Neil's Home Game

I had a fun and winning night playing at my Cousin Neil’s house. Something weird happened to me there last night. I got my money in really bad and I sucked out big time. I got my money in with pocket Jacks against pocked Kings. Worse yet one of the Jacks I needed was already out so there was only one left for me to catch. I flopped a Jack and collected the player with pocket King’s bounty. We wound up chopping the second Sit-N-Go 3 ways, that and getting 3 bounties made it a very profitable night for me. Also they decided to raise up the stakes for the 2nd Sit-N-Go and we had an unusually high 11 players in this one. Another really crazy thing happened to me in this game, my hands held up against all ins all night! You heard that right my pocket nines beat Ace-Jackass all in pre-flop. My pocket Tens beat A-7 sooted all in pre-flop. Also I called all-ins that almost had me covered with pocket pairs and they held up. It is such a new thing for me to have the best hand hold up at my cousin’s game that I was in shock. Did make a bad move to get knocked out of the first Sit-n-Go. I played it really solid/tight until we got down to 5 players(With 3 being paid.). In the small blind I had around 2500 chips left with the blinds at 300-600. It got folded to me and I shoved my 9-6 sooted into my Cousin Ant. He was about to fold but kept talking himself out of it. Finally he made a great/sick call for half his stack with K-10 off. The flop came 8-7-2 for a ton of outs for me but I didn’t get there. He knocked me out and got my bounty. He put a sick good read on me and made a great call, IMHO. I was happy with my move being I think it works like 80% of the time, in that spot. Of course against a good player, like my cousin, probably should of waited for a better spot. TGIF. Tony

Home Game

Going to play a home game at my cousin Neil's house tonight. Bring your A game bitches. Ace rag you are going down tonight. Look for a post about the game tomorrow. Tony

Bad Beat Doubled

I don’t like to tell bad beat stories in this BLOG. This story is worth telling being it was so brutal. My emotions went from totally high to totally low in a second. I was multi-tabling last night on Full and Stars, had five games going in total. I had two Sit-N-Gos going on Stars a Double or Nothing and a Step. In both of them we were close to the money. My stack was push or fold in both Sit-n-Gos. I get dealt Ace-Jack in both Sit-n-Gos and decide the right move is to shove in both of them. I get one call in each Sit-N-Go, so far so good. I get called by pocket sixes and A-10 sooted. If I win this race and or dominated hand I will have enough chips to win/cash in both of these. I flop yatzee in both hands, A-J-x! So now visions of winning both Sit-n-gos are dancing in my head. Keep in mind these flops fell at almost the exact same time. The turn is good at both Sit-N-gos, one of them is a Queen so he now has a gut shot with his A-10. All I have to do is dodge the two outer and the four outer and I am home free. At the exact same time a six falls at the first one and a King falls in the second one. Yup two bad beats at the exact same time to knock me out of both Sit-n-Gos close to the bubble.(I know the sixes verse my A-J wasn’t really a bad beat being I was behind when we got all the money in but I was a huge favorite before the river card!) I go from such a high to such a low in one second! I take bad beats all the time, am basically num to them. This series of events just stung so bad being I got knocked out of both tables at the same time. Had to give myself a 15 minute time out to avoid going on Tilt. My poor wife got stuck listening to me complaining about Online Poker. Mutli-tabling can be so brutal. Thanks for listening to my ranting. Tony

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King of Satellites

I am turning into the King of Satellites on Full tilt. I like to play in the $15 ones that win a seat into a $55 Super or a $55 nightly tournament. My survivor strategy seems to thrive in this environment. I win over 75% of the ones I play in, for a nice profit. Almost always unregister and use the tournament dollars to fund my Sit-N-Go and MTT play. Used to do the same thing by playing in the 18 man Token Sit-n-Gos. I am very good at figuring out if I can squeak into a seat or if it’s time to make a stand by being a push monkey. My success has carried over to the Turbo Double or Nothing Sit-N-Gos on River Stars. At the $10 level I have been winning over 70% of them, at the $20 level it’s been a little over 56% for a small profit. These have helped me get my ROI back up to 9% in Sit-N-Gos. At one time I had a 14% at Full and 12% at Stars. Want to get up to 15% at both sites but it will take a lot of grinding. Between Rake back and Bonus clearing I should turn a nice profit. Spent the afternoon yesterday in New York City, it was fun. Bad thing is we had to pick someone up at JFK Airport and we got stuck in sick traffic. Also it costs so much money in Tolls to get to JFK these days! Of well tolls in this area are the same as paying the high rake in Casinos at the tables, a necessary evil. Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. Tony

