Update

I know I put a ban on myself playing online poker but I really didn't expect to go a week without blogging so apologies for that.

Its now been a week without playing online and I'm itching to get back in to it but likely won't until Thursday night at the earliest.

Since I haven't been playing, I got stuck in to those DVD's I mentioned in the last post. I know it didn't get good reviews but I enjoyed "Angels & Demons". I think they did well considering the limited access to the Vatican that they were allowed. "Notorious" was ok too. I'm not a fan of Biggie, especially not compared to Tupac but it was an interesting story all the same. With P-Diddy as the producer, I take the "reality" of the movie with a grain of salt especially when it came to the east coast - west coast rivalry. The final movie was "Little Miss Sunshine" which was recommended to me by a friend and I've been meaning to see for a while. I think I was hesitant to see it until now because it didn't seem like my type of humour. After watching it this turned out to be the case, sure it was funny in parts but essentially not my style but still worth a look.

Friday night was my league's NBA Fantasy Draft ... now known as the GREATEST night of the year. There are 7 of that grab dinner and drinks and then come back here for the draft. Due to some players in the league living in Perth, the draft itself doesn't kick off until 12:15am so there is plenty of time for talking shit and catching up.

This weekend I went up to Maroochydore to hang out with some friends that were playing in the APL State Finals. Having not played APL for months I wasn't eligible to play in the main event but could play in the freeroll. The freeroll was madness to say the least. Players were allowed unlimited spend cards for re-buys and by 5pm when it kicked off plenty of players were pissed after busting out of the main event or just pissed (due to alcohol). I had been at my brother's place in the afternoon so didn't fill out a spend card which meant I was up against it from the get go. My starting table was very loose and a number of people were playing any 2 cards no matter the pre-flop raise. I won a small pot early, lost another with 9's against someone trapping with top pair and from there it was shove or fold due to the blinds. I shoved with ace queen only to get called by king 6 suited and thankfully turned two pair to take the pot. I later went all-in with ace king off and survived against two players. I got moved tables and the blinds were already 500/1000 and I only had around 3000. It folded to me in the cutoff so I shoved with ace 8 off and unfortunately got called blind by a short-stack in the big blind. He turned over jack 9 off and caught a jack on the flop to win. My stack was crippled and I was out shortly after.

Last night I decided to play a regular APL game at the Broadway Hotel. I used to play this venue in the past but they lost it for a while and its only just returned. There were some terrible players on my table but I was card dead early (which has often been the case at this venue for me) so couldn't take advantage of it. After being extremely patient for the first 2 hours, I had 5 7 of hearts in the big blind against a big stack in midposition and a completed small blind. Flop came 3 4 6 with two diamonds ... SWEET! Small blind checked, I decided to check also figuring the big stack would bet and he didn't let me down. Surprisingly tho the small blind re-raised and I pushed all-in which was just less than her re-raise ... and the big stack still called. The small blind continued to bet on the turn and river and get called so I assumed at least one of them had a flush draw which thankfully didn't come. Small blind turned over the bottom straight with 2 5 of diamonds and the big stack mucked so I took down the main pot and was finally chipped up. I then had kings in midposition and with one limper and the blinds at 500/1000 decided to just shove and see if the under-the-gun limper called and he didn't. Shoved with ace king off late but didn't get called and then the bubble burst and I was on the final table.

I drew the under-the-gun spot on the final table and with the blinds at 2000/4000 I had just 10,000. I got pocket 6's first hand but with a number of smallish stacks I decided to just fold and move up the rankings. It turned out to be a good decision as someone with 9's caught a set on the turn to take down the pot. A few players got knocked out and then I got queens and called with my final 4K when the blinds were at 6. I thankfully got isolated by someone with ace rag and my hand held up. I pushed next hand with ace jack suited and then held up against a caller with ace 8 suited. We were down to just 6 players and it folded to me with king jack off in the hijack. I wanted to be aggressive so pushed all-in but got called by the big stack in the small blind and the big blind decided to play as well so he didn't get blinded out. Big stack turns over ace ten which catches two aces to knock us both out and I finish in 5th. The shove wasn't a play I normally make but I was going for the win and don't hate the move at that stage of the game. So a good result for my first game back and I'll likely play that venue from now on.

