G.P. and the Big Nothing. . .

It' Friday at 3 p.m. I was going to go to Foxwoods, but now I don't think I am. Matt is leaving early on Saturday, and I don't want the room on Saturday night, nor do I want to check out early tomorrow. Also, they only have 40-80 holdem and 75-150 O.E. I hear, and I don't feel like playing either of those, or any live poker really, for that matter. Maybe I'll change my mind, but I doubt it.
I'm listening to Ben Folds right now. Ben Folds gets me all fired up to do absolutely nothing. His compositional skills I find uplifting, but I can't relate to his love songs, maybe because I think he kind of sounds too wimpy - if I forced to make an 80's style mix tape for a woman, I could see myself using like Tom Waits over Ben Folds. The best song on the album imo is Late, which is about Elliott Smith, one of my favorite musicians:

Elliott, man, you played a fine guitar
And some dirty basketball
The songs you wrote
Got me through a lot
Just wanna tell you that

But it's too late
It's too late
No, don't you know
It's been too late
For a long time

Sad. So life for the past week has been ok. I went on a date on Monday and had a great time. We had some drinks (JWBlack for me and compares for her), then dinner with wine, then more wine at her place she watched the first three episodes of Sopranos season 6 with me at her apt. so I could catch up on the season. Anyways, I emailed her the next day and never got a repsonse. I spent the next two nights sipping whiskey, followed by MGD, and playing cards, kind of being semi-bummed out in general - prob broke even for the week, but the month ended up very well considering I was stuck until about halfway through March. My old roommate invited me out tonight for adult beverages and maybe a little red rover (ok. . .maybe he was joking about that). Instead of a Foxwoods trip report involving silverbirds and adventure, maybe I'll post one about Friday night - I'll leave my silverbird at home, but maybe there be some unexpected adventure. I talked to my mother today and she told me I have to go by the house to pick up all these Maxim Magazines that somehow have been getting sent to my parents in my name. Maybe I'll pick them up and give them to some scuppah like Szymaszek. Also, she told me I need to the read the Boston Globe article on how "the industry of my past-time is going to be going down." I could tell she really enjoyed telling me this. . . There may be a Todd Witteles interview coming soon. I think some of the questions I asked him were kind of dumb, though, which might be why I haven't heard back yet, maybe I'll resubmit. We'll see. . . .more to come soon. . .

Interview with the legendary Stephen Giufre. . .

Stephen Giufre is a professional poker player from Huntington Beach, CA. He is like 25 or 26 or something. I am happy to present fans of the bubble blog with the following interview:



What would you be doing in life if you weren't an expert poker player?

Honestly Im pretty sure if I didnt end up a poker player thre is a pretty good chance I would be living on some distant relative's couch or something. I'm pretty brutal when it comes to sticking to a schedule, so any 9-5 job would basically be torture for me. I took a job as prop at the Bike (note: Bike = Bicycle Casino in Gardena, CA) about a year after I moved to California, hoping to put a little more structure in my life. About three weeks into it I got extrememly drunk one night and had to work early the next morning. I surprised myself by waking up, but on the way there it became clear that if I didnt pull over and find a bathroom it might get ugly. So I stoped in a random neighborhood on the way, and due to my hangover and bad sense of direction, it took me about 2 hours to find the highway again. When I did I turned around and went home. I havent been to the Bike since. Hopefully that explains why I wouldnt fuction that well without poker.

I once had a dream that some guy that I was playing a nl cash game with moved in on me, tabled his hand, and yet I couldn't stop myself from calling anyways even though I was beat. Do you ever have dreams like that, or that you have a 9 to 5 job or something?

I dont really dream about poker much anymore. I think its because I play mostly online and it does get the be fairly repetitive.

Can you remember an instance where you were on wild monkey tilt and literally just gave money away but couldn't help yourself? Like spite capping the turn and then betting the river anyways even though you knew there was a 100% you would get called. . . If yes, what was the hand?

