&c

mountain goats playing sf on june 12-13! you're all invited to come for the weekend and stay for the shows!

insight

L took me to bikram at mission yoga, and the moment of proximate transcendence occurred when the instructor intoned, "let your body do the work." and I did, and I did.

was chastised by a smart player at oaks for this:

one limp, I limp in MP with Td8d, both blinds call.

flop (4 sb, 4 players): Ts9d8s
sb bets, bb calls, fold, I call.

turn (3.5 bb, 3 players): Qc
sb bets, bb calls, I raise, sb calls all-in, bb calls.

river (6.5 bb, 3 players): 2d
check, check.

sb showed 98, bb Q2, MHIG.

I had been talking for most of the afternoon with the guy to my left, who was a thinking, strong player, also a bassist in a punk band and an offensive lineman in college (big dude, black zippered hoodie, de rigueuer on both counts, yes?). about an hour into the session, he whispered, "I know we're not supposed to talk about this, but, have you read... ?" "SSHE?" I replied, sotto voce. he smiled.

but anyway J really disliked my flop play here. "what happened to playing it fast?" he wanted to know.

fuck. I just deleted a lengthy rationalization of my flop call, because it was wrong. the flop was an easy raise. at least I woke up and popped the turn. but the river was also a very easy value bet. I really butchered this hand. miles to go, miles to go.

coda, mission yoga offers naked male yoga, sundays at 4:30. it promises "nonsexual male intimacy." RKK, you have been dreaming of this your whole life, no?

bankroll, $3,734 (it has been a bad week online)
indigestion, couscous and pinto beans.
np, "tgif," le tigre

some hands, etc.

from oaks 6/12, a great game, loose and passive.

I'm under the gun with AsKs, I raise, four callers plus the blinds.

flop (14 sb, 7 players) Qs4s2d
check, check, I bet, two folds, MP raises, button calls cold, blinds
fold, I 3-bet, MP calls, button caps, I call, MP calls.

my thought process here was that I have 9 outs to the nut flush, plus
3-6 overcard outs (possibly someone has AQ or KQ), plus the backdoor
straight draw, so let's say conservatively 12 outs; which is 44%
equity; with two callers the cap was profitable.

turn (13 bb, 3 players) Qh
check, check, button bets, call, call.

this was a bad card as it a) killed my overcard outs and b) made it possible for me to hit my flush and still lose. at this point I have to put one of these guys on a Q, so if I lead I'm
just going to get raised. I figure now I have ~7 outs (discounting the spade that pairs the kicker of the guy with a Q, and the 2s which pairs the board), so there's no point in putting bets in as a much bigger underdog, but I'm getting 15-1 so I have to call.

river (16 bb, 3 players) 5s
I bet, MP calls, button agonizes and mucks a Q face up. My hand is good for 18 bb.

on the river, I considered going for a check-raise, but the button reacted very badly to the flush card, almost announcing that he believed he was beat, so if it was checked to him, I felt sure he would just check it through. That meant I was depending on MP to bet, but a) he was extremely passive, calling frequently when beat but b) content to just showdown for free if possible. if he had a smaller flush as ML suggested, he might bet. he would check a weak queen, and probably also a hand like 77-TT he stuck with too long. (entirely characteristic of this player.) so I figured betting was best. what about the possibility of a full house and the risk of a raise? for the button to have a full house he would need 22 or 44, but to just have trips he could have anything from AQs-Q9o (this seems wide but is definitely within button's range). I just thought a queen was the likeliest holding, and I really believed my read that the button hated his hand on the river. in fact, he didn't even call one bet in an 18 bb pot.

bankroll, $3,866 podsedniks
I think I have an ulcer
np, new built to spill

icky

everyone likes hearing about others' terrible beats, yes?

oaks yesterday, 3 limps, button raises, SB calls, I call in BB with 76o, limpers call.

flop (12 sb, 6 players) 589r. hell yeah! sb checks, I bet, limpers
call, button raises, sb folds, I 3-bet, one limper calls, button caps,
we call. sweet.

turn (13 bb, 3 players) 7, I bet, call, call. uh oh.

river (16 bb, 3 players) J. I put the button on a higher straight and check, check, button bets, I call, the limper (the shittiest player ever) overcalls and button rolls TT.

bankroll, $3,684
I think I have an ulcer
np, the basso profundo in my stomach

frustrating mess

a little ditty from the end of The Idiot:

"A new, sad, and cheerless feeling weighed on his heart; he suddenly realized that, at that moment, and for a long time now, he had not been talking about what he needed to talk about, and had not been doing what he needed to do, and that these cards he was holding in his hands, and which he was so glad to have, would be no help, no help at all now."

nothing worth reporting. ragged lately. need to take a few days and cuddle up to sklansky.

bankroll, $3,400
indigestion, ok
massaging the eardrums, ohmygod, the dry spells

addendum, inquiry

has anyone read The Idiot?

experimental music, or, how to flush chips down the toilet

4:05 am... someone suggested I live-blog a tournament, and this one has some promise, so here goes: at the first break in this $20 MTT I'm 5th in chips, 43 remaining, top 10 cash. I've got 8760 and the blinds are at 100/200, so I've got room to work. simultaneously playing 5-10 limit. nothing very interesting in tourney so far, except calling a minraise from BB with KJ of hearts and flopping flush, only to see two pushes in front of me. set, overpair, MHIG. also KK on QJ92 board, large pot. 5-10 going very well also. more tk.

(also, while on break: L and I saw transamerica tonight; wow, disappointing.)
(also, clarification: L does not find poker morally suspect. I, however, find myself so.)

4:07... why are the 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 stacks all at my table?
4:09... why did I call the SS push on a Q35 with 88? he limped with JJ. awesome. 7200 chips.
4:11... KJ on AJJ flop, vs, obviously, AA. 5620 chips.
4:23... oy vey. QQ in SB. UTG raised to 600 (leaving 1400 behind) with blinds at 150/300, cutoff called, I made it 2600 with 4900 chips left. which, in retrospect, might have been a strangely-enough sized bet that it led CO to believe I wanted to get away from this... UTG called, CO pushed. fucknuts. I called. UTG had AA, fine, CO had AJ of clubs? naturally, flush. am a bit too drunk to think about this hand right now but I will reassess in the AM. in happy times, I myself just rivered flush with KTs in my 5-10 game and managed to cap that bizznizz. please, comment on the above hand and its suckiness. just push preflop? anyone?

bankroll, in flux
indigestion, ok
listening to www.myspace.com/thedryspells, go kalx