Adam LaBare's Poker Blog

Diary of a Professional Patient: Warning…Labels

2010-11-19T11:02:00.000-05:00

Not poker related, but certainly a good read:

Diary of a Professional Patient: Warning…Labels

Blog Roll Round-Up

2008-06-24T12:30:00.001-04:00

Recent Results
Not much to report in my world bankroll wise. I've been holding steady for about a week now. I've bought in to several SnG's along with at least one MTT every night and still find myself even for the week. Even ain't losing, so I ain't complaining. Had a deep finish two nights ago in the $32k guarantee on Full Tilt. 23rd out of 1527. Hope to keep up the pace. Hit the same tournament last night and was feeling good. Found myself short on chips going into the second break. Was looking to make a move and got caught when I did.

In Other News
I've been working on Part 2 to Tools of the Trade - Online Poker. I think the second installment will be a great read for anyone looking to gain the upper hand against their opponent. Should have that out later this week. Stay tuned.

Blog Roll Round-Up
I've been wanting to do this for a long time. Starting today, I will be highlighting content from various poker blogs across the web. Many will already be listed on my blogroll to the right, some will be new finds. Point is, if a fellow poker blog amuses me, educates me, or get's me thinking, I want to share while encoureging you to check them out. Here we go...

Poker Bullly
A huge congrats to the Poker Bully for qualifying on June 15th. Check out his step by step account of his huge win. Nice.

9-2 Offsuit
Check out RADII's recent post on how things can go horribly wrong with a cat while playing poker. This was a great post. Brings back A LOT of memories...some, not so long ago.

Okay, so it is painfully obvious I need to do some work on my blogroll. A lot of great writers I once followed regularly have closed up shop. I'll be working on updating the roll and adding new content. The mission begins...

Technorati Tags: poker, adam labare, poker tournaments, poker blogs, poker bully, 9-2 offsuit

Tools of the Trade - Online Poker - Part 1

2008-06-19T11:36:00.001-04:00

Most live tournament players along with cash players have a routine. That may involve pregame mind warm ups, meditation, whatever. When the action starts, these players try to be as prepared as possible. When play begins, their various routines continue as they make calculations on their opponents, making reads, making mental notes on every possible thing. Problem here though, the average live player can only retain so much information and apply it properly in various poker situations. The better players are often able to retain far more information and use it to their advantage.

The point I'm making here is that online players have a huge advantage when it comes to the various tools available to them while playing. Sure, you can make text notes on players on every site you play at, but what do you put in that note field? "this guy's a douche and uber donkey"? Sure, in some cases, this would be the perfect note. But there is so much more information and tools out there you can use to add to that note field. I'll be talking about notes and how to get the inside scoop on your opponent in Part 2.

Today, I want to share the following tool I use every day, during every poker session:
Netvibes.com

Problem I was having is one I'm sure a lot of online players have. I'm a multi-tasking fool when I'm playing online. I might be playing 3 tables, while reading digg.com, getting my latest Apple info at tuaw.com, and watching TV. Plus, I might be having a "discussion" with my wife, my dogs may need to go out, etc. Yes, I'm borderline, ADD and strangely enough, this is my "downtime". I find this to be relaxing. A long time ago I wrote an article about limiting your distractions. I've sung this tune before. But even though I preach, "limit your distractions", I'm still horrible at following my own advice. This is where netvibes has helped me out.

What is Netvibes?
Simply put, it's a custom home page. It lets you add widgets, tools, content, blog feeds, etc. You can then organize it in any way you like. You can put your blogs on one tab, while your daily gossip sits on another.

How do I specifically use Netvibes relative to poker?
Admitedly, I have a lot of content that has nothing to do with poker. But what I did here is create a tab and tittled it "Poker Survival Guide". Under this tab, I added a widget called Webnote. Webnote lets me add little boxes wherein I can add whatever content I like. For instance, let's say I have a very specific strategy I want to recall when I find myself deep in a tournmant. I simply cut and paste this material into this little box and it's there for my viewing pleasure any time I open this tab.

Currently, I have 12 content boxes under my survival guide tab which covers everything from an "M Zone Guide" to "Deep Tournament Strategy" to "Useful Poker Links" to "Inspirational Poker Quotes". So, how exactly does this limit my distractions while playing? It keeps me focused. I have everything I need in one place. I don't have to randomly search the internet to keep me engaged. This allows me to remain focused on poker, the tools I have in my arsenal, etc. I can also add new things to it on the fly. I often have great friends on the rail that I speak to during a session. When they drop little nuggets of wisdom, I capture that gem and add it to this page. It's great. How often do you coverse with friends about various hands? You can't remember every good point made during these talks. Use Netvibes and have all of these points in your tool box next time you play.

In a way, this is almost turning into my poker diary. While I still concentrate on making notes on my opponents and studying my table, the information I have on Netvibes just extends my capabilities. I even find myself pulling up my page on my iPhone while playing live. I highly recommend you check it out. Let me know if you find it useful and if you do, how you set it up.

Technorati Tags: poker, adam labare, poker tools, netvibes, digg.com, iphone, poker tournaments, online poker tools

Back in the swing?

2008-06-18T11:36:00.003-04:00

So, been forever and a day since my last post. I can chalk that up to dismal play mostly. Hard to write when you're not inspired. Hard to write when you're not winning. Be that as it may, it's time I get back into the swing of things.

The plan is to write when I'm up, write when I'm down. As long as I'm writing. Looking back, I'm a better player when I'm documenting my peaks and valleys. I still play each and every day and I still have a lot to say...so, back in the saddle I go.

What have I been doing?
Well, not winning. Which sucks. But, it is what it is. While my results have been dismal, I still feel I learn so much each and every day. At some point, it's going to pay off, right? Most recently, the pressure to win a seat to this years WSOP has consumed me. I did not win my seat. And in some ways I think this is a good thing. Struggling to get that seat these past few months has really changed my game for whatever reason. Stupid to let that goal sidetrack the main goal...be a winning player!

So, no crying over spilled milk. Time to get my game back on track.

Random Thoughts
In an effort to stay engaged with my blog, updates, and what not, I have created a Twitter account. Not sure how I feel about it yet, but I'm going to give it a whirl. You can follow me directly by going here: http://twitter.com/alabare or just pay attention to the widget I stuck on the right side of this blog --->

I know last year I had a good following on the blog. If you're still out there, let me know how you're doing. I really want to incorporate a lot of what I read on other blogs into my own ramblings. Would love to send some love back and highlight great posts.

Probably time for a blog look and feel overhaul. Any suggestions, let me know.

The Poker Room - Jacksonville, Fl - Review

2007-07-03T10:28:00.000-04:00

I've talked about The Poker Room here in Jacksonville, Fl quite a few times now. Admittedly, I have not played there much in the last 2 years for a variety of reasons. Small limits, lack of amenities, location, whatever. The truth of the matter is, I've been so engrossed with online play, I've not had a reason to extend from my comfort zone. You're only going to be so successful at an establishment who's betting limit is $2.

As of July 1st, all bets are off...or on, in this case.

I walked in there yesterday evening just before 6pm. It was a madhouse. With increased tournament buy-ins and No-Limit games spread all over the place, everyone had to check it out.

I'll get into more detail here in a minute, but let me just sum things up like this:
JUICY!

I sat down at a table where the stacks were glorious and the play was idiotic. These people still think they're playing $2 limit, and it's simply AMAZING! I could spend a lot of time elaborating on this point, but it's simple. This is Jacksonville's first introduction to No Limit, live action gaming. The southeast has been watching it on TV for years now and is just chomping at the bit to get in on the action.

In Detail...

Gameplay
It is ripe and just waiting to be plucked. People have wads of cash in their pocket and have no clue how to play no-limit hold-em. Men are bringing their wives and giving them hundreds of dollars just to sit and play with them. This is not a knock against women at all, but the reality is, this Poker Room is predominately male.

People are not afraid to get in a pot. A quick comparison. Just came back from Vegas and played several $2 no limit games. Raise a pot to $12, you either force people to fold, or get mixed up with a true hand. Here in Jacksonville, you raise to $15 and get 7 way action. This is almost every hand. Pure insanity.

If you ride out the donkeys, you're going to make money here if you have some level of skill. Practice patience and trust me, you can do well.

I'm going to predict that the newness factor will be strong over the next 90 days. I'm thinking it will die down some after that new car smell wears off. But as the dust settles, I think the potential for steady, quality games will rise to the top.

I'm also going to predict that once they establish their Jackpot structure later this month, the potential for a constant stream of cash will be knocking at their door from open till close.

And speaking of the Jackpot, I spoke with a few different sources yesterday at The Poker Room. They are stating they will be contributing to the pot from every cash game they offer, NL, Limit, Pineapple, Omaha, etc. They are forecasting jackpots in excess of $150,000. That could be a HUGE marketing factor for this room. Actually, if they spend the advertising dollars, it's going to be HUGE any way you look at it.

Facilities
The room itself is large. With 40+ tables, they are spread out rather well. The tables have all been re-felted just within the past few weeks. The chairs are somewhat comfortable, but really do not compare to the seating in most Vegas card rooms.

The air conditioning is not working properly. One end of the room is rather cool, while the other side is virtually a sauna and quite uncomfortable. You know it's bad when the dealers brow drips sweat on to the table. Rather disgusting. Fix the air!

The big screen televisions are nice. However, they are only aligned on one wall making it extremely difficult to view when you are not specifically in optimal position. In the future, it would be nice to invest some money in LCD's which are placed strategically throughout the room to benefit all patrons. Set them up for 360 degree viewing.

Also, I realize this room is part of a simulcast dog track. As a result, virtually every TV is set to horses or dogs running in circles. Believe it or not, not all poker players bet the races. If anything, I would say the majority of clientèle to this establishment are there purely for the poker and care far more about sports. Put the damn ball games on! Let the bettors concentrate on 2 or 3 televisions only or send them up the the 4th floor and let them do their thing there. It is EXTREMELY frustrating when your in a pot with a guy that's screaming for his dog to come in ignoring his action.

Staff
This is my biggest issue with The Poker Room. Let me just first say that for the most part, the dealers are great. Most are friendly, courteous, and funny. Granted, there are others that literally seem to have a stick up their ass. My gripe here though is management, runners and concessions. Everyone in these roles just has such a piss poor attitude every time I'm in there, it really makes me wonder what's going on.

Let's start with the wait staff. These people must be grossly underpaid and or tipped. They are incredibly rude and make you feel like a huge burden every time you make a request. I also believe it is a staffing issue at a higher level. They are never adequately staffed which puts too much stress on any one wait person. This has been the case now for 3 years. I'm really perplexed how this continues to be an issue here. You're wait staff is your ambassador. If they're not kind and personable, they should not be in that role.

Chip runners are responsible obviously for running chips, but they also act as the brush and run the board for seating. This does not work. When you have a line 20 people deep waiting to put their name on a list and you're sitting there on the phone, we may have an issue. Get the right people at the right stations, and make this smooth. Having that many people waiting in a line just to put a name on a list is a little ridiculous.

As for management, I've never really had any personal issues with anyone. When I worked there, I actually was quite friendly with several members of management. However, as time has worn on at this establishment, it seems the more jaded the management team has become. This does not apply to all, but there are several individuals I'm thinking of that are just unkind, bitter people. Everyone is busy. I get that, but c'mon. You really should have people that are eager to engage their patrons and offer assistance. If you stop to ask a floor person a question, they literally treat you with little respect and poor manners. When you compare to most better class poker rooms in Vegas, California, and even Foxwoods in Ct.; they are severely lacking. Improve your customer service.

Amenities
To be honest, there really are none. Drinks and food are table side, but not cheap. Alcohol is severely overpriced. Food tastes good, but again, mostly overpriced. I hate to keep comparing to other card rooms, but The Poker Room in Jacksonville has a lot of room for growth on this front. Treat your players right. Comps, player points, freerolls, whatever. Do SOMETHING.

In Summary
At the end of the day, The Poker Room in Jacksonville, Fl is the only game in town. With the increase in limits and better tournament buy-ins, the popularity will gain a lot of momentum in the coming weeks. Without competition, I fear the above issues of concern will never be truly addressed. However, I have heard through various grapevines that a new poker room may be in the works for next year more central to main-stay Jacksonville (current room is on the very outskirts of town and can be a bitch of a ride to get to).

Fix your staff and your amenities and I think you have every chance of being hugely successful for years to come.

Quite the weekend...

2007-06-25T10:47:00.000-04:00

Didn't have any grand expectations this weekend, but did have a determination to make something happen. And happen they did... (how dramatic)

Here's how it went down.

Didn't play at all Friday night. Used Friday to unwind with my wife, relax, eat a nice dinner, see a movie. No poker on Friday's really seems to help my focus come Saturday. Got a good night sleep and tried to hit the ground running Saturday. Didn't quite work out that way. My total bankroll was all in play by 2pm Saturday afternoon and I came up with nothing. I was playing shitty and had nothing to show for it. Had to clear my head. Stepped away for a few hours.

It can be pretty eye opening to go through an entire budgeted bankroll and see that you have nothing to show for your many, many hours of effort. You can't necessarily pin point bad play. But you know that as you play with the last remaining funds in your roll, you are in essence playing differently. I hate that. I know better. Play the same, no matter what. I chose to reload my account. I put in $500 with the mindset that I just HAD to turn this into something.

With some money back in my account, I decided to hit a few 20 table SnG's. Things were going well as I played these so I decided to get a 3rd table running. Took a chance on the $100 Saturday deep stack at 7pm. My logic was, invest the $100 and know I'll have a chance to play a long tournament which provides me the opportunity to make my own success. Broke out a bottle of wine, got relaxed and played my A game. While I don't encourage anyone to get drunk while playing, a glass or two of wine can really relax the nerves. For what it's worth, I think it helped.

As I was playing the $100, I cashed in a few of my other smaller games which put me in a good place mentally. Took that momentum and applied it to the big one. 9 hours later, made a 3 way deal and walked away with over 4k.

I knew I was getting into a long tournament. But man, 4am was pretty rough. But obviously well worth it.

In hindsight, played a good game. Chipped up and didn't risk my stack unnecessarily. When the right situations presented themselves, I struck with authority. So, in some regards, I did play tight/aggressive. But later on, I did change that around and became far more aggressive as my stack grew. Once I picked up the momentum, I didn't look back.

Went to bed quite satisfied with my turn around.

Sunday comes awfully early. But I got up with a smile on my face. Spent some time in the kitchen baking of all things with my wife. Ran some errands. Was home by 2pm. At this point, knowing that Sunday's big tournament on Stars was a $1000 event, I didn't have any grand aspirations for playing it. However, I did decide to take a shot at a 1 table satellite for it. This table went so quick, I had to really ask myself if it happened. I took it down in less than 30 minutes. Was crazy. Everyone just kept pushing and I woke up with a few good hands that held up. I was now bought in for the $1000 at 4:30.

Things were working out well. Decided to relax and stay away from my computer until game time. Got my head straight and just enjoyed the day.

4:30 comes around and I'm feeling good. Confident. Focused. Things started out slowly but about 1 1/2 hours in, I started picking up decent hands. With these hands, I chipped up on a steady basis. Several hours in, I found myself with a healthy stack. Before I knew it, the money bubble approached. Knowing I was only in for $100, I did not stress. Bubble came and went and I was very happily in the money.

At this point, just became a feeding frenzy. Obviously many were content with the bottom payout. People pushing their stacks left and right. I took advantage of this and continued to build my stack. Quickly found myself 3 tiers into the money.

Things were looking great. Sitting there with the button and look down to see AA. With 100k in chips, this could really be a key hand. All fold to the cutoff who has about 60k in chips. He pushes all in. I re-raise to isolate. Just him and I in the hand. He shows 66. I'm feeling okay when I see this but you know that little feeling in the back of your head you get every damn time you enter this situation. Sure enough, flop comes KK6. No help on the flop or river. Crippling. Brought me down to around 39k in chips. Talk about deflating. Before I had any real time to evaluate the situation, next hand brings AK suited. I'm in the CO. Middle position table chip leader raises for 15k. All fold to me, I push. Just him and I. He shows QJ. I hit an A on the flop and double right back up to 80k. Next hand after that, AQ. I come in for a 15k raise and pick up the blinds. I'm sitting comfortable again at 105k.

Talk about a stressful little point of the game.

Things continued to go well. I soon found myself in the next money tier but was losing chips. Before long, i was short stacked again and needed to create a situation. I was down to 50k and decided in late position to be aggressive with an AQ. A fellow short stack in middle position pushed before I had the chance. He was in for 60k which obviously covered me. I went into my think tank. This guy was being overly aggressive. He had been racking up chips but got called down twice showing him in with mediocre hands. This push at this point looked like a tiltish play. I put him on a range from AJ to A9 with smaller pairs. I specifically remember telling myself here, that "I do not have to call". I should have listened to my inner gut. I called anyway thinking this was a good chance to chip up. He shows AK. And I'm out in 69th with $3200 more in my pocket.

The cashing part was great. But I would be lying if it wasn't bitter sweet. Seeing a 1st place payout of $350k and knowing I had a real shot...well, it can be eye opening. I made a mistake with the AQ but did believe I had the better hand at that point. Not going to beat myself up too much though. Overall, I played a good tournament and had a great weekend.

With that being said, the plan from here will be to do nothing stupid. Going to pick and chose a few decent tournaments this week and try to keep this momentum going.

Anyhoo...back to the real world.

New Florida Poker Laws

2007-06-15T11:19:00.000-04:00

Being geographically stuck in Jacksonville, Fl; the exposure to "real" poker is extremely limited. Sure, you have home games, boats that take hours going out to sea and returning, and dog tracks that have a $2 limit on betting. Luckily, everything changes July 1st. (insert angelic choir singing here)

As of July 1st the following changes go into effect:

1. It allows no-limit poker with a max. buy-in of $100.00.
2. It allows Jack Pots and other give aways.
3. It raises the buy in amount for tournaments.
4. Here is a link to the law. Read it so you will know fact from rumor.
http://www.flsenate.gov/cgi-bin/view_page.pl?Tab=session&Submenu=1&FT=D&File=sb0752er.html&Directory=session/2007/Senate/bills/billtext/html/

This law only addresses the pari-mutuels such as the Dog Tracks and Horse Tracks.

We're still a long ways off from true poker, but this is such a huge step in the right direction. I was speaking with some of the dealers at my local poker room/dog track, and as they understand it, they'll be running tournaments with buy-in's up to $800.

Long story short...I'm ecstatic about this. I heard about this a few weeks back but really didn't believe it. Special thanks to Bill-The Poker Guy for helping confirm. Real poker in Jacksonville, Fl? I think i'm still in shock.

Back Amongst The Living...

2007-06-12T08:43:00.000-04:00

While I was only in Vegas for 4 days, the realization that I must return to the real world is always a hard pill to swallow. The contrast between both worlds is just so extreme. Whaaaa...

Part II
With my last post I went into some level of detail with the action and results of my trip. I'll attempt to wrap that up with today's post.

Beyond all the glitz, glam, and poker, I was a little bummed. I was suppose to be picking up my press credentials for the WSOP. The plan was to write some stuff for LifesABluff.com. Bastards sent me a note the day I got there saying that the passes for that website had exceeded their allotment. Bullshit I say. I had hoped to get some time for an interview or two or at least get behind the ropes to give an inside report before things really got cooking out there. Not meant to be.

I certainly didn't let that get to me. Too many things to do. What did bother me though was my stay at The Tropicana. My god man. I sortof knew what I was getting myself into, but what a dump. Here's why I'm bitter. I get there knowing I'm already booked for a cheap room. I figure I'll not see much of it. Whatever. But the expectation was that it would be clean and slightly comfortable. I go to check in and the front desk manager allures me with this tremendous upgrade for a measly $30 more a night. At this point I'm thinking hmmmm, I'm really tired, I sure would like to be comfortable. I say screw it and do it with the understanding I would be getting a tower semi-suite. Whatever that means. For what it's worth, semi-suite is just another term for mostly-shitty.

The room had an odd smell. I would describe it further, but what's the point. I'll leave it at stale smoke mixed with a vintage mold.
The television when turned on, defaulted to a Telemundo channel with the volume at max level. Every frickin' time I turned it on. WTF?!
The shower had no curtain. Interesting.
There were no wall hangings which I guess I don't care about. But at this point, I'm feeling like the room was last on the list for decoration and maintenance.
The two lamps on each side of the bed were without bulbs. I'm not even going to fathom a guess as to why.
The carpet appeared to be part of several small forest fires.
The bed, albeit a king size bed, was just as shitty as a hospital bed. You know those plastic beds that hospitals cover with a sheet in hopes of disguising as a bed? Same fucking thing.
And don't even get me started on the buffet down stairs. UGH.

Alright. Enough bitching. In the end, my own fault. Once you've stayed at The Venetian, pretty much downhill from there.

On the positive side... After all was said and done I found myself at the airport with cash in my pocket. I was up a good bit on the trip. I wanted to fly home in comfort. After some discussion with the Delta agent, I was able to fly first class all the way home for $25. The perfect ending to a decent trip. Being the geek that I am, I was extremely happy having an LCD screen on the back of the seat in front of me. I was able to watch the Red Sox play the Yankees, play trivia against other passengers and still have time for a quick game of Zuma. Amazing how fast 5 hours of flight can pass when you're occupied.

Thats enough for now. Next time maybe I'll actually talk poker. I've been running decent on the home front. I've hit two $22 180 person SnG's this week at PokerStars.com. Keeping the dream alive.

Would also like to welcome Kerry and Cortney to Team Medallion. Looking forward to some great insight and discussion. Best of luck at the tables!

In the meantime, a quick moment to prostitute my advertisers. Go play poker:
Here
or
Here

Vegas Trip Report

2007-06-04T10:28:00.000-04:00

Whew...where do I begin?

Before I get into all the details, let me start with an outline of the trip and I'll take it from there.

I didn't do well in the Venetian Big Stack or WSOP event #3.
I did play in 3 additional tournaments and walked away winning 2 out of the 3
WSOP has a huge black eye in my opinion
Must Rest
Credentials
Don't stay at the Tropicana
First Class baby!

Part I
So, the while the intent when going to Vegas is generally to have fun, lose a little money, win a little money, etc. I do believe I have grander aspirations of greatness which I don't see as a bad thing. When I go out there, it's not with the mindset that "i can afford to lose this money". It's with the intent that this is the money I have to make the most possible amount of money during my time. With that being said, I was very selective over my game choice this weekend.

I started out on a good roll at the Venetian. When I hit that satellite and won the entry into the big tournament later that day, i was pumped. I had confidence and positivity going in. 8 hours later, I left the tournament pleased with my performance. I was close to the money and beat out the majority of the field. I played smart and picked my spots. Chip up here and there. Make it count the most.

As for the WSOP event #3. Let me summarize like this. Start with 3k in chips. This is by no means an excuse, but having just played the deep stack at the Venetian with 10k in chips, I think my mindset was a little skewed. I was still in deep stack mode. That being said, I'll conclude this even summary with this hand:

First level. (sigh)
Me: A8 spades middle position
One limp in front of me
I limp.
Cutoff limps.
SB calls.
BB checks.
Flop: 8d 8h 2s
Everyone checks to me. I check with the intent of trapping.
Cutoff bets out half of pot.
All fold back to me.
I raise double his bet.
He calls.
Turn: 9s
I check the turn.
He checks the turn.
River: Kd
I overbet committing me to the pot. He raises, i call all in.
I show my set.
He shows pocket deuces for the boat.

Before everyone beats me up, I do see several holes in this hand on my part. I should have bumped the initial bet. May have ridden the deuces to start with. On the flop, my raise back at him seems odd, but I wanted to see where I was at. His call should have set off alarms. However, to be perfectly honest, I put him on a range of hands and I did not include 22 in that mix. With his limp in late position, he obviously wanted to see a flop, cheap. I put him on a very weak A, or middle pair and KJ, K10, K9. I believed I had the best hand all the way through. My check on the turn was a mistake. I believe I should have put a little in the pot here to attempt further extraction of information.

Yeah, I'm kicking myself now. But hey, it was an exciting hand and I lost. Moving on...

I was still in a good place mentally and wanted to maximize my earning potential. I decided to hit a few tournaments elsewhere. Played a $100 rebuy at Caesar's Palace at 7pm and took that down for 1st. Nice cash.

Played in a smaller tourney down the street with more entrants and finished 4th.

So, all in all, I walked away from the trip considerably up. Granted, not "quit your job" up...but it was a nice boost.

As for the WSOP in general, let me just say that event organizers have GOT to get their shit together. I'm not sure this is being reported much, but you have a lot of unhappy players as a result of the cluster fuck at the RIO. People are waiting in lines 6+ hours long just to register. People have pre-paid their tickets and are still being forced to wait in these lines. Being turned away after 8 hours of standing? C'mon.

And apparently the complaints concerning the playing cards were so extreme, they had to fly in new cards putting them out $150,000. The cards were increadibly hard to read and people were misplaying their hands as a result. People were PISSED.

Anyway, i'm not really trying to harp on the subject, but how many years should it take to get it right? You know the interest you will have, you know what not to do from previous years. Should it be this hard? Anyway, I'll quit my bitching.

One things for sure when you're out in Vegas on a limited amount of time. You have to rest. I understand the party mentality when your sitting at a blackjack table with all your friends...but if you're there because you're serious about poker, you can't go 72 hours without some rest. As soon as I got some sleep, I had a great run in both tournaments and cash games.

Part II to follow

Day 1 So Far

2007-06-01T23:00:00.000-04:00

Well, the day started out pretty well. Took a crack at a one table sat for the deep stack at the Venetian. Hit it. 24 hours into Vegas, and aside from having to tip everyone, I'm in for $100. Grand scheme of things, happy with that.

