Limits Set
Quick Post.
Everyone has been asking about limits and what they will be set at. I must be honest here…the limits are going to be high. No, I’m just playing with you. I did think that the Razz game would spread some higher limits like 6/12 to be honest. But now that I think about it…well it would be a shame not to include as many people as possible in these games. Thus, the limits will be 2/4. If others want to get a game going of 4/8 or 6/12 I’m sure we can do that for there are some people that have that bankroll. But for the sake of fun and getting caught up with everyone let’s make it a 2/4 game at all tables. Some games will fluctuate due to bring-in bets and so forth, but those limits can be set by people as the night goes on. Thus, try to be nice and think of other folks when you think of the limits being set at each table (x-mas is around the corner and some of us have families). I’m not a table Captain by any means, so I will leave it up to someone at each table to monitor that the limits aren’t getting too high so everyone could play. I think after every hour or so we should call for a change and see if anyone wants to change seats with someone at another table (chips not included of course).
What is everyone’s take on this topic?
Crazy Emotions
I was thinking of what I could write about today without being morbid. After reading Iggy’s post it started to crawl on me, that ugly-sad feeling of facing my grandmother’s death on my return home. I was there when they buried her and that passed by so quickly. Get off plane, sleep, and wake-up and go bury woman who raised you and get back on plane to NYC. Yes, I was in shock.
Now I go back home in hopes of closing some open wounds that have slightly started to open up more and more over the past two months. I think of Spaceman and Iggy and wonder if their wounds are also starting to open at this time, being that it is a time often spent with family and friends.
My grandmother’s home, the home that I always felt to be mine is now empty. It’s was being fixed up and now it’s ready to rent to some strangers. I sometimes call the old phone number in hopes of maybe her picking up, but all I get is the disconnected number lady. All my life I have been able to call that number and find some hope, a story, a laugh, and a place to be vulnerable. Now, well now I dial the number and a lady picks up telling me this number is no good...how can it be no good when it was so great all my life?
In closing, I leave you with this quote:
Death, you bastard, for making life so empty.
Tables A Lock
Mike Green of the MGM Poker Room has given the green light.
The tables have been set.
They are just waiting for the bloggers to arrive.
We have three tables so far set aside at the
MGM Grand for Friday night starting time 8:00 pm. Not sure how you all feel about the games I’m thinking of spreading...let me know if you have any gripes or negative feelings about these games. I have tried to spread a few different games at each table, thus, giving us a chance to play at different tables throughout the night. Please let me know what you think.
Table 1 - Razz and Triple Draw
Table 2 - Omaha 08 and Pineapple
Table 3 - HORSEBut in the end I'm sure everyone will work it out. I just put those games down and I'm sure they can be changed once everyone sits down at the table.
Toni in A.C., Bad Stud, and Vegas
So much poker content to post here.
First: Toni who hosts the TowneHouse game that Pauly introduced me to ended up +430.00 at the Taj. All this money from a 6 hour session at the 3-6 table. I had mentioned to Toni that this game was soft, but I never pulled in that much cash from one 6 hour sitting. Continued success Toni and sorry I didn’t meet you at the Taj.
I went on a bad skid in Stud. Nuff said. I don’t like giving bad beat stories or sad ones...we are up and down in this world...I went on a bad downward spiral. Time to man-up and take responsibility for trying to play too aggressive on some pots I should have just called down.
Joaquin’s Tips on Vegas1. Try and hang with people who like to play home games. These folks tend to be those who will try and fit a quick game in their room before they hit the sack. Read about the Boat House when Pauly and the boys played with candy and sugar packs as chips before they made it over to the Boat House. There is no rake in these room games and you could earn a buy in to the next day’s tournament.
2. Ask people if they don’t mind if you take a picture with/or of them. I know this may sound odd to some people, it’s just some people like to fly under the radar for past crimes they have committed and for the prison escape they made years earlier….cough!cough!
3. Don’t wear shirts that read, “I’m going to Blog this” you can only get away with it if you are everyone’s favorite Geek.
4. No bad beat stories…pa-lease!
5. Don’t badmouth people at the table...esp. our tournament tables. We are all out to have fun, play serious, without the drama and badmouthing. On the other hand, if you see a small person of stature getting everyone on tilt at his table (non tournament table of course) sit and watch for the good laugh.
6. If you see people standing around don’t feel scared to go up and introduce yourself. Pauly mentioned this in his blog (read his list). Serious, if you know someone plays a certain game or at a limit you aspire to reach ask him/her some questions. Last gathering I heard Iggy speaking about ramming and jamming at the 20/40 or 10/20 game and the benefits to such a style of play.
