Be-where?, the Jabberwock, my son?

Just bought a ticket to Barcelona to play in the FTP Espana tourney on the 20th which I won entry to prior to the DOJ crackdown. For some reason I am nervous as hell....well, it isn't really a mystery - it's a one way ticket because I don't know when I'm coming back or even where I'm staying...I've got some research to do!

I'm drinking "Jabberwocky Ale" from Walkabout brewing right now and thinking about it over an ashtray full of spliff ends. On the one hand I'm sad to leave all the amazing things I have here in Portland, but on the other I can't wait to get back to poker, and the sooner the better.

And on top of that...I've never been to Europe! A fact which surprises me to no end and I'm happy to be rid of!

Investing in Online Gaming

This seems like a no brainer to me. If regulation actually passes that allows these companies to operate freely money will rain from the sky. I've been hearing about the possibility of various regulation bills recently but hadn't been following the investment side of it - that could be a big mistake.

Or not! I'd be curious to hear some opinions on this

Here's the article which lays it all out

Preaching the Silver Bullion

I am now preaching the virtues of buying silver bullion to my friends and family. It's awesome. You can hold it in your hand, it has verifiable, liquid value, and it has an inverse relationship with inflation so you can bet it's going to keep rising. For years I've been waiting for the metals to crash and they haven't - and I think this is because there are big players in the market now- countries like China, who are actively buying up gold. This is not market fluctuation imo...or at least I'm willing to gamble it's not.

I've also decided to take on the stock market as a side hobby, though I don't want to spend too much time on it so ETFs sound like a great option. For specific industries I really want to take a look at online gaming and green energy. Feel free to post thoughts on that or tips in the comments.

I crush Plo

I've been learning omaha the last few months. Saturdays are extra fun now because there are two 200$ omaha tourneys to play between PS and FTP (now starting at a brutal 11am as opposed to blissful 4pm Buenos Aires time)- I did good by finally final tabling the ftp one (35k guarantee but a measly 1500 for 8th. What a shame that more people don't play PLO. It's cool to play a game where people can actually have something sometimes, and at the same time you have the freedom to represent anything.

In other good news I final tabled my first Sunday Major last Sunday but it was a smallish Mulligan and only netted 24 buy ins- a far stretch from the 250+ buyins 1st got, and a good deal less than I've put into Sunday Majors. Still though... even if I haven't quite snared the prize yet I've been getting close and the big win is in sight...I swear man! Any day now...

I'm going to start spouting politics now

As an online poker player, you get a lot of free time. You actually get precisely as much of it as you want., or at least as much as you can afford.

I spend much of my spare time reading news and opinions of current events, as self abusive as that is. I grew up in the 80s, and was even, I admit, a child fan of Alex P. Keaton.

I've reformed in dramatic fashion, and at least one more time since then. I've always been intellectually idealistic - I want the very best of all possible worlds and think it's defeatist not to. Repeatedly both parties have let me down.

I was democrat by default for a very long time and was even exceedingly happy to vote for Obama in the last election. It was a wave of optimism I was happy to ride, and the fact that he was black made it so much sweeter - we could at last make a democratic choice resoundingly anti racist and that prospect alone was thrilling.

But it is clear now that the Democrats are simply not for the values they have previously claimed to represent. Environmentalism is largely abandoned by the party, and it is no longer even remotely anti war...

And the biggest villain is the news media for failing to keep them honest. An open news media is our best defense against government corruption and ours has played the role of puppet for decades.

Case in point - -I've been a fan of the Daily Show for a long time and was looking forward to the Obama interview.

It was very pleasant, and only after did I realize that the word "war" was never used once. It didn't come up in the State of the Union either...

The U.S. is engaged in at least two wars in different countries right now, and yet that has no bearing on the State of the Union. And Jon Stewart of all people can be bought off into not mentioning it?

Our media is fucked.

I'm thinking I should start a separate politics blog, or just start mixing it in here since it really is on my mind. If anyone has an opinion let me know.

