I decided that my Congressional Representative, Bill Pascrell Jr, should have this bill brought to his attention, as I felt that this bill is very important and deserves to be made law. Unfoutanately, I do not have the exact text of my email as it was sent via an internet form and not using one of my personal email accounts.

A few days later, I received a reply to my email. The following is what Bill Pascrell Jr had to say:

Dear Mr. Lannigan :

Thank you for contacting me regarding internet radio. I appreciate you r concerns and welcome this opportunity to respond.

H.R 2060, the ” Internet Radio Equality Act,” would provide royalty parity for Internet radio providers. It would vacate the Copyright Royalty Board’s (CRB) March 2 decision to raise music royalty rates by 300 to 1200 percent and apply the same royalty rate-setting standard to commercial Internet radio, as well as satellite radio, cable radio and jukeboxes. A transition rate of 7.5 percent of revenue would be set through 2010.

Internet radio has provided the public with a way to express their views publicly, and allow others to listen for little or no cost. I am concerned that many citizens’ freedom of speech will be infringed due to the CRB’s decision to raise the royalty rates. Currently, H.R 2060 is pending action in the House Committee on Judiciary. I will be sure to keep you views in mind as this bill makes its way through the legislative process.

Please count of me if ever I assist you in any federal matter. I would like to remind you that my website, www.pascrell.house.gov, is frequently updated and provides a good way to communicate with me.

Sincerely,
Bill Pascrell Jr.
Member of Congress

I have since sent another email explaining the misunderstanding. Updates to follow.

SB: $103.05
BB: $213.40
UTG: $261.20
MP: $201
CO: $238.90
Hero (BTN): $197

Preflop: Hero is dealt 6 5 (6 Players)
3 folds, Hero raises to $8, SB calls $7, BB calls $6

Flop: ($24) 9 8 7 (3 Players)
SB bets $24, BB folds, Hero raises all-in to $189, SB calls all-in for $71.05
Uncalled bet of $93.95 returned to Hero

Turn: ($214.10) T (2 Players – 2 All-In)

River: ($214.10) 6 (2 Players – 2 All-In)

Pot Size: $214.10 ($3 Rake)

SB had 7 7 (a straight flush, Ten high) and WON (+$2.50)
Hero had 6 5 (a straight flush, Ten high) and WON (+$2.50)

+$2.50 HOLLA!!!

Moving on to the reason we were there, Poker. The room was really nice. Chairs and tables were very comfortable. The chips were heavier and slicker than I am used to, and thus chip tricks had to be limited. Most of the dealers were nice and talkative, made a good environment.

So I ended up playing for about five hours. At about 30 hands per hour, that puts me at a very exhaustive 150 hands. Based on that number, my win-rate was a staggering -233bb/100. Yes, you read that correctly, there is no missing decimal that is supposed to be there. Based on the way the hands ran, I honestly think that many other people loose a lot more if they ran as bad as I did.

First big hand, I get AT in early position, probably 4 people to the flop. A8T, SHIP IT, HOLLA!! I don’t remember the action, but after the turn it is just me and one other guy. I think he min-raised the turn, but either way, I know he thinks he has a good hand, but as we just started, who knows what that means. I get to showdown cheaply from there and he has 88. Wasn’t I supposed to be broke there?

Some more hands pass. I remember that c-betting isn’t worth it at this table. I get TT in EP, 2 people call my raise. Flop is AxA, I bet and get one caller. He has Ax a lot, but I didn’t worry about it as I don’t have many chips. My assumption was correct and I have to reload.

I get AA in EP, 4 callers. I’m sorry I suck at remembering the board, but I got 2 callers on the flop. Something in my head says to check, this is followed by a big bet and a push. I scratch my head and muck, they were both ahead of my pair.

I have T8s, x9J I call a bet to see the turn. Q, Ship it!! I bet and call when I get raised. T, I check call and am pissed off when he shows KT. I thought the river sucked, but it saved my stack.

I get 22 in EP, 80 billion people see he flop. 28Q, Ship it, Holla!! Bet, Raise, Push, Call. He shows QQ. This is the same guy that had 88 earlier, won the hand where I folded AA, and had the KT.

I go for a walk to check on Evan and Stewie. We have lunch and head back to the tables.

I have JT and the flop is QTx, I call a bet. J, I raise when the guy bets again. J, SHIP IT, HOLLA!!! Bet, raise, push, call. He shows QJ. At this point I’m pretty much just laughing.

I buy-in for another 50 big blinds, and basically sit on that for another hour or two. J4 in the big blind, we check around a J high flop. J, I bet out and get 1 caller. The talkative guy at the table says I’d have to be a genius to have a J. I get called on the river by a guy who just back-doored a flush. More nothing, then I get 88 vs a raise on my right and I push my short stack. He has TT and I’m done for the night.