7. If you want to try to play slots...speak to Grubby about the ones which pay well.
8. Try and get one good meal in. You are in Vegas and every place on the strip has a jewel of a restaurant...call them now and try to get reservation.
The Doctor, D, Spaceman and Myself
We all meet up at Brother Jimmy’s and it had to be done because Spaceman is from the south and here on audition for: Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. In case you all don’t know, Brother Jimmy’s here in NYC is kind of a wannabe Southern Shack type of place. It’s our best Big City impression of what we think of when we think of the South…in other words, it’s probably like what Taco Bell is to me when people say, “Let’s go eat some Mexican Food at Taco Bell.” In any case, Spaceman said the place wasn’t that bad (maybe he didn’t want to hurt my feelings for picking the place) and we continued to eat and drink. (oh, just so you know Mrs. Spaceman your grandmother’s coleslaw was mentioned as the best in the South) And for the record, I love Taco Bell, but it’s really not Mexican…nuff said.
As a side note: Our waitress was a total bitch and I was trying to be nice to her and chat her up for the boy’s sake. Then we make a toast to “off shore bank accounts” and ask her to join in and she looked at us with a blank stare and acted rude (a good waitress would have said, what are you boys talking about…flirted and got a better tip) so I asked her if she knew what one plus one was? I know, I know, I’m an asshole. But I think Pauly did say a foul word on her first approach so that may have set her on tilt.
Our next place to hit was the Dublin Bar. I don’t like cold Guinness (I like it kind of warm) so I went with Jack on the rocks. We chatted for a few minutes about poker and life. Pauly was laughing at the couple in the corner that was right behind us and twisted together like a pretzel. I’m thinking he was doing something to her under the jacket, but that’s just me. Then we seen some people bent over at a table…Pauly looks at me and I say…without missing a beat I must admit and pat myself on my back, “they aren’t doing lines.” Then we use the whole…”pass the sugar”…Aussie accent of course. Also, Spaceman mentioned to me that he was even shocked by the immensity that is NYC. I thought about it for a second and had to agree with him.
On a quick side note: I have often read when pros say they use to just sit and talk about hands over and over again and that’s how they developed their skills. I found this approach to be interesting because I play by feel so I could never imagine myself sitting and discussing hands. Yet, yesterday it hit me how valuable this could be. I can’t tell you how much I learned from just sitting and listening Derek talk out hands…and he remembered them so vividly. I now can remember hands also and can talk about them (yet, when I fold I can’t remember what I just folded) with people and I thought I would never reach this point to be honest.
Our next place to hit was Yogi’s bar. But on the way we got a call from everyone’s favorite phone bandit, Al Can’t Hang…he was at a bar drinking…shocker.
I got a call from the Anita “Pinky” Agarwal telling me she was going to sleep…damn Jersey folk always go to bed so damn early.
What can I say about Yogi’s…it’s another cheap City version of what a bar in the south would be…sorry, all these places are in the same neighborhood. We went and had a dandy time…I got to kick a Black Bear in the junk for stupid shitz and giggles. Everyone at the bar was a bit shocked that I would walk up to a bear on it’s hind legs and kick him in the junk…I even seen a few guys wince in pain. Me, I just laughed along with the fellow bloggers.
I tried to get some girls to sit and talk with us and have some drinks. You know, just to give the boys some shitz and giggles stories. But the three girls I started to chat up were from South Africa and wanted to leave. I guess we were all too damn ugly. Then we found girls that were drunk enough to chat with us and I told them they were sitting next to celebrities in Pauly and Spaceman…since the world series was on we were trying to see if Pauly would pop-up on the screen so we could say, “there he is.” That would have gotten him a cool blow-job in the back corner room. According to Derek if you paid enough you could get back there and that’s where all the action was happening…of course he was joking…or at least I hope he was joking.
We then went to Time Out Bar. An old haunt of mine where I use to watch the UCLA games. It was too funny because an old bartender from my neighborhood was working there. She had a massive rack and they guys kept asking me how I knew her and what she did for a living…I told everyone she gave me a hand job…haha! Everyone started to laugh and nobody called bullshit so I went with it. I also ran into Alberto “Mr. San Antonio” Puentes at the bar which was so damn random and funny.
Then we went on to Bourbon Bar for a few drinks. We all started yelling at the T.V. because the World Series was on…Call that Donkey…CALL HIM!!! ...but the MOFO on the t.v. just folded. I guess it helped that we had the view of the cards.
I wanted to hit a few other places but Spaceman was done. As most people know, I can stay up all night hitting the town. So we packed it in for the night and got our Gatorade and water…always kills the hangover.
