Happy Father's Day to all

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Father's Day. Sometimes being a father is easier than other times... However, whether easy or challenging, it's all worthwhile!

---

Poker Pub Sponsors and deals:
Newest, hottest place to play poker - Carbon Poker - Special 200% up to $100 (code initialcheckrayz), a reload bonus of 75% up too $100 (code reloadcheckrayz)!
$100 in FREE Links
Play free poker at CheckRayz - free entry, cash prizes and money-added buyin poker tournaments. Sign up now!
Get better at playing poker online with pokertracker. Analyze your play and the play of your opposition.
Advertise with the Poker Pub

---

My kids are my world. They put a smile on my face, as well as the faces of everyone around them. Nothing, no one brings me a greater joy.





All you fathers out there, take a second to thank your children for allowing you the privilege of being a father, their father. Abby, Zack... it's an honor to be your Dad. Happy Father's Day, kids!

Daddy/Mike

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs2.5 License.


Subscribe to the Poker Pub

not poker, but I have to mention it...

Christmas gifts n poker chips only at 5stardeal.
Play free poker at CheckRayz - free entry, cash prizes and money-added buyin poker tournaments. Sign up now!
Blogger? Join the Blogger Poker Tour today! From the Blogosphere to the Aussie Millions... BPT - only at Poker.com!. BPT Event 7 (12/16) Omaha Hi/Low, hosted by The Poker Pub Poker Blog

I know this so has nothing to do with poker, but I'd be cheating myself if I failed to mention it... I have this little soccer team of mine... This team is appropriately named the Beer Football Club (care to guess who the captain might be?). Excuse the website, as it's grossly outdated and a slight eyesore in some spots, but what do you expect for a drunken hobby, right?

Anyway, last night we were pitted against our rival team. By rival team, I mean that my team split into two "in the middle of the night." More specifically, about five players from my squad broke off and formed their own team without so much as a courtesy mention to us. And while the main squad (mine) was a bit upset about this split, somehow the renegades decided they were going to be bitter towards us?


Long story short... usually we play to a one goal game... one way or the other. Last night, it wasn't even close. Someone had an ax to grind, it would seem. Final score Beer FC 12 - Hooligans 2. Asskicking central - nuff said.

Live casino report later tonight or tomorrow. Take care!

Mike

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs2.5 License.


Subscribe to the Poker Pub

Steppin' Back...

As I had mentioned previously, I've been having "issues" recently with my poker game, whereas I had a mental block of sorts preventing me from thinking beyond my own hand. For this reason, I've suspended almost all cash games participation for myself until I overcome this block.

One cannot be a successful ring game player while thinking no further than level zero. Typically, I think on my own hand, I think on my opposition's hand, I ponder what he thinks I have, and I ponder what he thinks I think he has. Far cry from the "I have top pair and a decent kicker, thus bet" approach I cannot seem to get beyond recently.

So, because of this deficiency, I've taken a step back from playing poker. I'm still reading on poker, as it's imperative for me to continue learning, but other than select tournaments, I'm not playing.

I am, however, playing a few random casino games here and there, specifically three card poker. My bankroll and I are enjoying the mindless pleasure of clicking and getting paid without much thought what so ever. No longer am I sitting in front of my monitor requiring myself to be so cereberal. Now, I am George Jetson on the job. A quality control rep. Either the Spaceley Sprocket is good (Q-6-4 or better) and I send it to the assembly line, or it's not (Q-6-4 or worse), and thus I reject the sprocket. It's that simple for me.

Did I mention the kickass deposit bonuses some of these casinos have as well? Via the Shark Forum, I came across two that immediately kicked up to $200 in as bonus. One of the casinos allowed me to deposit $35 to begin playing through the $200, the other required $50. Both of those casinos, if I recall correctly, required 10 times play-through, meaning I had to wager the $200 ten times over before I was able to withdraw the bonus amount. I didn't stop there either. I ran down the Kiwi Casino and completed the first leg of their bonus (total of $300 bonus available via Kiwi) in the same manner. I'll be looking to finish up the second leg of that bonus early in the week.

I'm still a poker/hold'em man at heart here. But, these mindless games are hitting the spot, given my present issues. Nothing like remaining just as, if not more productive while struggling with something of this nature, right?