Yes, very recently. I was playing heads up 150-300 VS Greenaple on Doyles Room. Im not the grestest heads up player but I felt like I had an edge. After jumping out to a 9k lead, i proceeded to lose every hand and go on a 21k downswing. The last hand I played I three bet some no pair no draw hand on the turn, and bet the river. He quickly called and took the money. A few seconds later one of the obsevers chimed in and accused me of money laundering. Greenapple then correctly told his it was not money laundering, he was just better than me and I was on tilt. I took that as my cue to quit and I cashed out the rest of my money that day.

Who has helped your game the most over the years?

The famous Jesse leather ass Martin. He convinced me to start playing online, and spent a lot of time teaching me how to not be a weak tight grinder. Matt S. has also helped me a lot.

Who is the best all around or most well-rounded degenerate that you know? and please explain why you picked that person. . .

This one is tough because most of my friends are pretty good at staying out of trouble with other gambling and stuff like that. However when it comes to super high around neutral EV gambling, I dont think there is anybody sicker than Matt S. AKA suitedaces. He is famous turning low stakes pools, fantasy leagues etc. into borderline problem gambling. He is also expert at finding decent spots in the pit games, where he has a better than average chance of beating them based strictly on the number of free coronas he can drink before going bust.

What's in your cd case and dvd player right now?

I havent bought a CD in ages. Im really not that into music, Im still sitting on that expert tip you gave me to download some David Bowie.

Care to share a classic "SteveG has no respect for money" story?

I probably shouldnt go into details on this one but during the Bellagio 15k event this year I remember hitting town with about 5k, and waking up with about 4 bucks, a wraper and headache. I did get unstuck in a bad stars game later that day though.

Any embarassing live poker stories?

Most of my embarassing live poker stories relate to this guy I used to travel with a few years ago. Ive seen him use mouthwash at the table and spit it on a another players foot, eat chinese food off the Taj Mahal floor, and sleep in his car because he was too stuck to spend 40 bucks on a hotel room. Being in his presense was embarasing enough, even though he is actually a good guy.

Which poker player do you dislike the most? No explanation needed.

AmazingGrace on stars, obviously.

If someone offered you a check for $500,000 tax-free right now to never play poker or gamble on anything ever again, would you take it?

See my answer to question one. If you added a zero to that figure i'd think about it.

If there were 3 cups in front of you and two of them had a marble under them, would you bet everything you own plus assets for a chance to double up to find a marble?

Cool question. I'd like to say yes but I dont think I could pull the trigger. Doubling my bankroll would be great, but it would be nothing compared to how miserable I would be if chose wrong. Im not sure how well I would handle going broke, hopefully Im never gonna have to find out.

"Slow Century" Review, field trip to Ogunquit, ME and more. . .

I have been a member of netflix for about a year. It is not cheaper than the old school video stores unless you basically max it out, which is very hard to do. It is, however, extremely convenient. Twice in the last year I had movies I just never wanted to watch. A month ago I got Broken Flowers, The Bicycle Thief, and Eraserhead. I returned all three yesterday, but only watched Broken Flowers. I watched like twelve minutes of Eraserhead, then immediately realized that now is not the right time in my life to watch that movie. When I got home from work today I opened my mailbox to find the first two Entourage dvds and the first disc of Pavement's two DVD set "Slow Century." I like Pavement, and I own all of their cd's etc., but I didn't know much about their history since I really only got into them when they released Brighten the Corners. For example, I didn't know what Bob Nastanovich did exactly in the band, and there's actually an explanation for that - he doesn't really do all that much. By definition, he "keeps time and backs up the drummer with percussion." In one interview segment, he discussed how a record label guy followed the band around to 15 or 20 shows then said to him, "Bob, I really can't figure out why you're in the band," and he was geniunely hurt. Anyways, what is funny is that he actually looks kind of like Will Ferrell, and whenever he's on stage or in the studio he reminds me of Ferrell in the cowbell skit.



When Glenn bought a guitar I told him to get the new Malkmus solo album. He said, "I am not buying music that is so hip it doesn't even exist. . . " It has always been clear Steve Malkmus had style, but in some of his videos he takes it to the next level. For example, in "Father to a Sister of Thought" I expected the cowboy hats, given the slide guitar and country influence in the song. But cruising around strip mall parking lots in super bright sunlight, wearing yardwork gloves? Yup.