Tournament itself ended anti climatically? I actually played a very good tournament today. Lasted 11 levels busting 70th. 27 places paid. 320 entrants.

I was pleased with my ability to stay out of trouble and not create situations where I found myself behind. Built my stack up to 30k at one point. Found myself situational dead as a good friend of mine likes to say and was short stacked late in the game. Finally made a move with KQ. Had a good read on the cut off. I was in the BB. He raises, I push all in. He calls my remaining 14k with KJ and hits his J.

...

With that, I'm back in my hotel room feeling a bit beat up. Still dead tired. Haven't slept at all. Going to get some rest hopefully and head over to the Rio a little later tonight. Scope out the action in preparation for tomorrow. May hit a sat for the hell of it. We shall see.

I'M HERE!!!

2007-06-01T02:19:00.000-04:00

The caps in my title are about as much excitement I can muster at the moment. I'm exhausted. LONG day. But I'm finally in my room at the luxurious Tropicanna...cough. It'll do. At this point, just happy to have a bed. Going to take a Vegas nap and get into the swing of things in the A.M. Plan is to get over to the Venetian and sign up for the Deep Stack Extravaganza. At some point, think I'll eat too. In my haste today, haven't had nothing more than airline peanuts. Too tired to go scavenging.

Anyway...sleepy time.

Vegas Bound!

2007-05-30T13:51:00.000-04:00

So, while I've been slumming it in the low limts...I've actually found myself on a good run of, shall we say luck? Whatever the reason, I've taken a leap of faith and am heading to Vegas tomorrow night. I am officially announcing my return from retirement. (never retired, but it's an excuse for being a shitty blogger)

Plan is simple. Going to hit The Venetian's Deep Stack on Friday then WSOP event #3 on Saturday. Will take it from there.

While I'm in town, going to do a little writing for Lifesabluff.com as well as my blog. Perhaps get an interview or two. Going to fit in a lot in a short span of time. No sleep will be necessary. Anxious to see my old friend CrazyMan22, whom some of you may recognize from online poker fame. If anyone else is in town, let me know. I hear they have bars in Vegas.

-Adam

Breaking News

2007-04-16T10:55:00.000-04:00

Press Release
4/16/2007 10:04 am
Jacksonville, Fl
Adam from the now famous Team Medallion has crashed and burned!

"Had a horrible run on sits and have depleted my funds." States Adam LaBare at a shocking new conference in sunny Jacksonville, Florida. "Wasn't even a matter of tilt." He continues. "I won't kill you with the details...but man alive, what a brutal 3 sits. I made an idiot move in increasing each follow up SnG buy-in in hopes of extracting back my loss".

One joker in the crowd had this to say, "Just wasn't in the cards".

Mr. LaBare was later found beating said joker to a bloody pulp.

When this reporter asked Mr. LaBare what was next in his poker career, Adam responded with a full on roundhouse kick to an unsuspecting cat.

This is a sad day in the poker community. We will all mourn the loss of Adam LaBare.

Thought for the Day: Stop Being Stupid!

2007-04-03T10:49:00.000-04:00

This post will serve as a friendly reminder for those deep in a tournament who may be thinking they need to open up and take unnecessary risks... to stop being stupid!!!

I'm sitting there last night deep in two different tournaments with a good chunk above chip average nearing the bubble. While I'm all for an aggressive approach toward the bubble...there's obviously a difference between aggressiveness and stupidity. For example:

Your under the gun with suited AQ and you come out with a 5x raise. Stupid move #1. Button re-raises you. You push all in. Stupid move #2. Sigh. I can try to spin it any way I want...but at the end of the day, it was an idiot move. Turns out the button had KK and was going no where. Why did I feel the need to risk my tournament with that hand? There is not sane reason. Do I enjoy giving my money away? When did I become dead money? WTF?

Anyway. This carried over into my other tournament and I found myself making stupid plays before I even clicked the mouse. I chalked it up to a masterful line of strategy that mere mortals would never understand. There can be only one after all. Okay, horrible movie quote. Whatever. But I actually sat there and reasoned to myself that I must take these risks to build my stack for a first place finish. What I failed to realize though, is the likelihood of my opponents having better hands in certain situations. I wanted to create a situation that was not ready. What the hell am I doing being so aggressive under the gun? Pick on the right stacks. Don't risk it all against an opponent clearly representing a premium hand who has you out chipped 3-1.

Okay...back to my cave. Good luck everyone!

Quote of the Day...

2007-03-27T11:34:00.000-04:00

"To know the man is to know his poker"
-Me

I spat this out yesterday in the middle of a conversation involving some self analysis. I probably morphed the term from the many books I've read, but it was relevant to the conversation.

While it's easy to evaluate ones technical play, it's an entirely different matter to take into account everything else that makes that individual who he is. To understand these inner questions and self observations involving so much more than just poker eventually leads to very interesting answers specific to poker.

Without getting too damn deep here...point I'm making is that there is so much more to a persons poker game than statistics, odds, this session or that. If you truly want to understand your game or your opponents, learning about the man (or woman) away from the table is extremely important. Self awareness of your surroundings and circumstance can absolutely be the difference between a winning poker player and a losing poker player.

Sunday's WSOP $650 on Stars

2007-03-26T10:35:00.000-04:00

So I spent a good solid week anticipating last nights $650 WSOP satellite at pokerstars. The build up was considerable. I had a decent week in the poker trenches. I was having tremendously beneficial dialog with a great poker friend. I had peace and calm on the home front. I was ready for a great showing. However, 3 hours into the tournament, I found myself low on chips, blinds were building, it was time to make a move. I pushed with 99 and lost to 1010. Next!

Before I go into the think tank and analyze, I want to give a special thanks to Crazyman22 for the rail last night. Crazyman22 has been a great friend since we first met in Aruba for the UltimateBet WPT event back in 2002. Crazyman22 is one helluva poker player and I value and respect his feedback a great deal. Again, my thanks!

I would also like to thank everyone else who checked in last night on my progress. Having that support means the world.

Okay...now for the analysis.
I played a good tournament. I really believe I did. After I busted, Crazyman22 provided many words of wisdom, but one thought hit home. While I was still coming down off the adrenaline rush, he asks me, "what could you have done differently to still be in the tournament?". He posed this question not to take a shot, but to promote healthy review of my play. I've been working this question ever since.

Here's the deal. Blinds just went up to 75-150 with an ante. Average stack was hovering around 5000. I was sitting just under 2000 with blinds coming my way. I wasn't necessarily in a hurry at this point, but I did want to make a move during this level to get my stack near 6000. That was my goal. Out of nearly 700 entrants, we were down to around 250ish I believe. I had just moved tables several times in the last 30 minutes and was adjusting as well as I could. At this point though, I had several smaller stacks on this table and I felt really good about the 99 with position. One limper. I pushed, he calls. Turns over the 10 10. No help. So, the simple answer to the original question...had I not played this hand, I would have still been in the tournament. I do not regret this play though. So...deeper I shall go.

While it is not an excuse, I firmly believe I would have been in better position had I not moved from my first table. I had executed a great table image and was chipping away making great progress. My bets were very well respected. Only regret I had on this table was my KK out of position. I made it 600 with blinds at 50-100. One smooth caller who hits a flush on the turn with his A7. While I'm not sure his motivation at playing the A7 against my 5x bet...such as life. That hurt but I quickly rebounded. After moving tables though, I ended up on a very loose table. While my chips were dwindling and I felt the pressure to make a move, the end analysis I have laid out for myself was to wait another satellite or two before making any moves. The short stacks on this table were moving a lot of chips. While I wanted to take advantage of that, I feel I could have picked a better spot. I think there was a level of desperation among the short stacks and the potential for pushing and calling was high.

So, the lesson here? Still need a little luck. But in the end, be patient. Next hand after that 99 could have doubled me up. Next hand after that could have tripled me up.

I begin the battle again tonight. We'll get there!

PokerStars on a Mac. Crossover vs. Parallels

2007-03-23T09:40:00.000-04:00

Several months ago I purchased a MacBook Pro as I was fed up with the world of windows. Spyware this, adware that. It was just getting old. I've followed along with the fanboys on digg.com, ejoyed the marketing on television. It was time to switch. The only thing causing apprehension though as an online poker player, was my concern over the limitations involving software compatibility (PC vs. Mac). After a little research my mind was put at ease when I determined Bootcamp would allow me to run Windows on a separate partition. While I really wanted nothing more to do with windows, I was not willing to forgo my presence on PokerStars.com.

I made the purchase.

First and foremost. I am completely and thoroughly happy with my Mac purchase. After a slight learning curve, it was like the expansion of a whole new world. Everything just worked. And it worked well. No buyers remorse. No guilt. Probably the best purchase I've made in the last 5 years. My only regret is not having the balls to make the transition sooner.

So, now the true test. With poker being a serious source of income and enjoyment, it was now time to put Bootcamp to work. After a little fumbling around, I had it up and running and was quite pleased at the result. In essence, I could either boot into OS X or Windows. Pokerstars worked flawlessly in Bootcamp. However, a problem quickly emerged. I think an hour passed by as I sat there in a tournament and realized...with the amount of time I spend playing poker...what's the point of having a mac if I'm not able to utilize the Mac OS? I'm a multi-tasking fool and while I could tinker around in Windows, it just wasn't right. I was feeling like I was just given a great new gift on Christmas morning but I was grounded for a week and wasn't allowed to use it. There had to be another way.

Did some more research and was pleasently surprised to find Parallels; a program allowing Windows to run inside of OS X. The concept was great. Did a little reading and heard nothing but good things. Didn't bother testing it. Went straight to the Apple store up the street and purchased it.

$70 later, it worked exactly as it was touted. Boots right up in it's own little world directly inside of the Mac OS. Great. I now have the best of both worlds. At the time, Parallels was still in Beta and could only be run in it's own window. This was fine though. It was stable, I could multi table and still use all of my mac programs. Life was good.

Parallels continued to evolve. Mostly for the better. I was extremely excited when they released the coherence mode which allowed the programs running in Parallels to be their own windows which would appear seamless in the Mac OS. Long story short, made everything appear as one operating system. mmmmmm

Unfortunetly, the joy that was parallels soon turned into a very frustrating user experience.

It seemed that after the inception of coherence, Paralles would crash when playing PokerStars. Sometimes this would happen every few hours, sometimes several times an hour. Sometimes not at all during a session. But it was like it's own little side game of Russian Roulette. Irritation would quickly turn into outright anger when you're sitting there in a $500 buy in tournament, you look down and see AA, action comes to you and the whole damn Parallels system crashes. You are left helpless as your money sits there. While the poker software gives you a little bit of a buffer in the event of unforeseen disconnects, it often times took me in excess of 4 minutes to log back into Parallels and get into the poker client. By this time, my hand would be folded. Granted, the crashing was random and didn't just happen when I had premium hands...but it only took my AA crashing one time to know that this issue HAD to be addressed. I put up with this for several months hoping a fix would be implemented with new release of the software. No luck. Changed various settings, increased memory allocations, etc.

Back to my research.

I found several similar instances with people running PokerStars in Parallels and experiencing the same random crash bullshit. Questions were posed directly to Parallels in their forums with no response. People were mad.

With absolutely no fix in sight, I changed my search criteria in google. Instead of searching for a fix, I looked for an alternative. I instantly found reference to a program called Crossover produced by CodeWeavers.

Crossover works and it works well. I installed the trial version yesterday and did not look back. Crossover allows you to install Windows programs directly into your OS X. Granted, there's a lot of hocus pocus working in the background...but it works like a charm. Plus, you do NOT need a Windows license or OS install to utilize Crossover. Ahhhhhh.

After everything was said and done, I ran 6 windows last night in PokerStars and let them run for nearly 8 hours. I did not experience the slightest slowdown in performance. My Mac OS did not suffer any type of memory hit. Pokerstars windows acted as their own Mac windows. It was truly glorious. The only issue I had was the sound produced by PokerStars. I believe it has something to do with the way Crossover allows the compatibility to function being based off of earlier versions of Windows. I still have more research to do on this front. But at the end of the day, I did not have one issue relating to the loss of potential profit due to software. Crossover may very well be my long term solution.

While I'm a little bitter having spent $70 on Parallels and will need to plop down another $60 for Crossover, it will be well worth it. I thank Crossover for allowing a thorough, true trial version. Job well done.

So, Crossover Vs. Parallels? If I'm basing this questions solely on the use of poker software, then Crossover is the clear winner thus far. I will continue to monitor the situation but all signs are pointing to a long term relationship with Crossover. I hope this article proves useful to those exploring a similar path.

Am I a Donk?

2007-03-20T11:32:00.000-04:00

I pose the following question:
Why is it every damn time you outplay your opponent, he calls you a Donk?

Granted, this doesn't happen every time. And I generally ignore chat while playing. But usually, after a decent match...I'll quickly converse and say, "GG" (good game). Hell, even after a bad match, I try to be polite and type "GG". Just seems to be the right thing to do. Lately, more and more people just go off the deep end and start yapping about how they can't believe my donk play, or what a donk move. They resort to the Donk reference before they evaluate the situation and ask themselves, "why did he make that play to begin with?".

So, I guess the message here...before you go abusing the Donk reference...ask your subconscious, was it really a Donk move? Were you out played? Were you out chipped 3-1? etc. etc. Ask yourself the tough questions and I promise to ask myself if I really did make a donk move. heh.

I suppose this post serves as a semi rant. Out of all this, I did manage to win a double shootout last night which affords me an entry into this coming Sunday's $650 Satellite to the WSOP. I'll try not to donk my way through the field come Sunday.

Getting Caught Up!

2007-03-19T11:21:00.000-04:00

I feel like I say this every time I run bad, but I've been a horrible blogger these past few months. And yes, I've been running bad. To the point where I decided to take a few weeks off altogether. The break was two fold. One, to clear my head. And two, my bankroll took a considerable hit therefore the choice to break was easy. Whatever the reason though, I think the break was necessary.

And now for some bloggidy goodness...

Current Status...
Decided to get back in the mix this past Saturday. Enjoyed a relatively peaceful day and got some funds into Stars. What a pain in the ass this has turned into. While I won't go into great detail on the legalities and hindrances with funding your poker account these days, I will offer a gleam of hope...

Paytrucard.com is a godsend to the poker player. PokerStars.com actually suggested I give this company a try. Long story short, you sign up, you instantly receive a Visa debit account. You can associate it with your own credit card and be on your way. Full card number and expiration were provided immediately. I was able to get money onto stars in a matter of 5 minutes. I was very impressed.

I went to use them again this Saturday and was a bit paranoid when their site was down. However, this was a temporary issue and was resolved very quickly.

I also signed up for ePassporte.com and netspend.com but have decided not to utilize. The fee's and hoops with epassporte are just ridiculous. And netspend, while the option to fund via paypal was intriguing, it was not an instantaneous transaction. In the end, Paytrucard.com worked like a charm and they have me as a long term customer if they stay in the game!

With a little ammunition in my account, i was finally able to play some poker. Getting the money in to the account was like a warm, soothing effect. A calm came over me. It was actually kinda weird.

I took it easy Saturday night and played in 3 MTT's. Placed 29th in a $10 event. Put me plus $8 for the day. Cough. Hey, a profit is a profit, shut up!

Didn't have any great game plan for Sunday other than taking a stab at the Sunday Million on PokerStars.com. This tournament has been a thorn in my side for a long time. When my bankroll was healthy a while back, I opted to buy straight in to this tourney rather than hitting satellites. Just plain stupid. This ate through a good chunk of my roll without any significant wins.

I deiced to hit a 1 table satellite. Didn't really have any great run of cards but managed to survive. When the bubble came around, I was fortunate to hit a few key hands which put me in a great position to win outright. After a short battle, I took it down. At this point, it was early in the morning and decided to just relax and not play before the big tournament.

Finally came time to play and I pretty much went in my think tank (headphones and iTunes). Things started out slow but toward the end of the first hour, I made a few moves which backfired completely. I found myself with just over 4k in chips (players start with 10k). I was kicking myself in the ass but remained focused.

Over the next two hours I managed to battle back and found myself on a great run bringing me up to 28k in chips. I managed to sustain in this ballpark for quite a while. I took a little hit down to 19k but managed to double up with a bit extra which brought me up to 48k.

Long story short, I made it into the money. I was running cold at this point though and had to make a move shortly after the bubble burst. When I finally decided to stand my ground, this prompted a good 3 hand run which put me at 98k. I was in a great spot at this stage. I was entirely content with opening my play at this point and directing traffic as I found myself second in chips at my table.

Here comes my regrettable hand of the tournament. Sigh.
2000/4000 blinds w/ an ante.
Under the gun comes out with a raise, double the blind which makes it 8k. At this point, people were shoving good chunks and doing a lot of stealing. The raise in hindsight was fishy. Everyone folded to me in late position. I just call with KQd hoping to hit the flop obviously. Everyone else folds. Flop comes something like 742 rainbow.

At this stage I was actually pleased with the flop thinking it was relatively non threatening. He comes out betting the minimum 4k.

So, I'm going through my normal routine as to what he's holding. Early position, raises minimum, wants to get some value in there but probably doesn't have a high pocket pair. First to act, he probably would have just called. AK maybe? AQ? Maybe middle pair.

I ended up convincing myself I could get him off this hand. Going into the hand, he was at 48k, I was at 98k. After he put his 4k in, I pushed enough in to put him all in. I wanted the pressure back on him and take the pot right here.

He immediately calls and turns over AA. Yeah, I fell for it. Turn, no help. River, K. Naturally.

So, that severely crippled me. I should not have gotten into this situation to begin with. I should have been far more suspect of the raise before hand. I made a bad read at the end of the day. I really did not figure him for AA. However, shame on me for getting this much of my stack involved. If I could replay this hand, I probably should have raised my KQ pre-flop to determine where I really was.

Even though short stacked, I managed to survive two more levels into the payout. I finished 527th out of 6964. Overall, I played a good tournament and it was very nice getting into the money. That AA was really bugging me last night, but it was what it was.

To Sum It All Up...
Was a pretty good weekend of poker. Didn't over due it. Didn't stress myself out. Made a nice little addition to the newly revised bankroll. Certainly plan on continuing that trend.

Job Well Done...
I wanted to say Great Job to my buddy Matt Waldron who had a great run at the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star. Matt is a regular at Lifesabluff.com and represented the site with style. Matt did extremely well in day 1 and went in to day 2 with a decent stack. Unfortunately, the stars were not properly aligned and Matt finished a mere 30 or so spots from the money. What a horrible beat. You can read how it all went down by checking out the following thread.

Sick Bay...
I also wanted to shoot Frank Frisina well wishes. Frank is the creator/writer at Lifesabluff.com. Frank has been severely under the weather and I just wanted him to know my thoughts and prayers are with him and his family. Damn collapsing lungs. Might think those things would stay inflated. If you're a fan of lifesabluff.com, you can read more about Frank's situation here.

What's Next?
As for next steps. The original intent this weekend was to actually start giving a hard look at the WSOP satellites. They are officially on my radar.

That's it for now. I'll be returning with a few new articles that can be viewed at www.lifesabluff.com and www.pokerxtreme.com.

Stay tuned!

Rosie Odonnel Responsible for Anna Nicole Smith's Death?

2007-02-09T12:06:00.001-05:00

Heh...certainly not poker related, but I've caused a stir with this post:

click here

Viewer eMail Time

2007-01-17T12:54:00.000-05:00

Back to reality...
Been out of town these past few day's taking a mini vacation. Took another trip to the mountains of Tennessee. Unfortunately, I found myself doing so much driving that I had little time to unwind. However, it was time well spent for the most part and it was great to get away. Over the course of the trip I had some time to answer some viewer email which sparked a good bit of informative conversation. I thought I would share some of that insight today.

Aaron writes the following:

Thanks very much for taking the time to write your article on your blog concerning multi-table tournament play. I was wondering if you might be able to offer a bit of advice. I regularly do the single table sit n go’s and find myself doing well. However, when I attempt a multi tournament table, I can’t get anywhere. I try to keep the same mindset of tight aggressive play, but I just am not getting anywhere with that. The blinds will go up and I will continue to get no cards or possibly lose to some fish playing junk. Do you have any advice or recommendations of other literature that may help my online mulit-table tournament play. Thanks in advance.

And my response:

Aaron,
Thank you for your email. Always willing to lend some insight.

First and foremost, you have to understand single table SnG's are a far different beast compared to MTT's. You may be a genius with single table's, but it's not an easy transition to MTT's. Here are some various bits of insight:

Put some thought into the MTT's you opt to participate in. While every tournament will bring it's share of fish, sharks, etc. You do have a different caliber player at various levels of buy ins. If you want to stay away from the idiots, I would suggest you not participate in re buy events initially. Especially turbo re buy events. This just caters to those with a healthy bankroll looking to amass a huge stack at all costs before the first break. This is not poker. This is a testosterone contest more or less.

If your doing well at the SnG's, let that fund your MTT buy in's. Rather than play the smaller cost MTT's, hit 2 or 3 SnG's and buy into a little bit higher buy in MTT. The payoff will be worth it.

There are two specific things I would suggest in relation to your dilemma.
1) Practice patience. It's all about the waiting game. Don't worry about the blinds initially. Let the button go around a few times. Get your bearings. Study those at your table. Make some mental notes. Make some physical notes. Study betting patterns. Is this guy check raising a lot? Is this guy dead money? etc. Patience is the key to any MTT in my opinion. I also realize this is easier said than done. If your anything like me, I have to be doing more than one thing at any given time. If I'm playing poker, I usually have other things going on. I might be reading other websites, I might be talking to my wife, I might be IM'ing. However, limit your distractions if you can. If you need something to occupy yourself though, start up another table. What I like to do, if I'm playing in a good MTT, I'll fire up one of those 180 person MTT's to just have something to do in between hands. Granted, not everyone can play multi tables. But if practicing patience means keeping yourself occupied, go for it.
2) Take advantage of your position. If you're not concentrating on your position relative to the button, then you will not win. You don't need to have cards to make others believe you do. When your in late position, and the action ahead of you is nil, take a chance by raising. Once the blinds increase, this is a must. You'll find you will pick up blinds more often with an aggressive approach to your position. Personally, I only get frisky with moderate to good hands in late position. For me, that includes small too middle pocket pairs, to unsuited connectors or two face cards. I like to placate myself by saying even if I am bluffing here, it's only a semi bluff as there are cards in the deck that will ensure my win.

I hope this helps in some small way. One final piece of advice? Talk with fellow players. It's important to have individuals to bounce things off of.

This was but only a small piece of insight but I was very pleased to receive the following email after the above exchange:

Thanks so much for the great advice. I just played a MTT $50, 90 people on bodog and won it. I stuck to your advice and tried to stay as patient as possible and paid close attention to my position and even picked up on a few betting patterns. I can’t believe I just won that, thanks so much for taking the time to talk with me. Take care.
Aaron

Stars Sunday Million

2007-01-08T10:22:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was my shot at greatness. However, it was not meant to be.

With a healthy bankroll, I played a few satellites and got myself into the big tourney at 4:30. I was feeling good. This was my tournament to shine.

First hour was a bit daunting. I made a few small hands. It became pretty apparent I had an individual at the table that was taking advantage of "scared money" that first hour. What I mean by this...this tournament can be intimidating to the first time participant. Many individuals find themselves thrown into this tournament through much smaller satellites and quite literally are out of their league. Certainly no disrespect intended. They just don't have the large MTT experience and it shows. Anyway, this guy just kept raising and check raising each smaller raise and everyone continued to fold to him. I finally had a good hand and went up against him. Didn't put a lot on the line but he sucked out on the river. Figures. Few hands later, similar situation presents itself. I raise small in late position, he re-raises in late position. I just call. I hit a set on the flop. He bets strong. I call. He bets strong again, I raise. He calls. He checks, I bet his remaining stack. He folds. This was the start of a good run for me.

Had a few bumps. Had to battle back at one point. But 3.5 hours in, I find myself at 60k in chips with only a few hundred left to the money. That might sound like a lot of people, but we started with some 6000 entrants and people were dwindling extremely fast.

It's at this stage I usually tighten up and ensure my placement in the money. From there I go on the hunt and play my aggressive game. However, for this tournament, I didn't just want to squeeze into the money. Perhaps I was over eager, perhaps it was just stupidity. But here's where things went south.

I'm feeling great with 60k in chips. Average at this point was 48k. I was second leader at my table...however, the chip leader at my table was also the overall chip leader. He was flirting just over 200k in chips. The one thing I said to msyelf, do NOT tango with this guy. Just stay out of his way and prey on the other stacks. Did I listen to my advice? Obviously not.

So I'm on the button and I'm dealt AQ diamonds. Fairly nice hand I'm thinking. One call in front of me, I raise about 4x the BB. I don't remember the exact raise amount. Chip leader is in the BB. I should have paid better attention. I raised unaware that he was in the BB and would probably play almost any hand at this point. He calls my raise. The other caller folds. Flop comes 9 8 3 with two diamonds. He comes out betting. Okay, my mindset went like this. He's obviously playing his stack, as he should be. However, I really think he's full of shit at this point. Call it intuition, call it a gut feeling, whatever. Point is, I really believed I had a better hand at this spot. And in the case that I did not, with the nut flush possibility on my hands, I saw this spot as an opportunity. Like I said, I did not want to just squeeze into the money. I wanted this to be my swan song. I took a chance. I pushed back and went all in. He insta calls with 55.

...

Turn and river bring no help and I'm out of the tournament. Just like that, in the blink of an eye...gone.

