There's a lot I could say about the status of poker online in MN right now - someone has their underwear in a bundle - I should point out in disclosure, the ad I have for Full Tilt Poker is to your right, (assuming you don't use adblock or something) - and for some reason, that is one of the sites the Minnesota Department of Public Safety has on their list for blockage but as of Sunday morning, I have access and I have reason to believe their persecution will not be legally justified

so I'll let it go for a moment and get to my point.

Two weeks ago, I took my live bankroll and cashed it in - my attempts to build a bankroll playing 2/4 limit with a $5 rake and $1 jackpot drop are pretty much in the hole - Furthermore, I have neither the inclination nor the desire to continue that project - I was glad to win my bad beat jackpot share, and I'm glad to take what's left of it and run - I already ran with $250 or so, so I kept about $850 of my $1500 bankroll - not unlike my 401K performance - LOL

A lot could be said on whether the game is beatable, esp. at 2am with loose guns and no one can deny on a good night, with the right cards, it can be taken for $200, but I found myself tightening up and getting less and less interested in making the trip out there short of any reason but human communication. With some competition in the area now in Runnin' Aces, I would almost rather buy a convertible and make an hr drive up to play in the pocket A's promotion they have most weekdays and cash my comps when I go - just sayin....

In any case, I promised a return to periodic updates, and a resurgence of writing but all I did was slowly bleed until the process, while not fatal, ceased to have any real entertainment value to it, and let's face it, if we aren't playing because we enjoy it, why play?

having said that, you can fit any poker client on a 1024x600 netbook screen and I've been kinda enjoying that lately ;) - so no, I'm still here, and I'm still ready to tell the dept. of public safety to go screw themselves, but the live bankroll challenge is fini - personally, I'd rather play cheapo 1 hr 1 table SNG's for a while.

RB

I just realized we're close to the 5 year mark in a couple months - holy mother....

just tried to bluff pocket J's with a pair of 6's and a busted straight draw online - why did I raise preflop again - oh yah, suited connectors - nerfhead

well, maybe I should post my bankroll - here it is



kinda sweet, eh? - that's about $1442, and I'll move up to 3/6 when it gets to $1800 - it was up but a couple losing sessions almost took me back to even money - meanwhile I'm dropping dimes online, but enough about that.

Tonight I want to talk about this exceptionally tall and beautiful African-American woman who came walking in at 3am - She looked really young, and she probably was, but I don't think she was wearing much makeup - I don't think she needed it. She sat down and folded a lot of hands - and she had the attitude of a woman who was there to play and not talk - so I pretended I was there for the same reason ;)

She came with a guy you'd expect - gotee, baggy clothes, and likes to comment on how others play - for a while though she was alone at our table - we got involved in a hand where she had called my KK raise and repopped me on a K98 flop.

Turn came a 7, and river a duck so I make my bet and she ends up folding but I get a caller and turn it over.

As I'm raking chips, I use this as an excuse to look over - (I used almost any hand she was in as an excuse to "study" her - she was pretty tight the first 45 min. and then started calling a lot of raises) but I sorta throw out there "two pair?" -

and she had been kinda stoic and quiet, but she gave me this smile that almost made me regret dragging the pot.

When her man came over, he griped about how he couldn't win - (both eventually busted out) - but she's giving him a back massage as he's dropping chips. I make a quip about how he's the only one getting the backrub but he mentioned that he pays for that too in his own way - I didn't mention to her I'd be willing to double his offer.

I walked away $85 ahead, but tonight, the definitions of winner and loser just didn't seem to apply. As long as she was going home with him, I wasn't the winner. I was just ahead for the night -

A classic beauty though - made those three hrs go a lot faster for once - wish I had the camera phone, not so that I could post it but just so I could look every now and again.

And then I remember I'm getting old and could be perceived as a dirty old man - yep - definitely not the winner tonight.

wt

one more point about that post I made on the 23rd -

I believe it was Mike Caro who said "Money flows clockwise" - I can think of no saying that says so little yet says so much about the mechanics of how money works at a table.

Lesson - sit on the LEFT of the loose idiots, not the right. I'll remember that next time - I sorta knew that but there are some who want the loose cannons on their left - don't know why I didn't move right away - (wait, I know - no open seats - LOL)

RB

it's 445AM and zero degrees outside - it was colder inside at the card table. Dropped my 30BB and about 5 more waiting for chicken strips that never got put in as an order.