Slot Machines. I didn’t understand them before I went and having each of us trying $5 on them, I understand them less. They are not entertaining. They are not fun. Half the time there are so many line possibilities that you only know that you win when the machine tells you. I thought the nickel slots were bad, then I saw the penny slots.

Actual Themes Used for Slot Machines

• Summer Carnival
• Frog Flip Flop
• Secretes of Africa
• Keno Plus
• Sea Monkies
• Dick Clark’s Rocking New Years
• That Girl

Maybe it was just the tables I was playing at, but it seemed that they play deeper than .5/1. The average stack at .5/1 was less than 100bb. Most of the tables I saw had many people with over 200bb stacks. While I was playing I had a 250bb stack at one table and a 300bb stack at another (but that’s getting a little ahead of ourselves). Also note that this was on Absolute Poker where the max buy-in is 200bb. So maybe there are just more people buying-in for the full amount then at .5/1.

Now for the fun part. This is the ride I went on last night:

Half of those vertical lines are because of 1 guy. He is my new best friend and I will be spending as much time at his tables as possible.

Button – Hero $256
BB – MyNewFriend $340.42
SB – Posts small blind $1
MyNewFriend – Posts big blind $2
Dealt to Hero As Ah
3 folds, Hero raises to $8, SB calls $7, MyNewFriend calls $6
*** FLOP *** 6h 5h 3h
SB checks, MyNewFriend checks, Hero bets $20, SB folds, MyNewFriend calls $20
*** TURN *** 6h 5h 3h Jc
MyNewFriend checks, Hero checks
*** RIVER *** 6h 5h 3h Jc 10c
MyNewFriend bets $78, Hero calls $78
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MyNewFriend – Shows Jh Ad (One pair, jacks)
Hero – Shows As Ah (One pair, aces)
Hero Collects $217 from main pot

Between these two hands, Evan and I start discussing the psychology behind this guy. He is also a very big talker and is always trying to belittle people. BIG fan of the word sissy.

Button – Hero $405.35
BB – MyNewFriend $442.79
SB – Posts small blind $1
MyNewFriend – Posts big blind $2
Hero: Ad Qh
2 Folds, Hero raises to $8, SB folds, MyNewFriend calls $6
*** FLOP *** 8s Qc 6h
MyNewFriend checks, Hero bets $14, MyNewFriend calls $14
*** TURN *** 8s Qc 6h Jh
MyNewFriend bets $90, Hero raises to $228, MyNewFriend calls $138
*** RIVER *** 8s Qc 6h Jh 10c
MyNewFriend checks, Hero checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MyNewFriend – Shows Ah 7h (ace high)
Hero – Shows Ad Qh (One pair, queens)
Hero Collects $498 from main pot

I tell Evan that our conversation lead to my new biggest pot won. He comes and starts sweating me. My action at this table dies. Evan only gets to see one interesting hand. But we will come back to that as I’m trying to do this chronologically.

As I said before, I had two tables where I had a stack of 250bb or more. The other table went as follows (plus two other uninteresting hands for about a 25bb net on each).

SB – Hero $193.60
BB $228.55
CO $744.27
Hero – Posts small blind $1
BB – Posts big blind $2
Dealt to Hero Qd Qs
CO calls $2, Button folds, Hero raises to $8, BB calls $6, CO calls $6
*** FLOP *** 4h 2h 5h
Hero bets $20, BB calls $20, CO calls $20
*** TURN *** 4h 2h 5h 5c
Hero checks, BB checks, CO checks
*** RIVER *** 4h 2h 5h 5c 9s
Hero checks, BB checks, CO checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Hero – Shows Qd Qs (Two Pair, queens and fives)
BB – Mucks Kh Js
CO – Mucks Kc Jh
Hero Collects $82 from main pot

———————————————————

UTG – Hero $254.45
Seat 4 – UTG $125.95
SB – Posts small blind $1
BB – Posts big blind $2
Dealt to Hero Qs Ks
Hero raises to $8, MP folds, CO calls $8, 2 folds
*** FLOP *** 2c 9s 7d
Hero bets $14, CO calls $14
*** TURN *** 2c 9s 7d 3s
Hero bets $34, CO raises All-In to $103.95, Hero calls $69.95
*** RIVER *** 2c 9s 7d 3s 10s
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Hero – Shows Qs Ks (Flush, king high)
CO – Shows 7s 7c (Three of a kind, sevens)
Hero Collects $251.90 from main pot

On the surface this looks kinda bad. For the situation it ended up being, I wasn’t getting odds to call. That being said, I was messing around with Poker Stove with some ranges to put him on. He plays pretty loose pre-flop so that gives me some wiggle room with his hand range. I need to be ~29% or more to make this call.

Feel free to comment on what ranges you think are fair or if there is anything I am missing.

