Blog Title: Poker and Daddyhood

Just the One!

A trip to the maternity unit at the local hospital yesterday for the 3 month scan dispelled any thoughts of twins coming in 6 months time! The scan showed a 'normal' baby, wriggling around like the preverbial pig in shit. Can't help being amazed sat watching our little baby - just 3 months 'old' (or should that be -6 months old?) - on the screen wriggling around in mummy's tummy, waving arm and legs, heartbeat clearly visible. Amazing what technology can do these days.

Anyway, mother and baby appear to be doing very well, all tests came back spot on where they should be - so we look forward to the due date of 20th April (10 days after Mia was born - odds on being 10 days early?) and now have to decide on a name. Which is not proving easy.



Poker has continued in the same form as my previous post, a few downs, but mainly ups and my balance has crept to the £550 mark with about another £60 in my poker account. I've gone back to Ladbrokes, one of the first sites I played at, and stuck to the 10/20c BB level.

Things have been going well overall, and last night was a pretty roller coaster night, losing 2 buy ins when I flopped a str8 and saw the two cards I was holding hit the turn and river and my opponent had the high card to make a better str8.

Feeling a bit 'tilty', I headed to a 50c BB table, and was dealt AA early on. A raise and call before me so i raise it up 4 x the original raise- 3 players call!

We see a flop of J J 10 so I pot bet and all 3 call!

Turn was an A so I bet half my original bet, attempting to show weakness. One player pushes, 2nd and 3rd call, as do I. I push on the river and everyone calls. 3 Full Houses and a Str8 and I profit about 150$ :-).

Shut down the 50c tables and snuck back to the 20c and, apart from the above, have stayed fairly disciplined.

Anyway, off to Biddulph Gardens tomorrow, so let's hope for some nice weather!

Oh Happy Days

Another succesful night on the tables (although only at the 5/10c levels) and after doubling my Joker Stars BR on Sunday, I doubled it again last night. Oh happy days.

Trying to stay away from the higher limit games, where variance can bite your ass much harder and hence longer to recover from. Once my total BR gets to 500£ I'll have a peek at stepping upto 25 & 50c BB level, where I have played comfortably in the past. I'd not looked at my overall BR for a while, just been putting a little away here and there after seeing it depleted from almost £800 8 months ago to just £200 8 weeks ago. The 50 and 100$ here and there I'd put in have added up quite nicely and I was very surprised to see £435! Oh happy days.
Combined with the 110$ I've got in Joker Stars at the mo, close to £500. Oh happy days.

At home, Cathy continues to grow and the twins are looking a distinct possibility. She's a slim lass, so maybe it just stands out more - but she's much bigger than when carrying Mia. The scan is middle of next week, so all will be revealed in time. Oh happy days.

Mia is not the little baby anymore, and started her pre-school nursery this last week. Mummy and Daddy took her for her first day and she took to it like a duck to water. Some kids were crying and refusing to let go of the parents - and there was almost as much the other way round. She had her uniform on and looked much older than 3! I warned her about boys at school, and not to let anyone push her around. Whilst she should never be mean or unkind to other children, she should stand up for herself if the need arises.
Basic translation: left hook and drop kick to the balls.

Anway, just finished watching United beat Roma 1-0 in a fairly cagey game (oh happy days!) and sitting 10$ up at my cash table, so a pleasant evening overall.

Toodle Pip all.

They Don't Like It Up 'Em!

The Scots fell by the wayside.
The Welsh were put to the sword.

And the English? Well, they won again.

Not Rugby.
Not Football. (Yet. )

But the Blogger Tourny. Happy to do it for my country.

Bollocks to that mallarky - it's all about me, me, me!!

Really enjoyed the game and felt really focused and patient (something that has been missing from my game for the last couple of weeks!). Got some good cards at vital times and generally, my decision making was pretty good.

A few hands stand out:
A 6 x BB raise in mid position from Res Evil and I was holding 10 10. Blinds were 50 and I think I was in the SB. Did consider putting him all in, but as there were 2 more players after me, decided to just call. Flop was A Q x and Res took a while before betting (I thought, at the time) weakly. I just didn't put him on an Ace - though JJ was an option. Overall, I thought he was weak, so I called. He checked the turn, as did I and he made another small bet at the river. Again, I thought about pushing here as I thought I sensed weakness, but just decided to flat call as I still had the possibility of JJ in my head. He had 99 and this put me to CL for a short while.

Also had a big hand against Dan (Portdeco), whom I would later go heads up against. I check / call holding 77 on a 7 5 2 flop. turn x, again I check call and the river was also a blank and this time I check/raised and he called with pocket 5's - also flopping a set. Unlucky for him, but he recovered really well and became CL himself for quite some time!

Did think I'd knocked him out with my Q10 against his 6 4 on a K Q 4 flop when we were down to 3 - but a 6 on the river almost put me out - down to less than 3k. From here, it was push with any decent hand and after a few folds, Dan called my A8 with KQ (I think) and neither improved and I was back!
Dan took out Hammerheid for 3rd, then a battle that seemed to go on for ages was fought. First I was CL by a mile, then he was, and there were more swings than on general election night!
It came down to final hand when my 78 came against his 94 (i think it was a 9?) on a J 8 4 flop. I bet at it, he called, and when another J hit the turn, I was confident I was ahead. I bet and he pushed all in. He'd made a comment a few hands earlier about being tired and 'time is getting on' and I thought he was trying to steal. I called and the river didn't help him and I picked up my 2nd Blogger victory.

That's mostly the way I remember it - don't think I sucked out once or made that many bad decisions and really enjoyed getting back into Blogger game after an absence of several weeks. Came back 3 weeks ago and was out early, managed 7th last week and now 1st.

I'll be back to defend the title next week - where I am sure Burnley Mik will be one of the more vocal challengers!

Proud to do it for country and Queen, Mik :-)

Nightmares and Dreamland!

Had a bit of a session at the tables last night, the longest session I have played for some time. Cathy was in bed, feeling the effects of the several dozen babies she is carrying (ha ha) and the possibility of twins is increasing as much as her waistline. We both seem to feel the opposite, she is in dread, whereas I think it would be fantastic. We shall see, scan in 4 weeks when all will be revealed!