Saw my KK get capped preflop and lose to guys who called and flopped an open-ender. AK and AQ never hit - just cold. It was one of those games with dumbasses who straddle your blind every time and raise with 10/3 offsuit.

Normally I can still sit tight and get cards on a game like that but another seat was hotter then heck and collared up twice off their poor play. My only comfort is seeing them buy in for a 2nd rack, go busto, and know at least I lost less then they did off their horrendous play. But I think they're rich kids with no jobs going to Miami in a few days, so maybe I got the bad beat after all.

Bankroll has dropped to 1405 - we'll give it a couple days and maybe go back Wed. night

RB

so the last week or so, I started making trips out to Canterbury Park again to play 2/4 - I somewhat decided to re-invest myself into the game with a 2/4 bankroll of 1200 and see if I could get it up to $1800 and 3/6 but for the purposes of my ATM withdrawl - the first night was only $400 (until I got to another payday)

Overall plan was to get two more withdrawls and start grinding - at some point I'd find a limit I was comfortable at or more likely, would just start playing for my spending money and keeping paycheck going 100% to bills and mortgages

First night I made $125 - second night I made $80 which would cover a third of my destination.

I admit, a $5 rake and $1 jackpot drop is a bit intimiditing, but since it's at a 10% increment, and since most pots don't even get that big, and since I play few big pots as opposed to every other pot, it hasn't been an issue. I'm getting something out of the game again by playing it live and enjoying it more then sitting at the PC.

So last night I had the night off - and I decide to go out again - (gotta stay up late) - and a hand comes up that I'm sorta not paying attention to - a guy goes all in for about 4 bucks - I think there are two callers, but by the river I think it's the all-in and other player -

and the ruckus starts - I'm like "wow, that dude has quads" and the whole table erupts - whoops - bad beat jackpot - we thought it was gonna be for 100K but it was for 22K instead - nevertheless, I became about 1K richer after table share - (7 handed, so we split 5K 5 ways which ain't nothing to sneeze at) - but because of the way the hand played, no one was paying attention because the all-in had no one betting - it was like an 18 buck pot

So this is where Whiskey's headed - a restoration of the blog to it's former poker greatness, with all the jackasses, nincompoops, and nimrods live poker offers - the drunks, weirds, sickos, and losers that inhabit the world - as time permits - or until I have a losing night, which is bound to happen sooner or later -

Meanwhile I have a $600 bankroll online that I need to figure out what to do with - I'm thinking that'll be my tourney bankroll but no idea how to structure it yet - but the live bankroll is now up to $1575 and I'll be making a decision at $1800 whether to go to 3/6 yet or not

In any case, I'm looking forward to some live poker, cute waitresses, $2 baskets of fries, and watered down mountain dew

RB

I just watched the Original Ocean's 11 - with the 1960's cast. Afterwards, I went thru some special features of the hotels - (Flamingo, Riveria, Sahara, along with the Sands and Desert Inn)

And then I got the sickest feeling of sadness in my stomach. I looked at the pictures of the strip and barely recognized it. But what I saw suddenly looked so much more beautiful the the Strip I know today.

The energy, the vibe, the entertainers. Before the mega-resorts - before "What Happens Here, Stays Here" - before, before, before.

The vastness of desert between hotels is what really caught me for a loop - before anything was out there - mamma mia...what I would give to see that Vegas a few times.

RB

so I have this horrible bad beat story where I won a pot :)

Tuesdays at Canterbury are pocket A's tuesday - if you lose, you get 75 bucks - I got them the first time and won 15 bucks - second time same thing - EP, so I just limp - (if I have a few callers I'll raise just to build a pot) -

flop comes TT6 - I think he bet, and I call
Turn 7 - think he bet - but he mighta checked
river 9 - I figure I can't lose so I might as well bet and try to get $6 - he looks at his cards - complains about having only a 6, and mucks -

the player to his right says "you had a straight" -

and yes, he had an 8, but the cards hit the muck - I almost dragged them out of the muck myself -

so it was another $15 instead of my glorious $75 -

Life has been like that lately - one step forward, six steps back - gonna be a long winter

RB