Football - Penn State was never going to be national champs.  they weren’t that good.  i did, however, expect them to run the table.  when you’re doing well, you are the other guy’s “season” - so they’re loading for bear.  you’ve got to take everyone seriously.  congrats - see where not buckling it on and getting it done gets you. 

you went from everyone talking about how you might get screwed to everyone saying it wasn’t a problem because you weren’t any good anyway.  can’t even beat Iowa.

High School - took game one of the playoffs 50-0, and apparently looked bad doing it.  i had to work, missed it.

Drums - it felt great to do some playing friday night.  no more jams lined up over the next two weeks, but that’s cool ’cause i’ll have time to go over the old routines and get the sticks and legs back in shape.

Poker - has me bummed.  results are sucking at the moment.  in the midst of a 10BI ds.  that’s not any fun. 

not sure how i’m going to approach this. but whatever i decide, i’m not doing it tonight.

Poker: not a profitable affair.  i’d be more embarassed if it were an unprofitable affair, as is, it’s like watching television.  a pass time with some emotional highs and lows - but no change in any kind of monies.  tonight is a low - and this after losing 2 buy-ins.  not some 8 BI DS.  i’m just pissed because i thought i played good cards.  here’s the saga (might be worth the 90 seconds to read it).

big pots - i get it in as a 7:3 favorite against someone with multiple draws facing only the river.  he hits.  so be it.  he called with 43s OOP after he limps and i raise in pos with QQ (i hit top set, fwiw).

so hand #2 i raise in pos with AQ, hit tp/tk on a 2 flush board.  he donks into me, turn misses flush - another donk, we’re in by the end and he hit a set on the flop and i pay it off.  now, i’m pissed.  not hit the monitor pissed, but no longer A game pissed.

the first hand, no issues.  the second hand i think my initial read on the guy clouded my actions on.  that pisses me off.  when he donks pot on the flop, i can write that off as a lot.  he donks the turn and i need to stop and think.  i didn’t do that.  i wrote it off as he plays draw aggressively on the turn as well. 

maybe i think it through and fold.  maybe i think it through and call.  but at least i ought to think it through dammit.  ARGH!!!

that all behind me, all of my profit or lack thereof, lies solely in my showdowns.  i try to steal as much as the table allows.  i try to play in position as a mantra.  and still, non-showdown is just a 45 degree red line that goes from zero towards negative infinity. 

it seems like if i can’t find a sufficient amount of people to stack off light, i’m not grinding a profit.  i’m the guys that grinders must rely on.  take from the fish, give to the guys with guns - rinse, and repeat.  although at the tables it doesn’t feel this way.  i think i wait and get my chances and then pop whomever offers the opportunity.  but in the end, a typical session is gather up two stacks, grind off one - yay, i’m up a BI.  next round, get outdrawn, lose 2 BI - back to even.

over 3k hands i can call in variance as an excuse.  over close to ten iterations of 3k hand groups, i don’t think i can rely on him as the culprit.  there’s more probably an underlying issue, lol. 

on the learning front, there’s  a stockpile of vids to get through.  i can’t just go through vids and not play, so i play, watch, play watch.  slows down the vid consumption.  all right, i feel better.  off to . . .

Drums - jamming tomorrow.  i’m not in lust with the new slipknot, but it IS to my liking.  perhaps more so than the new lamb of god, which keeps me saying “wow”.  not because chris adler is some super-god, because he is good enough to pull off a lot of shit that puts him above the fray - and they’re pretty heavy in a respectable way.

i’m heading to the cellar to do some playing now.  in trying to knock the rust off this week it struck me that the last time we played seriously was about a year and a half ago.  that’s not just rust, it’s freakin’ atrophy.  so, rust this week, muscle regeneration in the near future.

either way, use it or lose it, and i’ve taken a long enough break. 

Sports - the things most dear continue to shine.  the things that can recover are in free fall.  high school football playoffs start saturday for my team, and friday for the kid’s school.  we’re hoping for victories all around. 