Button – Hero $479.60
BB $671.29
SB – Posts small blind $1
BB – Posts big blind $2
Dealt to Hero 2h Qd
2 folds, Hero raises to $8, SB folds, BB calls $6
*** FLOP *** Qh 5s Kd
BB checks, Hero checks
*** TURN *** Qh 5s Kd 2s
BB checks, Hero bets $12, BB calls $12
*** RIVER *** Qh 5s Kd 2s 8h
BB checks, Hero bets $30, BB raises to $60, Hero calls $30
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BB – Shows 8d 5c (Two Pair, eights and fives)
Hero – Shows 2h Qd (Two Pair, queens and twos)
Hero Collects $158 from main pot

That where the fun starts to end.

Button $269.40
CO – Hero $531.60
SB – Posts small blind $1
BB – Posts big blind $2
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Ah As]
UTG folds, Hero raises to $8, Button calls $8, SB folds, BB calls $6
*** FLOP *** [4d 8s 7h]
BB checks, Hero bets $18, Button raises to $45, BB folds, Hero raises to $144, Button raises All-In to $261.40, Hero folds

———————————————————

Button – Hero $303.60
MP $205.57
SB – Posts small blind $1
BB – Posts big blind $2
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero Ah Ad
UTG folds, MP calls $2, CO folds, Hero raises to $8, 2 folds, MP calls $6
*** FLOP *** 2c Kh 9h
MP checks, Hero bets $18, MP calls $18
*** TURN *** 2c Kh 9h 7h
MP checks, Hero bets $45, MP calls $45
*** RIVER *** 2c Kh 9h 7h 10s
MP checks, Hero checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MP – Shows Jh 8h (Flush, king high)
Hero – Mucks
MP Collects $142 from main pot

———————————————————

BB $219.15
MP – Hero $152.15
SB – Posts small blind $1
BB – Posts big blind $2
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero 7c 6c
UTG folds, Hero raises to $8, CO folds, Button calls $8, SB folds, BB raises to $30, Hero calls $22, Button folds
*** FLOP *** Ks 9c 8d
BB bets $60, Hero Raises All-in to $122.15, BB calls $62.15
*** TURN *** Ks 9c 8d Jd
*** RIVER *** Ks 9c 8d Jd As
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Hero – Shows 7c 6c (ace high)
BB – Shows Kc Ah (Two Pair, aces and kings)

Now the one interesting hand Evan saw:
SB – Hero $556
CO $570.05
Hero – Posts small blind $1
BB – Posts big blind $2
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero 4s 5c
UTG folds, MP calls $2, CO calls $2, Button folds, Hero calls $1, BB checks
*** FLOP *** 10c Jc 5h
Hero checks, BB checks, MP checks, CO checks,
*** TURN *** 10c Jc 5h 5s
Hero bets $6, BB folds, MP folds, CO raises to $12, Hero raises to $42, CO calls $30
*** RIVER *** 10c Jc 5h 5s Ks
Hero checks, CO bets $266, Hero folds

So, now we fast forward to the end of my session. I was going to sleep because I had an 8am exam today. I had started to close down my tables after I played a hand UTG. Looked at Poker Tracker and saw that I had lost everything I had made during the night. Then I realized I had forgotten to uncheck Auto-Post Blinds on the table with MyNewFriend. Fine I’ll play one more hand, then I am done. Here is that last hand:

BB – Hero $536.90
CO – MyNewFriend $659.55
SB – Posts small blind $1
Hero – Posts big blind $2
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero Qh Ks
RIGGED14 folds, MyNewFriend calls $2, 2 folds, Hero raises to $8, MyNewFriend calls $6
*** FLOP *** 2d 9h 10s
Hero bets $15, MyNewFriend calls $15
*** TURN *** 2d 9h 10s Jd
Hero checks, MyNewFriend checks
*** RIVER *** 2d 9h 10s Jd 6d
Hero bets $35, MyNewFriend raises to $190, Hero calls $155
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MyNewFriend – Shows Ac 10d (One pair, tens)
Hero – Shows Qh Ks (Straight, nine to king)
Hero Collects $424 from main pot

This graph starts right after I cut through 50nl 6max like it was butter.
0-3k: Just some variance.
10k: See, it was variance.
16k: Could I run colder? (Note: At this point I haven’t looked at the graph of just hands. I was using the graph of my bankroll, which includes bonuses and rakeback.)
22k: (I look at the graph of my hands.) HOLY FUCKING SHIT!
I go to 2+2 and ask what I’m going wrong.
23k: OOHHH, now I get it.
30k: I can’t wait until I can start playing $1/$2. (I decided that even though I am bankrolled for $1/$2, I am going to wait until I have a winning career at 100nl before I move up.)
38k: Just 30 more dollars. I can taste it.
40k: WWWEEEEE!!! (I start thinking I suck at poker, but most of the big hands were actually not my fault.)
43k: Well at least that is over.
47k: OMG WTF!!!
53k: Wow, the poker gods really must feel bad about October.
54.8k: So close, I can stay up till I make it. (TERRIBLE DECISION)
56k: Not this again.
57k: Sunday players are my hero!!!