Speaking of Pavement, my old roommate Matt Tavares used to play in a band that covered Pavement's "Here." My friend John Pham and I went up to visit him this weekend in Ogunquit, ME where he lives with his wife, Sarah, and his 18 month old daughter, Eva. (I have more pictures, but for some reason it won't let me upload them :(. . . ) Matt writes and illustrates children's books. His website is: http://www.matttavares.com/index.html








Matt has human, animal, and vegetation drawing skills. . .

In other news, Mike Schneider, poker player extraordinaire, previously featured as a guest of the bubble blog, had some good fortune last week, which is further described here:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showthreaded.php?Cat=0&Number=5143313&an=0&page=0#Post5143313

Hot run kiddo. . . I hope that other thing that has been on your mind lately works itself out as well :P.

Diet Rock Stars. . .

So now I drink a lot of Diet Rockstars. I eat an advantage bar in the morning and for dinner, and for lunch I get a bowl of chili and a caesar salad or buffalo tenders. I am starting to drink more water at work instead of coffee all day like I usually do. None of that is interesting. What is sort of interesting, though, is that when I was going to the gym yesterday morning, I took my keys out of my pocket and I flung two twenties and a ten onto the sidewalk. A few minutes later, some guy came in and gave it back to me. He was tall and had brown hair. After I went to the front desk to identify my money, I went to look for him to give him and ten or a twomp or something, but every guy in the gym was tall and had brown hair. In any case, I am bored of being healthy but obviously will not slow down. . . Glenn is at 33k hands going into day 15, so he's 3k behind the pace. We won't know about me until I weigh myself at the end of the month, but I am feeling slightly slimmer.

I had a flashback at work today to about a year ago. I was back in Somerville hanging out with George. He said, "Seriously Glen, don't you think it's time for some new shoes?" I still have those shoes today. :(



Vacation this year looks a lot like Paris first then the Belgium, Germany and possibly Venice stretch. I think I have decided to take two weeks in June - the first to be spent in Paris. Steve G. said he's down for the trip. I figure we'll stay near the Aviation Club. The table charges there, though, are ridiculous though. Playing 80-160 at the Borgata in Atlantic City is $9/half hour. At the Aviation club it's 45 euros/hr, which is 3 times more expensive. Stupid. Anyways, I like Paris, and I like cafes, Gaulois blues, 1664, Renaults (ha jk :P), etc. . .

3/11/2006 quick update. . .

I heard Glenn had to help his friend move all day yesterday and hasn't played in a while. As for myself, here are some fun stats on the week: drinks: 0. cigarettes: 0. gym visits: regular. . . .Uh oh! Happy learned how to putt!

3/05/2006 Johnnie Walker Gold and laziness. . .

Matt: "I am going to get a bottle of blue and watch the sox at your apt.
"Glen: "Ok."

Those two sentences clearly quantify the ease of making me fall off the wagon at the start of my weight bet. I keep thinking I still have three months, but I also am not considering all the situations that might arise to make it more difficult to maintain a steady pace. The way we consumed the bottle of Johnnie Walker was also clearly offensive. First, Matt showed up with JW Gold, since they did not have any blue in stock. He shows up with Coke and a bag of ice as well. I take out two glasses and throw in some ice. Matt says he needs a bigger glass to mix his with Coke. What??? Well. . . he bought it, and it's a free country. Anyways, it was really, really good. When the night approached the finish line, to use the masterful lyrics of Chris "Parns" Parnell, "my hunger pangs were stickin'like duct tape!" Instead of going to mac on some cupcakes, though, we went to get a slice, which ended up being three slices for me. Both of us left almost a full drink on the table - clearly not expert. So, that was a big step back for the bet, and, without even knowing about my slothful evening with midnight pizza, Canadian Mike decided to put $500 down against me as well. I accepted! :) Then on Saturday I drank gin over at a friend's apt and had a few late night potato chips. Not looking good. . . Glenn btw is ahead of the pace, but there's still a long path to travel.
In other news, I got Strokes tickets for April. I am still trying to decide where to go on vacation this summer. How can I not go to Vegas at least once? It seems there will a rented condo for five that actually has sleeping room for like fourteen. San Fran or LA would be a nice link to plit up time. World Cup in Germany may be the front runner right now. I don't even like soccer, but I want to go to Europe, and I can't imagine going on a vacation with my friend George and not having a great time.



i rule at variance. . .