Interesting conversation I had with Pauly on bankrolls. People are sometimes shocked that I play at a high stud table. Yet, I have to tell you that playing high limits in Stud is very different than playing in a limit 20/40 game. For instance, if you have ever sat at a 20/40 table you know that guys are going to ram and jam a pot with pocket 10’s. Thus, and often, the pot is capped. This would never happen in Stud. Sorry, it just doesn’t happen. Not the nature of the game unless you have some real fucken cowboys at the table which does happen but they tend to get isolated during the game. In a limit 20/40 game it seems that everyone is a fucken cowboy. Go to party and see how big the pots are in 20/40 limit compared to 20/40 stud. Stud is a slower game and a lot more checking takes place sometimes from the first card down. It’s just the nature of the game. Thus, the bankroll to survive in Stud is much smaller than that of limit. Should you have a suffice bankroll to play both…yes, of course. But I would have to double my stud bankroll to play in the higher limit games such as 20/40 or 40/80…that is just my take.
Blue Parrot
I received a special invite from Pauly to play in the world famous “Blue Parrot” game hosted by Ferrari. I felt this to be an honor to play so I showed up on time because nobody likes people who show up to a game late. Plus, I would get to sit where I wanted to sit…which would later cost me to the raising machine known as, Pauly.
Right off the bat I see Dr. Pauly and the crew of Spaceman and Derek downstairs laughing up a storm and chatting away. I brought Spaceman’s Yankees cap for him to wear being that he’s from the South and despises what our boys in pinstripes stand for…in the words of Johnny Drama, “VICTORY”. Nuff said.
Ferrari came in the hall quickly after and took us up to the lair de Senor Ferrari. Everyone who showed brought beer. Myself, well I brought my Bud Light Tall Boys (yes kids, those are 16 oz. Dogs for your little pups that are asking), Pauly brought some cold Coronas and something else…I think some Heinekens. Beer of the night goes to Ugarte who brought some Newcastle…struggling stand-up comedian my ass.
One of the neat things about Senor Ferrari’s place is not only the view, but the set up he has for his poker table. It’s a regular glass table that he puts like two layers of mats on then a green felt…it’s awesome and lets you shuffle cards rather easily.
So the cards are in the air and every single person that comes in says that they want to sit to Pauly’s left. Of course, being the dork I am I sit to Pauly’s right. This after he pulls up the chair to his right and says, “Joaquin Buddy…sit right here.” I was oblivious to the raises that would be coming so I figured we would get a chance to get caught up since we haven’t spoken in some time.
I don’t remember a lot of the pots, but I do remember that Pauly kept feeling obliged to raise every pot. Before I knew it I had a huge stack of chips…I think I was up to 270.00 at some point. I figured that would hold me for a while. Then the beer started to kick in. That’s why I never drink when I play. I bled off a couple of 20’s and decided to let my Jewish Brother Ugarte take my seat.
I watched the game from a far and saw some big pots being scooped and Ferrari and Derek had the biggest pot of the night…Derek was almost on empty and rebuy mode when his set beat out Ferrari’s set. I have to tell you that both guys had some balls ramin and jamin like they did.
Random thoughts that just came to my mind…
1. F-Train was a bit silent compared to how I know how he can control a no-limit table…god bless us that we didn’t play no-limit. I heard later that he didn’t catch any cards.
2. Ferrari is a solid player who kept trying to call Anaconda…which I don’t play since I really don’t understand it. But I know the pots can get rather big and I’m glad nobody agreed to that game.
3. Pauly’s aggressive game had a few people mixed up to what he was playing for the most part. With Pauly it’s either junk or the nutz…you make the call.
4. Diana really surprised me with her aggressive play which helped her gain a nice chip stack at the start of the game.
5. Once Om settled in he was a tougher player and towards the end of the night he had lots of chips.
I lost a few big hands after I re-bought and should have stayed in a few pots. But that’s just the way things go from time to time…sometimes you have the nutz but lay it down at the flop or turn only to hit your one outer on the river.
All and all I had a great time and I wanted to thank Ferrari for having me over his place. It was a joy playing with everyone and seeing some old familiar faces in the audience. I really look forward to playing our Razz game out in Vegas especially maybe sitting with F-Train and going over hands…he seems to have a better grasp on the Razz game than myself.
Well I’m off to party with the boys tonight and I shall contact you if there are any instances of pissing on the streets of NYC.
Random Vegas Stuff
“The WPBT in Vegas must be near...I’m getting a hard-on.”
It’s been a while since I put up a Rooster of the week. So check it out, Yo. Yes, this is a beautiful Lemon Rooster. I must warn you; these things are rather aggressive and can turn on you in a split second. So if you get one you must baby it and teach it calm at a young age or else they will get all their energy going on you. Thus, purchase them as a baby and if you are interested in obtaining one of these little guys please let me know.