You can’t see it, but at about 56k I actually was +2 for like 1 hand and didn’t know it.
The end of the graph is very vertical. This is because I ran at 97.42 bb/100 from Friday until now.

Below is a graph and stats of what I did after the checkup with 2+2.

$15 dollars from poker + lots of bonuses + 40k hands with 28% rakeback.

If anyone wants lots of money, go look for me at the Stars $1/$2 6max NL tables.

Step 1: Find something else in your life that is worse.
This is where my Electronics class comes in. First midterm was below the class average(15% of the class grade). First project looks like it will probably get a similar score (10%). Tomorrow is the second midterm. (Don’t ask me why the school calls them midterms when there are more than one of them.) I also no intention of working with building circuits and electronic systems, so I am not interested by this class. There is a high probability that this class will be the worst grade I have ever gotten for a class.

Step 2: Find someone who is doing worse than you in poker.
Grimstarr. Yeah, what can I say? You go to my school, but I’ve never met you. Your self-control is so bad that you told people you would give them $100 if they saw you playing higher than $25/$50 NL. Despite the fact that you have played in games where the blinds are equal to what I bring to the table, I feel I am a better player because I know when to say when. I don’t know how much you are down or how long it has been over, but I’m sure that when scaled it’s worse than me and more within your control.

Step 3: Buy something nice.

PS – I just realized the biggest drawer of my dresser has been empty all year. WTF!

All hands are .5/1 NL Holdem 6max and at the same table over a period of 3 hours.

Seat 7 – Hero ($92.85 in chips) Button
Seat 8 – SB ($31.95 in chips) OSUFORMULA
Seat 9 – BB ($66.60 in chips) RAILBENDER
Seat 2 – UTG ($215.71 in chips) LLFISHLL
Seat 6 – CO ($222.05 in chips) RUKUX
SB – Posts small blind $0.50
BB – Posts big blind $1
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Qc Qd]
2 folds, Hero raises $4 to $4, SB folds, BB calls $3
*** FLOP *** [10s 10d 8s]
BB checks, Hero bets $8, BB calls $8
*** TURN *** [10s 10d 8s] [6d]
BB checks, Hero bets $15, BB raises $35 to $35, Hero raises $55 to $70, BB – All-In $19.60
Hero returned ($15.40) : not called
*** RIVER *** [10s 10d 8s 6d] [Ah]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Hero – Shows [Qc Qd] (Two Pair, queens and tens)
BB – Shows [Ad As] (Full house, aces full of tens)
BB Collects $130.70 from main pot

Seat 5 – Button ($41.65 in chips) CAGPD129
Seat 6 – SB ($29.50 in chips) KRISAMAGUS
Seat 7 – Hero ($88.25 in chips) BB
Seat 8 – UTG ($31.60 in chips) OSUFORMULA
Seat 9 – MP ($120.70 in chips) RAILBENDER
Seat 2 – CO ($238.01 in chips) LLFISHLL
SB – Posts small blind $0.50
Hero – Posts big blind $1
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Kc Ac]
UTG calls $1, MP raises $3 to $3, CO calls $3, Button calls $3, SB folds, Hero calls $2, UTG calls $2
*** FLOP *** [10c 2c 2d]
Hero checks, UTG bets $3, MP calls $3, 2 folds, Hero calls $3
*** TURN *** [10c 2c 2d] [5h]
Hero checks, UTG – Bets $3, MP calls $3, Hero calls $3
*** RIVER *** [10c 2c 2d 5h] [7c]
Hero checks, UTG bets $3, MP raises $9 to $9, Hero raises $24 to $24, UTG folds, MP raises $62 to $71, Hero – All-In(Raise) $55.25 to $79.25, MP calls $8.25
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Hero – Shows [Kc Ac] (Flush, ace high)
MP – Shows [7s 7h] (Full house, sevens full of twos)
MP Collects $192 from main pot

