I’ve been a terrible little poker blogger as of late. Maybe the perceived (or real) lack of audience doesn’t motivate me to write. I started this thing with visions of grandeur, but haven’t done anything to promote the blog, or make it anything anyone wants to actually read. So to that end, I’m going to try to write SOMETHING once a week at the very least. I know my poker experience is constantly growing and changing, so I should have something to contribute. If nothing else, then as a chronicle of my pokering life.

Have you ever gone through a spell where you feel like you’re playing the best poker you’ve ever played, yet you’re constantly and consistently getting an old fashioned country ass-whoopin’ every time out? That’s been me the last three weeks. At first I thought it was because I thought I was getting too good and started playing fancy-pants poker, which has some truth to it, but mostly I think it’s my first real dance with variance. Now, granted, I hardly spend any money at all, and I’m ok with that. But the last several weeks, regardless the type of game or stakes I play, I’m getting whammy-smacked into oblivion. Until last night, when I cashed in three out of four SNGs, I hadn’t made a significant showing in probably 4 solid weeks. This is a good reminder why I don’t risk more at the table, I can’t afford a swing like this with large (or medium) sums of money.

So in order to enhance your poker experience by taking your whack at the pinata called Jason, I announce the next RoP Invitational…

Friday May 5th - 7pm - Cinco De Mayo Poker Fiesta
NLHE - $10 with 1 rebuy/addon
I bring the liquid snacks, you bring the crunchy snacks
RSVP to BluffaloSoldier@gmail.com - if I don’t know you’re coming, I can’t guarantee you a seat.

See you then!

Newcomer Scott Johnson took down first prize money on Friday. Congrats Scottamus!

See everyone next month.

Reverends of Poker

Spring Invitational

Alright guys… the next game is set, and my 16 month old son is ready to take all your money!

Friday, March 31st, 7:00pm

NL Hold ‘em  - $10 buy-in, plus one $10 rebuy or add-on

20 minute levels, T1000

9 players max! Please RSVP as soon as you can, once it hits nine the game is closed. If there is enough of an overflow to populate a second table, then we may open up to 2 tables, but we’ll have to have at least 12 to do so.

Please bring a small snack. Drinks will be provided, but you’re on your own for the munchies. And if you bring Doritos and get orange cheese dust on the felt, you’ll be forced to play the rest of the night with your hole cards face up.

See you then!

after an up and down day of feeling really good about SNGs and alternately feeling like poker is the stupidest game in the world, i really needed this to end my night and send me to bed in a decent mood:

PokerStars Tournament #21635568, No Limit Hold’em

18 players

Tournament started - 2006/03/20 - 04:14:48 (ET) Tournament finished - 2006/03/20 - 04:48:40 (ET)

1: jasonmonster (Vancouver)

2: rbstyling (winnipeg)

3: dvg2005 (astoria)

4: noune53 (ottawa)

5: TulsaTornado (Tulsa)

6: vsmash (Queenscliff)

7: jmein (Deerfield)

8: dogbite1 (blue springs)

9: trea1 (Hamilton )

10: San Lazaro (Kerpen - Manheim)

11: 808878088 (Las Vegas),

12: ron55moore (VB),

13: JDBigguy (Baraboo),

14: alpinebeers (Calgary),

15: cheeds (belfast),

16: mxlpxt (puyallup),

17: JokerRetro (Madison),

18: SteveMoney3 (Arcadia),

Congratulations to Robbie, who took down the first place prize money in our second tournament tonight.

Stay tuned for info about next months game.

am i the only dork who, while playing online, really likes to have a stack of chips in front of me to shuffle because it helps me think?

it feels so senseless, yet i can’t help it.

I sat down at an online play-money cash game, and I guy sits down with an odd proposition. “I’ll send someone a $10 gift card for play money.” Obviously it’s a scam, but I’m intrigued nonetheless. Why would you give someone real money for play money? When I asked, “How much?” he responded with, “$10 for $100,000 in play money.” Again, I knew that it was a scam, but I was so intrigued that I agreed. I figured, “It’s only play money. If he’s honest, I’ll get $10 out of it!”
So I sit down heads up with this guy, and I start dumping money to him. After about $50,000 in PLAY MONEY, he leaves the table! I started laughing! “What was the point of that?” Not only did he never intend on giving me $10, but he didn’t even take the full $100,000! Why would you want to compromise your character and integrity to steal “play money?” Even if you could somehow win real money, it just doesn’t seem worth it. If you’re willing to compromise your character and your integrity for money (play or real), you have a skewed sense of what’s important in life. You are a lost individual, and you have no idea what you really need.
I love playing poker, and I really love winning…but I love God more.

It’s time for more poker! For those of you that didn’t make it last month (which was most of you…), our last game saw some great hands, including me grabbing a miracle 6 on the river to grab quads and triumph over trip queens… things just got ridiculous after that. Sorry, Mr. Wiggins. I still kinda feel bad about that. Well, actually, I don’t… but you still won some cash!

We’re going to try something a little different this time, a sort of modified shootout format. This should allow for plenty of poker for fairly cheap, while still allowing the winner to walk away with a few bucks. It’s a 12 player max, so please e-mail me and confirm you are coming… and if you need to cancel, please let me know ASAP so we can fill your seat. This format really works best with all 12 players. And, as always there will be a bunch o’snacks, and eliminated players are free to start up a cash game for nickels.

–

Reverends of Poker Invitational II

Sunday March 12th - 4pm

at Ackerman’s house

co-hosted by J-Money and Killdawg

12 players: 2 satellite tables of 6.

$10 buy-in - T800

Top 3 finishers at each table all receive a seat at the final table, in addition the top 2 from each table get $15 and $10, respectively.

The final table will be comprised of the top 3 finishers at each table, plus two available seats for a $10 buy-in for the remaining players. Preference goes to the highest finishing player.

Final table, all chip counts are erased, and we play a T1500 freezeout. No rebuys, no addons, just NL hold em until one player is left!

Poker and I took a much needed break this week. The Sunday RoP Tournament was a blast. Of course, I came out in the black, which always makes things more fun. We had some really great hands (including me sucking out with miracle quad 6s to crack trip queens), and some general fun and mayhem.

The abundance of poker was starting to be too much. The online variety, mostly, was to blame. So today ends my one-week hiatus. I still read about poker, watch WPT, and practice the all-important chip-shuffling, but games were not on the list for the week. I think it was good. Not only did it allow me to refocus some other areas, but watching some various levels of poker without having my own games mixed up in my head allowed me to do some objective analysis and think through some situations and make mental adjustments for when I do play again.

I recommend the hiatus program. It was good for my soul. We’ll see this week if it was good for my game.