The Life and Times of the Disciple (POKER)

I'm Back....

2006-03-26T07:42:00.000-08:00

For the past week, I have been enjoying spring break. Last Thursday I got shelled in a game that I was not comfortable playing in. Not because I couldn't handle the play on the table, but because I didn't want to handle the play on the table. I took the longest break from poker I have had in two years (one week) and came back on a tear... or so I thought.

On Friday I met up with my dad to play in a 3/6 nl game with a bunch of residents of Panama City Beach Florida. The guys were really nice and I had a good time. Not to mention I came out of there with a little over 1300 bones. I bought in 200 and rolled through in about 4 or 5 hours. A couple of hands that were pretty interesting helped me get respect of the table, and allowed me to steal about 450 dollars in pots.

I picked up QQ in an early position and opened it up to 25 dollars. I short stacked player (who I had a great read on since he cracked my QQ earlier with K7o) shoved for 94 dollars. I was planning on calling him immediately until the guy to his left started debating on calling. Five minutes later I knew this bastard had a monster. He was the only relatively tight player on the table and had only raised a few pots and flashed top 4 every time. He started asking how much it was to him and counting out his remaining chips with a Hollywoodlike performance. Eventually he shoved for a round 180 dollars straight. I had 400.00 in front of me at the time and after much debate I said, "kings or aces are good," and I mucked the queens faceup in the muck.

Everyone on the table couldn't believe that I just mucked queens and of course, the guy had aces. The short stack had 1010 which was pretty close to what I put him on also. I felt prettyh good about the situation overall.

I started to feel pretty bad because for once in my life I was getting hit in the head with the deck.

I picked up 9c7c in a middle position and raised it up to 21. A new player that had a pretty tight image called me and the flop came 8s6d4h. I bet 30 and he called. The turn card came was another 6s. I bet 30 again and called. The river was my gin card a 5 of spades. I bet 100.00 into him and he began to act. He quietly said, "all in," and I jumped up in my chair. After talking to him and feeling him out I was sure he didn't boat me and I called the additional 94 dollars. He had the eight high straight holding A7 and I drug it.

The next day I participated in a 50 man 100 dollar buy in tournament. The blind structure was very slow, giving many players the opportunity to play that normally would be buried in a faster tournament. I am used to the faster structure, and after I went off to a soaring chip lead - I started to falter due to the time constraints.

I had around 70k in chips after the third hour, and put 1/5 of my stack at risk in a race situation with my AK in the sb against the bb's QQ. So, after that I was pretty flustered but managed to get to the final 11. We have been playing for around eight hours by now, and I was pretty exhausted considering I was not prepared for this long of a tournament and I was a spring break the night before. Still I managed to play pretty solid poker until I made a donkey play.

Late position raiser (who has exposed J10 and K3 in previous raises) makes it 4k with the blinds at 1k and 2k. Cut off called, button called, and I'm on the small blind with AcJc. I should of just mucked but of course, I called. I had around 29k left after calling and when I saw a jack on the flop, I just shoved under the gun with the attempt to scoop up the 25k in the middle already.

My reasoning for this move was we were so close to the bubble I knew that only aces or kings could call me. I was 100 percent positive that I was dragging the pot away from the other two callers but was a little worried about the late position raiser. I called the clock on him after he deliberated for a while and he called me with KK... bummer..... I still think that my play was correct considering the situation. I'm not there to make nineth, if I drag that pot uncontested I win the tournament hands down. Everyone else was playing tight to get to the money, you can't do that and win tournaments consistantly. Risks have to be made.

Now it's time to sharpen the tournament game. My dad and a couple of lawyers are planning on sending me to Vegas for the WSOP this summer to play in a few events, I am going to be playing only tournaments for the next two months. I'll keep everyone posted.

Until next time,
Matt

My God the Carnage!

2006-03-07T11:29:00.000-08:00

I have been in a daze for weeks now, and I can't shake it. The only time my stomach doesn't hurt is when I'm shuffling chips on a card table. I truly feel alive. My reads on players have been great, and I am trying to improve my ten handed play. I'm just too aggressive for ten handed sometimes, six handed is where I shine. Still, I'm going to try and build my stack consistantly on a ten handed table. I made a huge hiccup after just sitting down, filling a seat on Monday. I was on the bb with 54o and proceeded to bluff 23 dollars (chump change, just filling a seat and providing entertainment to my clients) to Matt Sendral when he flopped QUAD THREES :( :( :( , It was so funny, when I moved in on the turn for thirteen he said "well cipes, I guess I have to call." hahahahah

Sunday sucked.... I played great at my house whipping up on my good ol' buddies Matthew and Andrew Munson, me and my room mate Tood "The Grinder" Shipes managed to both cash in over 100.00 a piece.

Well, I decided to go to the "gentlemens club" (which is Forrest's game, and we're now calling it that because it truly is a gentlemen's club) where I played heads up plo, holdem, limit holdem, and stud. Then I was convinced to sit at the 1/2 nl table where I lost my 75 dollar buy in when my top two pair ran into bottom set of threes.

Monday was better, we had an awesome game at my house. Ricky flopped the straight against my good ol' buddy TeddyKGB0504 (Brent Buzbee). Buzz had top set of queens and the board paired on the river giving Buzz a massive pot. Ricky recovered, and ended up rolling over my table. Bo Farlow's room mate cashed out over 200 bones, and there was around 8 or 9 hundred up for grabs. Not bad for a Monday afternoon at Disciple's house. I didn't get to defend my 2/3 tournament titles at Forrest's because my room mate Keegan wanted his cut for the rake so I without any money to spend on a fifty dollar buy in tournament. I mean, I could afford it but I'm really trying to build my roll so I can go out to Vegas this summer and play in a couple of events.