OK, now here is the one that is awesome beyond description. The player chat is included.
Seat 6 – Button ($22.15 in chips) KRISAMAGUS
Seat 7 – Hero ($112.70 in chips) SB
Seat 9 – BB ($208.35 in chips) RAILBENDER
Seat 2 – UTG ($181.51 in chips) LLFISHLL
Seat 4 – MP ($67 in chips) SLOWDAWG
Seat 5 – CO ($58.75 in chips) CAGPD129
Hero – Posts small blind $0.50
BB – Posts big blind $1
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Ah Qh]
UTG raises $2 to $2, MP calls $2, 2 folds, Hero raises $6.50 to $7
RAILBENDER:alright, will donate some of your money to the cause
BB calls $6,
LLFISHLL:me to
LLFISHLL:cant help myself
UTG calls $5, MP folds
*** FLOP *** [9s 5c Qs]
Hero bets $10,
RAILBENDER:now you are in trouble
RAILBENDER:just kiddeing
BB folds,
LLFISHLL:one more
LLFISHLL:what does the table think?
SLOWDAWG:kq here
RAILBENDER:live up to your name
UTG calls $10
*** TURN *** [9s 5c Qs] [7d]
LLFISHLL:NICE
Hero bets $22,
SLOWDAWG:all the way
LLFISHLL:lol if i c one more he might not b to happy
UTG calls $22
*** RIVER *** [9s 5c Qs 7d] [9c]
SLOWDAWG:if you got it
LLFISHLL:i know what he has
Hero bets $30,
SLOWDAWG:get em
UTG – All-In(Raise) $142.51 to $142.51, Hero – All-In $43.70
UTG returned ($68.81) : not called
*** SHOW DOWN ***
UTG – Shows [6c 6s] (Two Pair, nines and sixes)
Hero – Shows [Ah Qh] (Two Pair, queens and nines)
Hero Collects $231.40 from main pot
RAILBENDER:nh
LLFISHLL:close
SLOWDAWG:oh
LLFISHLL:nh
LLFISHLL:put him on Ak
SLOWDAWG:me too
LLFISHLL:back to the start
RAILBENDER:i thought he had the pocket qqs

And just when I thought I might come out of this on the good side.
Seat 4 – Button ($91 in chips) SLOWDAWG
Seat 5 – SB ($52.75 in chips) CAGPD129
Seat 7 – Hero ($231.40 in chips) BB
Seat 9 – UTG ($202.25 in chips) RAILBENDER
SB – Posts small blind $0.50
Hero – Posts big blind $1
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [5s 3d]
UTG calls $1, Button calls $1, SB calls $0.50, Hero checks
*** FLOP *** [4s 2d 6h]
SB bets $5, Hero calls $5, UTG calls $5, Button folds
*** TURN *** [4s 2d 6h] [8s]
SB bets $15, Hero raises $40 to $40, UTG folds, SB – All-In(Raise) $31.75 to $46.75, Hero calls $6.75
*** RIVER *** [4s 2d 6h 8s] [4d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
SB – Shows [4c 6d] (Full house, fours full of sixes)
Hero – Shows [5s 3d] (Straight, two to six)
SB Collects $110.50 from main pot

The biggest pot I won at this table, excluding the one shown, was a net of $10. Managed to leave down just less than $200.

——
Edit:
So around 1 I decided I was ready to take another crack at pushing north again.

Well, the poker gods thought otherwise.

Seat 3 – Button ($125.33 in chips) BAD GUY
Seat 4 – SB ($93.18 in chips) BIG_BOBTAIL
Seat 5 – Hero ($97 in chips) BB
Seat 7 – UTG ($27.95 in chips) MONGOOSE
Seat 9 – MP ($121.25 in chips) GLIP
Seat 1 – CO ($65.30 in chips) BAADSHAH111
SB – Posts small blind $0.50
Hero – Posts big blind $1
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [7h 9h]
UTG folds, MP calls $1, CO calls $1, Button folds, SB calls $0.50, Hero checks
*** FLOP *** [3d 5s 8h]
SB bets $1, Hero calls $1, MP calls $1, CO calls $1
*** TURN *** [3d 5s 8h] [Kh]
SB bets $2, Hero calls $2, MP calls $2, CO calls $2
*** RIVER *** [3d 5s 8h Kh] [4h]
SB bets $5, Hero – Raises $17 to $17, MP folds, CO – All-In(Raise) $61.30 to $61.30, SB folds, Hero calls $44.30
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CO – Shows [3h Ah] (Flush, ace high)
Hero – Mucks
CO Collects $140.60 from main pot

I say that here I knew the flush was the only thing he’s raising there, and it was the tilt calling. Unbiased people feel free to comment on all hands.

Seat 5 – Hero ($97.70 in chips) Button
Seat 4 – CO ($89.63 in chips)

*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [6c 7c]
UTG folds, MP calls $1, CO raises $5 to $5, Hero calls $5, 3 folds
*** FLOP *** [10d 7h 6h]
CO bets $5, Hero calls $5
*** TURN *** [10d 7h 6h] [2c]
CO bets $5, Hero raises $20 to $20, CO raises $35 to $40, Hero – All-In(Raise) $67.70 to $87.70, CO – All-In $39.63
Hero returned ($8.07) : not called
*** RIVER *** [10d 7h 6h 2c] [7d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CO – Shows [10s 10c] (Full house, tens full of sevens)
Hero – Shows [6c 7c] (Full house, sevens full of sixes)
CO Collects $178.76 from main pot

The next hand, no time to reload or sit out.

