Happy New Year's Eve

Beware of the Drunk Donks tonight! On the road and at the tables. Thanks for reading and Good luck at the tables. Tony

Being Part of a Record

PokerStars Tournament #126551369, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $10.00/$1.00
35000 players
$150000.00 added to the prize pool by PokerStars
Total Prize Pool: $500000.00
Tournament started 2008/12/28 15:30:00 ET

Dear AVIGANOLA,

You finished the tournament in 3519th place.
A $35.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

You earned 63.41 tournament leader points in this tournament.
For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at
http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/tournaments/leader-board/


Congratulations!
Thank you for participating.

I played in and cashed in the world's biggest Online Tournament. Pretty cool in my book. Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. Tony

Jacks Suck

Jacks are so had to play in No Limit MTTs. I just got knocked out of the sunday Warm-up on Stars with them. I shove under the gun with 6 BBs left. The big blind calls me with A-5 off. He turns an Ace and IGH in the middle of the field. Right now I am playing in the $215 RAZZ on Stars, have a nice stack. Wish me luck. Happy Donkday, beware of the Donks! Tony

I'm Hot

I'm running good. Just defeated 256 players to qualify for a Round 2 for the Full Tilt Heads Up Seat! Thanks for reading and Good luck at the tables. Tony

Finally a Win!

PokerStars Tournament #128087670, Limit 7 Card Stud
Buy-In: $10.00/$1.00
32 players
Total Prize Pool: $320.00
Tournament started 2008/12/26 8:45:00 ET

Dear AVIGANOLA,

You finished the tournament in 1st place.
A $128.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

You earned 113.74 tournament leader points in this tournament.
For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at
http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/tournaments/leader-board/


Congratulations!
Thank you for participating.

I guess the trick to win one of these is to first write about how bad I am running in MTTs! What a relief to win one. Wasn't a huge score but it's a start. Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. Tony

MTT Hell

Yesterday was MTT hell day for me. Every bad thing that could happen to me did. I played in four tournaments and build up a nice stack early in each one. Only to get coolered/bad beat out of each. Examples include running JJ into 22 who flops a set and running pocket Queens into pocket Kings. So I decide to play a RAZZ MTT to mix things up. I again amass a big stack only to have a made 7-5 in five cards run down by a rivered wheel. I then start with the best possible RAZZ hand A-2-3, make a 6-5 low. Of course the Villian makes a wheel and takes most of my chips, it was one of those days. On the Sit-N-Go front everything went great. I won three double or nothing SNGs on RiverStars. Also cashed in 2 out of 3 regular No Limit SNGs. Had a decent day playing Ring Hi/Lo Stud on both Full and RiverStars. So it was a winning day even after the MTT hell. Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. Tony

P.S. - You guys are slipping please don't forget to click through on my Google Banner, above this post, need to keep the lights on.

Happy Holidays

No bad beat stories or ranting today. It's a holiday so I will spare you all. Happy holidays to everyone. Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. Tony

Sick Poker

I stayed home from work sick yesterday. As I have written in this BLOG before, don't play poker when you are sick! Nothing went right for me yesterday at all. I lost three straight Double or Nothing Sit-N-Gos, something that never happens to me. Then I played a few regular ones, only to bubble in them. I cashed in one Hi/Lo Stud one but it was third when I had a huge chip lead going into three handed. One player was down to 100 chips and he out lasted me. Of course winning 10 all ins in a row helped him out! Even live play didn't go too well for me. I only lost a few BB but it still was frustrating. At least my health is better today, so I have that going for me. Happy holidays. Tony

Another Min-cash

PokerStars Tournament #126518645, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $10.00/$1.00
1238 players
Total Prize Pool: $12380.00
Tournament started 2008/12/20 12:00:00 ET

Dear AVIGANOLA,

You finished the tournament in 173rd place.
A $17.33 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

You earned 53.79 tournament leader points in this tournament.
For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at
http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/tournaments/leader-board/


Congratulations!
Thank you for participating.

Five and a half hours later and $6.33 profit. Hell it's a little over $1 an hour! Happy Donkday. Tony

Kings Again!