3/02/2006 The Curse of the Cranberries. . .

I buy cds from my friend Chris at work, who belongs to yourmusic.com. I have bought like 20 cds from him in the last 3 months. They are only $6 apiece. So last week I bought a Bowie CD for a friend, and then decided to snowball the order. I got a Beth Orton CD, both Wilco Mermaid Avenue CDs, the new Ben Folds (have to get everything after the surprising, monumental "The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner), and the Cranberries No Need to Argue - for old time sake. I get nostalgic when I hear this because it reminds me of the first bar I used to frequent in Nantes, France when I was 19. My friend Tim and I would drink 1664s and Kronenbergs after class. Anyways, it is not as good as I remembered it, but it's still good. So Chris starts saying, "Glen, I bet you can't wait to go home so you can really let loose singing along to the Cranberries. . ." Not the best mocking material, but good enough (he later made a semi-convincing argument that women would find me attractive in the same way men might find Condoleezza Rice attractive). Anyways, I get home, open up several tables of Party 30-60 and start to import my music. After I threw in the Cranberries, my itunes messes up. The importing goes down t 1.2x, the cd-rom starts vibrating, and all my tables freeze up. I had AcTc in the cutoff, and it folded to me on one of my tables - then Party froze up, and, in addition to the AcTc, I had just paid the blinds on two other tables.) I timed out of all my hands on 5 tables. This is probably the equivalent of losing a $100 bill. I get pissed. (I have a flashback to when I was a junior in college and bought the Cranberries To the Faithful Departed. It was so bad it made me angry. I listened to it three times. Then I put on the Cranberries song "Disappointment" from No Need to Argue and invited some friends in to watch me rifle the cd out of my 3rd floor window frisbee-style.) I reopen party. 1,200 hands into the session I am stuck 8k. I just made 3 bad plays. It' like 11 p.m. I am hungry - my apt. is empty, AND I can't eat anything anyways because of my prop. bet. So I had 2 cups of coffee. I somehow get even at like 1:20 a.m. I have no idea how I do, but I do. It's 2 a.m. and I'm wide awake. I lay down on my couch, set my alarm for 7:15, and throw in The Aviator. Now it's like 3:30 a.m. I drift for 5 minutes, start to dream, then something I was dreaming about makes me jump. I decide to stop the movie, write the time I am at (like 1:14:45)on a napkin. I throw in Pulp Fiction. I can't sleep. I look at the clock and it's 5 a.m. I wake up at 7:15 a.m. and hit the snooze. Next time I look it's 8:05 a.m. Gah. Long day ahead. . . .

2/28/2006 degenerate bet. . .

"Just tell me I can't do it! Just say it! Just tell me I can't do it! Arrghhh!!!" That's what Will Ferell shouted in the excellent but short-lived t.v. sitcom Undeclared when a student questioned whether he could write three termpapers in 24 hours. He did write the three papers, but whereas he usually got A's on the papers (students hired him to write papers for $50 apiece), this time he got 3 D's, wasting several hours doing speed and trying to beat a video game. . . so anyways, my friend Glenn says he needs motivation to make more money playing poker. He thinks he can play 150k hands of poker in 50 days. That's like 3k hands per day. I bet him 1k he couldn't do it. Also, I have put on a few pounds since I moved to the North End (obv too much Italian food, etc. . . ) So, we agreed on June 1st as the date when I have to weigh below 165 pounds. (I am currently 193) All I have to say is. . . ."Tell me I can't do it!" No one seems to think either of us can do it either. The last time I made a weight-loss bet I lost it - more because I was having a good month playing cards and felt the time and effort wouldn't be worth the closing suffering. That thought will inevitably cross my mind again, but I have already decided that I will let nothing get in my way. We are both taking action as well. . . so far Peter (Diplomat) bet $200 against me, Matt bet $500 against me (he will clearly tempt me by offering to buy all kinds of food and beer, etc. . ), and Steve G. bet $500 against both of us. Anyone else is free to contact me or leave a message here and it will be met for approval and documentation. Glenn once said something like the following: "it is always in one's best interest to make bets with Glen when his laziness is tested. . . ."