Seat 9 – SB ($121.30 in chips) GLIP
Seat 4 – UTG ($178.76 in chips) BIG_BOBTAIL
Seat 5 – Hero ($8.07 in chips) MP

*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Qh Qd]
UTG calls $1, Hero – All-In(Raise) $8.07 to $8.07, CO folds, SB calls $7.57, BB folds, UTG calls $7.07
*** FLOP *** [Qs 7h 6d]
SB bets $10, UTG folds
SB returned ($10) : not called
*** TURN *** [Qs 7h 6d] [8c]
*** RIVER *** [Qs 7h 6d 8c] [Ad]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Hero – Shows [Qh Qd] (Three of a kind, queens)
SB – Shows [Qc 10s] (One pair, queens)
Hero Collects $23.96 from main pot

Yeah, I’m gonna take a break. See you in a week. What a shitty birthday present.

Around 4:30 I started up some tables and got to playing, like any normal day. 400+ hands later, I was carrying a nice little average of 50+ big blinds per 100 hands. Holla! Well the rush didn’t exactly stop. The following is the graph of my total winnings vs hands for the day.

Key Hands: All hands are 6 handed unless noted.

269: KK (BB), 2 limps, raise to 5, 1 caller(MP).
8dJh5h, I bet 7 into 12, call
9d I bet 18 into 26, call
8c I bet 32 into 62, push, (I am covered and have 100 left) I fold
325: J2 (BB), 4 limps, I check
2JA, I bet 3 into 5, Villain pushes 90 (he has been doing this repeatedly in the last few orbits), I call
He shows AQs (better than I would have guessed), my J2 holds.

430: Table is dying, only 3 dealt in
SB raises to 2, I call with AJs
7JA, SB bets 2 into 4, I call
J, SB bets 4 into 8, I call
2, SB bets 10 into 16, I raise to 30, SB pushes, I call for another 70.
SB shows JT

431: Different table
AK (mp) raise to 4, button pushes for 18 (vpip 60% /pfr 28%), bb calls for 15 (vpip 40% /pfr 7%), I call
button shows Q3s, BB shows 88, K on the flop

465: AA (utg) raise to 4, 2 callers
5d8dTs, SB bets 4 into 12, I raise to 12, CO (vpip 50%) pushes for 76, I call
CO shows 97o.
He says “bullshit” and leaves.

here to 990:
I honestly can’t remember at this point. Assume it was crazy and ridiculous. All my tables for the day had average vpip’s of at min 35, many 40s, and at least one 50. The ups are most likely me flopping sets, I did that a lot.

990-1320:
C-Bet semi-bluff draw versus calling station doesn’t come.
C-Bet semi-bluff draw, C-Bet Turn semi-bluff draw versus calling station doesn’t come.

1312: KK (button) folds to me, raise to 4, BB (vpip 60%/pfr 7%) min-raises to 8, I call
436, BB bets 36 into 16, I push for a total of 100, he calls with AT
turn: T
river: 9

1384: 99 (utg) raise to 4, folds to BB (vpip 30%/pfr 10%) who min-raises to 8, I call
5c9dTd: BB bets 15 into 16, I call
3d: BB bets 40 into 46, I push for a total of 75, BB insta calls and shows AA
river: Ad
He says (without any promt) “f u all, Aces are the better hand”
I go for a walk.

1400: I get AA to KK, he reraises preflop, its all in on the flop.

Total Net: $292, 19.62bb/100, I’m roughly a buyin away from moving up.

Or am I?
Our friend in Washington were very active today. The Internet Gambling bill got attached onto the Port Security bill. Terrorism Bad, Bill (probably officially by now) destined to pass. A good number of people give good speeches saying this is bullshit and then vote for the bill because you are a terrorist if you vote against Port Security.

I am really tired. I need to be awake really early. I should have been asleep when my AA ran into KK.

I started reading the book at the beginning of the month. I’m making an effort to pay very close attention to everything as I read. I’m taking notes that fall into a couple of categories (will be talked about below).

2+2 started a book club that is running this month. (Link to Week 2. Link to Week 1 can be found in the Week 2 thread.) I’m working of their sections, however I’m not staying up to their section/week pace. The section is a nice approach because it allows me to be focused on certain aspects of what is being discussed. I’m also re-reading the section when I finish before I move on to the next. Again, this is just a better way to focus and maybe catch something that was not seen the first time around. These posts, which I will be making after each section, are just another way to force myself to think critically on what I am reading.

The first section is the first 60 pages and includes chapters on (Note: The table of contents has a really poorly laid out hierarchy, so I’m just making my own section groupings.):

• The Skills of Success – A general explanation of 5 important skills.
• Thinking in Terms of Expectation – Discussion of expected value and an example of how it can be used on the river with the nuts.
• Pot [Magnitude] Philosophy – Concepts on how to control the pot. Looking for situations where you want to build it and ones where you’d like to keep it smaller.
• The Importance of Implied Odds – Looking at what future bets will be from both your perspective and that of your opponent.
• Bet [Magnitude Assessment] – The many things to think about as one chooses the amount to bet.