We're going to have a big game at my house again on Tuesday and this one should put me in great poker shape for the remainder of the week.

Make that dollar dollar bill yall
See you on the tables,
Cipes

PS - Congrats to my firend Shannon Shorr for making another impressive trip, Shannon you need to start staking me for some of these live tournaments, it could be highly profitible for you.

2006-03-05T13:45:00.001-08:00

Rob involved in a big hand...He always is bluffing when he looks angry haha!

2006-03-05T13:45:00.000-08:00

Pictured Left to Right - Moss, Bently, Rob, Gunter, and Millard...

2006-03-05T13:44:00.000-08:00

Saturday Night Emergency Cash Game...

Eli....

2006-03-04T11:35:00.000-08:00

So, it was Friday afternoon and my dealer Spiro and I were in the back watching television when I got a call. Eli was on the line, and he was asking for directions. Now allow me to introduce Eli. Eli hasn't played cards in three months because of an acute gambling disorder. He is flat broke, always in debt, and he is the most overly wreckless card player I have ever met in this city. I felt like I was the one that got the call when Andy Beal was coming to Vegas. I called up all of the rounders and told them that Eli was heading to the game. Rob has had the stomach flu all week so he hasn't participated until Friday.

I started it off with Eli really early. Every time I opened a pot, he'd come over the top of me. Very early during the cash game I picked up JcJs. I led out six dollars, (I had AK and QQ within the same hour and did the same, no one picked up on it, and I got paid.) Gunter moves all in for an unimportant 19 dollars and then Eli shoved all in for 42 dollars. I knew that I was ahead, and the situation scared me as well. If it wasn't Friday and I was not going to the bars, I would of called because the money was unimportant. So, I mucked the jacks. I call out loud, "AQ, KQ, or AK Eli?" he says, "KcQc" and some of the players are looking at me like I was crazy for laying it down. The way I saw it was, hey, I don't have to put all of my money in a cash game pre flop. I thought I could outplay him in a more favorable position. If you are a talented player, you dont want to play those big pots when you know that it is probably a coinflip. Gunter flipped over Ac7s. I ended up hitting quad jacks if I was in the hand, so it was pretty painful. I'm not too depressed over the fold. I have an incredible ritual I do whenever I get bad beated to alleviate steaming, I go get in the shower.

After I got out of the shower I was ready to play. I built my stack quickly up to 75 bucks. The table was pretty strong, and then there was Eli splashing in every pot. I picked up an interesting hand against two players that have it out for me, so I knew I would get paid if I hit it big. I had Kc8d in a late position and I raise it to four. Eli called and Graham limped and re raised to ten. I know I should of folded but there were four of my babies out in the middle and I had to defend them. Also, I knew that if I hit, he'd overcommit with a dominated hand thinking it's good... which he did.

Flop Kd10dKs

it went check, check, and then I checked....

Turn Qs

check, check, and I l ed out fifteen
call
call

"BLANK DEALER! was what I was thinking"

River 3h

check check led out fifteen
call
call.

Graham had JJ
Eli mucked...

To give Graham credit, he made a very good come back and got paid from eli back, then eli made a play on Graham. Eli re raised all in on a gut shot and Graham had a pair of deuces ( the pot was huge, this is how crazy the table was last night) Graham calls, and the gutshot falls.

Now we're four handed, and it's Rob, Eli, and myself. Rob and I are two of the toughest shorthanded because we play so much of it and we're real aggressive. I made it four to go off of the button with 6c4s, Eli called and Rob folded.

Flop 5s3c8d

Eli led out into the pot 7 and I opted to call.

Turn 2d... NUTS!!!

Eli did just what I hoped, he grabbed a ton of chips and shoved them in. He bet twenty, I went all in and he called! This guy is everywhere!

I won, and he got up.. .he still ended up winning 60 bones on the night. I sucked out on a big pot against Rob, but it was one of those things...

Me Jc8c
Rob Ad8s
Eli who knows

Rob raises it to four preflop and I call in position.

Flop 8d3s2d

Rob makes it fifteen, I push all in, Rob calls

Turn 9

River J

Sorry....

Until tomorrow,
Disciple

Thursday and Friday at My Place

2006-03-03T21:04:00.000-08:00

Well it's been quite an interesting weekend for cards. I have had cash games at my house on both Thursday and Friday, and since I am about to go out for the evening I'm going to just talk about Thursday.

I flopped quads and got paid....

5h5c

Jim Schaffer opened preflop for six dollars with QcQd, I smooth called the six with the hand shown above. The flop comes 10c5s5d! Jim led into me for seven, and I just smooth called again. The turn was a 2c and he bet a sizable amount, in the attempt to drive me away. Jim bet out into me fifteen dollars and I started a hollywood act that people are still laughing about.

So eventually I called the turn bet. The river was a 7d and Jim immediately shoved, and I have never moved my chips into the middle that fast before in my life. Everyone started screaming and yelling, and it gave my ego a boost.

I ended up misplaying 1010 against Jim later in the evening and he got his vindication. I still was very happy with the hand but one mistake can cost you your roll. Luckally, I came out ontop a little bit and was ready for the onslaught that Friday would bring.