It took me a while to cool down. And obviously, I'm still bent out of shape over this. I'm sure other pro's would analyze this play and beat me up over it...but I felt good about my move. Had I walked away the winner in that hand, I would have been sitting with about $140k in chips and a commanding presence moving into the money. My goal was not to play too cautiously. I wanted to be aggressive in certain situations. I deemed these one of those situations and it didn't work out.

In hindsight, would I have played it any differently? I became too attached to this hand, that much I realize. However, thinking back, I should have paid better attention to whom was in the BB. I got carried away with my great position with a good starting hand. Had I just smooth called here, I believe he would have raised and I probably would have come off the hand.

Ugh.

Okay, I'm not going to torture myself. As my wife said last night, there's always next week.

Good luck everyone!

I'm Back, no...I mean it this time!

2007-01-03T11:11:00.000-05:00

So, In my last post I happily praised the poker gods and announced "I'm back".

I lied...

I could put a nice fancy slant on my current situation, or I can just speak the truth.

Boils down to this...
I've been playing a shitty game resulting in zero profit. I've been flirting with a dangerously low bankroll and have been limited with my game choices. When in a tailspin I tend to shut down my exposure to the world until I figure out what the hell is wrong and make the necessary adjustments. And to be perfectly frank, when I'm losing, the last thing I feel is inspiration to write about all things poker. This may be an error though as I find writing about it does help a lot. With recent holidays, job responsibilities, and everything else, I just lost my focus.

Psychologically speaking, I'm sure I could give a shrink plenty of material to analyze. God knows how mental this game is. Long story short, I've been letting negative results affect me personally. However, I can honestly say I will never give up. It's really a matter of understanding that bad runs will end. It takes confidence in your ability. Granted, confidence won't pay the bills unless there is a payoff...but you have to remain confident in your abilities. I've won in the past, I will win in the future. If you hit a brick wall...repeat this mantra over and over again.

For what it's worth, as I mentioned in my last post...separating from poker entirely for a certain amount of time can be refreshing. I didn't play much poker over the holidays but I was able to spend quality time with my new Nintendo Wii along with a certain warlock in World of Warcraft. For all those considering purchasing a Wii...it's worth every penny. Fun as hell. Only set back...you have to get off your ass and move. It's really great. Many, many thanks to my loving wife. She's the best gift giver ever! Not to get sentimental...but you know when people say they enjoy giving gifts more than receiving? These people in my experience are full of shit. Just a ruse in an attempt to appear better than others. My wife is truly the only person I know that I can honestly say enjoys giving more than receiving. She really is an amazing person with the biggest heart one could imagine. Okay...enough sap! As an added diversion I have also started a new blog which has absolutely nothing to do with poker. However, if you're ever in Jacksonville, Fl...might be worth checking out: jaxreview.blogspot.com

Anyhoo...I suppose the real reason I feel inspired to write today is due to the success I had last night on PokerStars. I've been having consistent money appearances in the $10 MTT w/ 1 rebuy and 1 add on at 7:15 each night. I generally stay away from rebuy events, but I like this format as I'm able to quickly accumulate chips and thrive on the poor play of others for the first hour. Just a matter of patience. After everything was said and done, finished 4th. A deep finish with the tournament has eluded me but I really felt like it was just a matter of time. With over 1000 entrants, it can be viewed as a lottery...but I choose to believe my skill has something to do with it. Anyway, this gives me much needed breathing room which will allow me to focus on the overall goal.

What is the overall goal?
Two fold at this point. One, get to this years WSOP to participate in several events. and two, transition from semi-pro to professional.

Tall orders to fill...but one way or the other, it's going to happen. As always, I will continue to document as I progress while sharing whatever nuggets of wisdom I can.

I appreciate all my readers hanging in there!

-Adam

I'm back...

2006-11-09T11:20:00.000-05:00

Past few weeks have been tough. I've made absolutely no money through my normal means on both Bodog and Stars. Usually when I hit a dry spell, I have sporadic moments of hope which keep me actively engaged. Last week, 2 weeks into my poor showing, I made the decision to step back, take a break and just relax. Spent a good amount of time wasting my life in WoW. Brings back fond memories of Norrath. Call me a geek, I don't care.

Anyway...Tuesday I spent some time answering a question in regards to bankroll building and management. While the intent was to help others, the article ended up helping me tremendously. While I only went into so much detail, it allowed me to step back, re-asses and determine next steps. While it was absolutely necessary for me to step away from the tables last week which probably saved me a lot of money...writing my thoughts Tuesday really allowed me to get back to basics. With that in mind, decided to take my own advice and make a run on Stars last night. I made a whopping $25 deposit. Haven't really had any money on Stars in a few months so I didn't really want to put a large lump over there. Started with a $13 6 person SnG. Took 1st place. Applied those winnings to a $20 180 person MTT. Finished 4th. Went to bed. This now gets me back in the game.

Cashing last night deep was a big boost for the confidence factor. While it's one thing to stay technical during a downswing while maintaining a positive attitude, it only goes so far. In the real world of an aspiring poker professional, long down swings can really impact your self esteem and morale. It hinders your judgment, it affects those around you, it affects your home life, etc. You can remind yourself not to take it so personal, but seriously, it just doesn't work like that. Self discipline away from the poker table during a drought can be extremely hard as I'm sure my wife can attest to. However, I do think that having something else to focus on aside from poker during a bad run is important, whether that be home, work, xbox, warcraft, whatever. While many call poker a job and or hobby...having something else to fill the void when running bad does wonders.

Technorati Tags: bankroll management, bankroll building, poker, wsop, world series of poker, bodog, pokerstars

Bankroll Building?

2006-11-07T11:44:00.000-05:00

How Do I Build My Bankroll?
I get this question a lot and usually address it half assed as my approach usually changes from one month to the next. However, over the past year, I've had a lot of success with the below approach.

I think everyone that has had a taste of success has created their own path, or method for bankroll building and management. For myself, I stick with what I know works. My formula goes a little something like this:

Have a master plan for the week. If I'm starting out with $100 on a Monday, by Sunday, I would want to have that built to $1000. That's my goal, certainly not always a reality.

Each session, start small and build as you experience success. For example. I know my short handed SnG's work very well for me. So I'll sit down at a $13 6 handed SnG.

If I finish 1st, I move up to the next level which is a $38 6 person Sng.
If I finish 2nd, I'll do the same tournament again.
In that second tourney, if I finish 1st or 2nd, I'll move on to the next level. If I do not finish in the money, I'll rinse and repeat at the bottom level.
If I finish out of the money on any higher level, I'll drop back one level and continue the process.

I find PokerStars and Bodog both have decent scenarios for this method. Stars has also added a $70 6 handed SnG to alleviate the pressure of jumping from $38 to $110. Nice addition.

If Short handed action is not your style, play a full table scenario.

As I'm making money on these SnG's, I'll pick and choose my MTT's wisely. I believe MTT's to be my strongest skill and try to cater the tournament to my style. I prefer a realistic tournament as opposed to a lottery and very much like the 180 person MTT sng's on Stars...or the $30k guarantee's on Bodog.

If my bankroll allows with the above efforts, I will often opt to hit a SnG satellite for the big tournaments on Sunday's.

Often times, I find it healthy and necessary to do something different. If I find any of the above methods not panning out, I'll migrate over to a limit game. Something like 2/4 or 3/6. I'll jump on these tables and play fairly ABC type poker. Beyond that, I'll also change things up a bit by hitting a stud 8 or Omaha hi/low game just to keep my brain in shape.

With the above $1000 goal in mind, I'm also making sound decisions on withdrawals. Personally, I find it important to associate online success with real money in my bank accounts. Therefore, I've adopted a process for withdrawal as follows:

Start with $100
If I double and reach the $200 mark, I'll withdrawal 10% which leaves me with $180.
If I double and reach $360, I'll withdrawal 15% which leaves me with $306.
If I double and reach $612, I'll withdrawal 20% which leaves me with $489.60.
If I double I will then have $979.20 which I will often extract altogether and start again, or make a very conscience decision as to my next week.

With this method, I'm able to put a little change in the bank which is only $196.40 but psychologically, this helps me understand that I am accomplishing something other than just accumulating cyber chips. I now have money in my personal account that I can use for live action around town, a nice evening out, etc. Once I obtain my weekly goal, I then am faced with upping my goal for the following week. I'll adjust my formula accordingly.

The trick for me is to run it like a business and keep accurate records. When I do this, I find I am more successful. The past few weeks I have been winging it and have not made a penny. Perhaps there's something to my method...who knows.

The intent here for me though is to associate my successes with something tangible.

This is my formula, albeit non technical in comparison to other poker pro's and semi pro's...but if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Technorati Tags: bankroll building, bankroll management, poker, wsop, adam labare, poker pro, poker semi pro, bodog, pokerstars

Bad Run...

2006-11-06T15:20:00.000-05:00

Hello all...
To those wondering what the hell is going on with me...worry not, I'm
not yet dead! Truth is, I've been stuck in the middle of a horrible
run. And when runs such as these hit, I tend to crawl in a hole and
wait for it to pass. As a result, I tend to stay away from all things
poker. Every few days though, I'll check in with the poker gods and
they seem to be determined to keep the rain cloud over my head.

No real bad beats or dead cards. I keep getting my money in with the
best hand...but unfortunately, bad luck keeps getting in the way. I'm
strangely not very upset about it...just annoyed. When swings like
this present themselves, I have a bad habit of trying to bully my way
through which results in larger loss. So, just practicing what I
preach and taking a breather if you will.

With that being said, suppose I can screw around with my gnome warlock in the meantime...sigh.

Good luck everyone!
Adam

Technorati Tags: poker, world series of poker, adam labare, wow, gnome, warlock, poker swing, bad beat, card dead

Cash Games on Bodog.com...

2006-10-16T12:18:00.000-04:00

While I’m sure most are still discussing the potential downfall of internet poker and recent legislation, I want to focus on the fact that there is still money to be made. I’m not sure if it’s just coincidence, fate, luck, or skill…but between 9pm Friday night and 1am this morning, I more than quadrupled my bankroll on Bodog.com. And not through typical means. At least, not typical to my style of play as of late.

Before discussing details, I want to attribute this break of monotony to an article I read in Card Player Friday evening. I forget the writer’s name and for whatever reason, carplayer.com does not reflect the magazine volume in its current archive list. Otherwise, I would give the proper credit. Long story short, this writer goes into detail why he opts for cash games and avoids the pressure of tournament play. Having not played in a cash game in over a year…I decided to take his advice and just give it a whirl. I’ve been playing so many tournaments lately, I needed a break.

Decided to sit down at a 2/4 limit game on bodog.com. 2 Hours Friday night. 6 Hours Saturday. 4 Hours Sunday. Started with $140 and ended last night at $600. All on 2/4 limit tables. I attribute my success to a few simple tactics which pretty much lends itself to any limit game…but to be specific, I opted to play a very aggressive game to the river when in position. Opened up my possible starting hands. And decided to rarely limp. Raise or fold unless I’m in horrible position.

This worked extremely well. Had a few swings to extremely cruel beats on the river, but that’s par for the course and pretty much what I remember about limit cash games. But all in all, this was a refreshing break. Nearly $40 an hour is a rate I can live with. Now if only I could sustain such an average, I’d have a lot less bitching to do in life.

I make no claim to be a decent cash game player. Back in the day before the moneymaker effect, I did extremely well with ring games. As poker popularity increased, I leaned more toward tournament play. The thinking was that I was always on equal ground and could control my destiny. I never made such a score in ring games that my bankroll could accommodate a long term solution. However, the tournament path treated me very well. I stuck to it. Past history would suggest that after returning to a cash game and doing well, I’ll quickly screw it up and be back in my tournaments. However, I want to do things differently this time around.

Previously, after doing well in cash games, my biggest error is to rush the increase in stakes. I’ll make a decent score and almost immediately try to shove my way forward. Therefore, I’m going to continue to mess around with the 2/4 limit game on bodog.com and attempt to increase my roll substantially before I take any “next steps”. Depending on which book you read, or which pro you speak with, everyone has a theory on what your bankroll should be to accommodate various levels. I’m going to take such advice and continue down this path and see what happens. As I see it, playing purely on profit. Nothing to lose. Going to throw in my favorite tournaments for good measure and let the chips fall where they may.

If you find yourself over at bodog…look me up.

Technorati Tags: poker, bodog.com, cash games, ring games, tournaments, MTT, SNG, world series of poker

Major Suckage!

2006-10-13T12:00:00.000-04:00

So, as much as I like to tell myself I’m a decent player…the fact remains I am still very susceptible to extremely bad play…

I was having a fairly decent day yesterday on Bodog.com. Snuck a few SnG’s in earlier in the day and was prepared for a good evening session. I made the decision to bypass the 25k guarantee tourney and instead, focus on the $15 re-buy multi qualifier event. I’ve been hearing good things about this tournament and wanted to check it out. For the most part, glad I did. I found the field very loose. However, I was not happy that the format was shorthanded to such an extreme. The tables were set at 5 handed for the duration. I adjusted accordingly, but Bodog made no mention in the tournament details that it would be set up as such. At least I didn’t see anything regarding it.

My first table was very good to me during the re-buy session. I sat down and re-bought right away. If I mess with a re-buy tournament, I prefer to have the maximum amount starting off to combat the donks that are prepared to re-buy 18 times in that first hour. I played a tight game the first hour and slowly built my stack. We had one ATM machine on that table which benefited all others. Once the add-on came and went, got down to business. I continued to build my stack up to 20k over the next hour. Things were going very well. 4 Places paid in this event. Two breaks later and I’m still doing fantastic. 11 players left. At this stage, I normally assess my situation, assess those I’m sitting with, stack size, player image, etc. and determine exactly what I must do to make the money. I failed to adhere to this line of thinking which resulted in a meltdown a few hands into the level. I became enchanted with a suited AQ against a small blind protecting his stake. I raised in position with my AQ, he calls. Flop brings absolutely no help to me. 536 rainbow. In this situation I usually put out a decent bet having position…but always fear the blinds are likely to hit a flop like this. So, I put my feeler out there. He calls. Turn brings another brick. At this point I believe I can outplay him and test the theory. I have him covered by 2k in chips. I push all my chips. He takes some time and thinks. He calls and shows a 67.

At this stage, there were 9 players left in the tournament yet I didn’t know that until after I lost the hand. I was on auto-pilot for some reason and did not take all factors into consideration. I am kicking myself in the ass today big time. The next few hands were uneventful but I ended up busting out 7th. Just no excuse for that. I had a virtual lock and mucked it up all to hell.

So…with that off my chest…today’s a new day. I will turn it around and move forward.

Technorati Tags: bodog.com, poker, adam labare, hold em, sng, mtt

Neteller Committed to Staying in the U.S. Market

2006-10-12T16:39:00.000-04:00

This may be old news to some...but this is very encouraging news for me and my little world of poker...

Pulled from PokerNews.com

October 12, 2006
John Caldwell

The passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act sent shockwaves
through the online poker industry. Reactions ranged from 'the sky is
falling' to 'all is well' as the industry analyzed the language of the
bill, looking for what the true impact would be.

As time went on, and it became clear that the core emphasis of the
bill was to prevent U.S. banks from taking gaming transactions. This
fact made the big question – What are Neteller going to do?

Neteller is a company that provides financial transactions between
consumers and third party vendors via the Internet. Most people that
play poker online have Neteller accounts, and a great portion of the
transactions that occur between players and online poker sites occur via Neteller.

Most players have had trouble in the past trying to fund via their
banks long before the bill was even introduced to Congress, so Neteller
has become a way of life for many online poker players.

So, if U.S. banks are forced via this law to stop taking gaming
transactions, companies like Neteller would be a player's only recourse
if he or she were to want to continue playing.

It is a great relief to all in the business that Neteller's
Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing Bruce Elliot told an
audience of online gaming executives in Barcelona yesterday.

"We are staying in the U.S. I don't think we have a problem."

A PokerNews.com executive who is at the conference confirmed the
news, and spoke to another top Neteller executive who confirmed "We are
completely committed to the U.S.".

The last two weeks have been a dizzying ride for most people in the
online poker business, but the news over the last few days has mostly
been positive toward the continued survival of the business. By no
means is online poker 'out of the woods' with respect to possible
troubling times ahead, but the commitment of Neteller to the U.S.
market will put player's minds more at ease.

Technorati Tags: poker, neteller, neteller commited to staying in the U.S. Market, adam labare, hold em, wsop

Poker Blogs!

2006-10-12T11:15:00.000-04:00

So now that things are finally calming down, I need to seriously get caught back up on my blog reading. I will be doing so over the next few days. If anyone would like a shameless plug, add a quick comment here and I'll be happy to mention you in my next post.

Next few posts I'm going to be taking on recent legislation and various lines of thinking. Hopefully I'll be making a buck or two as well before I get arrested.

-Adam

Technorati Tags: poker, tunica, wsop, wsop circuit event, poker blog, hold em, tournaments

Pics from Tunica

2006-10-10T11:43:00.000-04:00

Just throwing up a few pics from Tunica. Wasn't much photo worthy...but did get a few pics while sitting with Barry Greenstein. Buddy of mine was kind enough to snap the shot. I really need a new camera. Sigh.

Not sure why but I tend to photograph each large buy-in event registration. Lame, sure. Do I care? Nah.

I was still on my first table when they snapped this.

For the record, I hate Pepsi, let alone diet Pepsi. I was drinking the coffee. My neighbor had the wingspan of a condor.

2006-10-10T10:09:00.000-04:00

An interesting situation happened to me while playing in the main event at Tunica last week. I will try my best to articulate this situation as it went down rather quickly.

I’m in middle position with a premium starting hand. 3 players ahead of me fold. I raise the action to 3x the BB. Button calls my raise as does the BB…or so the dealer thought.

The dealer pulls the chips into the pot, burns and turns the next card. As he’s turning the card over, I verbally announce that the pot is incorrect. The BB did not call the action.

The BB proceeds to argue the point but not in a way that was hostile, but in a way that you can just tell he’s trying to get away with something. He places all blame on the dealer at this point.

The dealer proceeds to count down the pot. Blinds accounted for. Antes accounted for. My raise accounted for. Buttons call accounted for. And that’s it. The BB did not call the action.

Now what?

Having been a dealer, my immediate thinking is that the BB’s hand is dead.

At this point, rather then debate the issue at the table, I figured the best recourse would be to get the floor involved. The dealer calls the floor over. “Bob” quickly arrives.

The dealer explains the situation to Bob as I have written it above. Bob thinks long and hard which I had hoped was a good sign. This is his ruling:

He informs the BB (the individual that did not call the action) that he can do one of two things. He can either choose to call the original raise and retain his hand, or fold his cards. Bear in mind, the flop is on the table in all its naked glory. No mention was made regarding the fate of that flop.

At this point, I start screaming (inside). The BB decides to forfeit his hand.

Rather than entertain a drawn out debate, I figure the point is moot and I carry on with the hand. However, during the next break, I present this hand to a few dealer friends who all believe the floor’s decision was wrong. How can you give this player the choice to remain in the hand after seeing the flop for free? In essence, you are giving him a huge advantage having seen that flop which could very much impact the play at hand. It seems to me the obvious choice would be to call the hand dead. And not that it matters at this point, but it is truly my belief that this individual hid his hand from the dealer in hopes of sneaking into the pot.

What are your thoughts?

Are Circuit Events Drying Up?

2006-10-09T15:48:00.000-04:00

A close friend and dealer at the Tunica event offered this question to the folks at PokerXtreme.com and went on to say the following:

Are Circuit Events Drying Up?

Awol77 write “Adam, you might be able to shed an opinion on this one...
Last year this event brought over 300 players who forked over $10k to play. This year there were 200 players paying $5k. No television cameras either. All in all it was a pretty weak showing.

I did hear that the Apollo Group bought Harrahs on Wednesday. Maybe they will do something with it. Harrahs has no interest in poker so maybe they should think of selling the WSOP. It might be a good move for them and poker.”

My response to the above was as follows:

Short answer? Yes

I did some poking around on this topic after I returned from Tunica. I really wanted to explore the reasons why this field was so small. To be exact, the field consisted of 196 players paying a $5,000 entry fee. The popular consensus on various blogs and other outletts tends to lean toward the lack of television affiliation and for the most part, I agree. Without television, fewer big name players attend, less big cash games, poor local economy as a result. Hell...they probably made more money off of the dealers then they did the regional players making it in for 2 days.

Did you know that Circuit Events do not cover dealers accommodations? A daily rate of $34 per room is deducted from the monetary gains a dealer makes while working for the WSOP. Multiply that by 14 plus days with 60+ dealers, and you get the idea. At least, this is how it broke down in Tunica. Compare that to the WPT providing suites for dealers at no cost at all. If you can’t treat your hired help properly, how do you expect the public to react? And don’t event get me started on the dealer debacle at the 2006 WSOP in Vegas.

Compare the coverage this tournament received to WPT events or the World Series of Poker in Vegas. They've reduced the circuit event to nothing more then what farm leagues are to Major League Baseball. I think I saw 2 larger publications reporting there for the main event and two well known and respected bloggers. Hell, one of reporters/photographers was directly affiliated with the WSOP.com site where they charge you nearly $40 for your own photograph. The draw and appeal are gone without national coverage. Without Gabe Kaplan, we are nothing, lol. Joke.

The Circuit Events should be just as special as the yearly WSOP on a somewhat smaller scale. Each player at a WPT event truly feels they have a chance to make a "Life Change" if they take down first place. Circuit Events in their current state do not offer that key incentive. I hate to use this analogy, but a circuit event should be like a Broadway show that takes it's show on the road. No matter which city it ventures to, each show is sold out well in advance. Along with that comes marketing for each venue sometimes over a year in advance. Spend the marketing dollars to generate the interest, get the key players there along with a television audience and make these events special. Do you need an event every month? No. Cut the events down and make each specific event "special".

What I'm getting at here is that without the right owners, circuit events will continue to dwindle. Without the right marketing/advertising front runners, circuit events will be obsolete in less than 2 years. To take a $10k event and reduce the buy-in to $5k is not the answer. Spend the money to make the money. Appeal to the prima donna's, make them happy and attract the regional and national players. Get the t.v. deals lined up. Consider new markets such as video web casts, podcasts, etc. Hell, look how successful Live at the Bike is. For a monthly subscription, you have live poker ALL THE TIME. People are eating it up. With the right support, the circuit events should be HUGE. This SHOULD be what the PGA Tour is to golf.

In the end, you need an innovative group of people that not only have the marketing savvy, but a love and passion for the game and the desire to push it forward. I plead to the powers that be not to let this become a stagnant event. You have the brand, you have the technology....use it to make it better! In today's day and age, I should not have to wait 3 days after a tournements main event ends to determine the winner. The technology is available for live updates. Get the chips implemented and start with the circuit events. This alone would be huge! While some might think various markets are saturated with poker, I beg to differ. I thoroughly believe with the added benefits of technology, poker will become far more interactive from a players pespective as well as a fan's perspective.

Is the Apollo Group the answer? Who knows. Really depends on their vision for poker. This could make or break a great vision.

Sorry for the rant...

-Adam

Silenced by 33's

2006-10-04T09:22:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. My network went screwy on my laptop and I have been unable to connect.

So here’s the deal…I busted at the end of level 7. Blinds were eating me alive and I had 12k in chips left. I’m on the button and am dealt QQ. Everyone folds to me, I raise it up 4x the BB roughly, somewhere around 3500. Small blind pops me back which is fine by me. I was hoping he thought I was just trying to steal blinds and antes. I push the rest of my stack and am psyched to see him turn over 33. Flop brings a 3 and no further help to me. My tournament is over.

Sure, that’s how it goes. I understand “that’s poker”. But I’m really letting this one bother me for some reason. After an entire day, 12+ hours…I played a great game. I didn’t do anything stupid. I waited for opportunity and maximized that opportunity. To finally leave the tournament against 33? I have no further words.

Needless to say, the trip back home was long. I’m pleased with my play overall so I will try to remain focused on that. Hopefully I can get back up on the bike quickly.

Food break...

2006-10-02T20:19:00.000-04:00

So-so last round. Made a great play w/ pocket 7’s again. Flop comes A74. I check, one guy left in it bets 2k, I raise back 2k. He thinks and thinks. There’s two hearts on the flop. After an eternity, he calls the 2k saying anything but a heart. Another heart hits on the turn…he’s goes ape shit absolutely convinced I’m on a heart draw. I bet 4k, he folds. He was not happy.

Currently I’m sitting with 16k in chips. Moved to a table with several large stacks. Going to continue to be patient and wait for my hand. Just getting back from the diner break. Time to play some cards.

Update...

2006-10-02T17:36:00.000-04:00

Found internet connectivity...going to post my ramblings from the last few hours...

11:20am. 40 minutes until game time. I’m a little perplexed at the moment. There’s no one here. I realize I’m a little early, but generally the place would be swamped. Ton of tables set up. I checked in with the registration desk to see how many entrents are signed up thus far. I must have mis understood. I think she said 101. That just can’t be possible. Maybe she said 1001. Hmm. We shall see.

Ate breakfast at the Grand Buffet. Nothing special. Not sitting very well. One thing I will say about The Grand, their staff is very friendly. Everyone is eager to greet you. From the cleaning crew to the security, everone has a smile. Not used to that.

As I was walking into the casino this morning, walked by Barry Greenstein. So much for no big names. It’s funny to watch everyone scramble to get a photo or autograph. While While it’s certainly cool to meet and greet poker phenoms, Im just not that impressed with “poker celebrities”. I guess it’s a psychological thing. I figure if I act like everyone else and am blown away by their success, I’m setting myself up for not obtaining those same objectives. Does that make sense?