Anyway, poker. Began quite brightly, taking my $130 up to $160 and I felt I was playing well, stealing a lot from the 2 passive players at the table. Them got dealt KK 4 times in about 40 hands. First time I folded to a big re-raise on an A high flop, then the next 3 occasions, ran into AA each time. Not sure what the odds of this are, but getting dealt KK 4 times in 40 hands must be high, seeing 3 of them run into AA on a 6 seater table must be substantially higher.
To make matters worse, the flops were low making me sure it was high pair v high pair - alas I was the underdog each time and 2.5 buys-in were gone :-(

Then, making the sensible (not) decision that, if I stepped up to the 50c BB level, I'd make back the money I lost much quicker. Why do these things seem so sensible at the time, yet so stupid when you think about it afterwards?

Anyway, not sure if this is the biggest pot I've been involved in on cash games, but certainly up there! Maybe there was one poor call on my part during this, but anyway, it went like this:

I'm on the BB with Q 10 sooted. First player to act raises it to 1.50 (3x bb) and everyone round the table calls. My decision, I think, is an easy call. $8.50 in the pot already - another $1 to me seemed good odds, so I call.
Flop is Ah Kh 7d. I'm first to act and did consider taking a stab at this - nut flush (and royal) and nut str8 draw - but worried that AK is out there and could get a big raise that I couldn't call.
Anyway, I check and a player in mid-position bets 5$. 2 callers and I think for a while before making the decision to call. 5$ into almost 20$ with (assuming no cards in hands) with 13 outs - and at the time I thought this justified a call, certainly the implied odds if one player had trips or 2 pair (as I suspected). Thoughts?
Anyway, one more caller after me - and I get a bit hazy on the bet sizes from now on (apart from the final pot!) so these are approximates.

Turn was a Jc - I'd hit the nuts.
Problem here is I had a feeling one player had AK, one AQ - but possibly trips. If I push and get a caller and the board pairs on the river, I'm fucked - and my notes on these players indicate that they won't be folding 2 pair let alone trips, so I check. 1st player bets 10$, one folds and 2nd player raises to 20$.
This is getting tasty so I flat call and see player 1 raise another 20$, one caller and I flat call also.
River was a 2c.

At this point, I'm pretty happy a heart didn't hit the river, as I doubt the following would have happened if the obvious flush was out there. But, more importantly, the river doesn't pair the board so I have the nuts. I decided to bet 10$ here - hoping to look a little weak and maybe a feeble steal attempt, player 1 pushes all in, player 2 calls.
I have the most chips now, so I push all in and player 2 calls after some thought.
One player had Trip 7's and the other had AK. My reads were spot on, which I was quite pleased about - but not as pleased as the 233$ pot that came my way!

This pushed my BR up to 301$ - which I'm chuffed to bits about, especially with my mood over recent weeks. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a good run and the knowledge from the 4 poker books I've read are having an effect.

Or am I just damn lucky?

Morning readers, hope the weekend is as bright and sunny as it is here in Cheshire!

Life is very busy in my household at the moment. The office is contnuing to grow and I now have over 40 staff in the office, and business is running about 25% ahead of budget - with September's achieved in the first 2 weeks of trading! Our financial year starts 1st July - so with the first quarter almost over, we've had a great start to the year.
Staff are stretched with workloads very high, this being our busiest month of the year usually - so really trying to keep everyone happy, calm and motivated. Lots of cakes and chocolate on Friday, and lots of my stupid jokes!
It also means I'm getting to the office earlier, and leaving later, and then taking over when I get home for the last hour or so before Mia goes to bed. Not played a great deal as I've been too tired, but managing to steadily build my BR, even though I'm playing at the 10c BB level.
My 50$ stack of a couple of weeks ago now sits at around $130 - which ain't bad at the 10c level!
The problem is at this level, is the general standard is just so bad, it's hard to put anyone on a hand. You raise with AK (e.g.) hit a K high flop with 2 suited cards and your opponent (who you know has done this several times already with either a flush or str8 draw) pushes all in with his smaller stack. You're pretty confident you're ahead at this point, but can you avoid the flush or str8? Sometimes I fold, sometimes I call. Last night, after calling a particularly bad player,he shows a flush draw, a gutshot (neither hit) and trips. Then, on the 4th occasion, he had lowest pair with top kicker, so my hand won 3 out of these 4 confrontations - but the moral of the story is you just can't predict or second guess what your opponent is holding, so it's just a lotto at some times. Guess you've just gotta keep playing the %'s. Trouble is with online poker, %'s don't mean a great deal!

Anway, Cathy is still upstairs, not feeling too great at the moment so she is having a morning in bed, and I'm taking Mia out shopping (for colouring and reading books) and then off to the park to give Mummy a bit of peace and quiet.
Beacuse of this, no live poker this weekend, so will have to play online if the urge takes me!

Good luck all.

Pokery fun

The fun bit refers to some live play I participated in over the weekend. Certainly not at the blogger game where a combination of an afternoon's drinking, serious tiredness and, at times, a distinct lack of knowing what was going on!
I logged on to a few blogs to see where I could get the monkey from, and was pleasantly amazed to see the finishing table and see that I wasn't last - someone beat me to it by a couple of hands! So, that pleasure awaits me for another time, or hopefully not!
The hand that did me was my KJ running in to Amatays KK, on a J high flop. Bad read on my part, I put him on an AQ or AK hand - and got it really wrong when I raised him and then pushed on the turn. Hay-ho, ces't la vie and all that.