Now for poker content: Oh, but before we get to poker…I just wanted to plug my city blog and my food blog to the right. I think
BG is one of the only ones who reads my food blog…but take a peak when you have a chance.
Speaking of the
BOY GENIUS. I was wondering if there were some bloggers who wanted to sit with me and teach me some gamboling skills. For instance, I was wondering if BG would have an hour to sit with me and show me the different ways to read a race sheet. I, like BG, have been going to the track as a kid. I guess I’m a country boy and just bet by feel. If I see a horse that looks excited to run, but yet calm in his prance…well I’m putting some money on him. I have been a long term winner in horse racing but I’m sure reading the card would help.
I have spoken to the MGM grand and been in contact with their main man over there,
Mike Green (mgreen@lv.mgmgrand.com). He’s been a real big help in trying to secure us three tables for mixed games. I will get back to everyone once we have those tables secure for Friday, December 9th. He did mention that the upstairs that everyone told me about might not even be a part of the poker room soon since they are turning that area over to the sports book. But you might want to email him to let him know that you would really appreciate any way he might be able to accommodate us.
Go visit Pauly who is up in Foxwoods covering the WPT as you read this. He also has the poker quote of the year. I would tell it to you here, but go visit
Pauly and read the story behind it.
Also, pay a visit to
Bill Rini and Poker Prof. Those are the dudes that are in charge of the event in Vegas and providing the winner with 10 lap dances at Rhinos. There is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes and Bill and Poker Prof. Have been working hard on the details. Also, post the banner for the WPBT onto your sight.
I will be posting soon about my trip to AC. But the above stuff was far more important.
AC LIST:
Wow! It seems that the rally call has been put out so I’m going to do so officially now. Here is a list of people that will be in AC this weekend and I will try and post a possible meeting spot for everyone to have a causal drink on Sat. If anyone might show up please make sure and let me know. It would be great to have people show if that’s possible. In any case, here is the list:
1. Myself
2. F-Train
3. Mr. High on Poker
4. Dawn
5. Mike “The Banker” Genovese
6. SoxLover
7. John "The General" LeePlease let me know if you might be able to make it. I will be there Friday thru Sunday playing at the tables. Hope to see you there.
Cool Tournaments
What happens when you become a popular blogger or work for a top notch poker website? Well you can throw your own personal tournaments. Not to mention these are multi-tournaments that have great prizes and a shoot-out tournament with the best of the best meeting in Vegas. What gifts am I going for? Well I think I will want to bust Pauly for the Gift Card. As for the Full-Tilt tournaments with the winners meeting in Vegas to determine the best of the best...remember people, Joaquin Ochoa doesn’t make deals. nuff said!
In closing, I wanted to thank these two foolios (Pauly and Bill whose links are ont he right) for hooking these great tournaments up. And my bounty for these tournaments if you happen to knock me out...well it's my middle finger being put up to your character on the monitor...you know you have all done it...don’t lie...you have all done it!!!
Pauly’s TournamentsWhat: Saturdays with Dr. Pauly
Where: Poker Stars
When: Saturday November 5th at 1pm EST
Tournament Info: #14338880 (check under Private Tournament Tab)
Password: hiltons
Eligibility: Anyone with a Poker Stars account
Attire: Pants optional
Special Prizes:
First place (weekly): Phil Gordon's Little Green Book
My Bounty (weekly): Free iTunes Gift Card (Bust me and get 15 free songs!!)
Grubby's Bounty: Visit the Poker Grub for more info
Saturday's with Dr. Pauly Champion... Overall Winner: iPod Nano
Overall 2nd Place: DVD of the Big Lebowski
Overall 3rd Place: Daddy calls you on Christmas to wish you Happy Holidays
Saturdays with Dr. Pauly Tour Dates:
Tournament #1: Sat. November 5th at 1pm EST
Tournament #2: Sat. November 12th at 1pm EST
Tournament #3: Sat. November 19th at 1pm EST
Tournament #4: Sat. November 26th at 1pm EST
Bill Rini’s TournamentsWhen: Nov 6th, 13th, and 20th at 3pm Eastern (do the math for your local time zone)
Where: Full Tilt Poker. Go to the tournaments section, click on private and scroll down. The tournament is private so you will need a password. Please email me for the password (you’ll see my reasoning for not posting it here later in this message). Here’s a hint: They’re tournament numbers 1718580, 1718582, and 1718583.
What: The top two lucky winners from each tournament will be entered into a winner take all freeroll, six person shootout at the Imperial Palace immediately following the main blogger tournament on December 10th in Las Vegas.