30 minutes and counting. Listening to my ipod. I enjoy listening to good music before tournaments. Certain songs help me prepare. It’s funny how certain songs can be associated with previous poker successes. In times past, I’ve often listened to music while playing online. When I’ve hit big…the songs playing during that tournament just tend to stand out. Going to listen to my favorite pre game song and head over to my table. Metallica-One. If this song doesn’t get your blood pumping, you’re a corpse.

Starting out at table #54 seat #7.

Just called my sister to wish her a happy birth-day. Happy birthday sis!

Okay, enough random banter. I’m off to the table.

........

First level was uneventfull which is probably a good thing. Barry Greestein was assigned to my table. He took a horrible beat with a PP against a guy who sucked out with a set on the river. Put him in tough position. Same guy ended up busting him at the end of the level.

Chips wise, I’ve won a few small hands. Sitting with just over my starting chips. About 10400.

Back to work.

…….

Two more levels in the can. Not a whole lot going on with my stack. Had one opportunity to capitalize on AA. Been so long since I’ve seen them…was in a state of shock. Guy called it down to the river. Figured he hit a runner runner heart flush. He only had a pair of jacks. So…that worked out.

Few hands later, I came out with a raise w/ 77 under the gun. Had two callers, Flop brings junk, I continue betting and scoop the pot. Sitting with 12500 in chips. Next round introduces and ante. Should start to heat up. I have plenty of breathing room…but would much prefer to double up soon.

…….

Rise and Shine...

2006-10-02T10:16:00.000-04:00

9am and all is well. Got a good nights sleep which was desperately needed. Tried to take a nap yesterday afternoon which was next to impossible. Finally stopped trying, got up and explored.

Life away from The Grand in Tunica is bleak. Strange little town. Aside from a casino here, and there...there's nothing here. I imagine this is what Vegas was like before it was Vegas. Ended up right back at the Grand which was fine with me. Watched a lot of football.

Today's Game Plan?
Having sat with the locals yesterday I'm going to take Survivor's creed to heart...Outwit, Outplay, Outlast. Initial thinking lends me to believe practicing strong patience will be essential. Unless I'm dealt a behemoth, I'm going to stay out of the way the first level or two, get my bearings and go from there. We shall see. I'll be bringing my laptop over there with me and hope to update accordingly at various breaks in the day.

Off to grab some grub!

Made It In One Piece!

2006-10-01T15:49:00.000-04:00

I tell you what...Tunica is not what I figured it to be. Granted, haven't seen much of it...but having spent a lot of time in Biloxi...didn't have any great expectations. Not that Biloxi was bad...I love Biloxi. But the casino's were small, and poker wise, often very cramped.

Upon arriving here in Tunica, The Grand's property is probably the biggest hotel property I've ever seen. Certainly not what I was expecting. There's not a "strip" here as you would be accustom to in Vegas or any other gambling mecas. But the Grand has it's own highway leading to the property. Kinda cool.

So I arrived before check in and my room wasn't available. I'm tired, dirty, and cranky. Luckily, good friend of mine is out here dealing. By coincidence, we're in the same hotel. Gave him a quick call and he let me lounge in his room to get a quick pit stop.

From there, took the shuttle to the main hotel/casino. Really reminds me of a larger Grand Biloxi casino...kindof on steroids. Everything seems very nicely spaced out. Went upstairs to check out the poker. Nice tables...at first glance...maybe 80 tables? Not sure.

While I was waiting for my room, decided to sit down to a $60 one table satellite. They start you out with $500 in chips. Not much. Tried to be patient....lost half my stack on a draw. Wanted to either strike first or get the hell out of dodge. At this point, just in a cranky mood. Missed my draw. Next hand, I push all in, one caller, I hit the flop. Get's just about back to even.

Two hands later, im on the BB and am dealt AQ suited. Everyone folds to the player to my right. He makes a raise 4x the BB which appears to be a steal. I say screw it and go all in. Blinds fold. He thinks, and calls like he has to. I turn over my AQ, he turns over K5 hearts. Ummm. Okay. My friends have been telling me these local yocols are loose, but cmon! I was fairly happy to see his hand until the flop came. KJ5. What the flying pig donkey! For a split second I was hopeful for my straight draw, then he turns another 5. That's that.

I need sleep.

At least it was just $60 but if that's a sign of things to come...preparing mentally now.

Okay all...lights out at 3 in the afternoon. More later. Next post will be more coherant and I'll even use spellchecker.

-Adam

All Systems Go...

2006-09-30T16:39:00.000-04:00

Heading out tonight in the wee hours of the morning for Tunica. The intent is to get there and relax as opposed to driving straight through and sitting down to a tournament. Hope to be in the hotel by 3pm tomorrow. More to follow...

Next stop…Tunica!

2006-09-29T16:45:00.000-04:00

Short notice planning…but I’m headed to Tunica this weekend to take on the main event. My posts lately have been lacking, but I do plan on keeping this up to date over the next few days. Should be fun!

If any readers are out there…let me know. This will be my first time in Tunica, so, not sure what to expect locale wise.

Special thanks to "the boys"...you know who you are. And of course the little Mrs.!

-Adam

A Good Night...

2006-09-12T10:46:00.000-04:00

Had a decent evening over on Bodog.com…
Here’s how things shaped up.

Played 2 SnG’s in preparation for the 8:30 25k guarantee. Finished 1st in both which adequately funded the MTT. I was hesitant to take part in a $30 rebuy and add-on event as I much prefer freezout formats. However, after the SnG’s I was feeling good and gave it a whirl. I’ve had a good amount of success in these nightly tournament and wanted to keep the ball rolling.

First Hour…
Bought in for $30. Received 1000 in tournament chips.
Doubled up somewhat quickly (20 minutes in).
Doubled up again right before first break which allowed me the comfort of not having to re-buy during the first hour.
Added on one time for an additional $30. Add on provided 2k in tournament chips.
Sitting with 7k in chps.

Second Hour…
Took a pretty hard hit. Got a little aggressive with a quality starting hand but missed every way possible way on the flop and turn against an eager opponent. Tried to bluff the pot after the turn to no avail which left me short stacked.
Battled hard to survive and was met with good fortune when I found AA in the hole. Raise ahead of me, I push all in, small blind calls along with the original raiser. Trippled up with AA in the small blind against 99 and JJ.
Sitting just above average at 2nd break.

Third Hour…
After the 3rd break I find myself in the money with 38 places paying. However, I’m short stacked and need to make a move. Next pay increase at the 27th spot.
I survive barely with a very depleted stack but practice patience waiting on a double up hand. Big blind coming my way which is only about a ¼ of my stack. Time to make a move. Luckily I time it out where I squeek into the next pay grade. Make my move with suited connectors. One caller. His A high wins as nothing improves my hand.

Finished up 27th. Second level into the money...not horrible.
I’m determined to make a final table in this tournament. Bodog is fronting a good chunk of change for this tournament as I have not yet seen where the guarantee has been met by the player’s buy-ins. First place pays over 6k with 2nd and 3rd also providing a nice chunk.

Current Bankroll:
Bodog: $440
Titan: $150
PokerStars: $15

Total: $605

Technorati Tags: bodog, pokerstars, wsop, poker, world series of poker, pokerxtreme.com,

Stop, Reflect, and Remember...

2006-09-11T11:53:00.000-04:00

Before I talk about anything poker related, I wanted to take a moment and reflect on the events of 9/11. Today marks the 5 years anniversary of the tragic acts that took so many lives and I feel it necessary to stop, reflect, and remember.

It’s easy to get caught up in ones day to day activities. It’s easy to take the material things you possess for granted. And it’s even easier to take the people you love for granted. I am grateful for my wife, my family and my friends. I’m grateful that I have loving pets and a roof over my head. All of the other stuff, poker, internet, t.v., etc…it’s just extra. I’m thankful that I can bring these small luxuries into my life…but in reality, if not for family, friends, and especially my wife, I would not be the person that I am. So, to them I say I love you and I appreciate you.

9/11 really disturbed me on a very deep level. Watching the events unfold from afar left me feeling empty. That emptiness soon turned to anger and to some extent, hatred. 5 years have passed. Is our country any better off? I’ll leave the answers to the political types. However, I fear the answers.

My thoughts and prayers remain with the families of those that lost lives that day. And to those that continue to fight for our country in far off lands.

Poker…
Okay…that’ll be my “deep post” for a while. As for poker. Really didn’t play that much this weekend. Did a little Saturday evening which resulted in a few SnG’s and a small profit. Played in a $50 MTT last night which had been going well. Found myself 18 places away from the money and on the short stack side. Made a move with KK and was beaten with QJ. That crippled me resulting in a near bubble departure.

For those that think bad beats only happen on “insert poker site here”, get real. I’ve now given bodog.com a good honest test, and in the end, while the quality of player is a little different, the percentages of various beats are almost exactly the same for me. I see the same crap on bodog that I do on stars. After everything is said and done, it’s not that “strange” things are happening; you’re simply seeing more hands which result in a greater variance of interesting hands. Some of which you lose, some of which you win. How many times has the river helped you? This is a simple stat most people often overlook when they bitch and moan about personalized bad beats they think they endure. I chalk that up to the negative always outweighing the positive. You see it all the time in the business world when customer satisfaction is explored, same holds true for poker. People are always more apt to talk about the piss pour hands they encounter. Anyhoo…

So, current bankroll:
Bodog: $279
Titan: $150
PokerStars: $15

Total: $444

Not great…but not horrible. Things are moving a lot slower than I would like. But I also take into consideration the amount of time recently spent on pokerxtreme.com. Now that pokerxtreme is functional, I should be able to get my bankroll kick started. I would very much like to make a final table this week on a MTT. That will be my goal!

Good luck all!

Technorati Tags: 9/11, 9/11 anniversary, poker, bodog, pokerstars, bodog.com, pokerstars.com, titan poker

Friday Stuff...

2006-09-08T11:35:00.000-04:00

Friday…ahhh…
Very glad this week is drawing to a close. Despite a short work week, just one of them weeks!

Had a decent evening last night poker wise. Still going strong with bodog.com and thus far, the bankroll slowly increases. I’ve become a fan of bodog’s 25k guaranteed nightly event at 8:30. 2 for 3 hitting the money. Last night was a situation where I never really had a commanding chip stack, and for the life of me could not find the right opportunities to get ahead of the game. But after battling my way through the field, I ended up with a 35th place finish. 36 spots paid.

On the PokerXtreme.com front…
We’re moving right along. We surpassed our 50 member mark last night and have good momentum going into the weekend. I hope to double that number by next week. Membership is still free and of course will always remain free. However, it looks like next week we will begin the paid portion of the site that will allow for the interaction with pro’s and semi pros. Tournaments and ring games for pokerxtreme.com members should also be launching next week on pokerstars and titan. More news on that as I get it.

In Other News…
Yet another project. Working on a collaboration that will enter me into the world of Podcasting. Really excited about this. We’re working out the details now and should be able to share much more real soon. We’re looking to really do something different in the poker industry via this medium. I honestly feel quality poker content is lacking. This should solve that problem!

Short and sweet update today. I hope to get in some decent poker time this weekend and will be sharing as I go.

Best of luck

Technorati Tags: poker, wsop, bodog.com, pokerxtreme.com, pokerstars.com, titanpoker.com

PokerXtreme, Bodog, and Steve Irwin...

2006-09-04T21:52:00.000-04:00

Xtreme Update...
Alright...time to get back to business and get my blog back in order.
Yeah...lot's of stuff going on over at pokerxtreme.com...but now that
we're launched for the most part, I'm going to be back to my normal
blogging self. Now that we are live and off to a good start, the
intent is not to over saturate this area with pokerxtreme this,
pokerxtreme that....but, it is now part of my day to day
activities...so, the thinking is that it might be semi-interesting to
blog about the upkeep of a poker related community. Whether it actually is
interesting, I'll leave that up to my readers. Feel free to leave a
comment and let me know.

So, my heads been so far up this site's ass, I've had little time to
play poker. However, this weekend has allowed me to get back into a
semi groove. I've decided to relax this weekend and not market the
site hard core. After weeks of non stop work, I needed this weekend to
myself.

Half-Assed Bodog.com Review...
After a bunch of family stuff and various random household chores, I
was finally able to get online last night and play some frickin'
poker. Unfortunately, I've gone belly up at pokerstars which has been
a hard pill to swallow. I've just become so accustom to stars, that
playing anywhere else just seems alien. However, this brings me to one
of the main reasons I felt inspired to blog this evening. This weekend
has afforded me my first chance to truly give bodog.com a fair chance.
And I must say, I am pleasantly surprised. Actually, very surprised.

I'm sure many have covered long lists of features and various pro's and con's...so I'll just stick to my own thoughts here.

After the adjustment period to various options and settings, I quickly
found that I was enjoying my sessions here. A funny little side note.
I accidentally joined a pot limit SnG which absolutely nobody wanted to
join, and for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how to opt out of
the tournament and refund my buy-in. Stars has a "un-register" option
for dummy's like me. After searching hi and low, I finally decided to
write bodogs support and request assistance. Their response? Click
the X at the top of the window. It was at this point that I realized
I've been dedicated to stars WAY too long. Granted, I still love
stars...but I think i'm starting to like exploring other options.

So, overall, the play has been interesting. I started the weekend with
bodog at $100. I'm up to $220. Not a monumental score, but the action
has been very much geared to my game play. I've played a few SnG's
along with a few smaller MTT's. Thus far, I've cashed in all but one
of the MTT's and have hit the money is 4 out of 6 SnG's.

I purposely started with lower stakes to get a feel for what I'm up
against. I'm in the process of upping it up a notch. Currently
playing in a $30 MTT. So far, so good. Got a way's to go.

Graphics are clean. The table options are cool. The picture in
picture approach is interesting. I can see using this in the future.
However, I like to associate player graphics with their game play.
When you have the smaller pic in pic...it's hard to keep that
mentality. We'll see. The betting options are okay I guess. However,
when you're not all in, or betting the pot, getting the betting slider
where you want it is kind of a pain in the ass. Overall though, I do
like the table layouts, color options, etc. I like the ability to
upload your own image and create a profile of sorts. It's a very clean
interface. I especially liked the ease of finding tournaments to suit
your needs. I actually found it a little easier than pokerstars. I'll
always love stars for the sheer amount of tournament options it puts
out there...but sorting through everything can be tedious. Bodog just
seemed to be more organized. That may be due to less tournament
options, but we shall see. One thing I would like to see more poker
rooms incorporate is the ability to sort with more than one options.
For example, sorting by buying, and status would make my life so much
easier. I think I've seen this on other sites, but I have no idea
which. Long story short, I would love to sort my tournament options
similar to how Microsoft excel functions.

Last but not least, the players I've come across thus far are loose,
and friendly. A strange combination. The play really reminds me
action circa 2002 at stars. The tournament fields are more realistic
and not a lottery. Every tournament at stars is incredibly high.
Hence why I really like the 180 person max tourneys. However, being in
fields of 150-250 players with normal buyins is a welcome change.

All in all, high praise for bodog. A very welcome surprise. Makes me
wonder what else I'm missing. Some day there WILL be a poker room that
incorporates ALL of the pro's and really limits the cons. Any
investors out there? =)

Steve Irwin...
I'm sure by the time everyone reads my little blog here, all will be
well aware of the circumstances around Steve Irwin's death earlier
today. Obviously not a poker topic, but this really sucked to hear
about. My wife and I were huge Crocodile Hunter fans and this really
took us by surprise. My dad this morning was calling at 7a.m. to share
the news. I woke up to the call and picked up the phone and asked "who
died". When he told me the story, I obviously felt like shit. But
part of me thought there was some joke coming at the end of the story.
Sadly it never came. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and
friends.

Few years ago I actually dressed up as the Crocodile Hunter for a
Halloween party. I'm lame, i realize. But you know you want to see
those pics. Maybe later this week, heh.

Alright, that's enough for now. Need to go spread the word on myspace.com about pokerxtreme.com, heh.

Best of luck at the tables!
Adam

Technorati Tags: pokerxtreme.com, xtreme poker, pokerstars.com, bodog.com, myspace.com, steve irwin, bodog review

PokerStars.com launches new SnG's

2006-08-29T22:51:00.000-04:00

Sitting here playing tonight and just received the following notification in game:

Administrator: New SNGs: we have just launched new Sit&Go tournaments, offering a wider variety (and higher buy-ins) for HORSE, HOSE, and Razz. Enjoy!

Figured it worth mentioning...Been waiting on these for a LONG time on stars. Long over due in my humble opinion. Anxoius to hear others thoughts on it.

Lates...

Oh...and go check out www.pokerxtreme.com gosh darnit!

Adam

Technorati Tags: pokerstars.com, sng, horse, hose, razz, SNGs, pokerxtreme.com, wsop, hold em

Launching PokerXtreme.com

2006-08-29T11:34:00.000-04:00

Today’s the day…
Please check out PokerXtreme.com.

While this remains a “work in progress”, I believe we’re at a stage where it’s time to open this up to the masses. Registration is entirely free as we build our user base. Semi-Pro’s and Professional poker players are strongly encouraged to get on board early as you will have the ability to provide your services to the masses first.

What exactly is PokerXtreme.com? Good question. Let me sum it up like this:
Imagine a cross between rec.gambling.poker, myspace, and match.com. Combine the three and you have PokerXtreme.com.

We’re biting off quite a large chunk here…but I have faith that this will appeal to poker enthusiasts. In the end, it’s been really fun developing this site and I only hope to continue adding on. We have a lot of functionality in store for the site and entirely believe our members will be thrilled.

Anyhoo, check us out and let me know your thoughts, questions, or concerns. I thoroughly believe the success of this site will be dependant on the feedback form members and the actions we take as a result. This will be a site for the players, by the players. Yes, sounds cliché, but that’s what I envision.

Thanks all!

Technorati Tags: www.pokerxtreme.com, pokerxtreme.com, rec.gambling.poker, match.com, myspace.com, poker for myspace, pokerspace, mypokerpsace, poker, wsop, hold em, world series of poker

On Tilt...

2006-08-28T11:04:00.000-04:00

Okay…so I’m not sure if my head is necessarily above water just yet. However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Although, that might be a train. We shall see.

Here’s the latest.
I’m pretty much done with the backbone on the site I’ve been talking about. We’ve been testing it over the weekend and feel pretty good about it. No major bumps, so that’s a good thing. Throughout the day, I’ll be securing certain areas and getting it ready for the masses so to speak. As soon as I get that accomplished, I’ll be posting a link here. Good feedback thus far, so I’m very excited.

On the poker front…
Didn’t play much Friday and Saturday…but did get a good chunk in yesterday. I was intent on getting in the $500 MTT on stars via satellites…but that didn’t pan out. I ended up a little scattered brained later on in the day. It’s sad when McDonalds and a renegade hair dresser can put you on tilt. I was doing great with SnG’s and what not…left to go grab a bite to eat. Decided to get a quick haircut. Apparently this “hair dresser” was out the day when teaching the use of clippers. Sigh. I miss my barber. From there, went through the drive through and was asked to pull forward since they had to cook fresh McNuggets. Frickin’ 10 minutes later I’m still sitting there with my thumb up my ass. I go inside to which I’m greeted with an “oh…we forgot about you”. I was livid. I get my food, leave…only to realize they forgot the BBQ sauce! AAAARGH. So…now I fucking have a Slingblade looking haircut and I’m without BBQ sauce…needless to say, it took a while to cool off upon returning home.

Once things calmed down in my noggin’, I got on a pretty good roll with SnG’s…ended up plus for the day and went to bed early. Although, upon waking up this morning…I realize I still have a slingblade looking haircut. Sigh.

On that note…more to follow. Hopefully I’ll have some good news on the site later today.

Later

Technorati Tags: poker, wsop, hold em, mcdonalds, slingblade

Getting Back Above Water...

2006-08-22T11:12:00.000-04:00

Okay, I’ve been a horrible blogger this last week. For that, I apologize. However, I should have my head back above water late this week.

The side project I’ve been speaking of has pretty much consumed my time. I’m pleased to report that the development of this project should be at its end early next week. For those curious about what I’m working on, I’ll be releasing extensive details this week here on my blog. I’ll also be opening the site up for early beta testing as soon as tomorrow. If anyone is interested, please let me know directly and I’ll gladly involve you. Click Here to do so.

At this point, what I can tell you is that this site is obviously poker related. It’s geared toward a community setting for poker enthusiasts with technology that makes this community experience unlike any other poker community out there. It’s more than just your typical forums. If you want to be one of the first few to check it out, let me know. I could use some quality testers.

Anyhoo…on to poker stuff.
While my playing time has been limited, I of course have made some time to take part in my daily fix. With limited time, I find my results are somewhat limited…but I do have positive news to share.

As I recently stated, I reset my pokerstars account to $150.
Over the past week, that $150 turned into $4 whole dollars. That was an eye opener. This obviously bummed me out, but I did not admit defeat. I had $40 left on bodog and $27 over on Titan. Decided to work on those sites for a few days to cure the pokerstars withdrawal. Here’s a current breakdown.

$200 on Titan
$120 on Bodog
$70 on Stars

Total: $390

A few notes.

If you reset your bankroll on any given site, you damn well better adjust your approach. While I thought I had a decent game plan for Stars, I put too much faith in the poker gods. While I saw my roll depleting, I just said to myself, it’ll turn around if I just keep playing my game. I played my game, but continued to be faced with variances that I could not address with this bankroll. I was playing the wrong tournaments. So, when you make an adjust to your roll, make sure you’re playing the right buy-in events.

I’ve had my head so far up pokerstars ass the past few years, adjusting to a different site can actually affect your game. While I made the necessary adjustments, I found when I first went over to Titan and Bodog, I didn’t take it seriously right away. In times past, I casually put a few bucks on this site or that site to check it out and take part in various bonus promotions. But with the majority of my bankroll always being with pokerstars, I created a mindset that the money I had on these others sites was nothing more than funny money. Change that line of thinking if you ever find yourself in that situation. Once I got over that mentality, I actually found the tournaments on bodog and titan to be very loose. I was reminded of tournaments on Stars 4 years ago. I played in titan’s $25k guarantee Sunday and found the path to the money to almost be simplistic if you just stick to your game. I played a tight/aggressive game and finished 26th. Obviously would have liked to do better, but I felt good at the end of the day.

Give yourself time to adjust to the different graphic interface and options. I’m so used to Stars that I was getting extremely frustrated when I couldn’t find quickly the payouts on a tournament while playing at bodog. I was in a re-buy event and obviously couldn’t determine the payouts until after the first break. When the break finished, I couldn’t find the right link to determine that information to save my life. I finally found it…but jesus, shouldn’t be that hard to determine. In the end, it was my own stupidity for not familiarizing myself with the software ahead of time. So, in the end, it helps to know your options ahead of time as opposed to the middle of a tournament.

Not sure how I feel about having my bankroll spread out on a few different sites. I may keep it the way it’s going, I may consolidate back to stars. Not sure. I’m encouraged I took the $4 on stars and turned that back into $70. I may just see where that takes me before making any adjustments. We shall see.

During the past week, I’ve received several quality emails asking very specific questions about my play and strategy in certain situations. I will be sharing a few of these questions over the next few days. I think the questions posed are worthy of discussion and I will be happy to share.

Thanks everyone and good luck at the tables!

Technorati Tags: poker, hold em, bodog, titan, pokerstars, adam labare

Poker, Projects, and World Trade Center

2006-08-14T09:55:00.000-04:00

Rode the proverbial poker roller coaster this weekend. Didn’t play much at all Saturday. Spent the day floating down a river on a tube. Was fairly relaxing and a good day overall. The Florida sun apparently is mad at me though which has resulted in the fine burning of my skin. Sigh.

Got to play a chunk on Sunday. Was doing pretty well on 6 person SnG’s. Got back to even and decided to donk it all away on a $38 table. Amazing how cards can be going one way, change your buy-in, and BAM…like night and day. I would normally consider the fact that I’m playing with a different type of player…but in this case, that was not the scenario. These people were idiots too. I just couldn’t hit a flop worth a damn and my stealing backfired on several occasion. Oh well…today is a new day.

Side Project…
I’m hoping to gain some momentum on this today. I had grand aspirations for progress over the weekend, but that did not work out as planned. For those curious as to what I’m working on. I’m not going to shed a whole lot of light just yet. However, I will say that I have quite a few different poker domains that I have tinkered with on and off for the last couple of years. I did some brainstorming last week on how I can re-ignite a flame on one of these sites and came up with an entirely different model that may be of interest to those in the poker community. Long story short, I’ve not really seen this done to the extent that I am able to bring forth. Will it catch on? Who knows. I would like to think so. We shall soon find out.

Movie Review Time…

World Trade Center
8 out of 10 stars
Okay…I’ve not really prepared any sort of internal monologue for this movie review therefore I will be writing this from the hip so to speak. First things first, I did NOT want to see this movie. I refused to see Flight 93. I felt it was just too soon to be subjecting this tragedy to the scrutiny of Hollywood. Plus, as a red blooded American, this was clearly the worst tragedy I’ve ever been subjected too in my short life. I was a kid when the shuttle exploded, various skirmishes over seas with other countries never really hit home, etc. But this was the first real world event of my adult life that shook me to my very foundation. I remember the events like they happened just yesterday. They disturbed me, they angered me, they saddened me. I wept.

So, subjecting myself to the re-telling of these stories was not something I wanted to endure. I lived through it once. Why on earth would I want to do it again?

You need to see this movie.

While not the greatest movie ever made; I do believe it is an extremely important story. I’ll sum it up like this: For 5 years we’ve heard nothing but horror stories involving the lives lost and the families that have suffered as a result. We’ve heard about the horrible war being fought over seas with more senseless death. However, this story is not about death. It is about survival. This movie centered on the Port Authority Police Department in NYC and the courageous job they did. Sure, plenty of death in this movie. But, the story around the two main characters in this movie was inspiring and a story worth telling. For those expecting Oliver Stone to take some strange approach to the whole thing, worry not. Oliver Stone tells this story with dignity and respect.