Anyway, back to the nice bits. Played in another live tourny on Saturday and feel that this is real poker. The stuff online is like Texas Hold 'em on LSD by comparison.
Anyway, played in another £5+1 and there was about 60 in when we kicked off around 3pm. Don't think I played a hand for the first 50mins, lots of new faces and I tried my best to watch the different styles and methods in play. Didn't have an aggressive player at the table for this first bit, but met one a little later. The players at this table were playing the cards, and after almost an hour of me being incredibly tight, I got dealt KK and this seemed to spark me into action. Got a couple of callers to my 6 x bb pre-flop raise, one folded to my half pot bet on the raggedy 10 high flop, and the other fold to my bet on the turn, which I think was a Q.
I told him as I bet I put him on AK, and that he'd never call past the flop, not sure if this put him off - but if it did, I had an advantage I may use later on.
Anyway, this seemed to give me a bit of impetus, and after raising next hand with A 10 suited, and everyone folded, I turned on the aggression almost every hand, from position, for the next 6 or rounds and took advantage of the passive table I was at.
My stack was about 4 times my starting amount, when I was moved to another table and boy, what a difference. 2 seats to my left was a maniac like I haven't seen in a live game before. Unfortunately, sat next to my right, were 2 more!
I never had a hand to challenge for ages, and my stack was dwindling, and AK came my way. I flat called, hoping for a raise after me, and sure enough, maniac 1 raises and maniac 2 calls. Back to me and I just push. There is something quite satisfying doing this live. Calling 'All in' and pushing your chips slowly to the middle. Anyway, after a few mins, maniac one calls and maniac two folds. This was a huge pot, the biggest I have contested live. He turns over AQ sooted.
I flopped a K, but he flopped 2 more hearts and after a slow motion turn and river, there was no runner runner trips, nor a flush on the river, and I won a huge pot!
I'd lost track of the rest of the tourny by this point, guess I was in the 'zone', you hear sports-people talk about. Being an athlete myself, cough cough, well, compared to dart's players I am!
Anyway, lost track of time and other tables and I was moved away to another table about 10 hand after my AK v AQ hand. I was a bg chip leader at this next table, seemed to be all the stragglers here, so I took full advantage and pushed my big stack around!
Feeling good, I was moved again and was about to ask the tourny director how many times I could be moved, when I realised it was the final table! No more moving now.
I think I was about 2nd or 3rd at this point, but with no electronic scoreboard or chip counter, it was just guesswork looking at other players stacks. After a break we resumed, and I was able to portray a pretty aggressive table image after getting AQ, JJ and KK in the next 5 hands. The next hand I had the mighty 7 2 on the button, and had decided to raise if here was no raise before me. Alas, someone pushed and I had to fold. The table shortie pushed and I was in the BB with 10 8 sooted. With only another blind and a half to call, and no one else in the hand, I thought I had good odds, so decided to call. He had AK but I spiked an 8 and he went out.
A period of card-deadness hit me and before I played another hand, we were down to the last 4.
For the first and only time, I got AA at this point and fortunately for me, ran into the 'shortie' with JJ so was probably chip leader as we went to the last 3.
The other 2 then seemed to go on some sort of personal battle against each other, and I was happy to sit back for a few rounds and see what they did without me involved. Before too long they were both all in and we were down to heads up.
It did swing back and forth a bit, finally ending when I re-raised with AQ and ran into his 88 - and with no A or Q to be seen, he won and I got 2nd.
Nice payout, another really enjoyable live experience and I feel my live play is strong and I'm looking forward to trying to get a regular involvement.
Best we forget and I not talk about my game the previous weekend, when I busted out 5th. Unfortunately, 5th from the start, not the end.
Can't win 'em all, eh?

Hand Analysis

Evening chaps and chapesses.

Almost finished reading Harrington, and after finishing Greenstein last week, I'm trying to put some of my new found theories into place. The biggest thing I have learnt, I think, is that I don't watch enough of what's going on around me. I make notes, and read them regularly, but there are things I ain't picking up. Maybe my recent bad run has made me concentrate too much on my losing hands, and I've lost some focus on my opponents and my other hands.

So, I played a 5$ NL $1000 added tourny last night, 350 were in, and whilst I only managed to hit 46th (money paid top 30) - I felt my game was spot on. I didn't have a premium pair all tourny, and had it not been for two hands out of the blinds, where I flopped monsters on unraised pots, I'd have gone out much earlier.

This hand, was a pivotal one in the mid stages, and prolonged mty participation until I went out later.

Maniac sat two spaces to my right, and has been raising about half the time. He's shown a range of hands from trash to slighty better. Most of the table, including me, have been folding to him pretty much all the time. In my defence, I had nothing better than 9 high almost every time he raised, so could not do too much.

So, I'm on the BB and am dealt KQ sooted, the best hand I'd had so far. A couple of limpers and Mr Agressive puts in his 4 x bb raise. and it folds to me. My thought process here involves several things:
We have pretty similar stacks
2 players after me have yet to react to his raise

Mia's First Joke

Mia told her first joke this week. We’ve spent the last few days trying to figure out where she heard it, but haven’t found out yet.
It’s not quite a Yorkshire Pudding joke – but it was quite funny from a 3 year old!!

Knock knock
Who’s there?
Banana
Banana who?

Knock knock
Who’s there?
Banana
Banana who?

Knock knock
Who’s there?
Banana
Banana who?

Knock knock
Who’s there?
Orange
Orange who?
Orange you glad it’s not another banana.

Well, funnier than losing 3 buy-ins with 3 flopped full houses, but lets not go there!

Onwards and......sideways!

Sunday morning.
9.30am.
Been up for 2 and a half hours already.
Only the online newspaper to read.
Thursday night - no sleep at all, got called out to the office to oversee BT and telephone engineers after a fault on the system, and ended up getting home at just past 6am.
Out for a few beers tonight to celebrate a friends 40th birthday.
(gulp - this means I must be getting close!)
Then, tomorrow, we have ALL of Cathy's family round for the afternoon.

So, I'll be very tired and hung-over.

Care to guess how many I'll upset before the afternoon is out?

----------

Cathy is starting to show quite early, quite the opposite when she was carrying Mia. For the first few months I kept asking her 'are you sure you're pregnant?'. Now I'm asking her if she's having twins!
Whilst carrying Mia, I used to refer to the 'bump' as Titch. We didn't know the sex beforehand, and 'it' seems wrong, so titch caught on, and before long the whole family were using it.
Now it's Titch II - The Revenge!
(quickly followed by Titch III - Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the nursery!)

We've only told immediate family so far (and you lot) - so doubt we'll keep this a secret for too long if she keeps growing this early!

-----------

Poker has been a bit up and down. Probably not in the best frame of mind to play, but managed to keep a steady uphill climb before a bad night last night took me back to where I was 4 days ago. Still just over 100$ ahead since my 'return' - so happy overall.
Been playing a pretty tight strategy and after just finishing Barry Greenstein's book - I'm trying to put some of the things I learnt, into action. Didn't really enjoy the first part if I'm honest - it was too biographical , and I want to pick up tips on how to play, rather than Barry's life.
Still, it was informative and the second half got better and I think there was some good advice and strategy.
Started on 'Poker for Dummies' - which is reasonably OK so far but maybe more targeted to the new starter. Not a bad idea to go back to the beginning sometimes, but it is a little basic early on. Just getting into the 'advanced strategy' stuff now, so will do a review once finished, if anyone is interested.
I got a disc with about 40 books on, and have got quickly in to reading from my laptop screen - sold a few copies on E-bay, and made a tidy profit, but have stopped now, as I guess it fringes a few copy-right laws so don't want to get booted off! May try again in a couple of months as it's a bargain for the buyer and easy for me.

Anyway, off to play in the garden. It's a bank holiday weekend and the sun is shining. Something's wrong.