I just got knocked out of the 3pm No Limit Blogger Qualifier with Kings! I can't stand them on Joker Stars! I shipped in my stack, which was 5x his under the gun raise. He snap calls me with A-9 sooted, fu***n Bloggers! Flops and Ace and I can't re-suck. Steam is coming out of my ears right now!! Tony

Hi/Lo Stud

The variance at Hi/Lo Stud is a lot higher than I thought. Simply got crushed last night playing at FullTilt. Lost 50BBs in two hours. I made the second best hands over and over again. One sick hand I had an A,K,J high flush in hearts in five cards. My opponent rivered an A,K,Q high flush in spades! Another hand I had Aces up with a decent 7,6 low only to lose to a 6 high straight/low. In this hand I lost the max on the river being his straight was well hidden, used all three hole cards for it. On the good news front I won 3 Double or Nothing Sit-N-Gos straight on RiverStars. At least the whole night wasn’t bad. Right now it is snowing really hard here in North Jersey! Should make for a sucky ride home, oh well at least it’s Friday. Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. Tony

Kings Suck

I am convinced that Kings are the worst hand to shove with in Sit-N-Gos on JokerStars! Last night I got knocked out of 4 Sit-N-Gos in the span of one hour with pocket Kings. Every time I was against Ace-rag or Ace-rag sooted! On Stars the Ace always flops so I am dead to 2 outs right away. Let me see I lose four 2.5-1 favorites in a row what are the odds of that? This always seems to happen to me early on Sunday mornings but yesterday was Wednesday so I can’t figure it out. Good news is even with these sick beats I managed to only lose ½ a buy in at Sit-N-Gos last night. Also lost a really small amount playing Hi/Lo Stud on Full Tilt, like 1BB. Nights like this, where I run sick bad, and manage to hardly lose any money are ok with me. Tomorrow I will play in the 8-game Blogger qualifier on Stars at 5pm eastern. Will miss the first half an hour but shouldn’t matter. I am making a prediction right now, top 3 tables for me! Hopefully a final table but I don’t run sick good often. Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. Tony

Going to the Big Dance

I’m going to the big dance! Well not really the big dance but the next best thing…that’s right I won a seat to the Blogger Championship on Sunday. I came in 63rd in last night’s qualifier. Also got to play with the always nice Change100, who outlasted Dr. Pauly by far. She played well but made a move at the wrong time, re-raised all in with A-6 against A-K. Not a move I would have made but at least she went down fighting. As for me I played a solid tight aggressive game most of the way through. Then when down to 120 players I basically folded my way into the seat. I made some wimpy weak plays to make it to the money. Folded eights under the gun and folded nines to a normal 3x raise. Cousin Ant you will be glad to know that I shoved Jacks, close to the bubble! Thankfully everyone folded and I lived to win a seat. Now on Friday I will play in the eight game qualifier without any pressure of having to win a seat into the Sunday Championship. I want to win the title so bad! The bracelet is so close I can feel it, oh sorry that’s not till June at the WSOP, LOL. Just want bragging rights that I can post about in my BLOG, much better than a Bracelet, NOT. I may also play in the Saturday Qualifier at 3:00pm eastern. Maybe I will make an appearance at Saturdays with Dr. Pauly also. Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. Tony

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Blogger Freeroll

Today I should get home in time to play the Blogger Freeroll Qualifier on RiverStars at 5:00pm Eastern. Come out and sweat me, screen name “AVIGANOLA”. Will get blinded away for the first half an hour but the structure is great so it won’t hurt at all. Yesterday I thought I would be able to play in the Pot Limit Omaha tournament, but couldn’t get home in time. I still finished in 137th, with 72 places being paid. Not bad my empty chair almost cashed, LOL. I probably did better than if I actually would have played in the event. Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. Tony

Donkday Poker

I ran sick bad yesterday at Sit-N-Gos. I won my first double or nothing one but it went all downhill after that. I bubbled in a Hi/Lo Omaha one and bubbled in a HORSE one. Both on some really bad play/suckouts by my opponents. I then tried playing in two regular No Limit ones with pretty much the same results. All in pre-flop with Queens on the bubble only to lose to A-7 off. Than all in with A-Q only to lose to A-10. At this point I decided to give up on Sit-N-Gos and just play in full ring games. This started out sick bad also, down 40BBs in an hour. I persisted to grind it out until I was even for the day. The moral of this story is if things aren’t working try something else. I never have good luck in Sit-N-Gos on Sundays, after all its Donkday so what should I expect. From now on if things start off bad I am just going to shut it down and do something else for the day. This week I will be playing in as many Blogger events on Poker Stars as I have time for. I want to qualify for the championship on next Sunday. Besides they are free so might as well take advantage of them. Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. Tony

P.S. – Please remember to click through on my Goggle Banner, above this post.

