped to you free (and probably more promptly than I would).
So there’s a minipost from the phone and I don’t think I backspaced much more than in a normal post, so maybe it’ll be an option. Especially if I break down and buy an iPad tomorrow.
by john | Apr 16, 2010 | Poker
And not just because I’m creeping ever-closer to the free sweet tea at Hardee’s.
Once upon a time I had a poker blog. Some days this spot here even masquerades as one, but those days are few and far between, kinda like my winning sessions at the poker table. Maybe if I sucked less, I’d write more. And maybe if I wrote more about my game, I’d suck less. It’s entirely possible that it’s something like the antithesis of the vicious cycle, but who knows?
Anyway, because I occasionally write about poker (and have you ever noticed that occasionally is one of those words that NEVER looks right the first time and you always have to go back and take out an “s” in the middle to get that stupid little red line to go away (thanks, Richard, bane of my existence)?) the fine folks at Poker from the Rail have invited me to be part of the BBT5.
If you’re not a poker blogger and are still reading this, what’s wrong with you? No, really, here’s the deal. The Battle of the Blogger Tournaments started life as a fun series of tournaments hosted by friends who wanted to get together and give away some cool prizes. Then more people started playing, and the prizes and prize pools got bigger, and the tournaments attracted the attention of some cool folks with prizes to add. Then Full Tilt Poker stepped up huge and started adding WSOP seats to the mix, so some of the tournaments got a little less blogger-centric, then a LOT less blogger-centric, and more competitive, and what started out as kind of drunken chatroom fests with a poker tournament happening in the background turned into real poker tournaments with a few drunks playing but a lot of serious players. Then some old farts decided not to play because it wasn’t like the good old days (and get off my lawn!) but it was still a wildly successful series of tournaments that put some bloggers and readers into the WSOP Main Event and some side tournaments, too. For the record, I didn’t decide to not participate because of any of that, I just am usually broke online and have stuff going on when the tourneys are running.
But now, because I’ve been around for a million blog years, and still sometimes write about poker, I’ve been invited to be part of the BBT5, which includes two open tournaments each week for the next six weeks, and one invitational tournament each week. I’ll be playing all the invitationals, which could be bad for me, because I suck, but since they’re freerolls, won’t be too bad. And since a bunch of my friends have also been invited, it’ll be like old home week, with chips! The top two finishers each week get seats in the Tournament of Champions, and the top 5 folks in the TOC get WSOP seats to either the Main Event or a preliminary event, depending on where they finish. So that’s way cool. I get six freeroll shots at a Main Event seat, which there’s no way I’d pass up. So for the next few weeks, I’ll be on Full Tilt (with the terribly original screen name of Jhartness) playing for my shot at poker glory (or at least $10K to throw at credit card payments). Go here for more details on the BBT5, and give Al a big smooch from me when you see him!
Now here lies my dilemma – if the seas part and all seven seals unlock and I manage to win a seat, do I play? There’s no question that I’m not a very good card player, but I do have some history of success in well-structured tournaments (Venetian, Casa de Blood, etc.). The structure of the WSOP Main Event is nice and deep, and I might have a shot to crack the money (top 10%), which would double my “buy-in.” And since the buy-in is not coming out of my pocket, that’s $20K in free money. Then the upside potential is in the millions for a final table appearance. The flip side is $10K cash in hand, which wipes out all my existing credit card debt and leaves me a little on the side. Our finances took a hit last year when PokerNews restructured and no longer needed my services, so between that loss of revenue and a couple of weddings and some frivolous spending, we’ve accrued a little debt that I’m working to get rid of. So, I ask you, dear readers (if anyone actually made it this far) – if you considered yourself no better than 40% to make the money, thus walking away with at least $20,000, would you play the Main Event or pocket the ten grand? Obviously this debate is so far into the future as to be laughable because I first have to win my way into the TOC and then finish in the top two spots there to even qualify, but it does make for interesting conversation, because I do plan to be in the TOC. After all, I was invited, and what’s the point of showing up at a party if you’re going to leave early?