Good Days Returning

I hope this isn't one of those comments you make, and then look totally foolish a few days later, but had 2 great nights on the poker tables and am seeing my confidence levels returning. I've been lucky in finding (then following) 2 players of such awesome stupidity, that have gifted me 50$ between them. This hand may give you some idea.
I'm dealt AA on the BB, and with 3 players in the hand, I raise about 4 x bb. All fold but one of my new friends and we see a flop of A 10 2.
Hmmm, what to do here, I have a monster, and with a bit of luck, he's got an Ace and he's never yet laid one down, whatever his kicker. So I bet 1$ and he calls. Turn was a 7 (no flush or str8 on here) so I bet another 1$ and he calls. Turn is another 2. I want to try and get more than 1$ - but at the same time don't want to scare him off, so I bet 2.50$ and he raises me to 7.50$!!
Wow. What the fuck has he got. Surely not pocket 2's. No, he would've raised the flop if he had that. So I re-raise and he pushes all in. I call and he turns over.....
.....
.....
.....
Queen Two
Ha ha ha - nice pot to me, he must've 'sensed weakness' with my low bets :-)

This went on for about half an hour, and I managed to get a good few $ from him and another before they both signed off.

It sounds horrible, following someone to take money from them (legally, I hasten to add!) but someone is going to do it - so why not me?

Anyway, seems like the old magic is returning, and I am 100$ in profit from 2 nights play. Hope this is a sign of things to come, rather than the quiet before the storm. With my recent run, I've dropped down to 10c or 25c BB NL, but my BR was only $100 so I'm trying to stick to 10c and slowly build back up. A few more nights like the above and I may move up quicker than I expected, but for now - I'll stick to the 10c levels.

Anyway, getting late, nice to post some positive news for a change :-)

2 Blue Lines!

“I’ve seen the needle and the damage done
A little part of it in everyone
But every junkie’s like a setting sun”
Neil Young

After 2 – 3 weeks away, my return to the game after what can only be described as one of the most frustrating periods in my life reached a head. Reading back over the last 2 posts, I was considering deleting them, as some of the comments were made at this peak, and being the emotional guy I am, it felt right at the time to express them this way. But, diaries are meant to portray feelings and things that affect you, and this sure did, so I'm leaving them where they are!
Anyway, I’m back and hopefully it has made me a better player. As Adam Duritz (Counting Crows) once said, that which does not kill you, makes you stronger. Let’s hope so.

Played a few more live games since, with mixed success. Went out in 8th (out of 42, but 1st money place) and 20th (out of 45) places in my local club, and actually left a casino in Glasgow (was there on business) after very strange behaviour from the dealer, who was also playing in the game.
Tried to bluff a pot, it failed, and when my opponent turned over his cards, I said ‘It’s yours’ and pushed my cards, face down, back to the dealer. He asked me to turn my cards over, and I said, no, I’ve acknowledged he has won the hand. He took the cards from me and turned them over! I told him that was wrong and would be grateful if he didn’t do that again.
Few hands later, a player bet, was re-raised by another player and after a few minutes thought, he folded. The re-raiser pushed his cards, face down, to the dealer, who looked at them before putting them in the deck.
Hang on, I say – you can’t do that – show the cards to the rest of the table now you’ve seen them. He refused and shuffled the deck! Along with another 2 players, I objected to the tourney director and he asked the dealer to tell the rest of the players what the cards were, as he was gaining an unfair advantage. The dealer told us, but who knows if that was right?
Anyway, it was a rebuy, I went out a few hands later with top pair v a set and refused to re-buy on principal!
Still, enjoying the live experience, and my local club has 3 nights of tournies a week, so looking forward to playing a bit more regularly. The game is massively different to the online game, but I guess I’ll have to adapt accordingly.

Another major thing in my life happened last week, when I came home and was met with a weeping Cathy, and some small white object in her hand. The title of the blog entry may give some of you with children a bit of a clue – but it was a pregnancy test, and it was positive! We’ve been trying for a couple of months and she’s caught pretty quickly so we are both over the moon and looking forward to an expanded family!

Now I need to re-think my name, as I won’t just be Mia’s Dad anymore!

Bye

Thanks D, but not a chance of me discovering the faith, the way I feel now is that there is something seriously wrong with online poker - this many bad beats are just so unlikely, it is bodering on the criminal.
Thats my view anyway, maybe i'm talking absolute bollox (won't be the first time and sure won't be the last!) - but i've had enough.
My VPIP tonight was 11%, flops seen 18% (6 max table).

Highlights of hands tonight included:

AJ v A9 on a A 4 8 flop. river 9

QQ v K6 on a 10 4 9 flop. river K (how does he call!?!?!)

AA v 2 4 (yes 2 4) and a convenient flop of A 3 5 to make sure we both knew we were ahead.

Then, last hand 78 on a 5 6 9 flop - he called with 9 something and hit runner runner full house.
You couldn't pick these cards any better if you tried!
So, enough for me, good luck in defending your crown next week, I'll be checking blogs for the stories!

Goodnight, and would the last person to leave please turn out the lights.

I Hate Poker

Yes, normal service has resumed. A few bright days of 90% hands winning 90% of the time. Now it's back to the most head shaking disbelief as a combination of 'How are you still in this hand?' and 'How can a 1 or 2 outer hit so regularly?' have all but destroyed my desire and faith in online poker.

Blogger (I am there now for the craic, rather than the poker) was another 80-odd % favourite losing (10s v 4s) to the eventual winner in Dremeber (well done mate!!) and a runner-runner str8 that is becoming so regular now, I play in training shoes and Cathy stands by with a large piece of silver foil to wrap me in.
I wonder what I need to do to get back on track. I've been very close to giving up in the past, and am back to this very same crossroads again.

A night of the most unbelieveable cards ended when my pre flop raise with AJ saw a flop of AJ2. I checked and the one caller put a 3 x bb bet in. I raised to 10 x his bet and he called. The turn was an x and I pushed - he called and turned over 10 10. Guess the river? (x this 9 more times)
Holding QQ on a 10 5 2 flop, I bet 3 x pot, he calls. Turn 3 so I push - he calls and turns over AQ. No draw of any kind, but he/she is quite happy to put all their money on a 2 outer hitting the river (another opponent folded AK) - and the RNG said a big well done by giving him his A on the river.

Does online poker deliberatley reward these fools? Last night I lost with 17 hands where I was 90% or greater to win (this has become a regular occurance my poker calculator is steaming!). 17 times in 52 flops seen.
15 of those, my opponent should not have been in the hand after my flop bet. WTF is going on? If this happened on your first visit to a poker den with real people, any normal, average intelligent person would wonder if he was being conned.