I recommend this movie, highly.

On that note, I’m going to sign off. Lots to do today. Good luck everyone.

Technorati Tags: Poker, side project, World Trade Center Review, world series of poker, wsop, hold em

Side Project...

2006-08-10T09:56:00.000-04:00

Hey all...
Bear with me and my lack of posts yesterday and today. I'm working on a side project that may be of interest to some of you. When I get these little initiatives in my noggin', I tend to go balls to the wall until I finish. Should have things ready late today if not tomorrow morning. Depends on how much real work I have in store for me today.

Take down some damn pots!
-Adam

Technorati Tags: poker, wsop, world series of poker, adam labare

Odds, Ends, and a Memorial for Hector

2006-08-08T10:16:00.000-04:00

Not a very productive evening, that’s for sure. Played in a 6 person SnG which pretty much summarized my entire evening. Imagine if you will sitting down to this table, and in the first 20 minutes being dealt AA 3 times, KK 2 times, QQ once, JJ Once, 1010, once, and 99 once. I hit trips on all hands but 2 of them…yet still won those hands. Got to a point where people were so afraid to be against me, they were just folding after the flop even though it was free to check. 20 minutes in, and I’m heads up with a huge stack. I still end up placing 2nd. Sigh.

Was just one of those nights. I ended up calling it an early evening. If I couldn’t take a first place finish with those cards, I didn’t deserve to be playing last night. So, off to bed I went.

Odds and Ends…

Having been on vacation for a week and a day, had the opportunity to catch quite a few movies. While perhaps a little outdated, I’ll share my brief thoughts and review each.

Miami Vice
6 out of 10 stars
Growing up in the late 70’s and 80’s, how could I NOT be a fan of Miami Vice? I loved this show. Hell, my Mom and I would make a point to do the whole “bonding” thing every Friday night as she was just as big of a fan. Pastel T-shirts with a jacket…how cool was I? Cough. Anyway…when I first heard of this movie, I was pretty excited. At first, I wasn’t sure how I felt about Colin Farrell and Jamie Fox playing Crockett and Tubs but after a few previews, I let myself go with it. So, first day of my vacation was that opening Friday, and with a wife that absolutely did not want to see this movie, I caught a matinee while she was stuck at work which was probably best. She would have hated this movie. Myself? Well, I liked it…but it wasn’t all that I thought it could be. I understood that Michael Mann didn’t want it to be like the show…but I think they were safe with the lead actors anyway. But all in all, it was certainly a guys movie. Plenty of shoot em up scenes. Some really cool scenes at that. But in the end, I found the movie to be lacking. I think the romantic interest was stupid and unnecessary. At the very least, it could have been done far differently to present some sort of interest. Jamie Fox didn’t play as large of a part as I was thinking. Granted, it always WAS about Sonny, but I expected a little more “team work” I guess. Long story short, the movie had far too many holes for me. I almost found the ending comical as they purposely left it wide open for a sequel. If the movie was good enough, make a sequel. Don’t make the first in a potential movie franchise so blatantly obvious. On the positive side, I did like the cinematography and the way this movie was shot. The first person angles and distorted pictures were almost overkill, but it was true Michael Mann and I liked it. I recommend this movie only if you go into it with the right frame of mind.

Ricky Bobby
8 out of 10 stars
For this movie to be the second largest opening for a comedy was well deserved. Who knew Bruce Almighty has the record for the largest comedic opening? Odd. Anyway, this movie was just all out funny. The only down side to this movie is that some of the comedy felt forced and there were a few slow spots for plot. While Will Ferrell could certainly carry this movie, Sacha Baron Cohen makes the movie. I’ve caught the Ali G show on HBO a few times and found it good for a few laughs…but I haven’t given this guy enough credit. I’ve seen more and more of him lately, and he’s just funny as hell. All in all, Ricky Bobby was a funny ass movie. A little predicable, but it doesn’t all end up exactly how you think it will. I’m sure this movie will be quoted for some time to come. Good stuff!

John Tucker Must Die
4 out of 10 stars
Okay…disclaimer. My wife made me see this movie. Personally, I thought this teenie bobber movie sucked. There were a few funny parts, but cmon! Perdictable to a fault, mediocore laughs, etc. I knew I was in trouble when literally, I was the only guy in the theater. Sigh. Don’t waste your money on this. Can’t believe I’m reviewing this movie.

My Super Ex-Girlfriend
7 out of 10 stars
Having seen John Tucker Must Die the day before and my wife prodding me to go see this with her, needless to say, I was not geared up to see this movie. I just felt it would be to contrived and obvious. I was wrong. I really enjoyed this movie. It was actually quite funny. Really wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. I’m glad I gave this movie a chance. A welcome surprise. Go check this one out if you haven’t already. Granted, it’s not a Ricky Bobby, but it’s good.

A Memorial…
So, we’re on vacation and arrive at our cabin to glorious views and a very relaxing setting. 10 minutes in and we’re just settling in and all of a sudden, WHACK!!! Something just crashed into the front door window. Without any idea what this could have been, my wife opens the front door to discover a quite dead green bird. Of course she freaks out a little and wants me to miracously bring this bird back to life. The blood around it’s beak led me to believe this would not be possible. However, a happy wife on vacation makes for a good vacation. So, I pick this bird up and do my best bird CPR. I watch as much Animal Planet as the next guy, but this bird was not coming back. So, stupid me should have left well enough alone. But this was the first interesting thing to happen on our adventure, so I get the camera and take a picture of this little guy. Apparently, I was being disrespectful to the bird according to my wife so, as a result, I promised to write a eulogy/memorial. Here Goes…

Hector The Bird
Born: ? - Died: July 2006

Hector lived a simple life and will live on in our hearts forever.
Going from tree to tree, to cabin window, Hector was a free spirit.
We will always remember you Hector.
You made this world a better place.
You will be missed.
Adios my friend…adios!

I need to play some poker...sigh!
-Adam

Technorati Tags: poker, wsop, world series of poker, miami vice, ricky bobby, John Tucker Must Die, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Will Ferrell, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jamie Fox, Colin Farrell

I'm Back!

2006-08-07T11:40:00.000-04:00

Ahhh…
Back to reality. Been some time since my last post. However, the vacation was very much needed. While away, I managed to play zero hours of poker which was actually enjoyable. Was good to give my mind a rest. Was out of town for 5 days and started to get back into the poker groove last Friday. Nothing to report however as I have not done jack shit since my return in the way of winnings. I have decided to “reset” though. Meaning that I withdrew what funds I had in my stars account and left $150 in there to work with. Sort of wanted to start fresh, with a clear mind and specific goals. Here’s the plan:

Start: $150
Every time I double the original $150, I plan on removing 30% as incentive. The extracted amounts will be placed in a separate banking account.
So, for example, I build the $150 to $300 and will remove 30% which is $90 and place that in a separate savings account. Build the $300 to $600 and remove $180. So on and so forth.

I’m not exactly sure how this will work out. But one thing’s for sure, I want to start feeling the fruits of my labor if that makes sense. If I want to seriously pursue a tournament circuit, I need to start approaching this more logically and with a specific purpose. So, play my game, put money away, keep focused. The end goal will be to participate in as many big buyin tournaments that I can over the next year.

Current Bankroll: $99

Heh…laughable I know. Came back from vacation and haven’t seen a decent run of cards yet. So, here’s hoping I can make something happen tonight and get back on track.

Vacation…
Long story short, it was everything I could have possibly hoped for. The view from our cabin was beyond our expectations. It was just pure relaxation. No need to rush anywhere, no need to over plan. We relaxed in our cabin, did the tourist stuff in Gatlinburg, went to DollyWood (big disappointment), saw deer, bears, and turkey, ate far too much, etc. etc.

Took some pics if anyone is interested: Click Here
I'll be sharing some of my favorites in tomorrow's post.

Anyhoo…
Today’s post will be short as I have a LOT of catching up to do on the work front. I should be back in the swing of things come tomorrow.

Take care,
Adam

Technorati Tags: poker, pokerstars.com, wsop, world series of poker, vacation

Poo To Be Flung At Phil Hellmuth?

2006-07-27T10:33:00.000-04:00

Not a whole lot to report today. Apparently I suck at poker though. So, that’s good to know. Played in a local tournament last night and was waiting patiently. Ended up getting mixed up with my 1010 against AK who in turn hit an A on the flop. That hurt a wee bit. Stack continued to dwindle some. Then found myself with AJ suited. Made a good raise pre flop. One guy calls. And before I play this out…have you ever been to a game where one kid brings his father who you can tell has never played before but is trying to make up for lost years avoiding by spending as much time with his awkward son that he can? Probably has a few years left in him and is wanting to make up for all the lost time when his kid was growing up. Probably out boozing and spending money on whores while his wife stays at home wiping the snot off of this kids nose as a back street boys song plays in the background. Anyway, this is the type of old guy that simply plays any A as if it were AK. So, my AJ spades bumps it preflop. He calls. Flop comes 248 clubs. I’m first to act. I make a play at the pot. Call it a bluff, call it stupidity, whatever. All my chips go in. He insta-calls and turns over A7 clubs for the nut flush. I get up and simply say “that’s how it goes”, while mumbling “you fucking old donkey whore loving moron”. In the end, I can’t really blame the guy. I remember the day’s when any suited A looked appealing. I just have a hard time reasoning how he could call a 2k raise pre-flop with blinds at 200-400. I need a vacation. One more day, one more day….sigh.

After that debacle, got home and played small $12 SnG. Placed second. Woo hoo. Called it a night.

Funny little story while I was at that tournament last night. Since I’m still getting an amazing amount of traffic on this damn pokershare.net Monkey Business, here you go:

Apparently when you have an affiliate code for various poker sites, you can go around to all the home games and tell everyone you work for that site, heh. This guy last night is spouting off about pokershare.net and the fact that they’re sending a chimpanzee to the WSOP. I respond by saying, yeah…got that email a week ago, funny stuff. He goes on to say how “we” as in pokershare.net have spent the last year training this chimp how to handle chips and discard cards, etc. Apparently, they’re really bringing this damn monkey out there and sitting him at a table. From what I understand, they’re going to remove the monkey as soon as he has an “episode”. And the way this guy said it, I really envisioned this damn thing flinging poo at Hellmuth, which would be glorious.

Anyway, the training provided to this monkey dictates that he really only has two moves. Either match the chips in the pot, or push his whole stack in. Also, should the chimp knock you out, pokershare.net will pay your entry into next years main event. Part of me thinks, if you’re beat by a monkey, you don’t deserve to be playing next year…but that’s because I’m bitter. Otherwise, I think it’s cool of pokershare to do that. And being that the rules do not state anything about non humans playing in the event, how much do you want to bet next year will bring a rule revision? I still find it hard to believe Harrahs will allow this to take place. While funny, and I’m sure great for ESPN, it will hurt the game. Whatever…

Anyway, I’m going to get some real work done.
-Adam

Technorati Tags: poker, wsop, world series of poker, mikey the poker chimp, pokershare.net, monkey, poker monkey, phil hellmuth, monkey business

I Miss My Donkey and other Ramblings...

2006-07-26T10:16:00.000-04:00

Poker was limited again last night. Spent the better part of the evening installing Sirius Satellite Radio into the new car. I’ve been a fan of Sirius for a long time now and didn’t hesitate to get it in the new ride. Went fairly easy. Decided not to dissect the factory radio and added on. Ended up pretty nice. The Sirius receiver resides very nicely in the middle of the console. So far, so good.

On the poker front specifically, what little I did play last night did not turn out well at all. Finished second in a 1 table SnG. However, I had been sailing along in a 180 person tournament when my QQ all in was called by A9 off. I’m not going to whine in excess…but we’re about 15 people away from the money. My stack is average as is this guy with A9. I was very surprised this guy called my preflop bet. But that’s how it goes. I’ll live to fight another day.

After being knocked out of that, I took my ball and went home. Was too late to start anything else productive.

I Had a Dream…
What a frickin’ strange dream I had last night. Yeah, I’m a dork, I dream about playing poker. Go figure. But this was weird. I was in a huge tournament where the buyin must have been 10k. Spent a few days weeding through the field and finally made it to the final table. Few people were knocked out leaving 3 people fairly evenly stacked. At this point, the tournament director gets involved and proclaims that at this stage, all of our names would be put in a hat and that he would choose one name. Winner take all. Prize money was 7 million. I didn’t feel a need to dispute this action in the dream. However, when they pulled another guy’s name and declared him the winner, I was SUPER PISSED. I got extremely mad in the dream that I didn’t even think to negotiate a deal before the name was drawn. For example, whomever is declared a winner, give 1 million each to the other two…etc. Something to that affect. I was seriously irate that I didn’t negotiate some sort of deal.

What does it all mean? Who the hell knows. It was odd that I was taking it so seriously in the dream especially being that I very rarely try to deal at a final table. I recall being really hung up on the fact that I was so close to 7 million dollars and am walking away with nothing. I was heartbroken in this dream. I actually woke up in a pissy mood.

Sigh…
I’m retarded.

On the Vacation Front…
We’re going up a day earlier. I called the place yesterday just to confirm my reservations. During this conversation, they very nicely offered me an extra day at half the cost. We were like “hell yeah!”. So, we’ll be leaving in the wee hours of the morning Saturday for the hills of Tennessee. I hope the moonshine is all they make it out to be!

Stuff I’m Reading…
Every now and again I like to list a few of the blogs that I patron on a regular basis. Least I can do. Listed in no particular order. Check these sites out:

Joe over at Hold Em Authority has a great article on Head’s Up strategy. A good read. Very insightful.
Bloody P over at Back-Alley Mugging sounds like he scored a SWEET RIDE himself. Check it out! Nice scooter you silly savage you!
Rod is back over at the Gamblers Insight. After a brief hiatus, looks like he’s back on track with some great content. Anxious to read more.
BigPirate has some great insight on patterns and observations over on his little blog, A Pirate’s Life for me.
Check out Ohio Mike over at Life, The Universe, and Poker. More good stuff!
I’m always checking in on Missing Flops The Texas Holdem Blog.
Pauley over on the Tao of Poker apparently is in no need of sleep as he has more gigs in Vegas than a $5 prostitute. Crazy!
I still check in all the time over at Guinness and Poker hoping and praying that one day soon, I’ll get a mention. Hehe. Bonus Code: IGGY for crying out loud!
Been enjoying Poker Road Trips by Gary Carson. Good stuff I say!

Review…

Clerks II
9 out of 10 Stars
I forgot to mention this over the weekend…but if you haven’t done so, go see Clerks II. This was the funniest movie I’ve seen in a LONG TIME! Seriously, I laughed throughout the entire thing. There’s one quote that continues to resonate in my mind, “I miss my donkey”.
Go see the movie!

Okay…that’s enough for today. May your first child be a masculine child!

Technorati Tags: poker, wsop, world series of poker, adam labare, clerks ii, the godfather, gary carson, guinness and poker, tao of poker, missing flops the texas holdem blog, life, the universe and poker, a pirate's life for me, gamblers insight, back-alley mugging, hold em authority

New Car...

2006-07-25T10:57:00.000-04:00

So I bought a new car last night. Well, let me re-phrase. My wife and I bought a new car last night. It’s a great feeling to extract your poker winnings, walk in to a dealership and state “I’m paying cash and I want this car”. Or so I’m told. I wouldn’t know. Ended up financing the car for 832 months with a 48% rate. I think we got a good deal.

Okay, that wasn’t entirely true. But after everything is said and done, walked away with a new Mustang. I had been wanting to get back into an SUV for some time now and had every intention of doing so yesterday when we walked in. But the numbers were just not right. I’ve been driving a 2000 Mustang for the last 3 years…and while I enjoyed it starting out, it quickly became “just another car” when I screwed up my sound system royally. Hadn’t been the same since. Made the mistake of installing my new receiver only to be foiled by Fords version of amplified wiring. What a cluster fuck. I’d been installing radios in my cars since I was a teenager and never had such problems. Needless to say, I’m not screwing with this radio, that’s for damn sure.

I love this car though. I’ve admired the new Mustang body style since it first came to press a while back. It’s night and day compared to previous models. It’s a great blend of retro and new flare. Long story short, I love this thing!

Poker wise…
Didn’t play much at all last night. We sat in the dealership for over 4 hours…by the time I got home, felt like I just played in a two day event…and was mentally drained. Played a SnG, lost bad, went to bed.

Life lesson #48: Don’t play poker after spending 4.5 hours purchasing a new car.

Perhaps tonight I’ll be able to get the ball rolling again. Anxious to sit down to a nice, warm, cozy MTT. More to follow…

-Adam

Technorati Tags: poker, mustang, ford mustang, wsop, world series of poker, poker, texas hold em

Magilla Gorilla The Poo Slinger

2006-07-24T14:40:00.000-04:00

As a blogger, I find myself obsessed with statistics and learning as much as possible about my visitors and trends. Obviously, some postings of mine will be more popular and mainstream than others. I understand that and accept that of course. For instance, my articles on winning online tournaments have been extremely popular, but let me just ask a question…

How in the hell can my damn monkey posting be one of my most visited postings ever on this blog?

I mean the sheer amount of visitors to this one post almost makes google ads worthwhile, lol. Okay, that’s a stretch…but still. I’m getting people searching via google on keyword phrases such as “monkeys having sex with bananas”, etc. What in sams hell are you looking for monkeys having sex with banana’s for? Christ! “Monkeys flinging poop”…I might be able to understand, “Monkey Reproduction”, okay…your into biology/science, I get it…I can live with that…but “Monkey Sex with Banana’s”, unless your name is frickin’ Magilla Gorilla, you’re just sick.

So anyway…
Fairly anti-climatic weekend poker wise. First weekend in a long while I did not participate in anything WSOP related. Was somewhat refreshing actually. I played in a one table satellite to the 1 million guarantee on Stars and won my entry on my first attempt. Was like a moment of clarity. Almost eerie.

Went into the big tourney Sunday with grand aspirations. A small little voice way in the back of my head saying, make the final table, go to Vegas with the profits, take the wife on a GREAT vacation, etc. But then reality hit me like a mack truck when my JJ faced AA early in the tournament. I’ve wizened up a bit with Jacks and didn’t place my entire stack on the line. But I did loose a large amount on that hand. Next hour and a half I battled my way back to the tournament average and was very impressed with the amount of chips I recouped. But just when I thought I was safe for a while…just got back from the second break. Find myself on the BB with AK suited. Everyone folds to me; I make a large raise, happy to just scoop the blinds. SB folds, BB calls the raise. Flop comes A J rag. My thinking puts him on a mid pair or a weak A. He pops out a small bet. Smells fishy. I pop back to get a better understanding. He calls. Turn brings another rag. He checks, I push the rest of my stack which at this point wasn’t much. He calls and shows JJ. River no help. I’m out.

I should have trusted my instinct with his fishy bet on the flop. But with Top pair against the BB, I liked my chances. JJ is just my curse I guess. Same song and dance, different tournament.

Played a little reckless after that and decided to call it a night. Got bored and hit a few sng’s later on. Went well. Got to bed early.

One of these days, that damn Sunday tournament will treat me right…one of these days!

Good luck at the tables!
-Adam

Technorati Tags: mikey the pokershare monkey, WSOP, World Series of Poker, Adam LaBare, PokerStars, AA, JJ, AK

PokerShare.com Sending a Chimp to the WSOP? WTF!

2006-07-21T16:39:00.000-04:00

Okay...I don't have the energy at the moment to determine if this is a hoax or not...but, if a frickin' chimp can make it to the WSOP and I can't, perhaps I need to re-evaluate my own priorities and abilities....sigh.

Details here:
http://www.monkeyshare.net/

Watch Mikey at the WSOP!

Welcome to MonkeyShare.net, the home of Mikey the PokerShare Monkey. Things are getting hairy, we’re swinging poker to new heights, that’s
right, PokerShare.com has entered Mikey into the WSOP 2006 Main Event.

At PokerShare.com, we believe that any chump can win the Main Event, even
our Chimp! We’re sure Mikey can swing his way onto the final
table, but we understand the embarrassment you’ll all feel when
you get knocked out by our chimp! PokerShare.com is generously offering
a seat in the 2007 WSOP Main Event to anyone that gets knocked out by
our lovable chimp, Mikey, provided you agree to wear a monkey outfit!

Share in Mikey’s success at the WSOP!

Leave your name and email address to receive FREE updates on Mikey’s
progress and give him the support he needs to win the WSOP!

If he wins, Mikey wants to share his winnings with all of his fans and supporters, show your support and share in his success!

As well as beating his way to the top of the tree and talking about his
training for the WSOP, our banana loving chimp is trying to raise
awareness for animal education and preservation and will be holding a
press conference at 14:00 (Pacific Time) on Thursday 27th June at the
Palms Hotel, Las Vegas, NV. Come along, meet Mikey, play poker with him
and enjoy a FREE Banana Split or Cold Bananarama Vodka blended by Mikey
himself.

Technorati Tags: chimp, wsop, world series of poker, mikey the chimp, pokersahre.com, monkeyshare.net

WSOP and Beyond!

2006-07-19T10:33:00.000-04:00

Greetings and salutations and all the happy horse hoo haa…
So, today is Wednesday and I’ve somewhat secluded myself in a hole these past few days. Sunday’s loss was a tough pill to swallow. Be that as it may, life and poker must go on. I’m coming to terms with not being at the main event this year. I’m certainly not happy about it but I’m not going to let it affect my game and future plans.

Here’s the deal. To answer some of the questions I’ve been getting via email and whatnot. While this presents a bump in the road, it is not going to affect my long term goal. While my short term goal was certainly to obtain my seat to this years main event, this pales in comparison to my true intent. Long story short, I want to do whatever I have to do to make a name for myself and play in several large buy in tournaments. Be that circuit events, WPT, EPT, whatever. Point is, I want to make my way to several of these events over the next few months, do well, make the money, hit a final table, and ultimately a 1st place finish in a large tournament. I’ve accomplished portions of these straight forward goals, but I want to do it consistently.

Have I given up on this years WSOP?
I will never give up. However, time is not on my side. I made a promise to my wife a while back and stated that if I did not have my seat secured by July 16th, we would forgo Vegas this year and take a personal vacation that would afford us the ability to just relax, do nothing, no thinking, no stress, etc. With that being said, we’re heading to the mountains and renting a cabin for a good solid few days. No crowds, no deadlines, etc. Just fresh air and relaxation. Every vacation my wife and I have taken has always been crammed into a very specific amount of time. Our trips are always great, but when we get away, it’s rush rush rush. We have to fit everything into a small amount of time and usually end up in big cities like Vegas, NYC, Orlando, etc. We decided this time around to just do nothing but do it comfortably. We’ve rented a cabin from these guys: http://www.preserveresort.com. Pretty nice in my most humble opinion.

Will I be in Vegas at all?
As of writing this, the answer is no. I think I would rather not be there if I’m unable to play. Granted, I would have tried a satellite or two while out there, but I would just rather do it on my terms and not head out there with the stress of HAVING to win a satellite to make it in. I’ve been doing that for several months now. Time for a break.

Will I continue writing?
Hell yes. I will continue writing here as often as I can. I will certainly continue to document my poker experience and share whatever nuggets of wisdom that I can. I’ve received such great feedback and I really appreciate everyone that takes a moment each day to read. As long as people keep reading, I’ll keep writing. Keep an eye open, I may have a few things cooking that will further expose me to the masses, but we shall see. One thing at a time.

Will I turn pro?
I suppose the term “pro” is a state of mind in many ways. I’m going to answer this question with a simple statement I shared recently with my buddy Frank over at lifesabluff.com. “My wife won’t let me call myself a pro until I can afford to pay ALL the bills with my poker earnings”. As a result, some could deem me as a semi-professional. I manage the creation of websites by day, and play poker at night while keeping metropolis safe. As things currently stand, I keep my poker earnings separate from “real world” responsibility. I’ve toyed with the idea of deducting a certain percentage on a weekly or bi-weekly basis but have yet to pull that trigger. I plan to do so in the next two weeks and will expand upon that as my bankroll allows.

What’s my next step?
In looking beyond this year’s WSOP, there is plenty to occupy my mind. As I said earlier, I plan on hitting WPT events in the near future with a focus on other big ticket tournaments. With that intent, I do plan on securing a long term sponsorship of sorts. More on that as it comes to fruition. Over the next year, I simply plan on playing more tournaments, adding to my bankroll and gaining exposure. Time to kick this thing into high gear!

Keep the questions coming. I love answering them. Can always reach me at alabare@gmail.com.

With that, I’ll bring this to a close and wish everyone the very best of luck at this years WSOP Main Event.

-Adam

Technorati Tags: wsop, poker, world series of poker, adam labare

The Seat That Never Was...

2006-07-17T10:09:00.000-04:00

For those that have been following along, so much for optimism. Yesterday’s big tournament amounted to 4 hours of time spent with 0.00 return. I’m not really geared up for a long analyses just yet, but I’m taking it in stride. As you probably know, yesterday was my cutoff day. Without a seat secured, looks like I’m seeking open sponsorship…heh. Anyone? Anyone?

First hour of the tournament went extremely well. I was prepared to just sit back and wait my turn, but the first hour brought several premium hands and people were tight as a bug. So, used that to my advantage for a while. Late in the second hour I doubled up with QQ. Third hour I made a chunk with AJ diamonds. After that, the well seemed to go dry. Very few hands to screw around with. Blinds started eating me away. Finally got to a point of desperation and found A2 in the small blind. UTG calls, everyone folds to me including the button. I call. BB checks. Flop all rags. Everyone checks. Turn brings and A. I make a small bet, BB folds, other guy calls. River, no real help but not a dangerous card. I try to make a move and push with my pair of Aces. I’m really not sure why I did it. I knew he had to have an A of his own. He calls with A8 and I’m out of the tournament.