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Bubble Boy

I have once again bubbled in a big Online Tournament. I posted yesterday about my Satellite win into the $215 Hi/Lo Stud tournament on Stars. Played my heart out for over three hours only to get knocked out in 9th, when paying 8 places. At least I went down swinging! I was all in like 5 times before they put me away. Was a little mad that the table Donk knocked me out. He had no clue how to play Hi/Lo Stud and yet he was the chip leader for much of the first two hours. In my last hand I had a four card draw to a low and two over cards on fifth street. The donk had a pair of sevens. Missed all my outs and instead of winning $500 for 8th IGH with nothing at all. Tournament Poker can be so frustrating. Beware of the Donks today! Happy Donkday. Tony

I Run Goot

PokerStars Tournament #140502605, Limit 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo
Super Satellite
Buy-In: $36.00/$3.00
22 players
Total Prize Pool: $792.00
Target Tournament #140502247 Buy-In: $215.00
3 tickets to the target tournament

Tournament started 2009/02/21 17:45:00 ET


Dear AVIGANOLA,

You finished the tournament in 1st place. You qualified to play in Tournament #140502247 and are automatically registered for it. See Tournament #140502247 Lobby for further details.

If you choose to unregister from this tournament your account will be credited with T$215.00. Tournament Dollars can be used to buy into any tournament. Visit our web site at http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/tournaments/ for more details.



Congratulations!

Thank you for participating.

Just won a sattelite for the 8:45 $215 Hi/Lo 10K on Stars. Come sweat me if you want. Tony

Quick Hit-N-Run Win

Last night I pulled off a quick hit-n-run on Full Tilt. Needed to book a win in Ring games anyway being I have been running so bad. We were on our way out but I also wanted to earn my 50 points for the day to maintain my Ironman Silver status. I won 21BBs in a half an hour. I actually had a few minutes to spare but decided to shut it down once I got passed the 50 points. Wanted to protect my win but also the table I was at was very high variance. Could have lost back my win within 5 minutes easily. There are some really good and really bad low limit Hi/Lo Stud players on Full Tilt these days. If you have just a basic understanding of Hi/Lo strategy should be able to beat this game. In one hand I have a made low and a pair of fours on Sixth Street heads up. My opponent can only have a high yet he raises me on sixth so I raise and it’s capped. On the river I make a second pair and he bets out. I raise my low and two pairs knowing I am free rolling and probably splitting the pot.(Also the max rake has been reached so it truly is a free roll!) I am shocked when the whole pot is pushed my way. The Donk pushed a pair of tens, like it was the nuts, against an obvious low. What a bad play, he can only get half the pot and possibly get scooped, which is what happened. This is one of the fundamental mistakes I see at this game every day. There is still money to be made online, just have to be patient and deal with the high variance. Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. TGIF! Tony

Poker Math

Last night the math of Poker didn’t seem to make much sense to me. Hands where I am 60% or more to win pre-flop should hold up often. Some nights it doesn’t feel like the math is right at all. I started off the night losing 4 hands in a row when 60% favorite pre-flop all in. Started off with a Donkey who was pushing every other hand in a $20 Double or Nothing on River Stars. He shoves for half of my stack and I snap call with A-K off. Donkey has K-7 off which I am dominating 2.5-1 favorite. Seven on the river and my fun night starts. Now I am short and I shove A-J off from the button. The Big Blind snap calls me with K-Jack off. You know how the story goes, King on the flop and IGH in 10th! This continued for an hour with me losing 5 Sit-N-Gos straight. Then something weird happened my hands started to hold up. I went on to cash in 3 straight to recover much of my losses. My conclusion is the variance in Poker these days is worse than ever being people are playing so crazy! I will be at it again tonight, fighting to make A-K hold up against K-J. Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. Tony

P.S. – Please help me retire before I am 90 by clicking through on my Google Banner, above this post. Also if you want to try out Full Tilt us Referral Code “AVIGANOLA” and I will transfer you extra money on top of the sign up bonus.