Min-Cash Again

I played in another $109 MTT on Full Tilt yesterday. I cashed once again for $143. Never had a huge stack in this one but still I want to go deeper in these. First place was 6.2K but I never had a chance. Oh well a cash is a cash. I also did very well in Sit-N-Gos yesterday. Lost at live play but the mtt/sng wins more than covered it. So it was another day of grinding for me. Made money but no big score to write about. Oh well one of these days I will have a huge score to post about, I hope! Beware of the bad play today, it is Donkday you know! Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. Tony

Low Limit Grinding

Back in the saddle again, grinding out a profit regularly online. I have been winning a decent amount every night this week. The slow and steady wins the race, I hope. Still looking for a big score, like my Cousin Ant had last weekend. I played in a $109 MTT on Full Tilt last weekend and went deep but not deep enough for a big score. I was so close, finished in 15th for $270, but first was almost 7K! I also went deep in a micro-limit MTT on Stars, finished in around 70th out of over 3600 players. So close and yet so far from that ever elusive big score. Yet my roll goes up slowly week after week. Maybe I was meant to just be a low limit grinder? Well this weekend I will go for the gold, once again. I have a step 4 ticket on Stars that I will use for their $215 RAZZ or $215 Hi/Lo Stud tournament on Saturday. Also I have enough stake money, from Cousin Ant, to play in two decent buy in MTTs. Wish me luck; hopefully I will have something great to post about, after this week end. Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. Tony

P.S. – Please click through on my Google Banner, above this post. Hits on it are down this week, you guys are slacking : -).

Cousin Ant's Post

My cousin’s post from Monday was a very popular one. Most hits in one day on this BLOG! A lot of things had to come together in order for him to win that tournament. It always amazes me how the choices we make in life can change our destiny all the time. Doing something slightly differently has such a big impact on what may or may not happen to us in the future. Just some deep thoughts, for once , on this BLOG. Should be making an AC trip this weekend. My wife is playing in the Ladies WSOP Circuit event on Saturday. I may play in the Saturday 11:00am $340 tournament at the Borgata. If not I will do some grinding at the No Limit tables. Wish me luck, should have a post about the trip up on Sunday. Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. Tony

Cousin Ant's Score!

Just when I thought I was out......

For any of you have seen Godfather 3 you will know how to finish that title.
After 3 yrs of alot of time and energy, I finally got my break. Not the biggest score but enough to get me and hopefully keep me in the black for the rest of my poker career.
I took down the nightly 65k on Full Tilt this past Saturday for 16k.

But to me the story of how I won it is only secondary to the story of how I got there.
After numerous attempts of depositing and trying to be a good bankroll citizen,
I would always eventually tilt and go bust. About 3 months ago I grinded $200 into $1200 playing $11 sit n go's. I thought this was the ticket, Im going to move up another level and keep doing so as my bankroll grows. My worries are over!!!! Two weeks later i went bust.

I decided to take a break. So i did for a couple of weeks until i got home one night and there was a surprise $13 in my account. Since I signed up on ftp through this blog, my good hearted cousin (who owns this blog) sends me 1/2 of what he makes of my rake.


But what the hell shoud I do with only $13? I got it! I should play a $10+$1 45 man sit and go! (Again, not the best bankroll management but i'll take a shot) Wow! 2nd place is good for $111....here we go...got my roll back. Let's try grinding out some more $11 sit and go's.
Running good.....roll's hovering around the $200 mark. Get home early on a saturday, family's out, im home alone. Lets grind out some more sit n go's. Hmmm... I would really like to play a MTT tonight, but the one I want to play costs $150+$13...As bad a bankroll manager I am, I just can't do it....But Wait!!.....I can satellite my way in for $24+$2. 1st place.....Niiiiiiiiiice!!!....(thank god for donks)......Im in and the rest his history.

My roll went from $13 to $16,487 in 5 days.

Ahhhh....Just when I thought i was out.....They pull me back in.