Penn State plays saturday, three to go.  bear down and get it done.  worry about the BCS when it’s all over.

the Flyers - i wish i had free time when they are playing to watch and get pissed off.  as is, they’re shaky at best.  considering i was alive two years ago for that smelly diaper of a season, i should be able to adjust to whatever they have to offer.  maybe i should cheer completed passes out of the zone?  it seems like victories are in the minority at the moment.

ok - i’m off.

now, onto the latest news . . .

Girl Child Smacks Deer with Car - ok, i’m overstating things.  the young lady of the house is learning to drive, and nipped either the ass end, or the trailing hoof of a deer at low speeds this morning while practicing her drive to school under the supervision of the Mrs.  no damage to the vehicle, and no discernable damage to the animal.

odd as this seems, it’s a wonderful lesson to learn now - without damage.  just because it’s a straight road with clear weather doesn’t mean everything is OK.  Things Jump Out At You.  just because you’ve mastered the car and the road doesn’t mean the game is over.  i think having an experience like this so early in her career behind the wheel will serve her well in the years to come. 

Phllies win the Pennant - ho-lee cow.  they did fire the game up with relievers on the mound, and considerably less mud.   and the Phillies won the World Series at Home - and we popped the corks on the sham-pag-knee.  and it feels surreal because when you ask “who’s next?” the answer is No One. 

and when you ask why, the answer is because “No one else is left standing”.  Who’d'a thunk it? 

these guys were a lovable bunch who had just enough of, everything, to win it all.  I’m especially happy for Charlie Manuel, who lost his mother during the playoffs.  anytime you tell your dying parent that you’re praying for them, and they respond with “well, i’m praying for you too” because they want your ball club to win . . .  what the hell do you say to that?

and to the Mets, Yankee, and BoSox fans . . . YES - they’re all just going fishing/golfing these days, but NO - it’s not all back to even.  the Phils are doing their golfing as WORLD CHAMPIONS.  hehe.

Red Tornadoes - finish their third undefeated season since 1973 - and that includes the team of monstors that came out in ‘98 (who were blemished by ACC - but i’d take us in a 2 out of 3 series).  despite all of the success, i’m not wow’ed.  solid, yes.  invincible, no. 

it’ll be fun to see this play out.  all i can say is that the playoffs are at hand, and it’s time to load for bear.

next post - drums, poker, and more birthdays.

Book:

so, instead of greeting the world in my usual “get the hell out of my way” monday ferver, i cleaned my desk, banked, networked - and read.  i finished Animal Farm.  the fact that it was a multi-day project attests to my inexperience as a recreational reader of fiction. 

bummed me out.  i was waiting for some hero to break through and save the day.  but, i guess sometimes the bad guy wins. 

the political overtones are crushing, and the whole thing makes me think of America and the person types that comprise our populace, and of course the person types and powers that have been acquired by the elected leaders we have.  ugh.

Phils:

there’s no way they call that game until the Rays tie it.  None.  now, there’s a clear path for Ray’s victory in the series, but it’s not an easy path.  get Hamels off the hill, eek past the relievers who will show up tomorrow.  then outdo Myers and Moyer - which is doable. 

it ain’t over till it’s over.

still, with any luck, we’ll be popping the cork on the champagne tomorrow at the bar.

Poker:

ran through two basic HM tutorials.  they have the PT review process in one of them, so it was cool that i didn’t have to do a lot of “click and find” in order to get at those stats. 

the initial HM review basically said that i’m not aggresssive enough.  my feelings are that i don’t get involved heavily in hands until i have it, and then i do get paid off.  my results show that being paid off there equals the money i lose in the pots i give up on.

my “red line” goes down at the same slope that my winnings at showdown increases.  my actual money won runs nice and horizontal like, starting at zero and never straying far for this past month.

so, there’s a pair of CR vids on the “red line” and i think i got banged on the head by one of the initial statements that i was multi-tabling (which running 4 tables is still relatively new to me) and not really mixing it up.  not that the idea is to mix it up, but pretty much i had taken the phrase “cbet selectively” to some new heights.