Needed Rule Change

We need to outlaw four card flushes in Holdem! Example is a hand last night in a Sit-N-Go I played on Full Tilt. As the second biggest stack I get it all In with pocket Aces against the big stack. Don’t ask me how at 50-100 he called my re-raise shove for like 10 BBs with Jacks, that’s another story, “Hee Haw”. Flop comes down A-2-6 two hearts. He has the Jack of hearts, looks like a lock for me to win this hand. Nope heart on the turn than river and IGH in 5th! The usual Online set up hand that I can’t get away from and that the Donk shouldn’t have been in there either. The bad play seems to get rewarded in Poker all the time. Oh well things can always be worse I could have my 401K 100% in the Stock Market. Oh that’s right I do have my 401K 100% in the market, ARG!!! When will the geniuses in our government figure out how to fix this mess? As you can tell I am super negative today, sorry for the ranting. Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. Tony

P.S. – Please click through on my Google Banner, above this post. I need the click through income being the Stock Market is busting me!

Step Madness

More Step madness for me this weekend. After losing my Step 3s on Friday I started over on Saturday, ended the day with two step 2s. On Sunday morning I lost them both and started over by playing in one Step 1. Never had to pay for another, got up to Step 3 but couldn’t win the Step 4 I wanted to use for the Sunday Warm-up. Twice I won a repeat Step 3 but kept getting bad beat right on the bubble for the Step 4. Of well this week I am starting with one Step 3. Total cost was $30 in Step 1 Sit-N-Gos, not bad. Yesterday I played in a $26 satellite for the FTOPs Bounty Tournament. I won the seat and played my heart out for over 3 hours. Over 9000 players in this one and I got deep, but didn’t cash. It was paying 1080 players and I finished ahead of 7000 players. I tilted a little being I never get a bounty in these. I have gotten it in ahead with someone all in 12 times straight without a single bounty in these in the FTOPS and in the Sunday Brawl, just sick. This time I had 10-J suited on a 10-2-3 in which I called a shorts shove. He had A-5 for a gut shot and one over. Ace on the river and I don’t get his bounty. Two hands later I shoved pocket Tens, when I didn’t have to being my M was 8. (It’s debatable if I should have raised or shoved in this spot.) Well the button wakes up with Pocket Kings and I get knocked out. Don’t know why I play in these big bounty MTTs being I never get any bounties. Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. Tony

It's a New Day

Do you remember the line from Rounders that went something like, "It's a new day won't be pushed around!" That's how I feel today. Yesterday I took some sick beats after flopping a set. Happened three times, once in a Step two I flopped three Queens, on the first hand and got stacked by a hidden gut shot on the turn. Hell shit happens I have to learn to accept it. Today is a new day and I feel confident. My goal is to turn a Step 2 ticket into a step 4 to use it to play in the Sunday Warm up at 12:45. Wish me luck! Remember beware of the bad play today on Donkday! Tony

Neil's Home Game

Played in another fun home game at my Cousin Neil’s house last night. We had fun telling crazy stories from when we were all younger and stupid, LOL. I think all men did stupid things in their teen/young adult years. Looking back on them we took chances that we shouldn’t have but now have memories of a different more care free time. Getting back to the Poker game we started out playing a .50-1.00 no limit cash game. It started out tight but than some big hands pre-flop got the game jacked up. Only played for about an hour while we were waiting for a few more to come to play a Sit-N-Go. Don’t usually like playing in live cash No Limit games but I did fine winning almost one buy in. The Sit-N-Go had seven players, paying the top two spots with a $20 bounty on each players head. I wound up collecting two bounties and chopping up the prize pool with my cousin Neil. When heads up he had a 2-1 chip lead on me but I felt had a good shot at beating him heads up, being I’m a heads up wizard, LOL. Decided to make a deal being was tired and with the high blinds was a lot of luck heads up. Feel I have finally beaten the Home game jinx by chopping first in 2 out of the last 3 games. Tonight I will try to satellite into the RAZZ FTOPS on Full Tilt at 9 pm. RAZZ is my favorite tournament game so hopefully I can play in it tonight. Wish me luck. TGIF. Tony

P.S. – If you are in Clifton, NJ try out my Cousin Neil’s Pizzeria on Harding Ave, right off of Main Ave.(About 6 blocks from Route 46, across from Clifton Billiards.) Neil’s Pizzeria has the best Chicken Parm. around! Also don’t forget to click on my Google Banner, above this post.