The table was actually pretty great on both days, last night being far more tight. Millard and Phillip, two Theta Chis managed to set the tempo with their tight play, most people just ducked and dodged. Drew Cheely still is furious over the fact that he can't take my game seriously enough to win consistantly. The thing is that even though my game is just a .50/1.00 nl table with a 100.00 max buy in, it's still poker. Drew played a lot better today, and he's even in the bigger game at Kaloosa as I type this. Spud was broke, so he sat in the back of my house playing Halo all alone. He wanted to deal, but I couldn't cut my dealer's time short.

Oh yea, my buddy Hagan Major put a domain name for this blog. If you would like to quick link me, my new blog address is http://assholepoker.com, yea I'm not kidding... go ahead, click it!

Over the past week, many people wanted for me to put up pictures of my poker room, and all of these characters that I talk about in action. We're starting that in my cash game on Sunday, hope yall enjoy it.

Until tomorrow,
Cipes

Happy Humpday!

2006-03-02T10:35:00.000-08:00

So, Cheely and I got started early, in regards to both alcohol and poker. We played in a freeroll tournament at Jupiter Bar and Grill. It was pretty hilarious.... so we played there and went from bar to bar until the nine o-clock tournament started. I opted not to play in that one, I was having drinks with some friends and wasn't up to whining over a bad beat story for the whole evening. Later, I went to Forrest's game and played some heads up pot limit omaha and limit stud against Moss. Then I bought in 80.00 and played around for a little while, losing twenty bucks in the process. The game broke up around 1:30 and we all headed to my house to drink some more and play some online poker. I ran 21.00 on an omaha cash table up to 130 in a little under an hour only to lose it all in two pivotal pots. (If two eight outers don't hit on me, I have around 300.00 in front of me.) I know, I know, coulda woulda shoulda right? Well I was going to try and run it up quick by doubling up and raising the stakes each time. It's truly a fun test to do, and I have managed to do it before. It's risky though, but hey who cares right? That's pokah baby!

We have a raked game at my house at four, should be fun... and then I'm working at Venue until late tonight.

See you on the tables, whether it be online or in the real life...
Matt

Busy Tuesday

2006-03-01T14:14:00.000-08:00

We had a raked game at my house for the first time in two weeks, and it was one of the bigger games I have had in quite some time. I decided to play and I was up and down all night, I was truly interested in some of the play at my house last night. A couple people really were trying to change the tempo of the game up to a looser speed but it just wasn't happening.

I put a lot of money in the middle on the fop with a straight draw, and I was forced to muck on the turn. I was low in chips and Spud, a local player, began berating me about my over aggressive play. Spud continued talking smack when actually I had a really conservative cash game strategy today. I was in a middle position and spud was in the BB. Spud looked over at my stack (all 23.00 of it) and said, "Disciple, just becuase you like to do this. I'm going to call your all in without looking at my cards. I know you're going to be going all in, and it seems like a Disciplish thing to do. Of course, this was awesome for me because I actually had enough money to make him hurt if I did double up. Also, I knew I was going up against a random hand, giving me about 25 percent more hand combinations I'm willing to push with. That very had I picked up QcQs.....

I shoved, and he called with J8... doubling me up to 46.00. Spud started with around 100.00, and he would eventually lose every dollar in front of him because of that stupid move.
Drew, Moss, Shipes, and Spud went to the big Kaloosa game while I stayed at my house only to see a whole new crew of Tuscaloosa card players joined the game. Spud busted out to Drew, losing another 100.00. Spud was only playing for a short amount of time, and considering the fact that he rode with Moss, he was just going to have to sit there for a little while. Spud began drinking beers when the owner of the game Mike, a slightly angry individual, asked him to come outside.

Mike told him, "If you're going to buy in for only 100.00 and bust out in the five minutes, don't sit up here and drink my beer all night."

THAT SHOULD BE THE QUOTE OF THE CENTURY.

We were eight handed when I decided to open it up a bit. I started making ridiculus bluffs and settled down at the right time. People loosened up, I tightened up, and started making some cash. I cashed out 120.00 (100.00 profit) and went out with the guys at midnight. We drank way too much, and came home only to play three handed SNGs until four a.m.

Oh... I love pokah.

Cashflow is getting solid again, looks like I'm heading to Philly Sunday.

Until tomorrow,
Cipes

Close is Only Good in Horseshoes and Handgrenades

2006-02-28T11:03:00.000-08:00

Well, last nights' tournament sucked. I couldn't of possibly played any better and I still managed to bust out eighth. My opening table draw was perfect, and I didn't get invovlved in any really large pots for quite some time. I picked up a couple of nines in the cut off seat after building my stack to around 15,000k (start with 10k). There were two people that called the big blind from weird postions with hardly any chips. I decided to raise it up all in... AA wakes up in the small blind. That put me down to around 1500 in chips with 17 players to go, I was crippled. I managed to duck and dodge my way to the final table, bringing 6200 chps to it. The blinds hit 1,000/2,000 when I picked up Js10s from a middle position. I shoved, and Drew Cheely decided to smooth call it with 5d5h. I was happy to see the fives, because I was telling Drew how much I prefer suited over connecters to small pairs in tournaments. I ended up busting out that hand, but Drew carried the torch for team ciple. I gave Drew that, "go play some true tournament poker wisdom." Drew has watched me win these tournaments week after week, and he adopted a very strong strategy.... PUSH.