That play was just entirely stupid on my part. I was frustrated with my stack and was trying to make something out of nothing. In the end, I self destructed. Plain and simple. Sucks major donkey dick mind you…but it is what it is.

Unless by some miracle a seat comes floating my way extremely soon, no Vegas for me. I might sneak one more satellite in this evening, but we’ll see. 5 months on the same $100 investment is still pretty impressive considering what I have accomplished. Through that $100, I’ve played in several Sunday big tournaments, countless WSOP satellites, SNG’s, etc. After everything is said and done, I still have a fairly healthy bankroll and remain optimistic. I may not get to Vegas this year, but that’s not to say I don’t have a lot on the horizon to look forward to.

Okay, enough of the optimistic bullshit. I’m trying to be pissy, damnit!

Technorati Tags: wsop, world series of poker, adam labare, poker, pokerstars

Today's the Day!

2006-07-16T11:38:00.000-04:00

Got a good nights sleep, I'm feeling good...today's the day, damnit! Several hours before the big tourney starts so I'm passing time with a few warm up tournaments. Going to hit a 180 person SnG along with a few one table SnG's. I don't want to burn myself out before this afternoon, but do want to get my feet wet.

From a strategy perspective, I'm just going to play my game. I made the mistake reading cardplayer magazine yesterday. I recently resubscribed and thoroughly enjoy the publication. But I find when I read it before playing, with all the variations on strategy and what to do here or there in whatever situation, I tend to let it all float around in my head causing me to second guess my own game. The reality is, I do not agree with everything I read in books and magazines. These players are writing about what works for them, and for the most part, I greatly respect these opinions. But I think it is a risk to digest new lines of thinking before a big game. So, with that, flushing out my internal hard drive and trusting my own game today.

Looks like I'll have the house to myself for a good portion of the tournament. Dani's going to visit her Mother. Something about a new hot tub. Now if I could convince her to bring the dogs, I would have absolute peace. I'm not holding my breath.

With that, going to concentrate on these tournaments and hopefully report back later with good news.

Good luck all!
Adam

Technorati Tags: poker, wsop, world series of poker, pokerstars

Success and my Final Stand...

2006-07-14T10:25:00.000-04:00

Updates…
Stayed home from work yesterday. While I would love to say it was an excuse to stay home and play poker all day, the reality was I just felt lousy. However, that’s not to say I didn’t have some successes yesterday.

Spent a good portion of my morning following up on work related items. While doing that I started a $20 MTT. Took that down with a 1st place finish. Afterwards, took a break and relaxed. Followed that up with another $20 MTT and finished 8th.

So, two final tables with two tournaments. Was a very productive day.

These 180 person max mtt’s are certainly my bread and butter these past few months. I’ve considered taking on a few higher buy in type tournaments, but an tentative at the moment. Before I make any changes, I want to get this weekend out of the way. I’ve determined that if I don’t have my WSOP seat secured by Sunday, I’m moving forward with alternative plans for time away. Meaning, if I don’t win my seat Sunday, I’m taking a non poker related vacation. The time away will do me well I’m sure.

Note to PokerStars: Really enjoy the $20 180 person MTT’s. However, same format with a higher buyin would be great. I realize you have a $50 90 person max mtt, however, the payouts are similar to the $20 with less spots paid. Perhaps a $75 180 person max? Or a $100 300 person max tourney? Food for thought.

This Weekend…
Weekend plans will include a little R&R with a very heavy barrage toward the WSOP seat that continues to elude me. I’ve played several satellites to Sunday’s 150 seat tournament on stars but have had no success. The 1 table sng’s have been my bane thus far. Finishing 3rd on the last 3 attempts. At this stage, with yesterday’s success, I plan to buy directly into the tournament and stop stressing about the smaller satellites. This will allow me to focus on other productive tournaments.

A special thanks to Gary Carson for stopping by and leaving a comment on “The Morning After…” post.

Would also like to mention a few other regulars:
Joe from The Hold Em Authority
Frank and Gang over at Life’s a Bluff. Great strip this week by the way
BSN from Big Slick Nuts!
Bloddy P from Bloody P Plays Poker

Really appreciate the support all!

That’s all for now folks. I have to play catch-up here in the real world. I plan to update quite a bit over the weekend as I document my final stand toward the WSOP.

Good luck,
Adam

Technorati Tags: world series of poker, adam labare, poker, poker success, MTT, pokerstars, gary carson, hold em authority, big slick nuts, bloody p plays poker, life's a bluff

Gnomes on Stars...

2006-07-12T11:11:00.000-04:00

So, while last night's play on Stars resulted in a big fat goose egg, the good news is that I found proof that gnomes do work somewhere deep inside the pokerstars client infrastructure. I offer you the following:

Me: AK suited
Him: AJ unsuited

I raise
He re-raises
I call

Flop: AJJ

I bet
He Raises
I say screw it and push all in
He calls

He shows AJ hitting his full house on the flop

Turn brings K
River Brings another K

Proof positive gnomes are responsible such antics on stars.

Last Nights Play...
Bit of a roller coaster last night obviously. I won an entry into the $160 WSOP Double Shootout. I was doing quite well on my first table only to find myself unable to recover from my QQ against AA. Also found myself doing extremely well in a satellite for Sunday's 150 WSOP seat tournament. In the end, nothing panned out.

Tonight?
Aside from busting someone in the eye, I plan on gaining an entry into Sunday's tournament. I'm viewing Sunday as my last hurrah before the big show. So, need to make everything count this week. No more screwing around. Not that I have been...but it's "go time".

-Adam

Technorati Tags: poker, wsop, world series of poker, gnomes, pokerstars

How NOT to act like an idiot at in a Poker Room…

2006-07-10T16:51:00.000-04:00

I realize that for some this may not be possible, and that’s okay. If your intent is to in fact be a douche bag, that’s entirely your right. Have at it. However, if you would rather not be classified as “mentally challenged”, I offer to you the following thoughts:

When you approach the poker rooms front desk/reception and they ask “Can I help you?” don’t respond with, “I’d like to play poker please”. No shit Sherlock. They know you’re there to play poker so don’t waste their time. Furthermore, if there’s a big white board or electronic display providing table and limit information, don’t waste their time by asking “What limits or games are you spreading?”. If the information is there, use it! The only acceptable inquires/statements should be as follows:

I’m looking for a (insert limit here) game. You can be proactive by providing your initials or first name. Don’t ask how long the wait is if there’s a list. You would do better by asking how many people are listed before you.
If the game you want to play is not available, request an “interest list” be created for said game.

When you sit down to the table, seriously, don’t frickin’ quote Rounders or any other poker movie. It’s been what, nearly 10 years? We get it, you watched the movie, fell in love with poker and you want everyone to know you’re the next best poker player around. Prove it. Suck out on the river, go all in…whatever, just don’t quote Rounders. Christ! Oh, and don’t fucking talk with a shitty Russian accent.
You’re welcome to act any way you like at the table. However, you have to earn respect. Be courteous of those around you. Don’t act like an ass. Just because television likes to glorify “the villain”, doesn’t mean you’re good enough to back up a shitty attitude. You’re not playing online, and you’re not watching T.V. Piss off the wrong person and you may find yourself in a situation you can’t talk your way out of.
Adhere to house rules and table stakes. I won’t go in to great detail on this. If you don’t know what house rules and table stakes are, you really should take some time to figure it out. In short, each poker room has its own rules and regulations with variations on what some might consider normal. Knowing the rules will keep you out of trouble and allow the action to continue.
Before you call the dealer an idiot…understand that YOU’RE the idiot!
Tip the frickin’ dealers. My god! Just because you’ve obtained the ripe age of 74 doesn’t mean the person dealing you the cards doesn’t have a mortgage to pay. The Casino sure isn’t paying them what they’re worth. JUST DO IT! How often? Every frickin’ time you win a pot, dumb ass! What if you win a tournament? TIP THE DEALERS. Seriously, it’s not that hard. How much? Don’t be embarrassed to ask. The floor or dealer would much rather answer this question than you not tip at all. Want to keep it simple? Just tip 10%. Everyone will be happy. If you’re not comfortable with this, tip what you feel you can be comfortable with. Just tip.
Don’t hold up the action unnecessarily. If you have a tough decision, do what you have to do. But the cards won’t change through osmosis. They’re the same cards the last time you looked down, unless your sense of recall is totally shot. In which case, you may want to re-think you’re game of choice.
Table talk is fine. Acting like an idiot is not. I think I mentioned this above, but it bears repeating.
Don’t throw your cards. Are you 6 years old? C’mon. I realize the male species has sudden outbursts…that’s fine. But throwing your cards at the dealer or fellow player will not win you very much respect.
Adult beverages? Sure, drink them all you want. Usually more money for the rest of us. But keep in mind, your drunken ass may not remember how you lost the money and ended up in the pokey with a busted lip and black eye.
There’s a fine line between bum and geek. If you feel it necessary to wear sunglasses, hat, hood, oversized coat/sweatshirt, etc. more power to you. But if you’re trying NOT to look like an idiot, this may not be the best tactic. Especially if you’re playing $2.00 limit. Sigh. And if you’re dressing like you’re looking for a GQ cover photo shoot, you’re going to come across as a pompous idiot. You may not be able to help that and that’s fine…that’s who you are. But just know, you look like an idiot. By the off chance you attract that one female in the room…awesome. Job well done sir…nice hand. Have fun paying for her kids “babysitting”.
And for the ladies. I appreciate that more and more of you are flocking to the poker rooms. Many of you are inclined to wear low cut tops thus flaunting your cleavage in hopes of distracting the opposite sex. That’s entirely fine.
Pay Attention! With you’re entire $60 bankroll on the line, you would think you might pay attention to the action. Don’t hold up the action, stop watching the game on TV long enough to act your turn. Tard.
Back to tipping. Not tipping your waitress/hostess will certainly not result in faster service. Have singles handy to tip with if you’re in tournament play.
Oogle all you want at the waitress (tastefully), she knows she’s hot but for the love of god, stop trying to get her to sleep with you. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but c’mon man…just go to the bar in front of the poker room. The women there are expecting you.
You’re A5 unsuited is NOT a made hand before the flop. Just an FYI. Sigh.

I’m going to stop there for now. I very likely could continue for several more pages. Have one to add? Lay it on me…

-Adam

Technorati Tags: poker, wsop, world series of poker, poker room, rounders, idiot

The Morning After...

2006-07-10T10:49:00.000-04:00

First of all, it's probably not healthy that any one person should feel the amount of heartbreak as I do after loosing last night’s tournament. Almost exactly 4 hours in, my trip to Vegas was not to be. I’m taking this loss extremely hard for the simple fact that I “felt it’. I mean, I really felt good going in to this tournament. I owned it! And that’s what I set about to do. I had a great chip stack for a good duration of the tournament, rounding the corner in to the 5th hour, then this happens:

PokerStars Game #5508949543: Tournament #27258551 $615+$35 Hold'em No
Limit - Level VIII (200/400) - 2006/07/09 - 22:14:35 (ET)

Table '27258551 13' 9-max Seat #2 is the button

Seat 1: SoCalKramer (9475 in chips)

Seat 2: moledaddy (24065 in chips)

Seat 3: palurdo (17482 in chips)

Seat 4: millon (21620 in chips)

Seat 5: Toupee Jay (11390 in chips)

Seat 6: BigRiskky (4845 in chips)

Seat 7: JvilleWhip (6693 in chips)

Seat 8: BullMitch (7655 in chips)

Seat 9: delts (4515 in chips)

SoCalKramer: posts the ante 25

moledaddy: posts the ante 25

palurdo: posts the ante 25

millon: posts the ante 25

Toupee Jay: posts the ante 25

BigRiskky: posts the ante 25

JvilleWhip : posts the ante 25

BullMitch: posts the ante 25

delts: posts the ante 25

palurdo: posts small blind 200

millon: posts big blind 400

Holecards:

Dealt to JvilleWhip [ ]

FOLD Toupee Jay

FOLD BigRiskky

CALL JvilleWhip , 400

FOLD BullMitch

FOLD delts

FOLD SoCalKramer

CALL moledaddy, 400

CALL palurdo, 200

CHECK millon

Flop:
[ ]

CHECK palurdo

CHECK millon

BET JvilleWhip , 800

CALL moledaddy, 800

FOLD palurdo

FOLD millon

Turn:
[ ] [ ]

BET JvilleWhip , 800

RAISE moledaddy, 22040 to 22840 and is all-in

CALL JvilleWhip , 4668 and is all-in

River:
[ ] [ ]

Showdown:

JvilleWhip : shows [ ] (two pair Eights and Sevens)

moledaddy: shows [ ] (a flush King high)

moledaddy collected 14361 from pot

SUMMARY:

Total pot 14361 | Rake 0

Board:
[ ]

Seat 1: SoCalKramer folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 2: moledaddy (button) showed [ ] and won (14361) with a flush King high

Seat 3: palurdo (small blind) folded on the Flop

Seat 4: millon (big blind) folded on the Flop

Seat 5: Toupee Jay folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 6: BigRiskky folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 7: JvilleWhip showed [ ] and lost with two pair Eights and Sevens

Seat 8: BullMitch folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 9: delts folded before Flop (didn't bet)

I’m not going to get hung up on the beat too much. I realize my opponent was “big stacked” and had outs but I still believe he was playing reckless by being in this pot. I had him beat. While it’s easy to say I just ran into some bad luck, it doesn’t help the hole in my gut. Losing when your playing well just sucks.

My Thanks…
Before I continue to ramble on, let me just offer thanks to those that were silently watching from the rail last night. I know there were a bunch of old friends and new friends alike rooting me on. Meant the world knowing everyone was there.

The Reality…
With just a few short weeks away from the main event, I’m left with a so-so bankroll in my stars account. I do not have a WSOP seat. I just lost out on the best chance thus far to secure that seat, and its Monday.

Yeah, poor me. So, what now?

Guess I’ll just have to keep going. One last hurrah! Next Sunday presents a tournament with stars giving away something like 150 seats in one tournament. This would probably be my next best chance for success. However, I’m not going to wait until Sunday if I have anything to say about it. My plan will be to secure whatever I can via satellite this week.

At this stage, I just want to avoid last night’s loss sending me into a tailspin. I’m going to remain positive and upbeat. Granted, I’m a little snarley right now, but I’m hoping that will pass after lunch.

On Top Of It All…
On a whim, I bought in to a single table satellite for the 1million guarantee on stars yesterday. Thought it would be good prep for the 6pm WSOP tourney. I ended up winning the table. 10 minutes into the big tourney I’m first to act with KK. It’s early, so I figure let’s see if anyone’s gambling. I slow play hoping for some action. Everyone fold to the button who smooth calls. Small blind folds, bb check. Flop, rag rag rag. BB checks, I end up betting around $300. Button comes back over the top for about 1000. BB folds. I call. Turn, another rag. I figure at best, this guy has QQ, JJ, or even 1010. I push all in, he calls with AA. I realize it’s early in the tournament, but smooth calling the blinds on the button with AA? Jesus.

What a day…
-Adam

Technorati Tags: WSOP, World Series of Poker, Poker, Hold em, Pokerstars.com, Sunday Million

Seven Common Signs of Lying...

2006-07-08T19:52:00.000-04:00

I came across this today while checking out digg.com. While not a poker related article, I found the content to be quite useful. Poker, Work, Marriage...whatever, but I found this to be quite interesting:

Thanks to sixwise.com for publishing this article.
Seven Common Signs of Lying

No eye contact. Generally, if someone is lying
they will not look you in the eye, at least during a certain
part of the conversation. Normally, people make eye contact
for at least half of a conversation, so anything less
than this could be suspicious. One caveat: there are some
people who will take great pains to make eye contact with
you even if they're lying, simply to make you think they're
not.

You don't need a lie detector test to find out if
someone's lying to you --just check out these seven
signs of lying.

Change in voice. A change in the pitch of a person's
tone, or a lot of stammering (umm, ah), or throat clearing
could indicate a lie.
Unusual body language. If a person taps their
foot a lot, fidgets with their hands, raises their shoulders,
turns away from you or brings their hand to their face
(to touch their chin or nose, etc.) -- in other words,
if they act nervous or uncomfortable -- it could mean
they're telling a lie. Also watch out for blushing (or
becoming pale) and increased blinking.
Something sounds fishy. Making statements that
contradict each other, are inconsistent or don't sound
quite right are usually part of a lie.
Overly defensive. Sometimes when a person is
lying they will become extremely defensive, refusing to
answer any questions and even accusing you of lying. This
may mean they have something to hide.
Changes subject easily. If someone is lying and
you change the subject, chances are high that they'll
go right along with it. A person telling the truth, however,
will likely ask why you changed the subject and want to
go back to it.
Humor or sarcasm. A guilty person will often
try to change the subject using humor or sarcasm.

Of course, no one behavior can tell for sure whether or not
someone is telling the truth or lying. While you should trust
your instinct, if you're not sure it's best to try to get
some evidence to back up your accusation. Rather than relying
on a specific behavior, catching a liar in the act is best
done by watching their normal behaviors. When those behaviors
suddenly change, that's when a lie has likely been told.

Technorati Tags: Poker, WSOP, Lying, World Series of Poker

1st Place Finish and Other Stuff...

2006-07-06T12:34:00.000-04:00

1st Place Finish…
I’ve been toying around with the $16 WSOP Double Shootout Satellites on PokerStars.com for a few weeks now. Haven’t invested too much money, but hit one or two a week to see where it takes me. I’ve made it to the final table on a few occasions but haven’t “scored” so to speak. Last night I took first place which gains me entry to Sunday’s $650 WSOP satellite. I’ve been wanting to take part in this tournament for a while now being that it very closely matches up against my tournament play and style. I’ve been doing extremely well in MTT’s and feel this is my be opportunity to date to walk away with that seat I’ve been hunting for.

Strategy wise, I played a solid game last night. My first table was short handed and I used that to my advantage playing aggressively. Optimized my position every chance I got. Ended up winning that table without any hard hits. The final table presented a full 10 handed game with only 4 spots providing any sort of award for your efforts. In this situation I generally tighten up, and practice patience letting others knock each other around and out. To my delight, I ended up taking a different path. The first 45 minutes of this table I was receiving amazing starting hands. AK 3 times, AA, 3 times, and QQ twice. After a few good starting hands and proving the value on these hands by hitting a few flops, people tightened up against me. This allowed me to steal blinds left and right. When my AA’s came and QQ’s came, people figured I was just being the bully and offered me action. Long story short, we got down to the last 4 fairly quickly. I continued to dominate with my large stack. Finally ended up heads up. I was up 2-1 in chips. His strategy was pretty much a standard raise every hand pre flop. I didn’t adjust to his play as quickly as I would have liked. He ended up winning a few key hands which changed the balance 3-1 in his favor. Then a 5 minute break hit us. Normally, being heads up for all the marbles, this break annoys the hell out of me. Instead, I used this to my advantage and really formalized a strategy toward his play. When we fired it back up, he continued his raising. I smooth called every chance I got, wait for the flop, checked, he bets, I come back over the top. I did this 5 hands running and he folded each time which put me back in a commanding lead. Once I had the momentum, I continued to pound on him until he went bust leaving me with my first place finish.

It felt good. A little bitter sweet in knowing that had I followed the same path with the $160 DS, that would have scored me the seat to the WSOP. Only reason I even think like that is due to that being the way I won my entry last year. Knowing that’s how I won it last year, I’ve been somewhat superstitious in following the same path this year. Some little demon in my head keeps telling me lightning won’t strike twice with that format.

And Another Thing…
Also cashed semi deep in a $3 rebuy tournament with $20,000 guaranteed last night. Only reason I screw around with these are for the simple fact that first place pays out nearly 5k if not more. It keeps me occupied and sharp as I play other more predominant tournaments. People shy away from playing too many tables. I think there’s a balance. Having 2 or 3 going can be a good thing when one tournament is more important than the others. This allows me not to concentrate and think too hard on any one tournament. I find I get myself in trouble if I over think various situations. Going with my gut works.

Thinking Ahead…
While I certainly don’t want to place undue pressure on myself, I AM putting a lot of effort in to making this weekend count. I want to make a solid showing in that $650 satellite Sunday evening. Part of me wanted to take the cash for that tournament and apply it toward DS’s and/or $33 rebuy satellites offering a seat directly. However, upon further consideration, I like my chances going in to this tournament. I really do feel this will be my best chance to date this season to take that seat. I’m going to remain focused and do my thang.

Sunday Tournaments at Stars…
From what I understand, PokerStars.com will be doing another $200 1 rebuy/1 addon again this Sunday. I would like to take a crack at this again as well. However, I do not foresee spending as much on satellites as I did last week. Just not worth it when other aspects of my game are doing well. I caught the following on RGP directly from stars on their upcoming Big Tourney Schedule:

“Hello, RGP.

We have seen many requests for information regarding the Sunday Million
tournament held on 2 July 2006, the change to the format, whether or not
the change is permanent, etc. I am pleased to be able to share the
following information.

The 16:30 (eastern U.S. time) Sunday tournament schedule for upcoming
weeks is as follows:

9 July 2006 : Sunday Million ($215 + 1 Re-buy / 1 Add-on)
    - $1,000,000 Guaranteed prize pool

16 July 2006 : WSOP 150 Seats Guaranteed ($350 + $20 Freezeout)
    - 150 seats to the WSOP Main Event guaranteed!

23 July 2006 : Sunday Million ($215 Freezeout)
    - $1,000,000 Guaranteed prize pool

30 July 2006 : Sunday Million ($530 Freezeout)
    - $1,000,000 Guaranteed prize pool ... normal end of month Million

6 August 2006 : Sunday Million ($215 Freezeout)
    - $1,000,000 Guaranteed prize pool

....and so on.

The tournament on 9 July 2006 will be the last re-buy/add-on Million, at
least for a while. We may offer an R/A Million every once in a while,
but such a tournament will be the exception rather than the rule.

As always, our thanks to those who have provided feedback on this and
other issues relevant to play on PokerStars, whether said feedback was
in an email, a post here on RGP, other forums, etc. We not only watch
for and respond to feedback from our players, we depend upon it.

Thank you!
--
Bryan S.
PokerStars Tournaments”

And that’s it for me…
Good luck at the tables!
-Adam

Technorati Tags: World Series of Poker, WSOP, Poker, Adam LaBare, Pokerstars.com, RGP, MTT's, DS

Fuzzy Holiday, Final Table, and Suggested Blogs

2006-07-05T12:07:00.000-04:00

4th of July?
Was there a holiday yesterday? Things are still somewhat fuzzy. Someone let me order a 32 ounce beer yesterday (Yuengling) at the winghouse, everything after that was a blur. I recall running amuck with a cube of wine as mortars fired nearby…but that’s just speculation. Seems like things always go dark when I’m near a cube of wine. Very odd phenomonom. Sigh…My previous post discussing "merlot in a box" still seems to be sound thinking...

Foggy Final Table...
Strangely enough, I made a final table last night as the rockets glared overhead. How patriotic of me…playing poker while most American’s are outside enjoying pretty lights. Finished 6th in a $20 MTT. I’ll take it. Although, I was really geared for a 1st place finish. Silly me for putting all my money in with QQ against KK.

And the Rockets Red Glare...
Before the beer and wine festivities, we made our way out to the beach. Was a perfect Florida beach day and we felt inclined to take advantage of it. Got my ass beat down in the surf. Waves were out of control yesterday. Was fun though. The highlight however was the shuttle launch. I have to laugh because several of my friends and family made the trip down to Cape Canaveral Saturday only to be disappointed with a launch delay. We were going to go down, but with the weather forecast I decided not to. A 2 ½ hour drive for nothing did not appeal to me. When the Sunday launch was also nixed, I felt we truly chose wisely in not going. Yesterday rolls around and while we’re laying out on the beach we notice that every person on the beach is standing and pointing in one direction as if they were merekats. Was quite the site. My wife and I forgot the launch was re-scheduled for a 2:40 liftoff. So, we were certainly in the right place at the right time. Granted, 150 miles separated us from the shuttle, but it was still very impressive to see.

Blogs I’m Reading…
Just wanted to mention of few blogs I stay current with. Highly recommended reading:

Life’s a Bluff
http://lifesabluff.com/
You have to check this out. The gang over at life’s a bluff has created a comic devoted to the world of poker. I’m hooked. Great writing mixed with a great artist makes for something special!

Big Slick Nuts!
http://bigslicknuts.blogspot.com/
BSN has a great blog and keeps me wanting to read more. Check it out if you haven’t already done so.

Gamblers Insight
http://gamblersinsight.blogspot.com/
Rod is back from hiatus (congrats again on the marriage) and is providing valuable insight on making a living through various means of gambling.

Life, The Universe, and Poker
http://lifeuniversepoker.blogspot.com/
Just started reading this one but Ohio Mike has got a great thing going. Check it out. Good stuff.

Tis all for now. Best of luck at the tables…
-Adam

Technorati Tags: Poker, WSOP, World Series of Poker, yuengling, winghouse, merlot, pokerstars.com, 4th of july, shuttle launch

Heartbreak, Superman, and Fireworks...