I could also really use a name suggestion for said politics blog, hrmmm....

A bit of fishing from the FTOPS ME

I bought all 6 bullets for the FTOPS ME last Sunday and one of them made it all the way to 51st from the 14k+ player field.

By the time I busted out at ~7:30am the tourney was still hours from completion and I was getting seriously tired and in hindsight I'm not happy with my final few orbits of play.

Over all though it was a fun tournament and I played well for most of it, and was happy to get a great rail going which was really cool to stay motivated through the difficult parts of the grind 10-12 hours in.

Here's a big pot I played where observers weren't able to see my hand. Several people commented to me that they were sure I had AJ+

Full Tilt Poker FTOPS Main Event No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t17000/t34000 Blinds + t4000 - 8 players - View hand 1199651

DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter



NemoInDeniaL (MP1): t870048 M = 10.48

Hero (MP2): t1547731 M = 18.65

SqueezePlease (CO): t1351722 M = 16.29

mralan2950 (BTN): t1155312 M = 13.92

DoomIV (SB): t322619 M = 3.89

STerrano85 (BB): t1165188 M = 14.04

nickdawgg (UTG): t1933981 M = 23.30

GIAMPP (UTG+1): t1305061 M = 15.72



Pre Flop: (t83000) Hero is MP2 with K 9

3 folds, Hero raises to t68000, 3 folds, STerrano85 calls t34000



Flop: (t185000) J 8 9 (2 players)

STerrano85 checks, Hero bets t98050, STerrano85 calls t98050

Checking back is also a decent play I often use but given my opponents spewiness I wanted more value.

Turn: (t381100) 2 (2 players)

STerrano85 checks, Hero requests TIME, Hero bets t136000, STerrano85 requests TIME, STerrano85 raises to t345000, Hero requests TIME, Hero calls t209000

The board hasn't changed and yet his turn c/r sizing is telling a completely different story from his preflop and flop play.

Am I really supposed to believe that he either check called and checked again with 2 pair+ or that the 3 hit his 83s (possible) though even then I would expect him to lead that a fair portion of the time. I call B.S. and flat call in order to extra max value from his bluffing range. My spew tard is spewing, it's time to make love to the call button.

River: (t1071100) 6 (2 players)

This was an oddly gross card in that it could give him two pair sometimes....but I went out of my way to set the trap so now I gotta fall in it.

STerrano85 bets t650138 all in, Hero requests TIME, Hero calls t650138



Final Pot: t2371376

Hero mucks K 9

STerrano85 shows 5 7 (a straight, Nine high)

STerrano85 wins t2371376


In a nutshell: I had a game plan for this player going in - I knew he was spazzy so I went for thin value and refused to back down when his line didn't make sense.

Needless to say I don't have to pay him off when a ten rolls off either so the fish was lucky indeed.

Perhaps there is a parallel universe where that 6 didn't roll off on the river- (an ace would be sweetest) - and he bluffed his entire stack off to me and I went on to use those chips awesomely and win 1,326 thousand dollars.

Or maybe I donk off a half million in equity in a giant pot due to fatigue and fling myself from the balcony in self loathing.

Anything is possible in the multiverse.

Good night.

Finally did it

I had a decent day taking 2nd in the 25k on full tilt for just over 4k. As it turns out that score was just enough to finally correct my 25k downswing I had on Full Tilt last year -



It's true... the peak on the right is a little bit higher than the peak on the left... I did it! I'm the donkey who got even tonight :)

Stats for the Buenos Aires trip in general are looking good-


Username Games Played Av. Profit Av. Stake Av. ROI Total Profit Form Ability /100 Network Filter
J4bberW0cky 423 $29 $62 20% $12,203 - N/A FullTilt 1/7/2011 3/7/2011 x
konway 283 $52 $69 25% $14,616 - N/A PokerStars 1/7/2011 3/7/2011 x


Still hoping to make 100k for the trip so I can really brag about how I spent my winter so I'm gonna have to work a little harder.