Oh, in case I forgot to mention, Sharky is coming out with a Vegas Strip website very soon. He'll have some of the best casino bonuses on the net available to everyone through the Vegas Strip. Me, I'll dabble in casino promoting via the blog and CheckRayz site. I don't yet foresee a strictly casino site in my near future. In fact, if you're interested, I've started a casino section on the blog. Feel free to click one of the links on the right if it catches your eye. I'll be adding more as I deem it appropriate.

On the agenda today is the weekly game, a bit more 3-cardin'... maybe looking to knock through 2 bonuses by lunchtime, perhaps? And then finally cappin' it off with the second leg of the MSOP. I believe stud is the game of choice tonight.

Mike

Sleepless nights, a day late and well over “three-fitty” short…

So much for the “I’ll begin regular writing either the next day or the day after.” I did really have all intentions of beginning the writing again on July 5. We went from my modem blowing over the weekend to my creative side blowing a gasket. Unfortunately one nearly sleepless night after another produces on hell of a case of writer’s block.

Additionally, in efforts to combat insomnia and/or writer’s block, I do not recommend either of the following activities:

1. Trying to play yourself to sleep. Correction, if you do, play freerolls or very low limit sit n gos. Do not play your regular level cash games (I am stuck about three-fitty from trying “play myself to sleep.”

2. Trying to “play through the writer’s block.” You will not be inspired to write. Additionally, with no sleep you are not very creative. The only thing you will end up with is a set of pocket tens and the conviction that “they can’t possibly have played exactly King Queen or exactly 8-7 that way. My set has to be good and he has to have aces or kings, and the other guy has either ace big or an under pair,” which then turns into what your sleepless mind believes is a “bad beat story” even though you believe there’s no such thing as a “bad beat” only a bad play or a bad read.

3. Getting ballsy with a sub-par hand near the bubble when the button and cutoff just know you’re in the mood to come out of the BB swinging, especially when said cutoff and buttons are Sharky and Born respectively.

4. Believing for one second that you can either read a book for mastery of context or proofread something suitable for print.

5. Give someone directions as to how to get to your house. It is just not going to happen.
Anyways, next time I do not sleep for two to three days straight, I will better know what not to do.

As a reminder, I'll be moving the CheckRayz server this weekend and into next week. Once we get moved and verify we're up and running, we'll resume our tournament play. Additionally, look for a mid-day update on the CheckRayz $500 promotional freeroll poker tournament both here and in the shark forum later today. Next week, we'll discuss the second quarter tour championship, confirming a date, time and location.

Mike

Happy Father's Day...

Here's to all the Fathers out there... Have a happy father's day. Take the extra time to spend it with your children/family. My afternoon is filled with "little kid stuff" as they like to call it. I will be still participating in the blogger event at Stars tonight. More than likely, I will have my lil angels at my side playing with me. They like pokerstars because it has a picture of them as my avatar from three years ago. So, if I do anything donk-like, that is my reason excuse. I "should" also be playing the PLO tourney tonight (also at stars) with sharky and company.

Speaking of the angels of mine... In a rare occurance, a personal pic... This one is from right after their Kindergarten school play. They did a dinosaur play, and afterwards, they gave all the parents a personal tour of the Dinosaur Museum that they collectively built...

Apparantly, we're having technical issues, so instead... here is a link to said picture of Daddy's Lil Angels.

Personal: Quit Smoking...

Yesterday, I am happy to say I gave up smoking after being a smoker for roughly 21 years. I am in good company with this whole quitting smoking ordeal, as 3 of my friends are quitting with me. This is something that is long overdue.

Historically, two things happen when I quit. My words do not seem to flow, both in speaking and in writing. Second, I tend to want to clean and/or re-arrange everything under the sun. Thus, you have a short post today and a fresh coat of paint on the Poker Pub.

Mike


Misc. Offtopic Ramblings

A bit preoccupied today...

I've been a bit preoccupied today (tax preperation for the beer guy) and am unable to prepare a suitable post. Expect a continuation on the strategy posts tommorrow. CheckRayz' heads up challenge at Celeb is tonight at 9pm EST, with a $5+.50 buyin. See you there.

Mike

*Splat*

With little time to do a "real" post today due to some personal things goin on today, I leave you with this thought...