I now have 30$ left in a Microgaming site and this is my last money I will ever play with online. I have no faith anymore that this is 100% genuine (can any computer program ever be?) or honest - and how can you continue to play if you feel this way?

'Bad Runs' and 'Long Run' have ceased to be a factor.

Do I play perfectly. No, probably not. Do I play trash. No.
The worse (non paired) hand I paid to see a flop with last night was 9 10 sooted on the button (next was AJ). I ain't gambling on low pocket pairs anymore - used to call raises with any pocket pair, have stopped that.
Are these feelings all because of one bad night? No, try 9 months. Ever since the USA law change, I've noticed such a big change online (maybe this is in my mind, or coincidental) but I've heard other bloggers mention similar things. Recently, I accidentally caught a Poker Site lying about the testing of its RNG - and I intend to put that story on this blog in the near future - once I have checked the legalities of doing so. Why did they do this? No idea. Maybe this is playing on my mind?

So I've had enough - my local poker club is running a Monday & Wednesday night session and Sunday afternoon tournies/games and I'm sticking to this as and when I feel like playing. I can see them, touch them and watch them - and that's something I can't do online. Will these beats happen live? Of course they will. Will they happen in 40% of hands? Unlikely, in my view.

I will still keep updating, and reading other blogs, with my progress and stories, but tonight could be my last night of online poker. Unless a run of premium hands actually start winning and somehow, in a stark reverse of current happenings, things take a massive change of direction.
I find this unlikely, but you never know.

Ciao.

All Work and No Play!

Apologies gentle reader, I planned to pull up the hand history of the last blogger and do a write up - as it is the most I have enjoyed a blogger game for some time (in terms of my play rather than the banter!). Silly boy that I am, sometimes - I didn't save the hand history, so lost it. Doh!

Anway, from what I remember, pushing all in with 88 after a raise from the overly aggressive Kennl and taking down his 10 J. Then my AK took down Acorn's 10s (shock horror!) and I was sitting about 3rd on the leader board. Few steals and re-raises with AA twice and KK once saw me flirt between 2nd and 3rd, and before I knew it, it was bubble time.
I don't remember a 'bubble period' lasting as long as this, with chips moving from one player to another fairly regularly. Odds were being taken on who would win/bubble and it seemed to change a lot!. MSaban raised and I re-raised with AA - he tried to pry out of me what I had, telling me he had KK and would fold if I told him i had AA. Not sure if he did - but out of respect to other players at the table, I couldn;t answer and he finally folded.
Then, i called in the SB with 56 sooted and Mike Saban checked his Q6 and we saw a flop of 5 6 2 (I think). When I 2 x bb bet, he pushed all in! Thought for a few mins as there was a str8 possibility, but decided to call and took his chips to put the remaining 3 players fairly level.
The lead stayed with Hammerheid for a while, adn Kronsdat and I took from each other, then came the hand that I thought had won it for me.
I raised to about 5 x bb with KQ sooted and Hammerheid called. It was a lowish flop and I bet about 3/4 of the pot, and he called. Oops, I'm in trouble here, methinks. Another low card hits the turn, and I'm thinking if I check here, I've lost and am seriously depleted. So I push about 3/4 of my remaining chips and Hammerheid thinks for a while before folding. I showed my bluff (I think) and was now the chip leader.
Kronsdat then took out Hammerheid and we were heads up. The hand I've blogged previously killed me and a few hands later K took down the pot for the win.

Overall, a good game, some great play on the final table - I got the feeling a few players were on the top of their game, and I was pleased, no honoured, to have taken 2nd :-)

Not played too much since, as work is so, so busy at the moment - seem to have a million things to do a day, get some of them done, only to find more at the end of the day. Need to get to grips with the Pareto Principal (80% of your results come from 20% of your time), but it does remind me of that very funny line from David Brent in The Office:

'I thought I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it was just a bloke with a torch carrying more work for me'

Looking forward to a night on the table tonight, feeling like I'm actually looking forward to playing.

Toodle Pip!

Another Bridesmaid at the Bloggerment

3rd time as a bridesmaid (cough, cough - one time winner, of course!!).
First up, big up, massive respect to Kronsdat for winning.

It could have been very different, if my 99.6% favourite on the flop hand had won! But the way I've been running recently, I'm please to have gotten 2nd place -I felt I played well, tight, patient, aggressive at times, and one particularly brave steal when down to the last 3 that put me in a big chip lead. Sometimes the deciding factor is a little luck going against or for you - I experienced it myself when I won - so no complaints.

Report to follow tommorrow, it's getting late.

Thankfully, Acorn has washed it, though quite what those stains are around the 'rear' I don't know!!

Help if you can

Mixed Week

Morning all.
After one of the worse nights sleep in a hotel room, ever, I've been up since 5am and hardly any sleep before this. A combination of noisy neighbours and car alarms going off so often through the night, I wondered if we were under attack from all the countries car thieves. Will be driving back home after a meeting this morning so will be dosing up on plenty of coffee to keep me awake in the 3 and a half hour journey back home.

Poker has been improving since my last post, apart from the usual at Joker Stars. Went out to a 3 outer heads up against TripJax, who needed an Ace to beat my pocket 10's - and the way I seem to run at this site - out it came. I had put the minimum 10$ into my account, so decided to see what I could do with the remaining 4.50$ after I'd paid my Blogger entry fee.
First hand I get J8 sooted and check to see a flop of 688 - whoopy!! I bet the flop and turn (K) hard, pushing my remaining few cents in as a 10 hit the river. His cards? Pocket 10s.
So, just one hand at Stars and seems I'm jinxed at this site!

This contrasted very nicely with my play at Poker Room, one of my original poker homes. Depositing 50$ and playing the lowest PL limit, I've managed to build my stack since mid week to $195 - so my game hasn't totally disintegrated - just at Joker Stars!
Been playing a tight strategy that involves playing only premium hands and pocket pairs - and I think the biggest difference for me, is folding AK/AQ to pre flop raises. These are seen as premium hands and watching reading poker offline, the are highly regarded hands. But for me, either I'm playing them wrong, as at the low limits I play, they just don't stand up against a table full of 2 random cards. So I'm chucking them away to any pre flop raise of 4 x bb or higher, and this seems to have plugged a leak in my BR so far. With position, I'm raising, but other than this, no action. To give you an idea, last month Poker Office shows that AK/AQ wins about 32% - therefore 68% of my money is dead here so folding is actually making me money!