Peace

Little Score for me

PokerStars Tournament #123489923, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $5.00/$0.50
3294 players
Total Prize Pool: $16470.00
Tournament started 2008/12/07 9:00:00 ET

Dear AVIGANOLA,

You finished the tournament in 71st place.
A $26.36 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

You earned 117.17 tournament leader points in this tournament.
For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at
http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/tournaments/leader-board/


Congratulations!
Thank you for participating.

I tried my hardest but I am not worthy of you Shipthis_1. My score took awhile but I will try again later! LOL and happy Donkday. Tony

Big Score for ShipThis_1

Shoutout to Cousin Ant for winning 16K last night on FullTilt! Details to follow later. Happy Donkday!! Tony

A Small Score

PokerStars Tournament #123490240, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $10.00/$1.00
3618 players
Total Prize Pool: $36180.00
Tournament started 2008/12/05 19:00:00 ET

Dear AVIGANOLA,

You finished the tournament in 153rd place.
A $43.42 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

You earned 97.78 tournament leader points in this tournament.
For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at
http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/tournaments/leader-board/


Congratulations!
Thank you for participating.

PokerStars Blogger Freerolls

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

The WBCOOP is an online Poker tournament open to all Bloggers.

Registration code: 292903

Cell Phone Problems

This will be a non-poker related Post today. My cell phone display died yesterday, could still make and receive calls but couldn’t see anything on the phone. I had a ton of numbers stored in my phone but hadn’t backed them up anywhere. Was so scared I would have to type them all in again on a new phone. Went to the store and got a new phone, turns out my numbers were stored on my “Simms Card” so he just put it into my new phone and no manual work required! I was so happy with this, you have no idea. Also the new phone cost me nothing being they gave me a Rebate for the cost of the phone with a 2 year contract. Only thing I had to pay for was a case for it so I get a new phone for $15 plus tax! Also I was in and out of the store in 20 minutes. Hate getting stuck in a store and waiting for help! Overall my experience was a 9.5! Tonight playing in a home game at Cousin Neil’s house. Hopefully tomorrow I will have a winning post to type for you all. Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. Tony

More 60 Minutes Ranting

This Post is a follow up to yesterdays 60 Minute’s one. It seems this is a very popular subject to talk about. I got a spike in traffic yesterday, about double my normal number of hits. More interestingly is that I got a bunch of hits from European countries. Looks like the world is very aware of the laws in this country and look to use for ideas. If you want more information about this I have heard some great Podcasts on Big Poker Sundays with Hoff and Shaniac about it. Just go to ITunes and search the Podcasts for PokerRoad. As for the whole Government trying to put an end to Online Poker this piece on 60 minutes is just trying to put fuel on the fire. See how bad playing on the Internet is? You will get cheated and lose your house! Click a mouse and loss your house, that is what one Senator stated. There is a great Podcast interview with Howard Leader on the PokerRoad Cash Plays with Bart Hanson archives. I think it was done at the end of September, listen to it quite interesting. This whole thing just totally pisses me off. I work hard and pay more than my fair share of taxes, yet our government doesn’t want me spending my own money the way I want to. It’s amazing I can hurt myself by smoking, drinking, or eating garbage but playing a skill game Online is bad. Also I can view/purchase tons of hardcore Porno, being it’s my right as an adult to do so but relaxing and playing Online Poker is bad. Why don’t they worry about the real problems in this country? Enough ranting for one day. Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. Tony

P.S. – Please click through on my Google banner, above this post

60 Minutes Online Poker Piece

My wife and I watched the 60 minutes piece about Online Poker last night. We were both disgusted at the hatchet job they did with it. No less the 5 times they made a statement that was just totally false, as if it was a fact! They kept saying that playing Poker Online is illegal. It has never been and currently is not illegal to play Poker Online! Show me the law that states it’s illegal! Why don’t these people do their research before these pieces? Also they had Todd Whittles on their making it seem that there are Super Users on every site cheating people every day. I agree UltimateBet and Absolute’s scandals were terrible for Online Poker. It just makes me sick that these crooks were ripping off players and making it bad for all of us. Show me the proof that there are Super Users on Full Tilt and Poker Stars currently. As for playing Online yesterday I ran really bad but didn’t lose too much. I lost 25BBs playing Hi/Lo Stud yesterday, could have been much worse. Some days no matter what I do I can’t win. Oh well that’s the way Poker goes sometimes. Well today is a new day and I will get some revenge. Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. Tony

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