Many people fall in a "pile" and come out smellin like a rose. "SuperDonk" however, starts off smellin like a rose, and then falls into a pile. Stated another way... SuperDonk wins the $500 first prize in the Freeroll at the local pub. Approximately 24 hours later, SuperDonk and I are en route to the same pub, to qualify for the monthly $1000 freeroll for April, when his timing belt soils itself. Approximate cost of repairs: $500.



Poker Stories
SuperDonk, Poker Idiot Saga
Horrible Poker Play

Offtopic Thursday...

Housekeeping Items

1. Regarding the CheckRayz Poker Pub Blog, I think I'm going to follow the following format regarding my posting habbits, to keep some sort of consistancy to my blog postings.

Monday - Poker News
Tuesday - Strategy
Wednesday - Strategy
Thursday - off-topic posts
Friday - Thoughts on the week that was and the ever so popular Friday night mailbag
Saturday-Sunday - Whatever I feel like posting, with hopes of doing a regular... or semi-regular guest spot.

That being said, I'm going to begin today and go off topic, continuing endgame strategy on Tuesday. Eventually, I'll get around to reworking the archives so that each topic will be appropriately archived.

Upcoming Kentucky Derby

I've been somewhat of a fan of the month of March. Not just because of the March Madness either. I've had quite the string of luck in betting the ponys over the past few years, specifically at the kentucky derby. I got "lucky" and nailed the trifecta two years ago, getting behind a relatively unknown Smarty Jones before it was fashionable to do so. I also got behind Giacomo for the derby last year, in addition to Closing Arguement, both of which I lost interest in as the triple crown progressed.

I have a "formula" I use to pick my Derby favorites. I've not yet even begun to crunch numbers, and do not dabble in the futures pools that are out there, however, I'm taking a liking to two of the contenders of the derby field, First Samurai is really standing out in my mind - especially if he makes it to the Derby and the track is sloppy. I'm also liking a horse named Sweetnorthernsaint as a value play. Additionally, I'm digging a horse running a bit below the radar right now called Point Determined.

The field will become more clear this weekend where their will be several big prep races, which will show us who the pretenders are. It should be noted that I've got no valid reason to not like the favored Brother Derek, however, he seems like yet another one of those horses who are hyped going into the derby that do not pan out.

These are not my "picks," just my observations with the untrained eye. I'll begin crunching stats and offering thoughts and commentary in the near future.

Football Notes...

You just knew I'd have to find a way to bring football into off topic thursday, given that my Steelers are once again... Your Super Bowl Champions.

It seems there is going to be Chaos in the NFL in the upcoming years, (read, pissing contest between the owners and the NFLPA). This is going to make life difficult going forward for the smaller market clubs, in my mind. I'm not sure I'm liking what I see. Additionally, Cutler is a cut above the rest (of the universe not named Leinart going into the draft), and Vince Young is nothing more than an "also ran." Though, I see Vince landing in Oakland, as big Al loves speed (wouldn't be surprised to see Marcus Vick go there as either a very late round pick or an undrafted free agent either).

Thoughts and the mailbag tommorrow...

Mike



Misc. Offtopic Ramblings

Beer Pong...

As I had wrote yesterday, I had a Beer Pong Tourney to play in at "The Stone", which the jury is still out as to whether or not I'm still drunk from said event (9.30am the morning after). My partner and I were at a distinct disadvantage in this tourney, as we were the only "non college student" participants in the event. And of course, we were appropriately eliminated in the second round of the double elimination match. Regardless of our early exit, the Beer Guy and company managed to drink our weight in beer and had an absolute blast (from what I remember). Fortunately, I took some pictures of the day to help my memory lapse, they can be viewed here.

Rumour has it that I missed one hell of a battle yesterday between Tim and Matt for the Shark Tour Championship. Both of them, from my understanding brought their "A-Game" with Tim being crowned the Champ for 2005. Mad props to ya. The newly crowned champ didn't stop there though. He went on to defeat Shark Heads up right after, which is quite a task, let alone doing so right after the title match. Shark pushed to seven games though, with Tim winning the decisive game seven of the series.

Once again, Congrats to the Champ and Matt. And thanx to the Shark-dude for putting together one hell of a 2005 season.



Thoughts on Poker