They got five handed and Drew Cheely was in the BB with Js6c. The blinds were 2,000/4,000 and everyone limped. Flop came Js9c8d giving Drew just top pair, with plenty of danger. Drew had plenty of chips, and he opted to shove all in... putting everyone to a decision... after much debate, everyone on the table mucked and Drew dragged a 20k pot with Js6c... that's what it takes to win these tournaments. Drew shoved in UTG with As2s, JJ wakes up in the BB and calls and drew hit the nut flush on the river. All in all I was very pleased with his preformance, and if I can' t win, I'm happy a friend of mine did. The tournament is the toughest in Tuscaloosa, and a lot of bragging rights are up for grabs if you can manage to win it. Only three get paid out of 18....

So we spent the rest of the evening celebrating Drew's big win by drinking a million yagerbombs at the bar. We went back to the house and I played heads up PLO and holdem with my good from Matt McLin (FranksPot on pokerstars). I ended up winning 40 bucks from McLin so my evening turned out great.

We're playing at my house for the first time in two weeks, it should be quite interesting...

See you at the tables,
Disciple

I was talking

One Bad Sunday

2006-02-27T11:36:00.000-08:00

Okay, well Jim Schaffer had to remind me that I haven't talked about any losing hands on here yet.

Until now.

So, I wasn't feeling very confident about playing - I played anyways. I haven't played in a cash game with a bunch of college kids in over a week now. I have been playing the tournament, but all of my cash game action has been with the older gentlemen at Kaloosa. Anywho, here's what happened.

I sat down and only brought fifty bucks, leaving my wallet at home just for this reason. I busted out in a little under an hour! hahaha And the sad thing was that I doubled up in chips to around 110 after hitting a flush.

I picked up Ac5c on the BB and UTG made it seven to go, the guys name is Adam, a kid that has a passion for rasing it up with any paint cards. (the hand before he raised it up from 2nd position with KJ. So, I called, just because I thought I could out play him. Some other guy from an other corner of the table called. I made the mistake of forgetting about that guy over there.

Flop comes As 3c 4c I have top pair with a gutshot wheel draw and a backdoor flush draw, not much = but I had a really good read on Adam. Adam comes out firing with a bet of seven, I knew it was a feeler bet. That guy called, and I check raised to 27. Adam folded (of course) and than the other guy who I forgot about shoved all in for 24 more! (Crap...) So I pot stucked my self into calling and he had A10 and doubled through me.

I'm around 45 when I pick up 44 on the button. I decide to raise it up because they're a lot of limpers and becuase I'm steaming pretty bad. I get one caller from a middle position.

Flop 8s 3c 2d

I don't know, maybe because I was steaming, maybe because I was in a retarded mood, whatever it was I led the action. I made it 12 on the flop, he called. the turn was a five, giving me an open ender and instead of checking to see a free card I made it 24 to go on the turn. He eventually called with 66 and a harmless 5 hit on the river sending me to the house.

Let's not have that happen again this week. I have my weekly tournament that I better dominate, wish me luck.

Cipes

From Here to There

2006-02-26T16:28:00.000-08:00

Well, my weekend consisted of bartending. I just got a hired at a bar on the strip called "Venue." It's going to seroiusly help my bad spending habits. The new job is also going to help me build up my bankroll faster. I plan on playing poker on Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday. If I still can maintain the hourly rate that I have been hitting in the previous two weeks, than everything is going to start getting really juicy. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I'll spend behind a bar getting berated by angry drunk girls for drinks. Oh well, it' s a tough job but someone's gotta do it.

I'm getting ready to host a game at my house tonight. The table is a very difficult one and I enjoy all of the players that I invite. Tomorrow will be time for me to defend my 2 week running title streak, let's just say they're some people gunning for me in that.

Until next time,
Cipes

My Head Hurts

2006-02-24T13:32:00.000-08:00

It's been an eventful few days. Last night I went out with all of my buddies to this party at Venue, thus the title "My Head Hurts." The night before I played in that usual bar tournament where I just have a blast at. Here's how I got put out, not too terrible of a beat, but I really like how I got all of my chips in. I built my stack from the original 1,000 to roughly 1900 when I picked up QcQs in a middle position. UTG raises it up to 300 (blinds are 50/100), this older arab speaking gentlemen looks over to him and I know he's contemplating a raise. Instead, he calls. Now I immediately believe that Arabian is holding AK, or AQ and utg has around the same thing. I shove and UTG folds. The foriegn man tries to study me and I said, "I figured it was ak, wasn't sure at first, I thought it might be aq but now I know it's ak" Really, I was hoping for something a lot worse to be calling or I just take the pot down with my qq.

He called.

He flipped over AsQs. Two other people said that they folded aces. He flop four to the nut flush and the dreaded 2s fell on the river putting me out of the tournament. Still very fun as always. I start bartending tonight at 9 until around 4 at this bar called Venue. That should be interesting. I have been winning a lot lately and found my self mis managing my winnings very poorly. The best solution is to cut out two of my biggest spending days and turn them into money making days. This should get my bankroll up to where I want it to be in times for the WSOP this summer.

See ya tomorrow...
Cipes

2006-02-23T14:36:00.000-08:00

The epic battle between Alabama and Auburn, in the Auburn hat is Patrick Schado. Patrick is a former resident of Ozark, my hometown. He is a student at Georgia Southern and I'm berating him for making a stupid call in a .25/.50 nl game.

