Doesn't our government have better things to do?

U.S. seizes cash in online gambling crackdown

The Mets just completed a three game sweep of the Phillies, and took the first game against the Marlins to improve to 1 game over .500.

They're tied with the Braves now, only 2.5 games back in the NL East.

What this means, of course, is not that the Mets are any good. Just that the whole NL East sucks. But they have a shot.

I have been getting absolutely killed at the $10+1 sit and gos at UB lately, and I'm convinced it's not just bad luck. The site must be rigged. I've just been playing really badly. I also went out of three straight $5+.50 with QQ vs AA, and then KK vs AA twice. The third time, I really had no choice, but the first two, I should have been able to lay it down. I absolutely knew the other person had AA, but pushed all-in anyway. I was really so close to making a good laydown of KK preflop, but just couldn't get myself to do it. The QQ had a shortstack raise minimum preflop, I make a pot sized raise, and someone behind me flat calls. Flop is 883, short stack moves in, I call, guy behind me moves in. Here, I knew I should have folded. I was positive. I knew I was beat. I called anyway. I have to not do that. I did make the final table of a $5+.50 last week, but finished 9th for a whopping $25 payout when my AQ ran into AA (I was shortstacked, and all in before the AA had acted).

I decided yesterday that I wasn't going to play poker last night. I went to my bowling league after work (shot 553, 184 average), and we took three out of four points. After league, I hung around the bowling alley, ate dinner, and then bowled a bunch more games there. I didn't leave until around a quarter to one, so I figured I'd get home and go to sleep. I made the mistake of sitting down to check my e-mail, even though I get it sent to me on my Treo. Then, I was sitting in front of my computer, so I just had to try out Poker Office. That meant I was just starting my poker playing for the day, at Party, at almost 1am. While that was happening, I checked UB to see if there were any 1am tournaments. There was a $10+1. I figured I'd play in that for a half hour or so with the way my luck had been running lately, and then go to sleep.

90 people entered. I don't think I even played a hand for the first 40 minutes. Most of the time during the tournament, I was one of the shortest stacks. I just wasn't getting any hands. When I was, I was picking up just enough to hang around. One player limps, another makes a small raise, and I find QQ. I bet pot, not wanting any action, and pick up their chips. 6(!) players limp in, and I find JJ. I push in, pick up their chips. Just hanging around.

With around 15 people left, I find AKs in the big blind. A big stack makes a raise, I push in, and he pretty much has to call the rest of my money with his 76s. I double up. The previous hand, I had AKo, and mucked when UTG raised a good amount, and someone else pushed in. UTG called, and they had 33 and 55! I would have tripled up had I called, as an A hit the flop. Oh well. The whole time, I'm just picking up blinds once in a while, and not really doing much else.

I enter the final table as the third shortest stack, with only 7 or 8 big blinds. The second or third hand, UTG (shorter stack than me) pushes in and I find 99. I feel like I have no choice, and I push all in as well. A big stack in late position calls. UTG turns over JJ, late position turns over TT. Flop is 933, they get no help, and I almost triple up. From this point on, I got really aggressive and built my way up to be the chip leader with 5 remaining. Then, I try a blind steal with an 86o. I get called. Flop has an 8. I bet, call. Turn is a 6, putting three hearts on the board. I stupidly put all my chips in with two pair, and get called by the nut flush. I'm down to 5500 or so, with 600-1200 blinds. I push all in a few times, and don't get called, get lucky with my ten hits with AT vs AJ, and build it back up to about 20k. It eventually gets heads up, and I lose when my AA goes up against KT that flopped a straight. I wish I could say my money got in while I had the best hand, or even a set of aces, but it went in on the QJ9 flop. Maybe I'll learn for next time. All in all, it was a good tournament for me, and helped me recover my sit and go losses.