2/28/2006 status of my blog. . .

cpikula666: by the way
cpikula666: your blog sucks

2/13/06 Bowie. . .

My friend George told me a few months back to get into David Bowie, and I'm proud to say that I did. I would like to take this opportunity to plug the album "Bowie at the Beeb." It's a live double disc. Disc 2 is great - start to finish. If you must, start at song 5 - Queen Bitch. That will get you to the heart of the album quicker - two velvet underground covers, a stellar "5 years," "starman," and "Rock and Roll Suicide" - all better than the album versions. . . .
Quick hand. . . .
***** Hand History for Game 3550226072 *****$30/$60 Texas Hold'em - Monday, February 13, 21:39:24 EDT 2006Table Table 68260 (Real Money)Seat 8 is the buttonTotal number of players : 10
Seat 5: hasa123 ( $982.50 )Seat 7: Kunta_Kinte_ ( $1197.50 )Seat 8: xqs_me ( $1245 )Seat 9: vancuong ( $1348 )Seat 10: Rosedale3 ( $1632 )Seat 4: EmlyFischer ( $3354 )Seat 1: MichMyLove ( $1692 )Seat 3: nickgold111 ( $263 )Seat 6: ice_princess ( $1185 )Seat 2: polki17 ( $1000 )vancuong posts small blind [$15].Rosedale3 posts big blind [$30].
** Dealing down cards **Dealt to EmlyFischer [ Kd Qh ]MichMyLove folds.nickgold111 folds.EmlyFischer raises [$60].hasa123 calls [$60].ice_princess folds.Kunta_Kinte_ folds.xqs_me folds.vancuong folds.Rosedale3 calls [$30].
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ac, Ah, 4c ]
Rosedale3 checks.EmlyFischer bets [$30].hasa123 raises [$60].Rosedale3 folds.EmlyFischer raises [$60].hasa123 calls [$30].
** Dealing Turn ** [ Jh ]
EmlyFischer bets [$60].hasa123 calls [$60].
** Dealing River **
[ 2c ]EmlyFischer bets [$60].hasa123 folds.EmlyFischer does not show cards.EmlyFischer wins $552
Who wants to float me next?