2006-02-23T14:26:00.000-08:00

New Years in Philladelphia Mississippi... Long Island Iced Tea and 1400 bones on a 2/5 nl table. Max buy in was 500 and I bought in 300, see how happy I am?

The Old Men at Kaloosa

2006-02-23T11:46:00.000-08:00

Well now that I have begun chronicling all of poker endevours you have to meet the characters at my daily big game in Tuscaloosa. This is a 1/2 nl game that is treated more like a 2/5, 3/6 nl game. The pre flop raise is sometimes 20, 30, or 40 dollars. People buy in for ridiculus amounts of money, no cap whatsoever. I saw a guy with 3,000 bones in front of him and he was 2,600 into the pot. Now when I go, I play the role of Tuscaloosa tight wad. I buy in 150.00 and grind it out. A few guys try to do what I do with much success. A guy you will eventually meet more in my blog, BJ, is a local young card player that does pretty well against those guys. I have managed do well myself.

Playing with these guys is very fragile. Now, are these guys all good players? The answer is no, most of them actually are just men with jobs that want to be out of the house for a few hours and play a little cards. They throw their money around with wreckless abandon. Sure there are some exceptions, as is the case in most poker games. But this is a very tricky table in terms that you're going to get action in every pot you're involved in. This is a large double edged sword.

A few of these guys can play, and with the addition of having a lot more money than I have on the table, it's dangerous. I just usually stay out of their way. There is this one character, Ricky, who is a huge pool huster. (He busted Josh Arieh out of a few thousand bones in Valdosta a couple weeks back in 9 ball). Ricky is a gambler, and if you ever get involved with him he'll more than likely put all of the chips in for you. Things went pretty good again for me over there, I won a little bit and cashed out whenever I felt like it was time to go to the bar. I of course was the idiot who got drunk, and then went back over to the big game.

Even when I'm drunk, I still ended up getting sucked out on - I just wished it was me making a donkey move instead.

ME - As4s
Mike - KcQd
????
????
????

Five way pot, Mike raised it up to 12 bucks, I call from the big blind, Mike is on the small blind.

Flop Ac2s10d

I have top pair a back door flush draw. Mike checked, and I made it 25 to go. Two randoms called and then Mike also called! (I know it seems bad that I'm playing an A4 in the spot I'm in, but you just have to know the table. the two people that called Mikes' bet already limped, these two players never limp with aces. So I put them on drawing hands, or just crap. Mike on the other hand, could be holding an array of hands, and I wanted to see where I stood. It was a value bet for two players and then a feeler bet for Mike.

Turn - Js

now I pick up the nut flush draw, Mike checks his nut straight and I decided that since there was around 145 in the middle already I'd go ahead and shove. Two random players fold and Mike calls. Mike hit is gut shot (I still don't know why he would call just to hit 4 outs.) and my flush didn't come. Still won around 50 overall on the night but it couuld have been really special if Mike didn't pull that crap out of his hat.

Oh well, I'm not mad - just a little bitter.

Until tomorrow,
Cipes

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday....

2006-02-23T11:23:00.000-08:00

Well guys, I said "I was getting daily with it" and I forgot how hard it was to type after playing cards for as long as I have. On Monday, I bought into my weekly 50.00 buy in tournament. Things started rolling great. I picked up Ac5s on the big blind and called. Four people hit the flop and the most perfect situation came up.

Flop 5d5h2c

First and second position checks, and the cut off seat bet out into the 400 chip pot. He laid out a 500 chip bet and I did a very unorthodox move. I'll explain why I did this in a moment but I flashed him my ace. "This is good isn't it?" He didn't say anything but watching this guy play, he was a novice, and I knew that he wouldn't ever put me on such a made hand. Note* don't ever try making that move against anyone who knows how to play poker half way decent, unless you have absolutely nothing. Better yet, don't ever show a card in a hand unless you know for a fact what he has. Well, I figured he limped in there with a pretty big ace, aq, aj, even maybe ak.

Turn - Qd

Now, the diamond scares me a little bit here. Like I figured he would, he came out firing again. This time he bet 1000 into me. (note - if you don't know the tournament structure you start with 10k in chips with the blinds starting at 25/50, going up every 15 minutes. This was only the 2nd or 3rd level, so this was a huge pot to be in) Then I began the Hollywood act that I'm so famous for. I got a count down of the pot, i looked over at him puzzled, and I didn't call reluctantly, just called after much debate. (I didn't know if I wanted to raise him on the turn, figured I could get another bet out of him.)

River - 5c

So I'm tap dancing inside my head right now, and now he leads into me again with a juicer bet of 2,000. I'm putting this guy on one of three hands, AK, AQ, or AJ. AK an AJ will call a small raise most likely and I could get all of his chips if he has AQ or any queen for that matter. So I only raise it up to 6,000... just three times his bet. The guy just looked at me in awe, and after much debate, called me with AJ.... money play cipes money play.. .

After that I got invovlved in a huge pot preflop only a few hands later. I pick up QcQd under the gun, and this is where my aggressive play is so beneficial. I raised it up 600 with the blinds only at 50/100. Guy to my left calls, the next guy calls, and one of my friends decided to risk his whole tournament by shoving in with AKo. Since I had everyone on the table covered, and knew he wouldn't play AA or KK like that I called and we were off to the races.

Flop x K x
Turn x
River Q!!!