While I was playing that, I also made 33BB at 1/2 on Party. Also played a little bit at Pacific. I originally signed up for Pacific for a deposit bonus and so one of the poker bloggers, Iggy, I think, would get a little referral credit. The 1/2 game there seems pretty soft. I took the most insane hand I've ever won there. As with all insane hand stories, I was of course dealt Presto (55), on the button. I call, and the big blind raises, so I call that. The flop is 59T. I figure I'm good. The big blind bets out, I raise, he reraises, I cap. Turn and river are both blanks, and we do this the whole way. He reraises on the river, somehow expecting me to fold for one more bet with that huge pot. He shows J8o, for a missed open ended straight draw. Two people were calling the whole way in the middle with... well, with something less than three fives. I took down a $79.50 pot (39.75 BB!), for a $57.50 profit on one hand of 1/2. Like I said, the game there is pretty soft.

Damn, I'm fricken tired. Stupid poker.

I've been meaning to write the rest of this up, but haven't gotten around to it.

After seeing Dennis Miller, we headed to the Bellagio to try to play some poker. It was way too crowded, so we went back to the Mirage instead. The wait there would be a little shorter, and give us time to eat. According to Poker Journal, I finally got seated at around 1:30am. It would be yet another losing session, but could have been much worse. No really bad beat stories from this one. The first three times I got KK, and ace flopped (and I got away cheap). I won the fourth time. The fifth time, the board showed an 8 high straight, so I split the pot. One hand I lost (and I was beat the whole way) was interesting. I was dealt 9♦6♦ in the big blind. No raise, so I check. Flop comes K♦J♦x. I check, and call with my flush draw. Turn is the A♦. At this point, to beat me, someone needs either the Q♦ or T♦, and another diamond. I check, the woman to my left bets, it folds to me. I raise. She raises back, so I just call. River is a blank, and I bet out again. She raises me again, so I figure I'm beat, and just call. She turns over both cards needed to beat me, for the royal flush. It always feels good to checkraise a royal flush.

By 4am or so, I had bought in for my fourth hundred (one hundred at a time). This session wasn't going well, but I don't think I was really doing anything wrong. The table was good, and if I had been getting cards, I could have really made out well. The table finally broke, and we combined with another one. My luck finally started to turn around. Over the next 7 hours, I got pocket aces seven times, and it held up every single time. I got Q9o in the big blind, flop 9 high, turn 9, river 9, and I get raised on the end with three callers calling my reraise back (they all had a 7 to match the second highest card on the board). I had a bunch of other good hands, and finished the session only down $49 after having to buy in for $400. I was actually pretty happy with that.

At 11am, I headed back to the hotel to checkout, and then to the Bellagio to get some playing in there. I finally get a seat at a 4/8 table, where I promptly lost $150. Well, it took about four hours, and the one bad beat that I'll talk about. I was, of course, dealt aces, under the gun. I raise, the big blind raises back, and we end up capping it with a whole bunch of callers. I figure the only way I'm going to win is to hit my ace. I do. Flop comes A♣, another club, and a rag. The big blind bets, and I raise. Too many callers. The turn is another club, but I bet out anyway. Again, too many callers, but no one raised me, so I figure I still have the best hand. The river, unfortunately, is another club. I check, and fold my set of aces to a bet. The winner turns over J8o, with the J♣, for no pair and no draw on the flop, and only third nut flush draw on the turn. He had called a preflop cap with J8o. The big blind, btw, had AK, and thought he was in good shape when the ace flopped. He stayed in until the river as well, and folded on the fourth club.

Normally, I would suck up the bad beat, tell the guy "nice hand", and very much enjoy continuing to play with him. Unfortunately, he immediately stood up and left the table, which really pissed me off. It pissed me off until I found out he left because he thought his name was called for 8/16 when it actually wasn't, and he seat was immediately taken by someone else, so he was left without a seat. I guess that was acceptable, but I still would have much rathered he was still sitting at my table (and I was getting cards).

At around 7, we left the Bellagio and started the drive back to California.

That's it for my trip to Vegas. I wish there was something more interesting to say, but really, all I did was play poker. I have a lot to say about my online poker since, but that'll have to wait until another time.