APL return

I played my first APL game in ages last night. One of my friends has just got back from overseas and a few other people have been asking me to come along so I ended up going to Broadway last night. It was good to catch up with a few friends that I haven't seen for a few weeks. It was good to play live poker for the first time in a while and actually touch the cards and the chips.

I picked Ellen up on the way and we got to the game just as it was starting. It was a full house so instead of setting up another table, we ended up being reserves number 7 and 8. This would cause much joy later for players that got knocked out early and had to wait an hour or more to get back in the game.

I got in during the 2nd blinds and shortly after I sat down got pocket queens in the small blind. One of the looser players who was short-stacked raised the blinds in early position and was quickly called by someone else and then me. The flop came out 6, 7, 7 with 2 clubs and the original raiser put in the rest of his stack (just another 300 or so) and was again called by the other player. I decided to push all-in over the top of the caller and hope the initial raiser had ace king or a lower pocket pair. The caller thought I had pocket 9's and decided to fold and the initial raiser turned over kings. He could've played the hand exactly the same way with a lot less. I thought afterwards, I probably should've played my queens a little slower post-flop to get some more in the sidepot as insurance in case the initial raiser was actually strong.

I didn't see many cards after that until after the break. I limped in with ace queen from eary position, someone raised with 9's in middle position, got a few callers and won the hand on a low river and flop. Shortly after another loose/aggressive player (yes, there are plenty of them in APL) raised in early position, I didn't have much more left so I pushed in over the top with pocket kings. I knew I was ahead, knew he couldn't fold, so just had to hope they would hold up. The big blind ummed ahhed and eventually also called. Turns out she had 9, 10 suited, initial raiser had queens, my kings hold up and I get the main pot while the queens take the subsequent sidepot. Nice triple up for me and I'm right back in the game.

For much of the next 30 mins or so our table plays short-handed as the turbo-table gets drawn and we're down to the final few tables. Blinds rising quickly and 5 handed I stupidly don't shove with ace 8 under the gun and a tight big blind player. Later, I'm in the small blind with king jack suited and everyone else is folded, the big blind has a large stack so whether I shove or not he will call with any two cards. We joke about this on the table so I just call and he puts me all-in anyway. I of course call and he turns over ace 6 off and I flop a full-house, I double up but still not that far in front of the blinds.

Next orbit, I'm in the small blind and push all-in with ace 9 off for an extra 4000 and a new big blind who is also chipped up umm's and ahh's for a minute or two and then calls with 7, 8 off. Low board, he turns the straight and I'm out in 12th spot, which isn't too bad considering there would've been 50+ players. Other than the king jack suited full-house flop, not much luck and not many cards.

APL update

Well, in my post at the end of 2008 I said that I would be going back to the APL State Finals next quarter but I have fallen just short of achieving that.

I didn't play that many games again this quarter, instead choosing to play more online. The two APL venues I played were Hotel Broadway on Monday night and my usual Shafston Hotel on Thursday night.

I started well at Broadway with a 2nd place finish in the 2nd week of the venue. After that, I made top 16 a couple of times but couldn't get back to the final table and score the big points. In the final month of the quarter I stopped playing when I was no longer in contention.

Shafston I got off to a slow start struggling to put any good performances on the board against the English language students and players who had a few too many drinks. Shafston is such a tough field because of the larger numbers and "colourful" characters that play the game. In the 3rd and 4th weeks I finish top 16, just off the final table the 4th week being an agonising bubble. I then found a bit of form (and of course luck) making two final tables in a row finishing 6th and 4th. This put me back in contention for the venue, needing to finish top 3 to make it to States. I had two poor results in the following weeks and a final table 5th in the last game of the quarter wasn't enough to get it done.

I finished in 6th place for the quarter at the Shafston, basically one win out of 3rd place. So close! Congratulations to my friends Jasmine and Ellen who came first and second respectively. Ellen, sorry for knocking you out of contention in the last game. :-)