Royal Poker Blog

2006 World Series of Poker Challenge

$200 + $50 NLHE
June 10th & 11th
Traverse City

http://www.casino2win.com/grand_traverse/special_event_detail.aspx?event=139


Michigan Grand Challenge

$500 + $50 NLHE
July 15th
Traverse City

http://www.casino2win.com/grand_traverse/special_event_detail.aspx?event=140

The softball team has started out surprisingly 2-0. In the last inning they were trailing by one with one out and runners on first and second. Yours truly fielded a hard hit ball at third and started the double play to win the game. The ball was hit so hard that I had plenty of time to throw to first after touching the bag. Like many things in life sometimes you're just better off going on reaction and instinct. I took my time and then easily made my worst throw of the game. Fortunately the first baseman made a great pick.

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I've played four pots all-in preflop this morning:

1) QT vs. 33 for a $5 pot

97T flop
Q turn
3 river

2) AcJc vs. 9d9s for a $10,000 pot

99J flop

3) 2d2c vs. 6s7s for a $50 pot

As 3c 5s flop
10s turn

4) JdJc vs. Th9h for a $10,000 pot

4c Td Qh flop
8h turn
Jh river

F me

No, the above was not tournament chips. It was however a WSOP lottery ticket from the Michigan Lottery. I can't even beat a lottery ticket!

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Enjoy the holiday!

PokerStars Game #4999999998: Hold'em Limit ($0.50/$1.00) - 2006/05/20 - 20:16:53 (ET) Table 'Lexell III' 6-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: bc west ($27.75 in chips)
Seat 2: ONE NEEDS ($22 in chips)
Seat 3: Grasp ($18.50 in chips)
Seat 4: misterjiggy ($18.25 in chips)
Seat 5: Lawnboy ($5.25 in chips)
Seat 6: cradshark_ ($7.50 in chips) bc west: posts small blind $0.25 ONE NEEDS: posts big blind $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Grasp [2s 7s]

It looks like the 5 Billion Hands Poker Promotion from PokerStars will hit sometime tonight between 8-9 PM EST.

I’ve been trying to 8-table during most of the milestones. So far my closest hands have been 21 and 32 off. Hopefully I’m just saving it for the billion hand!

Update: It looks like volume has picked up and the big 5 billion will be hit between 7-8 PM EST.

In response to TripJax:

1. What is the biggest mistake people make at a NL table?

Trying to get too fancy when the game / situation rarely justifies it.

2. What is the biggest mistake people make at a Limit table?

Playing with sub-par starting hands in early / middle position.

3. Why do you play poker?

I covered this in more detail several years ago: the competition, having fun and socializing with my friends. The money is mostly an afterthought and a measure of my success in the competition category.

4. If you weren't playing poker, what would you be doing?

Poker is one of the many hobbies I enjoy. If I played less poker I would probably read more.

5. What is your favorite poker book and why?

The Harrington tournament books are great. They've really helped me improve my game as the blinds increase.

6. Who is your favorite poker player and why?

Probably Ted Forrest. He's exceptional at many different poker games and his reads are completely sick sometimes.

7. Which poker player do you dislike the most and why?

Any of the loud assholes.

8. Do your coworkers know about your blog?

Most know that I play poker and keep a blog about it. Some visit this site occasionally. I don't blog at work. I've never mentioned where I work. And I rarely even blog about work. Our corporation has a policy on blogging and I'm careful to abide by it.

9. What is the most you have won in a cash game or MTT (both live and online)?

MTT (live) ~$2500 in a PLHE tournament a few years ago.
MTT (online) just over $2000 several times...all in NLHE.

Cash Game (live) ~$300 playing $4/$8 LHE in Vegas.
Cash Game (online) a little under $1000 several times.

10. What is the most you have lost in a cash game or in one day total (both live and online)?

One Day Loss (live) ~$600 which included a $300 tournament entry and losses from ring games. If you start including blackjack then the number is well over a $1000.

One Day Loss (online) ~$1000 on several occassions. Playing many $50 and $100 SnGs in a day can be painful when variance swings the other way.

11. Who was your first poker blog read?

Decker

My old friend Iggy emailed me the link and we discussed whether starting a poker blog was a good idea. Iggy started up soon after that and I had the honor of proof-reading his first few posts. I lost my job for not being critical enough. :)

12. What satisfies you more, your aces holding up for a big pot or a bluff working for a big pot?

bluff

13. Why do you blog?

I pretty much suck as a creative writer (damn engineers), but this blog does allow me to express ideas in ways I don't normally. Plus there are some great people in this community.

14. Do you read blogs from an RSS reader like bloglines or do you visit each blog?

Typically visit.