anyway, i caught vid #1 of 2, and i think i can get #2 in tomorrow night.  if i do, that’ll make me happy, and keep me moving along.

when Vegas was teasing the line towards the Rays, my hopes were that it was to cover all the futures bets that would pay longshot odds put on the Rays preseason.  after Game 1 and the analysts basically said “it’s good the phils won this one because Hamels will be the only Philly pitcher with a win in this series”, i wasn’t feeling too confident. 

still, when you’ve got a team where your League MVP is benched during the season for not hustling down the baseline after popping up, and he goes to the press and says “charlie was right to bench me, we play hard, for 27 outs, and on that play, i wasn’t running hard.  my bad.” - they’re lovable in my eyes.  leave it on the ice ladies, and we walk off with our heads up. 

stud-boy Cole Hamels on the mound tomorrow night.  i see chicken wings and champagne in my future

the weekend was incredible, in a very ordinary kindof way.  one of those passages of time where you appreciate all the little things of the moment, and it seems like you’re experiencing an endless supply of them.

oh, and every sports team i cheer for played, and won - spanning high school, college, and professional football - and professional hockey and baseball.  plus, nothing broke around the house.  how great is that?

POKER - i got a plan, baby.  this past month i found out that i can sneak in enough table time to get silver iron man.  actually, i’ll probably hit the tables in a little bit and bang out tomorrow’s table time and land that status within two hours or so. 

with that completed, it’s time for me to step things up a notch, and to do it on firm ground.  been watching some videos, participating in the forums more, and that doesn’t hurt at all.  i haven’t really been doing it with a voracious appetite, and that’s been my MO.  now, i’m thinking less time, more intensity.  or more appropriately, no additional time, more intensity.

i have a couple of bullet points that i actually think i can hit . . .

• 4 theory posts
• MEMORIZE some data - and that data ranges from pokerStove stuff that i kinda know (that’s the problem, i kinda know it) to some stats that help definte some base player types.
• go through the HM articles/tutorials
• analyzing some grey area player types (thanks HM for making this remotely possible), and table textures.  i see myself getting jammed up by double barrellers and others, and i’m hoping i’m one layer of understanding away from taking some things in stride that currently turn my mood when i encounter it.
• post big winners/losers of the day (the non-standard worth commenting on ones).  if not here, on the forums.
• finish the current video series i’m on
• make a vid/do a sweat

and i’m thinking that this is like a 10 day project.  i’ll have like 5 days with little or no playing involved to dedicate my usual play time to it, so the odds of banging this out are pretty damn good.  and i know for others this is a lifestyle; for me, it’s a shot in the ass.  maybe it’ll provide the lurch forward i need.

i’m in an unusually hopeful mood, so i thought i’d post something now to kind of change the pace a bit.

let’s dispense with this duty first . . .

Book Report:

this is the official, albeit short report mr ryan - Budweiser Ale is an amber brew.  it holds a head reasonably well, and like most amber brews, is to my liking.  that makes it an unusual Bud product as anything with Bud on the label is usually distasteful to my palette.

i can’t remember why i’m not a fan of yeungling lager (i’ll drink it, but i never buy it on purpose), but i can see myself coming back for seconds on the Ale.  still, it’s not even close to Sam Adams Octoberfest. 

speaking of Octoberfest, i have a fresh keg of that inserted into the beer meister, and should probably clean the lines out this evening and tap that baby tonight. 

and yes Lon - there is a chance there will still be some in the keg when band practice starts back up.  it’s wonderfuly tasty, but kicks my ass, so it automatically lowers the consumption to non-coal region levels.  i think my last dean martin episode was at the hands of the mighty Octoberfest, and i’m in no mood to repeat that anytime, ever again

Tunes/Playing:

got my zune in line now, and i’ve been adding the albums.  and listening.  holy cow this is great.  i have some headphones now that are open ear, so i can play the part of my collection that drops the vulgarity and violence constantly without ruining the family vibe in the home here.  Welcome Back Lamb of God, Hello Slipknot - glad to meet you, and NIN - it’s nice to meet an old friend.

as for the playing, some of the drumming that i haven’t been listening to is just sweet.  super-fast by pop/rock standards, notey as hell, technically tasty.  —– i just moved the electronic kit into the cellar.  i need it to be closer, and we need to be with each other more often - the drumming season will be upon me before i know it and i have no plans on coming into camp out of shape.