Now I'm at 33k in chips, and I'm almost 3-1 on everyone at my table. I lost about half of my stack on two crucial bluffs where was called both times with someone holding a set (OUCH!) Still, I managed to regain my composure and got to the final table.

To make a long story short, I blew throught the first 4 in the final table, taking them all out. And then I went about my usual when the blinds go up, stealing pot after pot, just builiding my stack. I went on to win the tournament again. Now that's two in a row, netting over 1400 bones for the week.

Too bad I have managed to spend about that much on booze and nice meals for my birthday treat and for Valentines' day. Oh well, I'll be playing as usual.

Until next time,
Cipes

Getting Daily With It....

2006-02-19T22:29:00.000-08:00

Today was pretty slow, I tried to get a game up but we only could make it 6 handed. I lost interest in the game whenever my food got there, and managed to drop my 40.00 buy in while I was eating. It was pretty funny. The table was relatively slow, with no one really taking any chances except for Brandon Schultz. Brandon pretty much called me down on every pre flop raise I made and just tried to out play me. The tactic was not working well, but the tables turned quickly whenever I stopped my careful play. Anywho, tomorrow is a new day. I'm going to try and get a game up beofre my weekly tournament on Monday. I won last week's tournament for a 400.00 score, and I want to do a repeat preformance and get set for the week. Tuesday is a must win night for me, the 1/2 nl table at Kaloosa. There is about 3,000.00 on the table (which is highly unorthodox fora 1/2 nl table) and the play is not very superior. I have managed to take them down for scores on consecutive weeks.

Hope the good times continue to roll.

Cipes...

The Ups and the Downs and Some Idiot Named Rusty

2006-02-13T10:49:00.000-08:00

The Names Have Been Changed to Protect the Innocent

For me, the brash college senior, I have managed "hold my own" on the poker tables around campus for four years. I thought I have seen it all, until I met this guy. When you play 50 hours a week for 2 years, you see a lot of hands. And you have a really good idea of what everyone is trying to do to you. Everyone does things on a card table for a reason, and I thought I found out why. But some people really don't have a reason, lemme explain.

I was sitting at my home game, eight handed on a Sunday when one of my friends asked if they could give directions to another guy to come play. I of course agreed and within ten minutes i had a knock on the door. Rusty did not look like much, he had blonde gelled up hair, and reeked of alcohol and cigarettes. This was a Sunday mind you, and it was not very normal for someone to be intoxicated considering you can't buy alcohol in Tuscaloosa on Sundays.

Rusty bought in forty dollars and started raising. I at first just thought it was him catching cards when three hands in he's calling an all in with top set of jacks.

Then he kept raising.... The whole table was in turmoil, everyone at my table was trying to do damage control and figure out how to play this guy.

He Raised 33 Hands pre flop, and 13 of those raises were re rases. out of 45 hands in play.

People tried to play back at him with nothing, figuring they guy would muck and he's just come over the top again for all of their chips and they were caught. I pulled Rob in the other room and told him the best way to play him. "Get a monster, let him do all of the work. Call down and make a big raise on the turn and he'll be forced to either make a move or call - either way he's screwed. "

So we went to work. I added an additional 50 dollars to my 100 dollar stack, very confident in the fact that I was about to bust this guy for all of his chips. He raised from the small blind 4 dollars. I went ahead and made it 12, and he re re raised to 25. (This is where I think I might of made a mistake, I should of pushed but I really wanted to trap him for a lot of chips with him drawing dead.)

flop Kd8s9c

The guy shoved all in and I called immediately. Just like I figured, he was drawing dead to running cards. He was h0lding 7d3d. NO PAIR, BACK DOOR FLUSH DRAW....

I'm not the type to whine about bad beasts, but lets just say the bad guy ended up with all of the money.

More to come later.....

Bar Tournaments, Such Cheap Enjoyment

2005-12-15T10:57:00.000-08:00

Well I decided to humor a couple of my buddies that wanted me to make an appearance at this poker tournament at Jupiter Bar and Grill a month ago. Even though it was a crap shoot, and you had to win a million races just to get close, I actually enjoyed it. You start of with 1500 in chips, the blinds are at 10/20 and they go up every 12 minutes.

So I sat down, with a pitcher of beer behind me and began to play. Half of the table were people that I knew, and about a 1/2 of the rest knew me but I did not know them. The play was pretty bad, until the blinds went up and we were down to two tables.

The first hand I get involved in is Kd9d in the small blind. The button and cut off seat limped so I just called. The flop came out 5d10d4d, Bingo - I flopped the King high flush. I decided to go ahead and start the betting, considering the fact that I am under the gun and these guys will more than likely call me with just about anything in this spot. I fire out 200 into the 300 chip pot. So I get a caller, and then the button moves all in for about 700 more, leaving me with only 150 in chips. I went into the tank, not sure if he flopped the nuts on me or not. This guy would not re raise me all in with the nuts. I was convinced that I had this guy murdered. I called, revealing my King high flush, and the guy had Ad10c.... He diamonded me on the turn and I was left crippled.

The blinds were at 25/50, when I decided to make it 150 straight with 5c5h. There are still 40 players in the tournament and I was already planning on describing how I got put out so early. The tournament was full of guys that I play with on a regular basis, from playing me at the 1/3 nl downtown to playing the .50/1.00 mixed game at my house with Omaha, Stud, and hold em'.