Enter the Matrix

I played in a $22 Matrix Sit-N-Go on Full Tilt last night, simply crushed it! I took three first places and won the leaderboard also. (Cashed out for $72, not bad.) In case you all are not familer with Matrix Sit-n-Gos you play four of them at the same time against the same people. The prize pool is divided up 5 ways, 4 ways for the top three in each one and one way for the top three leaders point wise. You get a point for out lasting each person at your table and two points for knocking someone out or for winning a single table. It's a lot of fun and it really cuts down on your variance. I always get some of my buy in back and usually turn a profit overall. I highly recomend them to all my readers. Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. Tony

Sit-N-Go Domination!

Finally something good to write about! I simply crushed Sit-N-Gos yesterday. Cashed in 8 out of 10! I now have 2 Step 3 tickets. One disappointing thing is I wanted to win a step 4 ticket, to use to play the Sunday Warm-up on Stars. At 12:35 I was knocked out in third, which is good for a repeat Step 3 but I didn't get to play in the warm-up.(Which starts at 12:45.) Played with two really good players who both had me out-chipped when down to the three of us. Nothing I did was working so I made a bad move with Q-8 off and got looked up by A-10 off, to get knocked out. Other than that the day was a huge success. Just putting up a winning day Online is a major victory lately. Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. Tony

Hi/Lo Hell!

I was trapped in Hi/Lo Stud hell last night. Had to be the sickest two hours I have ever played. I lost 70BBs in two hours! Ran into around 10 wheels in his time. Twice started rolled up and got ran down by lower pairs that filled up! Not going to play limet poker on Saturday nights for a long time. On the good news front did very well in Sit-N-Gos all day. Also had some nice scores in MTTs so it wasn't all bad. Beware of the Donks!!! Happy Donkday. Tony

Stop the Bleeding!

I can’t make the Bankroll bleeding stop. Almost every night for the last two weeks I have been slowly losing my roll away. Last night was no different, losing 25BBs in two hours on Full Tilt. At least I stopped the Sit-N-Go bleeding on Stars, had a winning night. Now I have two Step 2 tickets there. Thankfully my Ironman Bonus was deposited in my Full account, on Monday. Also last night my Affiliate Rake back was shipped to my account. These two things have helped keep me in action while I try to play through this bad downswing. Poker can be so brutal at times. Starting tonight I will mix things up again and play some low limit No Limit on Full. This always seems to help with the Bankroll re-building. Will stick to the double or nothing Sit-n-Gos on Stars, am sure I will start winning these again soon. Speaking of Affiliate Rake back if any of my readers don’t have a Full Tilt account please sign up by clicking on my Banner, above this post. (Also use Referral Code “AVIGANOLA”.) If you sign up through this BLOG will get the normal 100% matching bonus. Also email me after making your first deposit and I will hook you up with some free money, for signing up through me. Who doesn’t like free money? Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. Happy Friday. Tony

Running Sick Bad Again.

I just can't shake the bad beats lately. You know you are running bad when you run top full house into quads 3 times in 2 days! Feel I am playing fine just that nothing I do seems to work. Am getting really frustrated by Online Poker. I am sure I am not the first person to feel this way! Thanks for reading and listening to my ranting. Tony

A Winning Night

Finally booked a win last night! My confidence needed a boost for sure. Details to follow later. Tony

Running Bad!

I’m running so bad right now! Starting to really feel burnt out and losing all desire to play Online. A few days last week I know I was playing really poorly. Especially when was home sick last week I know wasn’t playing my A game. This weekend felt I played well, yet still got my ass handed to me. Won’t bore you all with the bad beats but they were just sick this weekend. Not only that but how many times am I going to push into Aces in Sit-N-Gos! Another sick thing was me pushing my middle pairs into two callers with a common card and losing to one of them. Example is me pushing with 6BBs with Jacks. Getting called, on the bubble, by A-10 and A-6 both off suit. An Ace coming on the river to knock me out. That is just so sick being they both had one. Not only that but how many times am I going to make the nut flush, in Omaha Hi/Lo, only to run into a straight flush? Don’t want this post to be all about the bad beats but things just aren’t going right for me Online now. To compound things my wife is turning into the Queen of being the bubble person in Sit-N-Gos. She gets it in with the best hand like 95% of the time yet always loses on the bubble. Either that or she pushes into Aces, like me! Well enough ranting, what am I going to do about this is the question. What I will do is play different games/stakes to try to change things up. This is what has worked for me in the past. Tonight I will switch to low limit No Limit instead of Hi/Lo Stud and Limit He. Also I absolutely have to book a win tonight. My confidence needs it big time. Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. Tony