Poker:

i hit Iron man for the first time, ever i think.  it’s at the 50 point a day mark because basically i’m playing low levels, and my hour of free time for the tables coincides with happy hour at FTP.  in the end all it means i play at the right time. 

now, if i could just play better, lol.

to that end i’ve been hitting the boards more than ever before, and it isn’t hurting.  of course there are common themes.  ask a question - get one of each answer.  someone else asks a question and a chorus of people chime in that they should fold - knowing the posted hands are seldom because someone won the pot, heh.  whatever.  there’s value in learning to navagate that stuff and finding the folks in the mix that can contribute to my understanding.  and there’s value in adding understanding to those who i can help. 

i need to do some tweaking the HM, which i’ll get when my test period expires.  i hate the replayer though.  i’ve been running it in datamine mode, and generally once a day FTP kicks it off.  not quite sure what happems as i’m never at the ‘puter to see it, but i’m gathering the hands and face less and less unknowns.

ok, off to face the rest of the day . . .

PokerTracker 3 vs. HoldemManager

if anyone has any input on this, i could use it. i’m moving to the new machine bit by bit, and installed HM on it. (no i’m not that slow, i’m just really digging having two machines to set in motion at the same time).

i’ve been pulling a crappy winrate along during this month, and i’m almost afraid of what i’ll find when i get the two hours to sit down and go through why i’m treading water.

the amount of new data compared to PT2 is insane. hell, i don’t even know how to read the HUD yet. i’m looking for something simple like Cold Calling Frequency, and getting a list of things like folds to donk bet after being PFR.

and then there’s the things that have become apparent basics that i’m experiencing freshly, like now i have a red line. and a 3bet frequency number.

been catching the blogs, even though i haven’t been participating much.

the plan for the night is to set the machine to datamine, then see where i’m at after work tonight.

in the meantime, go RedSox. errr, and Flyers

the sister and brother in law are in for the weekend. it’s my girl child’s 16th birthday, so we’ve been celebrating all day. that means the family went into a cleaning frenzy recently, and i love having a clean house and a well stocked fridge/beer chest. call me old fashioned.

broke out the wood for the first outdoor fire of the season. and, with overnight guests (kids) we fired up the wood stove for the first fire of the season [october 4th for my records] but it really shouldn’t count as we had the doors open all day!

the brother-in-law broke open the freezer and fired up a chili using some steak and the last of the venison (deer sausage) in the freezer. and no disrespect to ground beef, but it’s a whole other game when you bring chunks of meat to the party. and it was spicy. two thumbs up!

my daughter plays in the band(s) (concert and marching) and she has some friends from there that have a rock ensemble. so, we set them up in the garage with the PA and lights and they did an hour and a half set. that was just for the teenagers, and i’m sure it was either tremendous fun, or loud, depending on your tastes.

we also had a pack of dogs running around this afternoon. a bulldog, two labs (male and female), and the beagle. you know how two’s company and three’s a crowd? and four changes things yet again? i’ve never had a pack of dogs, and i don’t want one, but it’s neat to see one interact.

my lab, the groundhog slayer, gets the “happy go lucky” pin for the day. he just bypassed the pack politics and had a day of it. they should all sleep well.

