Poker Articles

Allright, so poker has been a little slow for me lately, and I have actually taken a little time off here and there to do some school stuff, a little uncharacteristic, but it had to be done.  I have really only played 3 tournaments of note within the last 2 weeks or so, so I figured I'd talk about some of that stuff.   I also did have a fun poker experience this weekend, so I'll throw that story in there at the end.  I cashed in a $100, which was essentially wasting 4 hours of my life.  Other than that, I played the $200 on UB tonight, and luckily I only wasted 2 hours of my life in this one as I made a quick exit, and luckily I can console myself by knowing that I beat brsavage.  Sorry, cheap shot, but br beats up on me too consistently for me not to have taken it, congrats on a great run in the Paradise 600er br.  

The only other tournament was the Pocket5's open.  It was not something that I wanted to play in--I mean seriously, why would I want to play in such a small field absolutely loaded with great players.  Clearly, I wasn't bright enough to actually use that logic and save a couple hundred bucks, and I played anyways.  It was a fun tournament, and I finished somewhere around 15th or so--all I know is that I didn't make any money.  I did watch JSUP most of the tournament, and as much as I enjoy seeing him fail miserably, I have to say he played one of the best tournaments I've seen him play.  His timing was perfect all night, and he made a sick call against WestTexasMan that let him roll into the final table, where he continued to dominate.  Now gator93 ended up winning, which was great for him.  However, I thought back after he won and realized that yeah, I had talked him into playing the tournament in the first place.  I thought maybe I might get a little something out of him, since really I take credit for his victory.  Well that idea didn't go over well, although he did say, "thanks," which I guess was supposed to be rewarding in itself or some bs like that. 

I have been running out of ideas to blog about, and my buddy told me some useless sports fact the other day that I figured maybe I could relate to poker.  He said Michael Jordan is the all-time leader in shots missed.  I have kind of touched on this before, about how poker is a game of disappointments, especially tournament poker, but I thought that was something that could be easily related to poker.  Jordan, clearly the best player to ever play hoops, has failed more times then anyone to ever play the game.  By this I mean that his goal was obviously to make shots, not miss them.  Poker, like basketball, is not a game of perfection.  We cannot win every pot that we play, like Jordan couldn't make every shot he took (even when he came back wearin the four-five, come on I know someone will get that, I hope).  So we have to focus on making the pots we win count, especially late in a tournament.  Minimize the pots lost and maximize the pots won, and no one will remember the ones that you lost--sounds simple enough doesn't it?

Anyways, I'm on break now from school, and I was told about a live tournament up in Madison, which I went to last night.  Madison is a relatively short drive for me, and I don't get to play live much, so I figured I'd take a drive.  Gator93 was supposed to come along, but apparently after becoming Pocket5's champ, he was too bigtime for the game.  I met up with h0ldempr0 and a few of his buddies when I got up there, and we headed over to the tourney.  It was a 100 dollar buy-in, about 60 people or so.  P0ker H0 rolled up in his new yellow hummer, rockin his black polo with shorts, black socks, and gym shoes, and proceeded to bust out first from the tourney before he could even drop his "no shame in folding" line.  He stood up and announced, "That's how I roll," and bounced.  Can't argue with that.  I cruised into a nice bubble finish, and after the tourney, we stuck around, played live for a little, and then headed over to h0's bar. 

Now I would guess the average age in h0's bar would be around 30ish, and so needless to say, I might have looked a little young for the place, but I still had a blast.  H0 had way too much fun telling people I was Mario Lemieux's cousin, and I'm also pretty sure he even put several people up to coming up and asking me if I was the person who wrote for pocket5's--good times right?  Anyways, I have to mention h0's h0, as she introduced herself to me, or else I may not be allowed back in the bar.  She was nice enough to buy me a few drinks, as well as show me pictures of her daughter, who sadly was my age, which made me feel way too young for the place, but hey as long as we had a good time...   I would also like to thank h0 and his wife for showing me a great time at their bar and a thanks to h0ldempr0 and the rest of his buddies for a great day.
 
Good luck to everyone playing in the Bay101 that starts in a few hours.