Anyway, off to the office - happy pokery all!

Live Pokery!

Sorry for the delay – didn’t realise my pages were being viewed with such anticipation!

I was intending on writing up my live pokery report as I played in the Bloggerment, but go so pissed off after losing yet another hand when over 90% favourite on the flop, I shut down the laptop and haven’t been online since – I don’t even know where I finished or who won!
Thankfully, this was such a contrast from my first live tournament – I’ve played a few home games with friends, but never in a ‘controlled’ environment.

Anyway, on to the live game. Not sure about so many things before the game, when to turn up, what to wear (some places have a dress code), how to behave, what to say, what not to say, nervous about going out early and looking like an idiot etc. I tried to prepare myself mentally – Keith Jarrett’s Koln Concert was a great soother – read a little of Vorhaus before heading off to the venue about half an hour before start time. Most were already there, and there was about 55 in total for a £5+£1 Freezeout, with 7 making the final table and the money. I didn’t do any calculations, but noted that about 33% went to the winner, so this was my aim.
Sat down with my 1500 chips and stared intensively at the other 7 players on my table, trying not to look nervous or out of place. Dealer said hello, the manager came round to lay a few ground rules (this was a ‘beginners’ tourney – though how they know who is or isn’t, I don’t know!) and wished us the best of luck.

First hand I was in mid position and there was a 5 x bb raise before me. First player trying to stamp his authority? Folded to me and I look down at 10 10. I think about this for a few minutes and keep looking at the guy, thinking what to do. I flat call and it is folded around the rest of the table. We see a flop of 6 2 2 and I am confident I am ahead in the hand. He bets about half the pot and again I wait a few minutes thinking if I could put him on a hand. No reads here, just a gut feel I am ahead, so I flat call. Thinking back, this was probably a mistake and I should have raised, and may have a got a call when I learnt what he had.
The turn was dealt, and a nice 10 was shown.
I reached down for a drink, and tried to do what I was doing before so he doesn’t get a read. He bets the same he bet the flop, and again I use a few minutes to think what to do. I raise double his bet – hoping he may feel this is a steal attempt, but also to try and win some chips without scaring him off. He flat calls. River was a K. He thinks for a while and bets a small amount (can’t remember the exact amount now). I re-raise him, putting about half my chips left in the middle. He calls and shows 7 7. Nice pot comes my way and this gives my confidence a real boost!

The next 45 mins was pretty much fold, fold, fold with the exception of one hand I called and didn’t hit on the flop, then checked the BB and folded to a bet on the flop that I didn’t hit. One piece of great discipline (I think!) saw me fold AQ in mid position to a raise, then the BB re-raised all in and after a call, they turned AK v JJ – and the JJ held up (No A or Q so I would’ve lost a lot of chips if I called). Half the field had gone within the first hour, though I didn’t see any real donk calls or play. There was a lot of calling, then folding on the flop – which may be donk play not knowing what they held – but if this was really full of beginners, it wasn’t too bad. I didn’t have a maniac or aggressive player on the tables I sat at, but didn’t watch what was going on around me, keeping my concentration on what was going on in front of me.

There was a bit of commotion on another table, and later I learnt that it was an AQ v A10 confrontation (not joking!) – with an A on the flop, AQ had pushed and A10 called. As the 10 hit the river, I heard ‘How can you think you’re ahead there?’ and the reply ‘shut up, bitch!’ created a little tension at their table! He later apologised and they had a beer at the bar afterwards so I don’t think there was any real harm done. I didn’t see the hand, in fact, I saw no real ‘bad beats’ as such on the tables I played. The contrast against online poker could not be more obvious. AK held up against AQ in a confrontation, AA beat JJ in another, and a flopped straight held up against a flush draw – all seemed to go the way of the favourite – but that was just my table.

So after about 2 hours, we were down to about 12 and the money was getting closer. I get KK on the button, and with 3 limpers already in, make a 8 x bb raise and they all fold. Maybe this was a little excessive, but my ‘online’ experience with KK is that an A will hit the table, so I didn’t want an A rag hand to call and hit lucky. After being amazingly passive, I decide to ramp it up a little at this stage as the blinds were increasing. QJ suited on the button next hand, and my raise isn’t called around the table. 2 go out on the other table and I was moved for the first time to accommodate 2 x 5 player tables until we are down to the final 7. 1 player from each table is eliminated and my table went ultra tight as we waited to see who would be bubble boy. I took this opportunity to steal about 5 pots (just blinds) and after about 30 minutes, a player went off the other table, and we were down to the last 7.
After ‘well dones’ were exchanged, and a 10 minute break, we began. I was about 4th in stack size, with 2 players having a pretty hefty pile in front of them, and 2 players with hardly any. One of the small stacks went out when his mid pair lost to a flopped straight, and we were down to 6. I called from the SB with 9 10 sooted and semi-bluffed with a half pot bet after flopping a flush draw, to which the BB folded. Then I was probably too passive for the next few rounds, folding when I could have been more aggressive, but we were down to 5 when the small stack pushed with K10 and ran into QQ.
With the small stack on the BB. I put him all in holding A2 and he called with 44. No A saw him double up, but it didn’t deplete me too much. Got my revenge the next round, when my 88 knocked out his AK and we were down to 5. A few hands later and it was 4 with AJ v 10 10 and the J on the turn knocked out the pockets. Another period of passiveness from me, but I made it to the top 3 when another player fell by the wayside. I was now a huge shortie and went out shortly after when I pushed with KQ sooted and ran into AQ and neither improved. I stopped to watch the heads up battle and after about half an hour of pushes and folds, there was a confrontation and the winner was crowned and £85 was his prize. 2nd place got £60 and 3rd (me!) got £35

Looking back, I was really happy to have made the FT and the money, pocketing a profit of £30, but feel that I played way too passive throughout. I folded hands where I could have made an impact – but I was still a bit nervous, and again conscious of making a move that made me look a donkey. I was learning as I went along, and played a really tight game, which paid dividends, but may not get me too much action on premium hands in the future as opponents pick up my game. I learned a lot about playing live, pissed the dealer off no end by constantly asking ‘how much’ and apologising for having to be prompted all the time to put my blinds in – but he accepted my apology at the end with a smile – I am a beginner after all!

Next one is in 3 weeks time as they shut for refurbishments, so looking forward to it already!

Live Pokery Fun!!