Sports-Wise - things are great. football wins in high school and college, pros to play tomorrow. the phils are up 2-1 despite dropping tonight’s contest. the MMA stuff on cbs was a stunner (i only watched the kimbo slice event and the one before it). is he so musclebound that he can’t get his arms up to protect his face?

the in-laws are from hopkinton (boston) and the other nighttime barkeep is a bosox fans, so their winning is a round of happiness as well.

monday morning . . .
poker - i’ve been sneaking it in. so far i’m on pace for a weakest iron man status. at the second lowest level. yeah baby!

the last two days were a run of up and down, repeated. so, 1.6k hands into it, i want to review some of the bigger bummers. [ahem, which i did, and don't feel the need to burden you with]

made a few changes to my game, and they only occur in selective situations - not wholesale stuff.

i’m working towards a history of 10k hands at the new level/room, and i’m sure i can do a quick review at that time, but i’m not quite sure that’s a big enough sample to really rely on getting good intel from. i’m secretly hoping to work up a 25k database and run over 5ptbb during the stretch. as of now, i think i’m sitting at 4.98ptbb to the good, so basically that would mean avoiding a drop-off.

alright, off to start the week. should get something of more interest later in the week.

so, i hit the ground at 25NL and things go gangbusters, and then the turn of events that creates a picture of a hill on your winnings-graph. and this was episodeless play (read: no getting drunk or pissed off and tossing off mounds of chips like santa on parade).

so, rather than stay in the game and let things develop to display a clear picture of either “i’m good enough, just hitting variance” or “i’m terrible, and rode variance upwards at the start”, i short circuited things.

i watched some videos. and took notes. and applied what i learned. and learned that i’ve still got work to do in applying all that i learned. and the chips started rolling in. and with focus on table conditions and getting reads and ranges from different folks, i wander into a set over set where i stack someone. and a fleeting thought of “poor guy” comes and goes.

and 14 minutes later i run a set into a better set, and i think “tag, i’m it”, and there’s no increase of blood pressure. no checking the stats to see where i might have been if i hadn’t run into that. i just moseyed on, playing cards, looking to see who was playing what, how, and why.

and somewhere in there, things felt familiar. as if i’d done this dozens of times, and why i had stopped is a mystery. solving that mystery isn’t terribly important at the moment, maintaining the mindset is.

so now if marc has dozens of sheets of notes, i have two. so much time i spent doing essentially nothing of value. playing, pretending to put forth some worthwhile effort. ACK.

my FTP points are creeping up (at 25NL nothing moves quickly), so another 1.5k in comps and i’ll take care of my CR stuff for 6 months. that is some sort of odd milestone to me.

it was pointed out that the color codes you use on the playerNotes function come shining through when table selecting. so, i’ve developed a color code for some base player types to let me know what type of fellows are sitting at the table at a glance, and then i can see the associated stack sizes as well.

if nothing else, it might show me what tables have inflated numbers because the fish just got eaten.

New Box - nearly complete. i’ve got it running, but have to get more programs in place on it, and get it into a couuple of systems (like the printing system the wife has set up for all of these machines in this house. it’s a four-human/six-computer environment).

My ZUNE - it’s the windows version of an iPod. had it in waiting since i was given it, but it didn’t work with my old machine. now, i have essentially an iPod with video. unfortunately, the CR vids don’t transfer (probably some security encoding issue). bother. i had a vision of watching some during the downtimes when i’m away from my computer.

ok - i really have to start the week.

i got probably 1k hands in since the last whine, and things were magically falling in line. i don’t know why the sudden emotional investment in the results from the quarters tables, i think it’s just carry-over from real life.

it’s also the “end of an era” kind of thing. with the new box i’ll most likely be moving to at least a newdatabase, if not a new stats-tracking prog.

oh - two thumbs up to btimm for blogging his struggles on the dual monitor front. that’ll make my life easier. a tech-head from the tavern has been installing dual monitors where he works on lots of machines and his first words were “go usb, don’t f*!k around with video cards”.

baseball is coming to a close with a pennant race involving the Phils. football is on all cylinders, with all my teams (high school(s), college, and pro) being undefeated. hockey teams are holding exhibition games. it’s all good.

now, off to face the day/weekend’s chores!