Anyways back to the hand, AcKc re raises it to 400 straight and the blinds fold. My first of many races was under way. A whole bunch of rags and a five on the turn doubled me up, I was at 420 chips. I was still clearly the short stack, but I could see a few more rounds. I told myself that even though this isn't that big of a tournament, I really wanted to see if I could survive and come back from such a deficit. Well, sure enough I get all of my money in with AsQs on the button about 45 minutes later. It was a pretty normal raise considering the blinds, I made it 500 to go with the blinds at 75/150. I was begging for a call, I really wanted to get in a good spot where I could double up. The big blind sat there for ever, even asking me if I was stealing. I looked at him and said, "It's me, the disciple, what do you think?"

He called immediately with Qc6d, and I had doubled back up to over 1000.

Long story short, I dodged about 10 more bullets to get to the final table, only to finish third.

It was a cool deal though, I have gone on to play in four more, just because I get a kick out of them. I like showing off to some of these guys, I mean..... seriously, poker is such an ego game. I just sat around looking like some guy that did not care, drinking beer, and wildly shuffling chips only to move all in 11 times with the best hand and get action in all of them. I was 9-2 in showdowns, but I was more than a 70/30 favorite in over 75 percent of them. It was truly a great time.

If you Ask for it, Sometimes you Might Get it

2005-11-02T14:41:00.000-08:00

Well today was a very interesting day in my poker life. Just when you think that you know it all, you run into this stuff. In my daily .50/1.00 blind nl hold em game I had built my stack up to over sixty bucks when I came across this hand.

I was in the cut off seat with Josh Winn who just called with 3c5c, I look down from the cut off seat at AcQc, a monster hand.... I raise it up a good bit, because has you can tell by my posts, I am pretty aggressive.

Anywho, it gets folded all the way around to Josh, and he looks at me and asks, "Do you want me to call?" Of course I told him yes, and he called the formidable raise with the hand.

Flop Qh2s6d, he checks and I went ahead and bet out about half the pot... looking for a call. Josh again asks, "Do you want a call? I'm pretty weak.." I of course says yet and he makes the call...

The turn brough Josh's gin card, the 4 of hearts... he hit the gut shot nut straight on me. Our money is all in the middle and Josh regretfully shows me the monster. After that hand I was down to around thirty bucks and steamed the rest of my money away.

Remember, if you ask for it... you might just get it.

See you at the tables,
Disciple

After a Long Absence, I'm Still Playing Poker

2005-10-16T23:43:00.000-07:00

Hello friends, it's been a long while since I have written on here and I have come to the conclusion that I need to record more. Now that I have committed even more time to hold em, it is important that I record how my sessions have been going. I've been fooling around with eight handed .25/.50 nl tables and they have been okay... pretty consistant wins. I haven't played outside of my usual areas recently, and it's starting to wear on me.

My game has had to slow down so much after the recent boom of poker. Usually I would go about my business playing extremely aggressive and bluffing at a lot of pots, earning a lot of money on smaller stakes games. Now, I have to value bet all night because people are calling me down with bottom pair! It's okay though, it's pretty fun, I came across this hand last week.

I was under the gun with AcAd, I have been playing very aggressively so I went ahead and pushed pretty hard, feeling like I was getting called. The dealer button called my raise to three dollars and so did the big blind.

Flop Ah7sQs - I went out and bet six dollars into a 10 dollar pot, figuring someone would raise me. Sure enough the button made is ten more and I went into the tank.

I had to figure if he was raising with a draw. I hand 35 bucks left and my raise would be a tough call with the flush draw and he calls me immediately with every hand i have him beat. I decided to go over the top and move in. Button called immediately with Qc7c, bottom two pair. My top set held and some people gave me some looks after the value bet under the gun.

Tip - When everyone figures that you don't have shit, you better slow down and value bet... it can become very profitable before players can pick up on the gear change.

See you gentlemen on the tables.

Disciple

Bad Beats, a Huge Confidence Breaker.

2005-05-16T12:45:00.000-07:00

And then the roof falls out from above your cocky head. That's what summed it up for me over a weekend in Tuscaloosa. I felt like I could take down the greatest players in the world until I suffered some of the worst beats in my life. When it happens to you, that many times, you lose a lot of confidence. And confidence is a major tool for a card player. I can go into a room with just about anyone, and feel like they're at a disadvantage when I sit down at a table. It's all about persona, ego, and how people percieve you to be. If you look like a feeble animal, who won't take risks, people will try harder to out play and bluff you. That's not good for anyone's game, especially mine.

I was sitting at a familiar table with my Fraternity brothers, led by Frank McLin, a new player that I take credit for teaching who has blossomed into a force that should be reckoned with in Tuscaloosa. I came into the table late, where McLin accumlated a lot of chips. I bought in the normal amount and tried to play as tight as humanly possible, still steamed from the evening before where my top set was cracked twice and aces cracked three times.

I get aces in the big blind, and raise it up 3x's the amount, UTG calls and everyone else folds around the table, seeing that I'm playing tight. The flop comes 2c3d3s, a solid flop for my AA and I felt that UTG must of had a big pair if he was confident in calling my raise from that early of a position. I checked, and he came out with a meager bet, something that begged for a raise.

"I can't believe this is happening!" I thought, but I couldn't let go of the aces and I did exactly what he wanted, pushed all of them in. I was hoping to see 45 or KK or something like that, but sure enough... he had 22 and flopped a full house on my AA.