"It's not that I'm afraid to die, I just don't want to be there when it happens"

Life on the felt continues to amaze and depress me. Just played a few hands now, whilst I'm typing this: first hand AK on an A high flop. 2 players call. Turn 4, river Q. One has A4 the other AQ :-(
Been playing really tight, only premium hands see a call/raise, but it's tough playing ABC poker, and the only hands you play are the best ones- but they never win. So I tried to play with confidence Friday night and managed a break even nights play, which is a positive right now.

Received an Email from Bodog advising that player points can be converted to cash for a limited time only - and I had 50$ worth!! Cashed those in and am playing between there and i4 poker at the moment. I4 poker has hammered me, and my balance is down about £40 with some horrific beats, as per my previous blogs. But I'll soilder on, knowing the good run is just around the corner.

Trying to prepare myself for this afternoons live pokery fun - a £5 freezeout tourny at a new, local club. Just called to see what the form is, when to be there etc. and they told me there is about 40 playing, and last months went on for just over 3 hours. Been reading 'Killer Poker' to get me in the right frame of mind and just hope that I play my hands and my opponents well.

May get back to play in the Blogger tourny at Stars - as I also have a lot of points there, and may be able to play SNG games to convert them to cash (hopefully). I've said I won't deposit there again, but I enjoy playing and being involved in the blogger game, so may make an exception for this game. It's worth the 5$ entry fee just to hear Mik!!

Anyways, good luck all, may catch you at the Bloggerment at Stars (you'll find it in the 'Private' section of Tourny's) -9pm UK time password DONKAMENT.

Can't happen again? Right?

Wrong.
Please turn off my fucking doom switch, PLEASE!!!!!!!

794357036 Start Date
2007-07-07 05:28:43.0
End Date 2007-07-07 05:29:44.0
Pot Size $18.02
Rake $0.05
Game Type Hold'Em
Play Mode Real
Table Name Albuquerque
Structure NL Table Stakes
Inforcor
1
$56.59/$56.59
$0.00
$0.00

shtnaces
5
3 K
$6.31/$10.63
$6.31
$4.32

mundigity
6
$7.27/$6.52
$0.75
$-0.75

Mias_Dad
7
A A
$18.88/$12.57
$6.31
$-6.31

dmen
9
3 K
$4.70/$7.40
$4.70
$2.70

Mias_Dad
Raise
$ 0.65

05:29:12
dmen
Call
$ 0.65

05:29:15
shtnaces
Call
$ 0.45

05:29:17
mundigity
Call
$ 0.45

05:29:18

Card dealt to table
K 7 7

05:29:18
mundigity
Check

05:29:20
Mias_Dad
Bet
$ 2.45

05:29:29
dmen
All-in
$ 3.95

05:29:33
shtnaces
All-in
$ 5.56

05:29:35
mundigity
Fold
$ 0.00

05:29:35
Mias_Dad
Call
$ 3.11
05:29:37

Card dealt to table
8
05:29:39

Card dealt to table
K
05:29:41


Betting round completed
Last active pot = $-0.01 Side pot 9 = $14.81Side pot 5 = $3.22
05:29:43
Mias_Dad
Showdown
Show card: Two PairA A K K 8
05:29:43
shtnaces
Showdown
Show card: Full HouseK K K 7 7
05:29:43
dmen showdown
Show card: Full HouseK K K 7 7
05:29:44
shtnaces
Hand result
$ 10.63
05:29:44
dmen
Hand result
$ 7.40
05:29:44

99.2% favourite......

Seems even this isn't enough online:.

Hand Number 793309989
Start Date 2007-07-06 17:28:16.0
End Date 2007-07-06 17:28:46.0
Pot Size $7,005.00
Rake $0.00
Game Type Hold'Em
Play Mode Real
Table Name $3,000 Guaranteed
Structure NL
Community Cards
Hand Number
793309989

Mias_Dad
1
A A

chalis
6
A K

Mias_Dad
Raise
$ 480.00
17:28:23

chalis
All-in
$ 3,390.00
17:28:33
Mias_Dad
Call
$ 2,910.00
17:28:38

Card dealt to table
8 5 7
17:28:40

Card dealt to table
K
17:28:42

Card dealt to table
K
17:28:44

Betting round completed
Last active pot = $0.00 Side pot 6 = $7,005.00
17:28:46
Mias_Dad
Showdown
Show card: Two PairA A K K 8
17:28:46
chalis
Showdown
Show card: Three of a KindK K K A 8
17:28:46
chalis
Hand result
$ 7,005.00
17:28:46

Save The Exile!!

It's a Cat!

“Your Joy is your sorrow unmasked. When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.”

Poker continues to frustrate, but I’m trying to maintain a positive mental attitude as I fight the fishes at the low limit tables on the IPoker Network.
Really am not sure what’s happened to me or my game over the last few months. Played for a while last night and eventually turned the tables off and spent an hour or so going through my hand history looking for faults.
When 80% of your losses come from:
AA v KK (twice)
My JJ v villains KK on a J high flop (he rivered another K)
Getting frustrated as my AK v 67 on a KK6 flop lost to runner runner flush in a 10$ SNG on the bubble
The final straw was my AK v K8 on a 226 flop, and when he called with K8 – there was utter frustration as the 8 hit the turn and I bubbled another 10$ SNG

So, I’m not sure where or what I can do to change my current form. All these hands were just damn unlucky, I know. But there have been so many I’m getting real depressed with playing – as you will probably have guessed from recent posts.

Sorry for the depressing tone, I do try and keep it upbeat usually – but I guess it is eroding my confidence and desire and I really feel I will benefit from not playing for a while.
Having said this, I love the game, and playing and I guess the losses are bedfellows with the wins – as the Kahlil Gibran quote above so eloquently puts it.
I am cutting right back on my online play, to the point where it may well not play a part in my future poker play. I have cut back my accounts and will not play another hand at Joker Stars again after suffering in the blogger tourney where yet more 2 outers hit the river in the only 2 hands I played a flop with. I have £50 left on the Crypto network and this will be my only BR for the foreseeable future.

On a positive note, I have bought a few poker books to read and look forward to tucking into Harrington and Gordon. I’ve found out that my local Rileys Snooker Club have branched into Poker and are licensed to run tournaments and have a growing base of members. There is a beginners Tournament night on Sunday so I have booked myself in and will try out the small SNG type format and see how it plays. Although I am no beginner, I am relatively inexperienced in live play, having played only a dozen or so home games with friends.