2006-07-03T10:00:00.000-04:00

Heartbreak...
This weekend brought the first heartbreak I’ve had in some time. Ever have a tournament where everything is happening just right? You’re hitting every flop, winning each race, and not drowning on the river? I bought in to a $33 rebuy event with a 1 seat guarantee to the WSOP. There were about 300 entrants. After the first hour of rebuys were complete, one seat was to be awarded with the top 6 spots paying out. Things were going absolutely spectacular in this tournament. Down to the final two tables and I’m feeling really really good with my chances going in to the final table. Okay on chips, not spectacular, but enough to hold my own and wait my turn when we get to one table.

Then disaster strikes.

I look down and see 1010. I’m on the button. Chip leader for the tournament is on the BB. Everyone folds to me. Here’s what I was thinking. If I pop the big blind/chip leader just right, he’ll think I’m just trying to pick up his blind and pop me back. Good opportunity to build my stack and take a commanding position on that final table. So I make the perfect raise to solicit action. He bites. He comes over the top of me just enough where I’m either needing to push to rest of my stack or fold. I look at it this way, I’m committed this far, stick to my guns and or instincts and let’s do this. I push all in, he calls, he shows AK unsuited.

Sigh…

I won’t even finish. You get the point. This tournament just ruined my mood the entire weekend as my wife can attest. I had absolutely no success the remainder of the weekend. So, here it is Monday and I’m left with the fleeting thought “I could’a been a contenda”.

Beyond that tournament, I tried to get in on the 1 million tournament on stars through 1 table satellites. Another disastrous outcome. What a frickin’ weekend.

Review time…

Superman Returns
8 out of 10 stars

I liked this movie a lot. Call me the geek that I am, I don’t care. Call me nostalgic, tis fine. In the end, I really enjoyed this flick. I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that the makers of this film really incorporated previous superman history and movie reference in to this production. Using Marlon Brando’s voice was awesome. Even the obscure reference to “Gotham” was really cool.

Plot was a little far fetched, but then you just simply remind yourself you’re watching a Superman movie and your fine. The movie itself was long according to my wife. Honestly, I didn’t even notice. I felt like I was a kid watching the original Superman for the first time.

The characters were played fairly well. Kevin Spacey as Lex was a fine fit. Not so sure I bought in to Lois Lane, but that’s okay.

Anyhoo, if you’re a fan, I think you’ll enjoy this one. May want to bring fellow geeks along for the ride as the wife may be bored out of her gourd.

On that note, I’m going to wrap this one up. I’ve still some work to do on my next chapter in "winning online poker tournaments". If I don’t have that up today, I hope to do so tomorrow when I have some free time. I hope everyone has a safe and festive 4th of July. Hooray Independence.

-Adam

Technorati Tags: Poker, WSOP, World Series of Poker, Superman Returns, Adam LaBare, Marlon Brando, Kevin Spacey, Gotham, Pokerstars

26+ SNG's? WTF!

2006-06-30T17:16:00.000-04:00

Alright, looks like this has been floating around for a while now...but I just came across this today. Frickin' insane. This dude was accused by pokerstars of being a bot or something because he was playing 26+ sng's. This guy turns on his video camera along with the Rocky soundtrack and sticks it right back to Stars proving he's doing all of this on one monitor.

Now, I've done my share of numerous table play. At most, I've probably had 8 going at one time on two monitors, but 26? C'mon dude! This guy claims he can win doing this...and if that's a true statement, MAJOR RESPECT! Otherwise...cripes...just frickin' insane!

Props to g3Poker for posting this. Read more here: http://g3poker.blogspot.com/

Or go directly to the google video:
The guy introduces himself to pokerstars
The 26SNG live session on 1 Monitor

-Adam

Cash, WSOP, and a Space Shuttle...

2006-06-30T11:33:00.000-04:00

Hey all...
Today's a rough day. Crunch day here at work with it being the last day of the month. I'm going to keep this brief with the hopes of posting my next chapter in my "winning poker tournaments" series later today.

Last Night...
Made a small showing in a $30 MTT last night. Finished 36th I believe it was out of nearly 500 players. A moderate cash finish, but a cash finish just the same. I was set to go very deep in the money but had a semi coin flip that didn't go my way. My KQ losing out to 55. I played it properly in consideration of my position, but my opponent just had the better hand in the end. Tis how the cookie crumbles.

This Weekend...
While winning a seat to the WSOP is always the plan, I have no idea how this weekend will pan out. I was suppose to go down to Cape Canaveral tonight to see the shuttle launch. In all my time here in Florida, I've not had the chance to go check it out. I've really been looking forward to being a part of this launch. But the word on the street is saying that there's a good chance they're going to delay it due to Weather. So, with that, I'm still up in the air about it...pardon the pun. Whatever the case, I wish the crew the very best of luck. I'll divert my normal prayer to the poker gods and offer them in their direction.

STS-121 Discovery Crew

That's all for now...more to follow when time allows. Best of luck at the tables all!
-Adam

Technorati Tags: WSOP, Poker, World Series of Poker, Adam LaBare, Space Shuttle, NASA, STS-121

Supporting PokerStars Support...Keep Your Focus!

2006-06-28T21:43:00.000-04:00

PokerStars support get's a lot of heat on various forums and newgroups for a myriad of reasons...so, I figured why not share a success story. Perhaps in doing so, it'll help others.

Here's the email I sent them explaining the problem:

Previously, when playing
on stars, it was easy to multi task and write emails or im's in the
background. When the pokerstars client brought focus to the table, i
could continue writing in whatever application i had running in the
background. However, as of the last few days...whenever it's my turn
to act on my tables, the client hijacks my cursor and will not let me
continue typing in my other apps. I have to preform my action on the
table before I can return to the window i was typing in. Very
frustrating when multi tasking, especially for someone who writes for a
living on the side, lol. But anyway, the only reason I bring this up
is that this is a new phenomenon. Is this a client update or bug?

Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Adam

Here's Stars Response:

Hello Adam,

I regret that there's no feature in our software that will prevent
this (technically it's called "grabbing keyboard focus") -- that is
simply the way the software behaves.

If you are using Windows XP, installing the XP Power Toys "TweakUI"
module may work for you. This package, from Microsoft, has a feature
under "General" and "Focus" that prevents applications from stealing
the focus. You can download it from:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp

It's free, and I think this will make the software behave in the
manner in which you'd like it to work.

Regards,

Douglas

PokerStars Support Team

Bottom line, this fixed the problem. Certainly wasn't hard to install. Two minutes later, back in business. Thought this was worth sharing.

Later,
Adam

Technorati Tags: Poker, PokerStars, Focus,

Winning Online Multi Table Tournaments - Part 3

2006-06-28T15:00:00.000-04:00

Winning Online Multi Table Tournaments
By: Adam LaBare

Part 3
Arm Yourself
“With knowledge comes success”
-Adam LaBare

If you’ve not yet read parts 1 and 2 to this ongoing article, I would recommend that you do. Not required, of course, but it will help with the overall direction I am focused on.
Preface | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

At this stage you’re probably wondering when we’re going to discuss what cards to play and when. Or perhaps some magical formula I can share that will ensure your success. We’re going to get in to specific strategy soon enough…however, I’ll leave the magic formulation to your interpretation of all that I am presenting.

In this section, we’re going to discuss how you can arm yourself with the needed knowledge to hold your own in any multi table tournament online.

Before I arm you with my interpretation of strategy, it’s important to have a baseline of general knowledge. If you’re reading this, you’ve most likely taken that initial step somewhere along the way. These are the things I would suggest one does before seriously taking on any real tournaments online…

Read Books
Sure, every poker persona seems to have a book out there but look at it this way: They have books out there for a reason. They’ve been doing something right far longer than most and it is a fair assumption that some of their thinking can have an impact on your performance at the poker table.

I’ve read many, many books over the last 15 years, some far better than others. The only caution I would give you though before taking on all of these titles is to take it at face value. Everyone has an opinion on certain situations, but no one opinion is the perfect solution. If you pose the same scenario to 10 different poker professionals, you’ll most likely receive 10 different and well thought out answers. A well written poker book will contain many nuggets of wisdom, just try not to take it all as gospel. You can read Doyle Brunson’s book from front to back and try to mimic your play exactly like him, but I guarantee you will not have the same results as Doyle Brunson.

I’m going to supply a list of books that I have read that I have found extremely beneficial to my play. Some are more relevant than others.

Caro’s Book of Poker Tells. I’ve read a lot of books prior to this book, but I list this one first for the sheer amount of benefit this book brought me afterwards. This book has undergone a few version updates and I believe the one I read was a bit older than the most recent…but just the same, this book contains amazing concept and theory on how to identify various tells at the table. How does this apply to online tournaments? You would be surprised. To me, identifying a tell boils down to identification of patterns or repetition. Typical tells are relevant online as they are offline with the online world bringing an entirely new fold of tells to study. Read this book!
Doyle Brunson’s Super System. Many view this book as almost the poker world’s bible. I didn’t take it quite so literally but found many of the chapters to be true gems. This book proves how poker strategy and theory can transcend time having been published in the late 70’s. I highly recommend this book as you will be well above the fold for just reading this.
Ace on the River: An Advanced Poker Guide. Barry Greenstein did a great job. This book really sat well with me. Having been accustom to the typical poker book discussing long, drawn out strategies with very technical odds and statistics, I found this book refreshing. Barry delivers concepts beyond the table along with back story. This opened my mind to very different ways of thinking.
Hold’em Poker for Advanced Players. I read this book many years ago and still find myself going back to some of the chapters for reference.
Championship no-limit and pot-limit hold’em. A great book with many examples of what to or not to do in various situations.
Harrington on Hold’em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments

It’s obvious I’ve not read every poker book out there but I do believe the above listed books can give any poker player an advantage at the table. I don’t necessarily believe in any one books overall message, but I do believe having read a wide variety gives me the needed insight in to a true poker professionals psyche.

Network
It’s one thing to read every poker book known to man but I believe if you take the time to network with the right people in the poker world, you will be wiser for the effort. With the Internet, there really are no limitations to you whom you can network with. Get out there in the open and talk strategy with your peers so to speak. You’ll find people that love this game as much as you do LOVE talking about poker in general, strategy, etc. Not sure what to do in a certain situation? Pose the question to several people. Obtain feedback. Be a student of the game with an open mind and you’ll find your game is always improving.

Some specific ideas for networking include the following:

Newgroups. More specifically, rec.gambling.poker. An invaluable resource of poker knowledge, strategy, and spam. Yeah, if you can tolerate the spam, there are some very fine people on the newgroup.
Blogs. If you’re reading this, you obviously have the right idea. However, I encourage you to seek out poker related blogs. I have come across many great writers out there that bring various perspective to poker along with in depth analyses, discussion and often times, humor. It’s great to see the “human” side of poker through blogs.
Forums. Most major poker sites on the web have some variation of a forum. Some are far more useful than others. But every once in a while you’ll find a gem. Bookmark that site and visit often. You’ll be glad that you did.
IM’s. Obvious, but worth mentioning. Once you’ve created a network of fellow poker enthusiasts, add them to your IM client and stay in touch.

Find a Mentor
Without the teachers and mentors of my past, I do not believe my game would be what it is today. Granted, my game has a long way to go, but without the valuable assistance from key individuals in my past, I do not believe I would have made a dime playing poker.

When you associate yourself with quality people in the poker world, you will find those that are always willing to share experiences, strategy, and advice. Attach yourself to the right people, and the sky really is the limit. I highly recommend taking on a mentor. However, I urge you to take caution when you look in to making that special bond. There are many types in the poker world that claim expertise and will want to charge you for such services. Some may want a piece of you in future tournaments, etc. The point here is, if you’re comfortable paying for such advice/services, there are plenty of quality schools, professionals, etc. offering such services. I do not believe one should be charged when dealing with a mentor type figure.

Subscribe to Podcasts
This has been a new found side project of mine. I’ve subscribed to just about every poker related podcast I can find. With podcasting still in it’s infancy, I find that quality content is hit or miss. I’ve found quite a few great shows…but most are average at best. However, the gems are worth the effort. It’s great to listen to interviews with professionals away from the cameras of ESPN. You get the “real deal” interview on a podcast without the necessary censorship which comes with network television. I predict podcasting will be extremely important to the future of Poker in various forms.

In Summary
The message I would want anyone to take away from this is to simply arm yourself with as much information as you can. Not everything will stick, but what does will make all the difference when you’re sitting there facing the bubble, or down to 4 players at the final table. Even the items you don’t think stick, re-emerge when you need them. The secret is to stop and think before making key moves and decisions in a tournament.

Good luck at the tables!
-Adam

Be sure to return for Part 4 in this ongoing series of articles

Preface | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Technorati Tags: Poker, WSOP, World Series of Poker, Adam LaBare, Mike Caro, Doyle Bunson's Super System, Ace on the River, Barry Greenstein, Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players, Championship no-limit and pot-limit hold'em, Harrington on Hold'em

Getting to Vegas...

2006-06-27T11:24:00.000-04:00

Vegas…
Alright, so 2 day's in to the WSOP and I'm already stir crazy! I realize real world responsibilities keep me here in wonderful Jacksonville, Fl, but damn if I don’t want to be in Vegas right now. I have friends out there dealing, telling me about it already and it’s driving me nuts. The solution? Go to Vegas.

At this stage, obviously I have not yet won my entry. There’s time and I do have a plan to win that entry. Like I was saying yesterday though, I better do it pretty damn quick. However, as a backup plan, I have some pretty good information from the dealers out there how the satellite structures are working and the method one might take to getting that seat. So, with that, I think I’m going to head out there preemptively for a long weekend and take part in a few satellites. The trick will be minimal costs as I do not want to impact my current bankroll significantly. There is still plenty of time to secure that seat online…but I think if I get out there and take a crack at the real deal in person, something will happen.

Going to work on securing that plan over the next few days. More to follow.

Last night…
Nothing to really report from play last night other than I know remember why I hate limit live action. I should have known better, but I sat down at the 3/6 last night and just took beat after beat. Got off of those tables in a hurry and called it an early night.

I was playing in a $5 WSOP satellite to the $160 double shoot out later that evening. I had sailed along fairly well and was getting close to the cut off but I was running low on chips. Had I let the blinds hit me, I would have been depleted leaving me no room to move on anyone. So, I’m first to act and I look down to KJ suited. Not the hand I was hoping for, but it’s either now or never. I move all in making a little difficult for anyone to call. Everyone folds including the small blind. But the big blind has me covered and for a minimal amount more, he makes the call. I can’t fault him for making the call…but I can’t express joy with him showing 82 unsuited and hitting a 2 on the flop. No help to me and I’m sent packing. Such as life.

Tonight’s Plan…
Do whatever I can to get in on the $160 DS while hitting any WSOP satellites I see. Beyond that, I’m going to be plotting a brief stay in Vegas. If anyone has a hookup on room rates or flights, lemme know!

Adios,
Adam

Technorati Tags: WSOP, World Series of Poker, Las Vegas, Vegas, Adam LaBare, Poker

WSOP, Live Action, and Other Thoughts...

2006-06-26T12:08:00.000-04:00

Weekend Roundup…
Pretty much a rainy weekend for the most part which gave me all the reason I needed to stay indoors, play poker, and not feel overly guilty about it. If you read my update from Saturday night, you’ll see things are continuing to go well. I really wanted to take that energy and invest it in to Sunday’s Satellites for the $1,000.00 entry on PokerStars.com as well as the $650 WSOP big satellite. However, neither plan came to fruition. I was tempted at one point to just buy in directly to one of the events, but thought better of it.

Strangely enough, I found myself doing something Sunday I haven’t really done in a long time. Having worked on my VIP points Saturday evening, I caught a taste of live action which really didn’t interest me that much being in several tournaments while doing it. But when Sunday afternoon rolled around and I wasn’t signed up for any of the big tournaments, I re-visited the 3/6 limit tables for the hell of it. I really forgot what the hell happened at these tables. I’ve been watching over my wife’s shoulders a lot lately as she practices on the play money tables. Checking out the 3/6 limit tables was absolutely no different. Absolute junk cards being played by people obviously not caring about their stacks. I grinded it out for a few hours and must admit, I made more money playing these tables then I have in live action for the last year combined. Was a very unexpected surprise. As a result, I’m now actually close to obtaining “gold” status in the VIP thing stars is doing. May obtain that and forget about live action for a while.

As for the tournament front…
I was really thinking I could do something about the WSOP seat this weekend. With that not being the case, and with time running out, I really have to re-evaluate my approach over the next 2 weeks or so. The reality is, if it’s going to happen, it’s got to happen quickly. I’m debating if I only want to focus on WSOP satellites or continue to mix it up. I’m going to be thinking on this today and hopefully have some insight to share this evening.

That’s it for now…real world obligations on the work front are keeping me busy today. Best of luck to you…
-Adam

Technorati Tags: WSOP, Poker, Adam LaBare, Blog, Pokerstars.com, WSOP satellites

Poker, Nacho's, and Mega Pixels...

2006-06-24T23:12:00.000-04:00

A Quick Update...
It's Saturday night and I felt like making a quick update. Took my
normal Friday off from poker and enjoyed some beer on the driving range
after work. From there, more beer...and then a little more. Made it
home and had a good nights sleep.

Saturday afternoon resulted in a trip to the movies. For my new
readers, I'll try not to bore you, but I often lend some insight to the
movies I see being a huge movie buff.

Nacho LIbre
7 out of 10 Stars

I suspect most won't enjoy this movie. However, I'm giving this a
tentative 7 out of 10 stars. I say tentative because, honestly, I
liked this movie but think after seeing it a second time I might enjoy
it even more. It very much reminded me of the first time watching
Napoleon Dynamite. I didn't like it much that first time, but the
second time around, man...laughed my ass off.

Anyhoo, I won't get in to the plot but it made me laugh out loud
several times. Obviously, you're not going to see this for the plot
anyway, but if you like stupid humor, you'll enjoy this. Jack Black in
my humble opinion playes a good role with an interesting supporting
cast. If you check it out, let me know what you think. I have a
feeling many won't agree with me on this one.

Results...
Things continue to look good. Played two tournaments earlier this
evening resulting in 2 final table showings. Placed 7th in a $20 MTT
and 3rd in a double shoot out for tomorrow's big WSOP tournament.
While the bankroll continues to increase in health, I really want to
use this momentum and secure that damn seat! Perhaps tomorrow will be
the day.

In the meantime, I've placed myself on a few 3/6 limit tables to rack
up my VIP status on Stars. I hadn't much cared about the VIP point
program at first, but having obtained the Silver rating a few months
ago, I've enjoyed the tournaments offered. They've had several
tournaments with WSOP seats at no cost. Seems to be worth racking up
the points for a few hours while staying out of trouble.

Camera?
I'm looking to pick up a new digital camer and have been considering the Nikon Coolpix. Thoughts? Suggestions? Want to spice this blog up a bit and my exisiting digital camera just sucks.

Tis all for now...

Good luck,
Adam

Technorati Tags: Poker, WSOP, Nacho Libre, Nikon Coolpix

Bankroll Management...

2006-06-22T13:40:00.000-04:00

Quick Update...
I didn’t spend much time playing last night which was probably a good thing. The last several nights I’ve been up rather late playing out these recent final tables. An early night to bed was very much needed. I can actually hold my eyes open today.

I hope to keep my momentum going strong tonight. I’m considering stepping outside the box for the $160 MTT this evening. I haven’t decided yet. When my bankroll was healthy last year, I had great success in this tournament but have not made any recent appearances in it. We will see where the evening leads me.

Today’s Topic…
I wanted to speak on bankroll management and extracting from that bankroll. I am a huge proponent of keeping your poker bankroll entirely separate from your normal funds. Everyone does it a little bit different, but I’ve been fairly faithful to that line of thinking. When I pose this question to the mases, I’m never really sure how to interpret their response. Everyone seems to think they’re a winning player and seem to want to impress you with how much they are tucking away. I really don’t think I’m getting accurate information. However, I’ve been considering the following.

In the spirit of keeping poker earnings separate from personal savings, I’m considering paying myself a percentage of my bankroll on a weekly basis. This would not be used for personal expenses per say, but would be deposited into a savings account separate from all other accounts. In the past, I would just allow my roll to stay with whatever poker site I have it in…but keeping it like this prevents me from playing in local action as I play online more these days than I do offline and my online roll is much larger than my offline roll.

Thoughts? What percentages would be wise to deduct? Stay as is? Perhaps if it’s not broken, I shouldn’t be messing with it…but I figured this was worth considering.

Thanks to BSN over at bigslicknuts for stopping by. Appreciate the link about Moneymaker vs. Farha.
As always, many thanks to CC for droping by recently. Check out today's follow up on the catalysts of poker discussion from yesterday.
Great to see Rod back from his perfect wedding in Jamaica.

Winning Online Poker Tournaments - Part 3 Should be up tomorrow if all goes well. In the meantime, be sure to check out Parts 1 and 2

Technorati Tags: bankroll management, wsop, poker, World Series of Poker, tournaments

Poker Catalysts?

2006-06-21T11:21:00.000-04:00

CC caught my attention today over on his blog. Granted, the Britney Spears impersonator pic may have had something to do with it, but CC brings the following discussion point to the table:

What are the top ten seminal moments or catalysts in the poker boom to date?

CC provides his top 18 discussion points which are all very detrimental to today's poker success. However, my thinking creates a bit of a different prioritized list. Here's my top 8. Let me know your thoughts...agree/disagree?

Chris Moneymaker (While often critiqued for his true skill, few can deny the impact this man has had on the game, the exposure, the appeal. If he can make millions, why can’t we? Chris single handedly along with PokerStars.com’s promotion sent hundreds of thousand of poker wannabe’s to the sites causing this surge. Do I think this was "good" for the game? That's a different post entirely)
Rounders (pivotal in creating an overall appeal to the game. Made it appear as though any average joe with determination and grit can make his stand)
Hold Card Cameras (without this concept, I do not believe we would have the interest we have. If we weren’t watching Moneymakers cards, I really don’t think anyone would have cared as much)
Launch of online poker (before online poker, you were geographically bound and restricted. This created a whole new world of poker enthusiast.)
ESPN Coverage (somewhat goes hand in hand with the Moneymaker affect. ESPN saw an opportunity for good television while covering the world's underdog, promoted the hell out of it, thus creating a windfall.)
WPT Coverage (I put this neck and neck with ESPN but think the WPT coverage was paramount to the success poker has had in recent years. The WPT really brings forth many veteran and new poker celebs to mainstream America.)
Poker Books (with all the media’s attention, everyone wanted to learn how to play. Increased interest, increased book sales, increased new material, etc.)
Poker Celebs (without favorite’s in any sport, no one would have anyone to cheer for. Some are great ambassadors, others are down right bad for the game. In the end, the exposure to those in the biz has been very important.)

Would love to add this list. Please feel free to comment.

-Adam

Technorati Tags: poker boom, poker catalyst, ccexplore.blogspot.com, Adam LaBare, Poker, WSOP, Pokerstars, Chris Moneymaker, Rounders

Is It a Streak?

2006-06-21T01:40:00.000-04:00

It's 1:30 in the morning and my ass is dragging so I'll make it quick...just wanted to share the following:

PokerStars Tournament #26791398, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $20.00/$2.00
180 players
Total Prize Pool: $3600.00
Tournament started - 2006/06/20 - 21:36:56 (ET)

Dear JvilleWhip,

You finished the tournament in 1st place.
A $1,080.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

You earned 309.44 tournament leader points in this tournament.
For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at
http://www.pokerstars.com/tlb_tournament_rankings.html

Two nights in a row...two first place finishes.

Good luck everyone!
Adam

Technorati Tags: poker, wsop, pokerstars.com, 1st place

Winning Online Multi Table Tournaments - Part 2

2006-06-20T09:46:00.000-04:00

Winning Online Multi Table Tournaments
By: Adam LaBare

Part 2
Limit Your Distractions
“I’m addicted to multi-tasking, HELP!”
-Anonymous

Online poker is unique in that you have the freedom to be doing as many simultaneous things as you like. When playing a home game or in a casino, you’re obviously limited to the interaction you have while sitting at that one table. You’re not buying in to several tables/tournaments and running across the room trying not to miss a hand. Imagine an entire poker room at The Bellagio with people running from one table to the next…chaos. But somewhat funny to imagine.

When you’re playing online poker, you have the freedom to play several tables, several tournaments in several different poker clients. You could be running 3 tables on PokerStars.com while playing in two different tournaments on PartyPoker.com. While your doing this, you could be surfing the internet and reviewing sites like digg.com or better yet, poker blogs! Beyond that, you may also have the television going with a fairly interesting plot line on ABC’s Lost (one helluva show if I may say) all the while your 3 dogs are plotting where the next batch of throw up will hide itself in anticipation of your wife to stepping in it thus resulting in a bad case to Tourette Syndrome. Then there’s always the wildcard door bell and phone call on top of those few things.

The thinking here is that when you’re playing poker online, it is very easy to be doing too many things which results in decreased focus which leads to increased loss monetarily. The solution? Limit your distractions! Or in the words of my Father, “Keep it simple, Stupid”.

I can’t give you the simple solution to limiting those distractions as I face them every day myself. I’m literally a multi tasking junky. I can’t sit still just doing one thing. I don’t think it’s adult ADD. But if my attention is not entirely utilized, it’s easy for me to get bored. Drives my wife insane. But I have been successful in limiting those distractions and here are a few things I do that contribute to my success.