Before I go into the categories into which my thoughts feel, I just have one lead in comment. This section will most likely have the fewest comments because it’s still the beginning. This isn’t to say that there are not very important topics covered in the initial part of the book. More just that fact that the introduction was included in this section and that some concepts (ie. the EV section are slightly repetitive for anyone who’s read a good poker book before.)

Things that I do that are bad:

• Betting Standard Amounts. This came from the bet [magnitude assessment] section. Pre-flop I always raise 4 times the big blind plus an additional big blind per limper. Though this doesn’t hold true for when I play live. The established standard raise is smaller, however I do still raise different amounts. I don’t know why I lean towards doing this live, but stay standard online. The book is more talking about post-flop play in this section, but I think the same should apply for pre-flop. They probably have a section on it that I haven’t gotten to. The point does also hold true for my post-flop play. Very frequently I will just bet 3/4 of the pot or 1/2 of the pot with out specifically thinking why am I betting this amount and what am I trying to accomplish. Recently I’m looking more at what the flop texture is and how that affects me, but not enough.
• Big Pots with Small Hands. In correlation with my last sentence, I often find myself bloating pots where my hand is good but not necessarily extremely strong.
• Making Big Calls on the River, or All-in. This is one of my other big leaks. I tend to make bigger calls when it closes the action of the hand. I talk myself into believing that I am ahead or I have a read even if that means ignoring some of the pot odds.

Concept Point:

• The wider the range of hands the opponent holds, the wider their implied odds are.
• The more implied odds a person has, the larger your bet should be over what the pot odds would dictate.

New Ideas:

• Start with the final bet, then plan the bets you will make working backwards from there.
• When out of position and your opponent often continues on the flop, let them do so when you flop a strong hand.

Other Random Thoughts:

• Maybe I wasn’t paying enough attention in past books, but I think this is the first time that a book regularly refers to the opponent as a female.

Now for the fun part. I started playing 100nl (6max) in the beginning of February. I started with a pretty good run. But then , the fact that I don’t know how to play made itself know. The bellow graph is my play since the start of 100nl. WWWEEEEE!!!!

At about 22 thousand hands I noticed I had just hit a milestone in hand count. Then noticed the big red numbers on the screen. (The sick thing is tanks to bonuses and rakeback, I managed to almost be in the black for that stretch.) Based on this I went and stopped by 2+2 and begged for comments (link).

As you might notice, I’m doing well since then. I’m not gonna say all of that is me playing well, but I did pick up a lot from my 20k Checkup. There was a lot of hands that I wasn’t raising nearly enough pre-flop. I wasn’t paying enough attention to when I was continuing on the flop. I was continuing A LOT. All this comes together to mean I get myself in a lot of tough spots with weak holdings. Getting called when I’m behind and not getting called with my strong hands.

I’m a little hesitant to start seriously looking at playing 200nl, but I’m close to the right roll and from what random times I played, I didn’t see a lot of difference.

Here’s to Poker and Playing Well. Note: not to good luck, to playing well.

SuburbanRounders

Evan: Ok, now that we ordered the food let’s get this game started.
Will: Aren’t we gonna wait for Max or Paul?
Patrick: I talked to Paul, he can’t make it. John said he might be late, but would bring people if he showed up. And Max wasn’t online.
Will: Did you call him?
Patrick: I don’t have his number. But you can call him.
Will: … I don’t have his number either.
Evan: Why do I hang out with you guys? Ok, let’s just play a quick freeze out and see if John shows up.

[Ding Dong]

Will: Must be the Chinese. That was fucking fast. But then again it doesn’t take that long to cook cat.
[Will opens door]
Will: Umm, did you come to the door and forget to bring the food? Nice play squinty eyes.
Men Nguyen: What? I’m here for the poker tournament. The buy-in is $300, right?
Evan: Well, we were thinking more like $10. Wait, what the hell are you doing at my house?
Men Nguyen: Someone told me that I could get CardPlayer Player of the Year point for playing here.
Patrick: Can you get some other people to come?
Men Nguyen: Are you kidding? Who in their right mind would drive to a random New Jersey suburb for a small buy-in poker tournament.

—

Will: Raise.
Patrick: This isn’t Limit dumass, you have to say how much you are raising.
Will: Fine, I raise to …
Patrick: I fold.
Will: Ass.

—

Patrick: Call.
Will: Call.
Evan: Raise to 200.
Men Nguyen: Call.
Patrick: Well, I probably shouldn’t have limped, but what the hell.
[Flop comes 5h 9c Jh]
Patrick: Check.
Will: Check.
Evan: Pot.
Men Nguyen: Fold.
Patrick: Fold.
Will: Call.
[Turn comes 7c]
Will: Check.
Evan: All in.
Patrick: JOEY!
Will: I don’t know. On the one hand, I’m not getting close to the right odds. But on the other hand sucking out would be +EV. I call.
[Evan shows 9h 8h. Will shows 8d 3s and has 3 outs to a chop.]
Patrick: I had a 6.
Will: Awesome!
…
[River comes 6s]
Men Nguyen: Owned.
Evan: Why are you still here?