2/09/06 ok ok

It's been a while, I know. Since my last entry, not much has changed. Latest word on Schneids in the inter 150-3 game. . . . "d0000d: dangero your money feels so good rubbing it against my c*ck." Ahh degenerates. . . . Anyways. . . . who saw the grammys last night? Yes, yes, Fiona got snubbed, but what did anyone expect? I was pulling for Kanye because he seemed like he cared the most.
I would like to give a shout out to Shane Schleger, aka "Shaniac" for his 220k win in the $300 rebuy tourney at Commerce. According to several poker sites, he "decimated" the final table. Also, props to Matt Szymaszek and Jesse Martin for having the savoir-faire to take %5 of this talented young man.
As for myself, more of the same. I have decided I am going to make the most of the Party bonus that I have been offered, which should be about 6k over the next 8 weeks. I need motivation to play anyways, especially since I have a "sigh" job, and I am often very tired at the end of the day. Last weekend I had the pleasure of a visit from my friend Tim, who was staying in Boston for the weekend with his wife. They dined on Saturday at Strega, which is a restaurant around the corner from me in the North End in Boston. Tim came over and we drank some Johnny Walker Black as well as a few Amstel Lights. At one point, Tim had to take a piss, so I decided to go have a cigarette. This is significant in that as I walked the bathroom of my one bedroom apt, I noticed Tim left the door open. There is a large mirror in the bathroom, so, as it turned out, I accidentally caught a glimpse of Tim's hog. Now that is significant. Tim once boasted of having a large hog. He gave a specific length even that neither I, nor any of our friends, believed (Tim has a slight history of exagerrating). Anyways, a few years ago, while sitting around after a night at the bar, we decided to call him out and asked him to whip it out. He wouldn't, adding to the mystery of whether this was a tall tale. It turns out that he was not lying. End of story. . . .
I just watched the second season of BBC's The Office and the Christmas special. That show is gooooooood. I actually felt a little uncomfortable watching David fall from power, and I did, in fact, get somewhat emotional at the end (Disclaimer: I was kind of drunk, and it was just like kind of how you felt when you were 8 and watched the Death Star blow up). I would get into specifics, but I don't want to spoil it for those that haven't seen it. I was telling this to Lynette, a girl I have been seeing recently, and she said, "wow, I wouldn't strike you as the sensitive type. . . " I didn't think I was either, but that's the second time in a week and a half I got emotional (by emotional I mean slight general palpable happiness, not like man-weeping) over something like that. (Other time: When the dude from That 70s show said he was in love with scarlett johanssen in Good Company in front of her cinematic dad. .
Token Poker Blog Hand: Party 20-40. . . .
***** Hand History for Game 3503488064 *****$20/$40 Texas Hold'em - Monday, February 06, 01:20:14 EDT 2006Table Table 69593 (Real Money)Seat 5 is the buttonTotal number of players : 10
Seat 2: p847519 ( $1141 )Seat 3: putterdere ( $1105 )Seat 4: warden944 ( $1376.50 )Seat 5: ucelm ( $931 )Seat 6: Terminator8 ( $834 )Seat 8: EmlyFischer ( $1530 )Seat 1: richsugar ( $1142.62 )Seat 9: WhiteBubble ( $537.50 )Seat 10: anthony20001 ( $1578.50 )Seat 7: Lestat__ ( $1097 )
Terminator8 posts small blind [$10].Lestat__ posts big blind [$20].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to EmlyFischer [ 7d 7h ]
EmlyFischer raises [$40].anthony20001 calls [$40].richsugar folds.p847519 raises [$60].putterdere folds.warden944 folds.ucelm folds.Terminator8 folds.Lestat__ folds.EmlyFischer calls [$20].anthony20001 calls [$20].
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qs, 7c, 2d ]
EmlyFischer checks.anthony20001 checks.p847519 bets [$20].EmlyFischer raises [$40].anthony20001 calls [$40].p847519 calls [$20].
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qd ]
EmlyFischer bets [$40].
anthony20001 calls [$40].
p847519 calls [$40].
** Dealing River ** [ 2h ]
EmlyFischer checks.anthony20001 checks.p847519 bets [$40].EmlyFischer raises [$80].anthony20001 folds.p847519 calls [$40].
EmlyFischer shows [ 7d, 7h ] a full house, Sevens full of queens.p847519 doesn't show [ Kc, Kh ] two pairs, kings and queens.EmlyFischer wins $607 from the main pot with a full house, Sevens full of queens.
One of my friends found a problem with the way I played this hand. . . Comments?

1/29/2006 So here's a hand Schneider played last night.

So here's a hand Schneider played last night. Schneider is a very good online short-handed player. Most of the people that play in the 150-300 pound game (approx. 270-540 in usd) are very good, so what separates the winner from the break even or losing players is often the ability to process and analyze a lot of information and come to quick decisions. Schneider felt like he botched this one, and I agree. A lot of decisions are debatable. I am not familiar with Helsto, but PeteZah is a well-known internet player. I am not sure if this particular handle has become common knowledge, so I do not feel at liberty to reveal his name, as I was once sworn to secrecy a long time ago. In any case, here is the hand:

Ni_Han: posts small blind $75
Helsto: posts big blind $150
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to d0000d [9h Kh]
d0000d: raises $300pc1000: folds
PurplHaze: folds
PeteZah: raises $450
Ni_Han: folds
Helsto: raises $450
d0000d: calls $300
PeteZah: calls $150
----- FLOP ----- [5d Qh Th]
Helsto: bets $150
d0000d: raises $300
PeteZah: calls $300
Helsto: raises $300
d0000d: raises $300
PeteZah: calls $300
Helsto: calls $150
----- TURN ----- [5d Qh Th][8s]
Helsto: bets $300
d0000d: calls $300
PeteZah: calls $300
----- RIVER ----- [5d Qh Th 8s][Kd]
Helsto: bets $300
d0000d: calls $300
PeteZah: calls $300
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Helsto: shows [Qd As] (A Pair of Queens, Ace high)
d0000d: mucks hand [9h Kh]
PeteZah: shows [Jc Kc] (A Pair of Kings, Queen high)
PeteZah collects $5472 from Main pot

So Schneider raised utg with Kh9h. I am not a fan of this. This is a time and a place kind of raise, and the fact that PeteZah 3 bet him with KcJc demonstrates that his image was not exactly right to make this raise. 3 betting KcJc is usually reserved for later position open-raises who have a wide opening raise. I fold here, as I would expect to rarely take the blinds, to rarely see it fold to the blinds, and to often experience heavy action behind me (maybe even have to face a cap :P) One can make a case for folding preflop when it comes back for 2 more bets, but calling is not bad, especially when you play well postflop like Schneids.The flop play is pretty standard imo. Four people saw the flop and he has a huge draw. He wants money in there and he got it. It would be interesting if Helsto checked. I think Schneids is checking here too after bricking. There is no way he is winning the pot on the turn, and he may even get PeteZah to check behind, who just called 2 cold twice on the flop. PeteZah's hand is most likely a draw, and he, like Schneids would think there is no way a bet would take down the pot; rather, he might think that Helsto is expecting a bet from Schneids, who might then be able to check-raise both Scheids and PeteZah. Since Helsto is probably aware that at least PeteZah and maybe schneids is on a draw, he just bet out, knowing that his preflop aggression and flop 3 bet into a four way capped preflop pot means he has a hand, Schneids and Zah would likely check behind.The river is the most interesting street. The king gives Schneids top pair with a weak kicker, and Helsto bets out. The most important factor now is hand reading. The pot is 4500 pounds or 15 big bets. It is difficult to comment on hand reading in other people's hands since you do not fully understand the history one player might have with another. (i.e. my utg raises rarely get 3 bet by KcJc against player who know my typical utg raising range. They don't call because they fear some form of total domination - being against AJ, KQ, AK, etc.) . . . .Bah! I was looking at my aim conversation and Schneider said PeteZah was on tilt and Helsto is a super donk. We'll briefly discuss what that changes. It means that I would be even less likely to raise utg vs a guy who is tilting and even less chance of taking the blinds. As for Helsto it doesn't seem to change much. He has the best hand obviously, but it makes a river that much better of an option. Schneider basically had a moment where he made what would be considered an easy call in a big pot vs. Helsto. He made top on the river, and the pot is 4800 - easy call. But did he consider what PeteZah might have? Clearly PeteZah's most likely drawing hand here is KJ, and the fact that Schneider said he was tilting makes it that much more likely, since he 3 bet preflop but shut down postflop. (from what I know of PeteZah from playing with him, he is not the type to continue donking off chips postflop in multiway pots even if he were on tilt.) Ultimately, in a pot that large, the best play was to raise, since PeteZah would have an EXTREMELY difficult time thinking KJ beat both of these guys. This kind of raise is correct even if you think that Helsto has a better hand MOST of the time. It doesn't have to work very often to show a profit. Anyways, we all make mistakes. Next time Schneids!
(I just ran spell check and the first suggestion it came to for PeteZah was "fetishes". . . hmmmm. . . . )

1/28/2006 Yeah this is my blog. . . let the good times roll. . . .

This is my first blog entry. It is Saturday night, and I am sitting at my computer. I just watched Raging Bull. Then I watched the Fiona Apple DVD. One sec I have KK now. . . .raised in mp, bb called, turn A i checked he had Ah9h obv. Playing two 20-40s while I write the intro to my blog. I am not sure exactly what form my blog will take. I guess it will be organic. The first person I would like to thank is Mike Schneider for trying to help me come up with a name for the blog. I obv ignored it and went with the pavement reference. Ok I am now going to try to publish this and make sure it works. . .