If you’re like me and play poker on your laptop out in the living room to ensure you’re spending time with your loved ones, stop. Well, not entirely, find a happy mix. Trust me, your significant other does not consider this quality time. Instead, spend time in a different room away from typical household surroundings. Venture in to your second bedroom, or office and just be alone with your poker. You would be surprised how this has helped with larger, more important tournaments in my past. If you choose this path though, you better make darn sure you emerge from your cave and spend that lost time with your loved ones. Trust me!
Limit the background noise. Personally, I don’t really mind the T.V. going, but it HAS caused unnecessary distractions which very well may have contributed to an early tournament knock out here or there. This may sound odd, but I have had far and away more success when I’ve been listening to music vs. having the television on. While I can’t show you the science, it works for me. Perhaps you can compromise, turn your t.v. to your music channels. My cable company has a great line up of music choice. I also have Sirius Satellite radio streaming in to my home entertainment system. I LOVE this service. And, if I’m really in the mood to geek out, I have my ipod often plugged in to my Xbox 360. If music can soothe savage beasts, it may have a slight impact on us surly poker players.
Play on a full stomach. Yes, simply eat a snack before you sit down to that 6 hour tournament. The hourly 5 minute breaks don’t last very long. You’ll find that the less you have to get up and do normal, human stuff, the more focused you can remain on the game.
Use the bathroom before sitting down to those longer tournaments. Granted, if you have a lap top, you can work something out…and you lap top owners know what the hell I’m talking about. Don’t lie! But seriously, take care of business before hand-your several body parts will thank you for it.
Drink in moderation, or don’t drink at all. And for that matter, if you partake in ANY mind altering substance…if you’re playing poker for profit, I caution you to seriously consider partaking during or right before a tournament. Now I’m not suggesting you stop your binge drinking, pot smoking Saturday’s, but I am saying that I very rarely win a dime while playing intoxicated. You’ll see many poker players comment on a few beers or drinks relax them allowing them to play a better game. Okay, perhaps this is true…but if your in a marathon session, 2 crown and cokes can easily turn in to 9 resulting in you waking up at 4 in the morning with your laptop on the ground next to you. Then you ask yourself, how the hell did I get on the ground, under the coffee table? And why is my face sticking to the floor? And why is PokerStars still running? You get the picture. I remember one night I “fell asleep” a few years ago to wake up the next day and realize I finished in the money yet I had absolutely no recollection of participating in the tournament. I think that was part of the “growth process” and learning ones limitations. Needless to say, I very seldomly drink alcohol while playing. Maybe a beer or two every now and again. But even then, when your up running to the bathroom between hands…it get’s tedious.
Let the dogs out before you get started. Trust me.
Keep your cable modem and routers nearby. My cable company updates my IP about once or twice a week which means that I have to hard reset my modem and router manually. This has happened several times during very important tournaments. I've gotten the reset process down to a science and can be back up and running in about 60 seconds.
If you’re playing in a large tournament, play in an empty house. My wife has been very supportive of this without even having to ask. When she finds out that I’m playing in the stars 1 million tournament on Sunday’s, she’ll often get out of the house for the afternoon. She’s great when it comes to that. I just find that with larger, more at risk tournaments, the less distractions, the better. I’m just lucky my wife understands. Plus, it probably helps that she realizes a first place finish in this tournament could alter our lives quite a bit.
Relieve Stress. Easier said than done I realize. But when I sit down to a tournament, I do significantly better when I have less taxing things on my mind. For example, if I know on a Friday that I’ll be playing in the big tournament Sunday, it helps if I preemptively prepare at work. Meaning I’ll take care of open items in the workplace that Friday so that I won’t have to deal with them Monday morning. If your anything like me, Sunday afternoon’s can suck just knowing Monday is a work day. The less you have to stress about, work related, the better you will do in that tournament. This category can cover so many things…but other items that can impact your play:

Outstanding bills. Don’t go in to a tournament knowing that you HAVE to win to pay financial obligations. I keep my poker bankroll entirely separate from any outside financial obligations.
Sex. If your horny, get it out of your system before the tournament. Better yet, if your significant other is horny, make them happy before the tournament. It can be quite the dilemma when you run in to the bathroom during a 5 minute break and she say’s to you, “come here” from the bedroom as you head back to the computer. I’ll leave it at that…but you can see the problem this might present. Plus, the whole “you’d rather play poker than be with me” argument is a very slippery slope. Barry Greenstein had a great section on this topic in his recent book. A very good read I might add.
Double booking. Don’t plan to be somewhere at 8pm if your tournament starts at 6pm. Unless you want to fail which is just stupid and I which case, you deserve to fail. Playing with the added pressure of having to be somewhere really is setting yourself up for failure. Take care of your obligations before hand.

Most of these thoughts are common sense and may seem fairly obvious. But the reality is, we can never fully prepare for the unexpected. By limiting your distractions, you are in essence giving yourself an upper hand against an opponent who may not be so prepared.

Preface | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Technorati Tags: Winning Online Multi Table Tournaments, Poker, Poker Tournaments, WSOP, World Series of Poker, Poker Strategy, Poker Theory

Winning Online Multi Table Tournaments - Part 1

2006-06-20T09:39:00.000-04:00

Winning Online Multi Table Tournaments
By: Adam LaBare

Part 1
Choose Your Path
“Facing your demons can be paramount to your success with online poker.”
-Adam LaBare

I’ve been fairly successful with live action ring games in brick and mortar establishments as well as the home game circuit. However, over the past 5 years I have had a much greater return on my investment when playing tournaments vs. live action. And the reality was that for every tournament I cashed in, it was far easier to loose that gain back in the live action play. Granted, my live play wasn’t horrible, but it was just not as consistent as my tournament accomplishments. And consistency is key.

After reading several books over the years and speaking with many qualified players, I finally came to the decision that it was probably in my best interest to choose a path. The preverbal fork in the road if you will. Do I focus on tournament play or live action? Bottom line, I was not able to do both successfully. After giving this question a great deal of thought which really consisted of nearly a year of procrastination, I finally decided to specialize in tournament play. And the result? I have not looked back since and have done extremely well as a result.

With such a revelation, that doesn’t mean I don’t partake in live action every once in a while. But my thinking was simple: “Play tournaments for my bankroll, play live action for fun.” This has since evolved to the simple truth, winning money is fun, and therefore I rarely play live action ring games any more.

Am I missing out on profit? I don’t know. I do know my tournament skill is superior to my live action skill and being able to admit that goes a long way. I still consider myself a well rounded player despite the game type or format but I feel it very important to recognize your abilities and focus on said abilities. Channeling your energy, focus and determination in to something you can do better than others will result in increased profit. Simple. So for me, I try not to be tempted by the dark side and continue pushing forward on the tournament front.

Having chosen this path has really allowed me to focus on the bigger picture. My goal is to obviously build my bankroll but long term, I really want to take my show on the road so to speak. It is my dream to play “the circuit”. And why not? If I go about it with intelligence and proper planning, anything is possible. The burden relies solely on me. Through online tournament success I have had the opportunity to play in the World Poker Tour, The World Series of Poker, and many others. And in these larger tournaments, I have had respectable showings which leads me back to the main goal of making a passion for a game in to a realistic living.

Am I ready for that transition? Probably not just yet. And admitting this is not easy. But the reality is, my bankroll is not prepared nor is my ability to just set to the road. Real life obligations still exist and the way I look at it, until I can pay all of my bills via this medium, I’m probably not ready.

So, the moral of this section, know your abilities and maximize. Are you making more money in cash games? Focus on cash games. Are you fairing better in tournaments? Focus on tournaments. Speaking from experience, it is my findings that I can not do both well to the point of consistent profit. Perhaps that’s just me, perhaps it’s not. Make some self evaluations and base your decisions on the truth. It’s very easy to convince yourself you’re better than you are. Be honest with yourself and you’ll see the results, I promise.

Preface | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Technorati Tags: Winning Online Multi Table Tournaments, Poker, Poker Tournaments, WSOP, World Series of Poker, Poker Strategy, Poker Theory

Winning Online Multi Table Tournaments - Preface

2006-06-20T09:35:00.000-04:00

Winning Online Multi Table Tournaments
By: Adam LaBare

Preface

Everyone has a theory and a strategy when it comes to Multi Table Tournaments online, yet few have any level of success that can be considered consistent. People are quick to declare themselves a winning online poker player, yet few can back that up with any data. Here’s the deal, I don’t claim to be an expert. I consider myself an ever evolving student of the game. However, I have had my fair share of success with online tournaments and thought what the hell, let’s start writing about it and see where it takes me. If you, the reader can take even a small nugget of wisdom with you then I have accomplished my task.

First and foremost, I am human. I experience the same peaks and valleys most poker players endure. Over the years, my variances have been severe but with focus and determination, those variances have decreased a great deal. I mentioned having the data to back up ones ability. If you play poker online and are serious about it, I suspect that by now you have utilized one of the many database services available online. Such services allow you to search for players and obtain their wins/losses over time. If you want to do a little research, my screen name is JvilleWhip on most sites. While I’ve not made millions, I think I’ve done alright…and it’s only getting better.

Also, this several part article will not focus solely on how to play certain cards and when. There are so many other important factors to your online success and I will try to cover what is important to me in a thorough manner. My methods are certainly not a guaranteed road map, and you certainly don’t have to agree with them. But what works for me, very well may work for others. So, with that…enjoy.

Preface | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Technorati Tags: Winning Online Multi Table Tournaments, Poker, Poker Tournaments, WSOP, World Series of Poker, Poker Strategy, Poker Theory

1st Place Finish...

2006-06-20T09:14:00.000-04:00

It would appear as though the Poker Gods have smiled upon me and shed their grace upon thee. I used a sacrificial yak this time. Seems to work.

Took 1st place in a $20 180 person Multi Table Tournaments last night which paid $1,080.00. Was quite the tournament. I'm often preaching to minimize your distractions. But last night, I was bound and determined to screw around with my blog template. I ended up mucking it all to hell which allowed me to spend the duration of the evening fixing the code. While doing this, I kept trucking along in this MTT. Sometimes I think it's okay to have something to occupy your mind between hands. Granted, it's a fine balance of taking on too much. I'll be talking about this in more detail in an article I hope to be posting later today.

The tournament itself had me riding a few roller coasters, but in the end I just had better hands than my opponents more often than not. I really took the time last night to study my surroundings, habits, etc. Really worked well. Made it in to the money with a good stack, not great. Found myself in real need to make a move or accept a poor money showing. The tournaments momentum swung in my direction when I decided to play my position aggressively against the BB. He was a bit shorter stacked than I. My hefty raised urged him to either fold or push the rest of his stack. When he pushed back, I made a decision to call no matter what with my K9d. He turned over 22. I hit a 9 on the flop. People questioned this play on my part. So let me briefly explain my reasoning:

I'm the agreesor in late position with no other action. The BB is the only one remaining with a decision. I'm somewhat committed to the pot at this point with my good raise. If he pushes back, I know that more than like it's close to 50/50 or I would be the underdog with his A bad kicker. I liked my chances here and I figured this was a great spot to double my stack and make a play for a deep money finish. With his raise back at me, I figured him for mid pocket pairs like 66, 77, 88. My thinking paid off. Yes, it was a good flop for me sending me to the final table with a strong chip count.

The final table really was a test of patience. I was in a comfortable position to make several moves for the blinds allowing me to increase my lead. People finally starting knocking each other out. I finally ended up heads up severely short stacked. I was looking at 30k in chips against, 170k in chips. At this stage, my only hope is pure aggression. Plus, I knew someone was looking down on me when the second hand in to the heads up challenge brings me a steel wheel, hearts. From that point on, I doubled up several times with better hands resulting in this final hand:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?380237

Last nights win certainly beefs up my bankroll which I will graciously accept. I can now focus on the WSOP home stretch. Vegas or bust, baby!

Good luck out there,
Adam

All in the Royal Family...

2006-06-19T19:55:00.000-04:00

So, a huge congratulations to the wonderful Mrs. LaBare, the proud recipient of her first Royal Flush.

Dealer: Game #5303694223: DaniRae1 wins pot (2930) with a Royal Flush.

I've been playing poker seriously for over 15 years and have never had my own Royal Flush...yet. But Wifey Pooh here...sitting on her play money tables hits one like it's no big deal and a common occurrence, sigh. Luckily, I'm not bitter...hehe.

Seriously though....way to go honey! Wish you got a screen shot.

A proud husband,
-Adam

Technorati Tags: Royal Flush, Poker, LaBare, WSOP, World Series of Poker

Another Final Table...

2006-06-19T10:34:00.000-04:00

A quick update this fine Monday morning. Did I really refer to Monday as a fine Monday? hmmm. See how my mood improves when I'm doing well poker wise?

Anyway, after the World Blogger Championship debacle yesterday, I figured I would take part in a $20 180 person SnG. Made it to the final table and walked away with 7th place. Another great boost which has been two weeks coming.

Finished that rather early in the evening and decided to end the weekend on a positive note. Signed off and spent quality time with the Mrs. All in all, a good, solid weekend.

If time allows, I plan on doing some housecleaning on the blog. I like my template, but want to re-arrange a few items. I also plan on writing a few longer articles on specific topics which will include the following:

Making it to last years WSOP
Making the money in online poker multi table tournaments
Sit n Go concept and strategy according to me
Time Management

And more...

Hit your flops!
-Adam

Technorati Tags: PokerStars.com World Blogger Championship, Adam LaBare, Poker, WSOP, World Series of Poker, MTT strategy, SnG Strategy

Father's Day Poker Bloggin Extravaganza

2006-06-18T17:48:00.000-04:00

So here it is, a rainy Sunday Father's day here in Jacksonville Florida and I'm rearing to go in the Blogger Championship at PokerStars.com. Game just started and as suspected, 5 out of the 9 players are sitting out. So, the intent will be to take advantage of that fact and gain some chippys.

This will very likely turn in to a Hodge Podge of a post but oh well...

First things first, Happy Father's Day to my Dad, I love ya! And of course a Happy Father's Day to all you poker playing dad's out there.

Weekend Highlights...
Didn't really have much opportunity to play poker until yesterday evening. Played a small amount Friday night but didn't really make or loose anything. Saturday my wife and I joined several family members and headed south. Instead of weekend beach going activities, we went to a place called Salt Springs about an hour or so south of Jacksonville. Was a very relaxing day and much needed after the long week. Had fun seeing as much wildlife as we did. With quite a few people at the source of this spring, I was very surprised that people were swimming right along side alligators. Now, I'm still a Yankee at heart and swimming with a gator is about the last thing I would consider putting on my "to do" list. But swim with a gator I did. He was just lounging there minding his own business. We were as close as 3 feet away from him. Just very surreal.

Anyhoo, this spring was neat in that along with the gator, we frolicked with river otters and huge mullet that jumped 5 feet in to the air just for the hell of it. And while there were was plenty of entertainment in the water, there were Eagles perched right atop of us. I'm used to seeing my fair share of wildlife here in Florida, but it was just very odd for me to see that many variations that up close and personal. Hell, never even seen an otter before let alone swim with one. Odd enough to cause me to write about it in a poker blog I guess.

After such a leisurely day, getting home and playing some poker was the pristine situation. My wife went to the movies with my Sister, so I had some peace and quiet on the home front aside from the dogs. I played in 3 separate tournaments last night with one resulting in a decent result.

My $20 sng ended fairly quickly.

The $3 rebuy for entry to the 1 million stars tourney was going extremely well. I ended deep, but just shy of the money. Being a lower buy in, the payout was only provided to the top 20 out of several hundred entrants. Played it mainly to pass time, but started increasing my stack with several key hands. But in the end, I went out around 50th.

And then there's the $10 MTT I take part in most evenings at 7:45. Depending on the field, 1st place ranges between 2500 and 4000. I've had decent luck with this tournament. Made it to the final table last night and was really set for a top 3 finish. However, I ended up over playing A9 suited and found myself against A10 with no help from the board. So, I walked away with an 8th place finish out of some 2000 people or so.

Overall, I was happy with my play last night. After the past week or two, last night was long overdue. Granted, I didn't restore my entire bankroll, but it certainly helped the confidence factor. Hope to turn that in to profit with my tournaments today.

I took note of several key hands last night I hope to have time to comment on today. After such a horrible rut, when flops just seem to hit and you win your races, I felt compelled to document such oddities.

Back to the blogger action...
Still on my first table and a few have returned from sitting out. Micon two to my left from Neverwinpoker.com. Good to see him. As I'm writing this, he pushes all in and I see AK suited. I call. He shows AJ with no help from the board. Sorry Micon...sortof. =)

Thus far, there's a lot of action at my table. Really nice starting hands are causing people to throw chips left and right. I remain content with my 3335 in chips for the moment. Stack average is hovering at 2800ish.

AK wasn't so nice to me this time around. With two callers, lost out to J10. Down to 2000 in chips which leads us in to the first break. Seems like every time the system announces a break is about to begin, that hand always get's me in trouble.

AK next hand in, sigh...here we go. Okay, I bet large to avoid the suck outs...picked up the blinds. 1485 players remaining. 50 pay out some form of prize. Long way to go.

And that's all she wrote...out in 1299th position. What does that pay? cough. Found myself in the small blind with no callers. Just me and the BB. I push with my j9 short stack, he calls with 33.

Mumble mumble...that was entirely anti climatic.

With that, off to grab some grub and return to the tables!

-Adam

Technorati Tags: Poker, WSOP, PokerStars.com World Blogger Championship of Online Poker, Adam LaBare, Salt Springs,

Poker Conspiracy?

2006-06-16T10:45:00.000-04:00

Okay, so...I believe it's official, somehow I have managed to
successfully piss off someone at PokerStars.com. Someone that has the
absolute ability to control space, time, flops and rivers. I suspect
this individual has less control over the turn, but I'm suspect.

3 tournaments last night-2 loses and one horrible cash finish.

Here's how my evening shaped up.

$20 180 person sng. I'm all in with AK preflop, one caller with AQ. Q on the flop, nothing improves my hand, i'm out.
$20 180 person sng. I'm doing extremely well in this tournament. I've doubled up several times with hands like AA, KK, and AK. 20 people left, 18 pay out. I'm on the button with 15k in chips. Small blind has 16k in chips. Everyone folds to me, I look down and see AA. I was extremely pleased especially being this close to the money. Blinds were 400/800. I raise to roughly 4k expecting a simple fold fold from the blinds. Mr. Small Blind decides to raise me back. He pops it to about 8k total. I'm thinking alright, perhaps a good pocket pair, AK perhaps, possibly even AA as well. But in the end, how do I get away from this hand? If I double up here, I'm in great position for a deep money finish. I push all in, he immediately calls. He shows KQ spades. What in the hell is this guy doing? Was he just trying to come over the top hoping I was bluffing? Anyway, I experience a quick flash of joy only to witness the flop come Spade, Spade, Spade. Turn was a rag. River brings an Ace. Okay, first of all, I realize I'm beat, and beat good. But the Ace on the river? Does this puppet master enjoy torturing people THAT much? Christ. I've been on tilt now for 12 hours and I'm not even playing poker.
$11 six handed MTT which has been going on in the background behind the above $20 sng. I finish in the cash but just barely. I'm still so enraged from the previous tournament's finish I'm basically on auto pilot for the remainder of this one. I can't even tell you how I busted out of this one.

So, to summarize my entire evening, I share with you the following hand:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?375638

After everything was said and done, that hand just made me laugh.

In Other News...

Received Stars newsletter this morning and a few items caught my eye.

Coming Soon...Resizable Tables and New Themes

Soon you will be able to resize your PokerStars table, view our games
with new "Theme" backgrounds and even save your personal favorite
layouts for later.

If you're the type of person who has to have the latest features and
gadgets before everyone else, you need PokerStars beta. See all our
upcoming features and use them before they are released on the main
site. This includes table resizing and themes. Click here to download our beta version now.

I'm very anxious for this one item to go public. I'm really tired of
the same look and feel on stars and this will be a welcomed change.
I've contemplated using a Mod to change things up, but didn't really
like the idea of downloading someone elses executable file to coincide
with my poker client in this fashion.

So, apparently "FossilMan" has the secret i've been missing. Forgot just how easy this was...

Ask "FossilMan" about the WSOP

Q. How can I win a seat to the World Series of Poker?

A. If you want to be sure you have a seat before you
go to Las Vegas, PokerStars is your best bet. In 2004, I won my seat in
a $160 double shootout. PokerStars also has satellites for almost every
bankroll, from Frequent Player Point buy-ins to the $650 Sunday super
satellite. Your absolute best chance to win a seat in the WSOP will
come on Sunday, July 16 when PokerStars will host the world's largest
WSOP qualifier. This tournament will send the top 150 finishers to the
WSOP, guaranteed. PokerStars satellites are fantastic because winning
one also gets you travel money and a free room in Las Vegas during the
main event.

If you want to try your hand in a live satellite in Las Vegas,
the Rio will be running satellites all the time. You can play $1,060
single table satellites to the main event. The Rio also spreads $225
super satellites twice a day in the weeks leading up to the main event.

Good luck. I'll see you in Vegas!

Ho hum, I'm going back to my cave to sit in the dark....

-Adam

Technorati Tags: Poker, WSOP, SNG, FossilMan, Greg Raymer, PokerStars, Adam LaBare, World Series of Poker

Screech Get's Scratched!

2006-06-15T16:38:00.000-04:00

I can't believe I'm about to post this...but here it goes:

This was just too odd for me to ignore. Dustin Diamond (Screech from Saved by the Bell) is losing his damn house due to shitty credit and is looking for public support. At first glance I didn't give two shits...well, I still don't really care...but I kept reading the damn story. In the end, "the man" is trying to bring Screech down! An interesting read. I can appreciate using the internet when trying to make a buck but this is just funny.

Anyhoo...click if you want a chuckle.

-Adam

Technorati Tags: Dustin Diamon, Screech, Saved By The Bell, Poker, Adam LaBare

Poker Stuff...

2006-06-15T15:22:00.000-04:00

A Little Recap...
Wanted to just talk a little about last night's tournament. Wasn't the most exciting tournament in the world, but I don't need them to be exciting as long as I finish in the cash. =)

Let me start out with the hand that knocked me out. 3 places paid out, and I found myself fairly short stacked through the duration of the tournament. Aside from the one big stack, everyone else was fairly evenly short stacked as well. Once the bubble made his grand exit, I look down and finally see a decent starting hand, AQ suited. The whole premise of my game last night was to practice patience and make a move with premium hands. I've played with these guys long enough to know that given time, they will eliminate each other leaving a path for success if I just play it cool. And that's pretty much how it went down last night. So, when AQ came along 3 handed, I pushed all in against the big stack. He had me covered probably 5 to 1. But I figured this was a great spot for me to increase my stack even if just to pick up the blinds. Big stack calls me without hesitation. Lovely. What hand does he turn over? He shows Jack frickin' Jack! I really didn't know if I should laugh or cry. On one hand, at least I don't have the JJ this time, but on the other, JJ certainly out weighs AQ percentage wise. But with two over cards, suited, I felt good. So much for optimism. I really need to work on that whole optimism thing...it's one thing to remain positive, it's another to live in reality. So, needless to say, I lost the hand. Nothing overly dramatic, but nothing improved my hand and I walked away with third place.

So, to Bloody P from the Hello Kitty Blog...yes, JJ did in fact show itself...not in my hand, but it still ended up busting me right in the balls!

Anyhoo...a win is a win. So, happy I am. Hopefully some of that mojo can manifest itself in to online success this evening. More to follow on that front...

Celebrity Poker?
By the way, anyone catch Celebrity Poker lately? Anybody beside me think Hellmuth has absolutely no presence as a color commentator? Phil Gordon wasn't the best commentator in the world, but at least he had on screen chemistry of some sort. Plus, I just respect Phil Gordon. I'm not really trying to jump on the "I hate Phil Helmeuth" bandwagon. In the end, the guy has done more with poker then most pro's will ever dream of doing...but he just seems like a fish out of water on this show...pardon the pun.

Had to get that off my chest.

Back to work...
-Adam

Technorati Tags: Celebrity Poker, Phil Gordon, Phil Hellmuth, Adam LaBare, Hello Kitty, Bloody P, Poker, WSOP, Online Poker

Update...

2006-06-15T00:06:00.000-04:00

So, tonights local tournament tourned out, "okay". Walked away with 3rd place which equated to double my buy in. Not a spectacular finish cash wise, but in the money just the same. So, with that, I'll take my "in the money" finish and hit the hay.

G'night all,
Adam

Technorati Tags: Online Poker, WSOP, World Series of Poker, Adam LaBare, In the Money

Local Tournament Action...

2006-06-14T19:20:00.000-04:00

Just a quick update...
Heading out to a tournament across town. Really hoping to shake my JJ blues! Take it out on the locals! Muah! I could use a break from online play tonight.

Good luck at the tables,
Adam

Technorati Tags: Online Poker, Poker, WSOP, Poker Tournament

I've got the Jack, Jack, Jack...

2006-06-14T11:41:00.000-04:00

No News Is Bad News...
Would appear that I'm on a downward spiral and am in serious need of...inspiration? I put that in the form of a question because quite frankly, I have no idea what the hell is going on. Since my Sunday disaster involving pocket Jacks resulting in my demise 3 seperate times, I'm starting to wonder if psychologically, I'm setting myself up for failure. This hand didn't help last night either:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?373352

Yeah, I know I played them horribly, yet again. But my reasoning was, we're early in a tournament, the raiser only made a moderate raise. Let's pop him back and see exactly where we stand. I think my mistake here was raising as much as I did. Having put that many chips on the line, when the original raiser comes back over the top all in, i only had 500 chips remaining and was overly invested in the pot. So I made the call. And naturally, as it turns out, I'm up against KK which leads to my very early elimination form this tournament. I deserved to be knocked out for having such an overly optimistic mindset with JJ after the hard truths from Sunday.

So, the question is, how do you normally play pocket jacks? Common sense, history, and several books dictate that I not invest too much value on JJ. However, I welcome any additional feedback you may have. Thoughts, comments, strategy? Let me have it!

-Adam

Technorati Tags: Pocker Jacks, Poker, WSOP, World Series of Poker, Adam LaBare