—

Patrick: Raise it up to 200.
Will: Fold.
Men Nguyen: Fold.
Evan: Call.
[Flop comes Qh 5d 6s]
Evan: 400.
[Patrick thinks.]
Patrick: Add a thousand.
Evan: Another thousand.
Patrick: All-in.
[Evan thinks.]
Evan: I call. I have King, Queen
[Patrick looks blankly at the cards.]
Will: Queen, Jack! Queen, Jack! YES!!
Patrick: I hate you guys. I’m going home.
Will: Can I get a ride home?

The Facts:
Still a baby, but growing. In the last thirty days, the count on cash players has increased by 25%. (Source: Poker Site Scout, additional info on Source to follow.)
Tonight at 9(EST) there where 2 full 100NL and 3 full 50NL tables and then one of each playing short handed. 1/2 and 2/4 both had 5 full tables.

The Look:
Setup is slightly different than the standard. Your cards are shown next to your action buttons (tiny versions also appear on the table). When you fold you cards are shadowed, but still visible for the entire hand. Now you have to notice you would have caught that straight. I altered the table graphics right away. I copied the “Waffle Cards” (here) that I use on Party and Stars. Everything else I have can be found here. The everything else page does a lot of good things. Your stack get a different graphic than the rest of the table and the active player is highlighted.

The Software:
This is where they still have a few issues to work out. I have read they are taking steps in the right direction.

• Table Response is a little slow. A tick or two will drop of the clock between your click and the action.
• Tables steal focus even if you have to act at another table.
• The slider is as unreliable as Party, so entering bets are tricky. I think I could be able to pull of an AutoHotKey script for the betting, no grantees now.
• No short handed tables for NL yet. I have been told they are on the way. At present, short handed is 5 players. 6 is kind of the standard, but WPEX is not the only site to run 5 handed tables.
• Password restrictions force you to use only letters and digits and only 8 characters (pretty weak considering certain places force you to do longer elaborate passwords.
• The biggest issue is that hand histories are not saved to the hard drive. You have to request they get sent to you. Puts a good delay on getting stats.

The Stats:
High Stakes Poker was on tonight, so I only played 200 hands. On the first night I won a little. (Rigged?) Over this tiny bit of data, I have payed (and will receive back) $3.86 per hundred hands playing 50NL. If I played only on WPEX for thirty days that would be over $200 that I get returned. And that is if I don’t go back to 100NL (which hopefully I do soon).

Overall:
A decent list of things that need to happen before WPEX can be the real deal and gain popularity. Rafe free is a great selling point and I think that it will do good things for online poker when people start to look at it. The site still needs new players and we’ll have to wait and see if only veterans stay at a rake free site or will novices show up and stay. I give WPEX a C+ based on the action so far and have listed a few things that would bring it up to a solid B or higher.

—

Poker Site Scout
A nice little site that is very useful. On the outside, it appears to just be a ranking of poker sites, but it does deeper. These figures are just cash players. Party and Stars are still 1 and 2, but for those that only play cash, this is what you want to see. Active players and Active tables. Sites are ranked by a 24 hour high-water-point on active players.

As you look deeper you find that each site has it’s own page with a in depth breakdown by level and type of table. There is a search feature that will bring up all the totals for different site based on your selected level or table type. Also, hidden back in the far corner, is a Pro-Finder. A list of Pro’s, their Aliases, where they play and if they are playing now.

Now on to the title of this entry. In these examples, Dan gives the results of the hand after he explains what move you should make. (The player doesn’t always follow Harrington’s advice, which he uses to prove points.) The thing with showing the results is that they usually look like this:
Your Hand: Ts3c
Action to you: You are the SB. Players A through E fold. The pot is $240 (BB is all-in).
Action: You call, the BB shows 7d6s. The board comes KcQdTdTh6h.
Now you didn’t need to improve, but yet you end up with trips and completely dominate the BB who happens to pair his bottom card after he was already drawing dead. There are hands where it works out so Harrington can say, “Well, it doesn’t always work out, but you know you made the right play.” But that’s like 1 out of every 10 hands.

Another one of my favorite things is when he does this:
Situation: Towards the end of a one-table satellite. Players B and E are aggressive. Player C is supper-aggressive.
Your hand: AhTd
Action to you: Player A folds. Player B raises to $120. Players C,D and E all fold. The pot is now $210.
Thanks Dan, for the great reads on players C and E, cause they have so much effect on what I do in this hand.

In closing, very good book. I need to re-read some sections.

When the table pops up and its my big blind and I check, why don’t I say “Hey, I’m gonna act again real soon. Maybe I shouldn’t go and start looking at some webpage.”

Evan and I made a bet on the present WPT event. They are in the order they were picked (I went not second). Just remember to cheer against the people on the right.

Updated:11pm EST