15. Would you rather play poker for a living than do what you currently do for a living?

Absolutely not. I wouldn't mind being financially set, retiring and playing poker as a hobby though.

16. Do you wear a tin foil hat on occasion?

no

17. If you had to pin it down to one specific trait, what does a great poker player have (or do) that separates them from an average player?

Determination

18. Is Drizz the coolest person on the planet for naming his baby Vegas?

I'm gonna give that a big no. To each his own, but WTF.

19. What is your primary poker goal and are you close to accomplishing it?

Qualify for the main event (some year). So close and yet no closer than before.

20. What is your primary online site and why?

Party for ring games and Stars for tournaments.

21. What site do you dislike and why?

I want table selection so give me a high volume site!

I just finished watching Cleveland take a 3-2 lead in their series for the Pistons. Cleveland is in charge most of the game, tries to give it away at the end and eventually pulls it out.

How can an NBA player go 0-7 at the free throw line? Nice work Ben Wallace.

After the first two games no one could have predicted this. Can Cleveland really win this series? I'm predicting a Piston's win in game 6 and a slugfest in game 7.



Obviously LeBron James is unbelievable, but it's too early for him to be king. His time is coming...and sooner than expected...but it is not now.



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A belated two-year birthday to Derek. Congrats bro!

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My Nevada Jacks chips arrived promptly from Poker Source Online a week or so ago. The chips were in great shape and fantastic as advertised! Overall the experience was quick and easy. I spent a whole five hours grinding for a nice set of actual clay chips. If you're looking for a cheap way to get some nice chips or a few poker books check out Poker Source. Sign-up on one of the smaller sites, grind away for a few days and score some swag.



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Saturday is our monthly poker league. I still have a commanding lead even after a disappointing finish in April. My victory in January secured a free entry into the championship tournament and beyond that the points don't mean much. I'm looking forward to seeing some friends I haven't seen in awhile...much more so than the poker.

My attempts at the main event this year (direct qualifiers):

UB (2 Seats Guaranteed) – 6th
UB (1 Seat Guaranteed) – Not Close
Bodog (1 Seat Guaranteed) – 4th
Stars (Double Shootout – 1 Seat) – 3rd at the first table, not close
Bodog (1 Seat Guaranteed) – 20th
Bodog (1 Seat Guaranteed) – 6th
Bodog (1 Seat Guaranteed) – 3rd
Bodog (1 Seat Guaranteed) – 10th
Bodog (1 Seat Guaranteed) – 3rd

9 tournaments, 5 final tables and a 10th place, no main event for Royal.

So do I keep plugging away because I’m obviously right there?

Or call it good for this year and move on? How many final tables can a guy really make…

I'm pretty much a technology geek. I first got hooked on my Grandfather's Commodore VIC-20. Then my family got an 8086 and the rest is history. As mentioned previously my educational background is Chemical Engineering, but before and during college I worked IT jobs...including a four year stint with the USPS. First day on the job I cracked a gun joke that went over like a lead zeppelin.

With two children my time is much more limited though I still screw around with Linux distributions and thinks like PHP, just for fun.

Queue Friday evening where I started experiencing some strange networking issues with my main computer.

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I guess I should briefly explain how our home network is setup. The cable modem and wireless router are on one side of the basement and I've got a long Cat5 cable above the suspending ceiling that connects to a switch in my computer / play room. Off that switch I have several computers, printers, etc. Including the one with the network issues
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XP would pop up the "Cable unplugged" message and for a few seconds I'd lose all contact with the internet and other computers on our network. The delay was short enough that I wouldn't time out on poker tables, but it sure made downloading and other activities pure hell.

I switched ports on the switch, Cat5 cables, Ethernet cards and eventually came back to the switch. I had originally ruled the switch out since my other computers didn't seem to have the same problem. Well, it was the switch. Sunday I ordered a cheap replacement off Newegg and today it is working like a champ!

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On the poker front I've been clearing the last two bonuses on Party Poker. They've unfortunately increased their raked hands requirements to 10X, but tons of players and 10-tabling makes it an easy $100. Even a part-timer like Royal can find a few hours in a week to grind out a 1000 raked hands 10-tabling!

You'll also notice I added Poker Source Online as a sponsor. Having never used their service I decided to give them a try and signed up for Titan Poker and some free Nevada Jacks chips. It only took me 5-6 hours playing 2/4 to acquire the necessary 3000 points. My chips should be shipping soon and I'll wrap up this quick review once they arrive. Thus far everything has been smooth and as advertised.

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Softball starts tomorrow. Our team lacks most of the fundamentals...except for beer drinking...at that we excel. It should be a good time!