The weather added to my woes over the weekend, and as it’s my main time with Mia, it’s tough sometimes to be stuck in the house with no park or outdoor activities possible. We had some fun drawing – she is getting really good at doing pictures of Mummy and Daddy and Grandma and Grandad – and her colouring in is getting closer and closer to the lines! She is also really into her Playdoh – though Daddy is not very artistic and the cat I made for her promptly had her running round the table doing cow impressions.

‘It’s a cat, Mia – they go ‘miaaaooowww’ I said.
‘Silly Daddy’ she replies

She is still insisting on sleeping on the floor, but has allowed a blanket and cushion – so at least is more comfortable. I finally got out of her that she thinks her bed is ‘broken’ – not sure how she has come to this – but made an effort to dismantle parts of the bed and rebuilt it showing her it can take Daddy’s weight (just!) and said ‘Daddy fixed it’ a lot. Didn’t work last night, but will keep trying.

Anyway, good luck at the tables – apologies for the downbeat nature – hoping that normal service will be resumed shortly :-)

Disillusioned

I’m finding myself becoming very disillusioned with poker this year. It’s been hanging over me like a black cloud the last few months to be honest, but it seems to be growing into thunder clouds of epic proportions. It started to look a bit brighter with my recent SNG run, but that has proven to be a minor blip.

Reading a few blogs, it seems the RNG is being very unkind to many players at the moment, and with me it’s got to the point of thinking about whether to continue. Hands win, hands lose, I know these things happen, and I know the odds. Trouble is odds aren’t meaning a great deal right now.
For example: in the space of 5 hands at one 50c BB NL table, I get dealt KK twice. 6 x bb raise is called by the same player, holding the same hand 9 7. The flop on both hands is 9 high. I bet it hard, he pushes and I call. River is a 7.
Twice in 5 hands.

Over the 8 sessions I’ve played this week, I have lost 58% of hands where I am 80% or greater to win. Go figure?
What is going on at the moment? I read Yorkshire Puds blog and his very funny letter to Joker Stars. Then I read Cell’s blog and he is going through the same thing. People left comments about going back to basics. How is the above KK hand played wrong? I had a good read on the player (he was awful, but winning) and these reads were proven to be correct both times. What am I doing wrong?

Cell mentions getting AA, raising and hitting another on the flop – but still coming 3rd in a 3 horse race. What can you do? He raised pre flop, and got three callers and flopped a set. Crucial hands are going the way of the poor judgment way too often right now. My good SNG run saw 80%+ of my 80%+ hands won, as the odds depict. To try and even the balance, I tried to find a similar run of hands where I was 20% or less favourite to win, and won 53% + - but I can't find one.

So, let’s say you can see all the cards dealt. You raise with AA and flop another. Knowing that one player has 4 to a flush draw, and the other has an open str8 draw – what’s the correct move here, a) you are first to act and b) you are last to act?

A) Would you get your money in? To hit a full house, you have 6 outs by the river (7 if you count the case A left for quads) assuming the turn is not duplicated by the cards seen. This would negate their hands even if they hit – but it is enough? One has 6-8 outs, the other has up to 9 (assuming no outs folded or held). No one hits an out, and you win.
B) Someone puts you all in – is it right to call? Even knowing what your opponents hold – I think a call is the right decision.

Interested to hear your thoughts.

I think with the KK v 97 – and you could also see his cards - you would call 100% of the times – so therefore you have no control over the profit/loss, it is down to the poker sites RNG. Just seems to be way too many dogs winning races this year.

I’ve pulled my hand history and looked over it, and can’t see a huge amount of leaks if I’m honest – most of my losses come from premium hands, (flopped sets, str8s, two pair) where I am a good favourite, but lose to limited outs – so I feel I’m making the right decisions.

On a positive note, I qualified via a freeroll to the £5k guaranteed on Ipoker network at 9pm this evening, currently there are 450 runners, so there was a glimmer of a smile in the week.

Even tried my hand at Omaha and managed to lose my first two hands despite flopping full houses, but then hit quads twice to claw it back.

I have to admit to one thing. I stupidly sat down at my first Omaha table without a proper understanding of the rules. Believing the game was about the best hand made from all cards, rather than two from the pocket and 3 from the table. Imagine my (misguided) delight when dealt 4 clubs and seeing a 5th hit the flop – I thought I had the nuts and could not believe when I lost the hand. Idiot L

Anway, smile on my face, onwards and upwards and remember – my pen is mightier than the sword (Thanks Mr Edge).

BS

"Paradise is not a place, it's a frame of mind"

Mia is really into her Dora the Explorer at the moment, so imagine our (well, her) delight when we saw an advert in the local paper that she was appearing at a nearby amusement park (like Alton Towers but much smaller, and all the rides are for kids, not adults). Quick gasp when I looked at their website to find it was £10.50 each to get in, and no reduction for children.
Cathy suddenly remembered that we had a niece that worked their at weekends, so she rang her and managed to waggle some comp tickets.
Actually, I managed to blag some comp tickets, but I'm trying to build up her involvement.

So we turned up at the theme park, packed lunches made (which turned out to be a master stoke on my part., when you saw the burgers were £4.99 each!!) and after a brief 'discussion' with the man on the gate, he let us in and we began to wander around.

Mia wasn't too impressed with the rides, once she realised it involved sitting down, and still, for several mintues at a time, she was not impressed. Other than this, she was really enjoying her day after meeting Dora and being allowed to run free for an hour or so. Cathy and I had already commented on the run down look of the place, and the distinct need for a lick of paint before we decided to stop for a snack.
As we were sat on a wall watching the log flume, which Mia was enjoying tremendously, a rustling in the bushes caught my atention, and out popped 2, then 3, rats.

Big, wet, furry rats. So we left the area quickly and found another spot cross the other side of the stream. Guess what? More rats. So we headed (away from water) across to the 'parade'. The outfits these people were wearing were so horrible, I actually didn't want Mia going anywhere near them. There was an Elephant who looked like he had mange. His fur was dirty and the outfit didn't fit him/her properly. The music system kept jumping and the dancers did not have a clue what they were doing.
It reminded me of a Simpsons episode where they go to a 'Duff Beer' theme park. It was awful.

Nearly as bad as getting knowcked out of the Blogger tourny with top pair, top kicker on the flop, and being called by someone with nothing, who then hits runner runner str8 flush! Amazing. But then, this is Joker Stars.
This is the 4th str8 flush I've lost to today - 2 when I had the nut flush, and the other when I flopped a str8. All on Joker Stars. I suppose anything can happen on a 'random' system.

Anyway, enough from me, I'll only get bitter.