Well, then the horrific happened, I began to steam. BAD. An hour in, and me a lot less in the pocket, McLin looks over at me with that, "You need to get it together look," on his face. He usually is the only one that can stop me from steaming, but even now he couldn't. I was playing way too many hands, and I eventually got blinded away to a measly amount where I went all in with AcKc and was called by AsJs, of course... I lossed.

Now however, I have had the oppurtunity to sit down and think about what I did. My persona was not its usual intimdating self... instead, it was the ego of an injured deer in headlights... awaiting the onslaught. That should never be the persona of a seasoned poker player, especially when that person is me.

So I have been preparing for two tournaments this weekend that should either make me or put me back into the corner where I shall debate on where I went wrong. But I can assure everyone, that the injured deer persona is gone for good.

See you in Vegas baby,
Disciple

My First Trip to Harrahs

2005-04-02T19:05:00.000-08:00

just finished reading, "Poker Wisdom from a Champion," by Doyle Brunson. I picked it up a few days late and maybe what happened to me next wouldn't of happened. So, I'm a student at the University of Alabama. I take home 250-600 bucks a week in home cash games throughout campus. My ego has been pretty big for the past 3 years and I just turned 21. So of course, where do you think I went? Harrahs in New Orleans. I went with my girlfriend, she wanted to spend one day with all of the girls and I wanted to spend one day in the poker room. Everything worked out great. I started out playing with the locals on a 3/6 table around eight o-clock on a Saturday last week. It was interesting, many of them clearly did this for a living (I know, low stakes hold em' for a living can't be profitable). But many were there from the night before, taking naps between hands. I ended up winning 200 bucks which is pretty good for 4 hours of 3/6 in my opinion. I get up and my eyes are looking directly at the no-limit table. I know this might sound redundant but "I had to know." I've been playing some forms of cards since I was in my VERY early teens and I have always wanted to see how I would do in a live cash game with bigger stakes. There was no maximum to the buy in and I sat down to seat three with 300 bucks, clearly the short stack. The players were just strictly text book, very tight preflop even though they had thousnds of bucks in front of them. I didn't play a hand for over an hour until I picked up KK in a late position after there was a raise and a caller. I pushed them all in and just like that I was up to 750. Now that everyone saw how tight I was going to play I decided to open it up a little bit and change gears. I started getting creative pre flop in late positions against the tight players and I'd make a hefty bet on a flop that I really think didn't help the person who would call my raise. If they re-raised, I'd act like I was passing a kidney stone and "mucked." I used this technique for the next two hours and I was up to 1250 bucks. Then comes the bad news. I'm sure you all have had some bad beats but this one was awful. I pick up AhKh in the big blind and I raise a previous raise to 150 dollars. Early position re-raises me to 200. I ask him how much he has left and he says around 800. I just flat call (I almost mucked it!) and here comes the flop. As2hAc.... JACKPOT! And low and behold, he moves in on me immediately for 800 bucks. My head shoots over at him like a deer in head lights. "Pocket twos? A2? " I couldn't believe he moved in on me. So I called with AK and the set. He flips over pocket fives... I'm sure you all know what happened next, he popped a two outer five on the river to make a full house on my set. I immediately was crushed. The good news about it is that I'll be down there at Harrahs May 22nd for the satelites and I went in that night after that beat and took home 400 more on the 3/6 table. Doyle said in that book of his "don't ever play with scared money." And that's true, but I wasn't playing with scared money after I was up to 1250. Maybe I was at 250 but I clearly ran into the worst beat in the biggest game I have ever played in.

I know now that I have the ablilty to play with anyone, and all this is going to do is make me better.

Thanks Guys,

Matt

A Card Game In Ozark FINALLY!!

2004-12-23T07:51:00.000-08:00

As I drove down the road past Carroll High School in Ozark, Alabama I had no idea that I was about to sit down for the first time in a week and play the game I love so much. I went over to my good friend Chase "The Case" Waller and some how convinced him to get a card game up. Moments later, I was sitting around a pool table with 5 of my good friends, plastic chips, and a couple of beers and I was in heaven.
It wasn't much money (5 dollar buy in) , but I still wanted to see if I was sharp so I went for the jugular early. I had 10c7c in the big blind and I checked it. The flop was a gold mine for me giving me 10d3s7d, top two pair.... small blind checked it, I bet 75 cents, an inviting bet but enough to know that I might be drawing. Schado, the guy to my immediate left called, along with another and then the button and small blind fold to me. Next card was a brick, and I raised Schado re raised me and James folded.

Now I had to study, did he flop a set? He didn't pre flop raise so I doubt he would slow play a small pocket pair preflop with this many players... I called.

Next card was an ace of spades, I checked it and he bet 75 cents, smaller than his re raise... He had about a dollar left and I didn't think he out drew me wiht the ace so I put him in for the rest and he called with two pair 10s and 3s, but it didn't beat my 10s and 7s....

After that I cruised in, picking my spots and raising when necessary... won it all and now I'm feeling good.

See you in Vegas baby,

Disciple

Without Poker, in Ozark

2004-12-20T13:51:00.000-08:00

I'm going crazy, I haven't gone this long in over 2 years without playing cards. But, my friend McLin and I still don't give up our search to find a game. The last time I played I ran into some cold cards and for the first time in a while, finally struck ill to the worst thing possible... tilt.

I was playing in a big cash game with some of the better card players in Tuscaloosa. I had more than the average stack and was playing very well, picking my spots to bluff and slow playing the nuts to draw out a good bit of chips. There was a player across from me that was catching ridiculus flops with horrible cards, he'd call almost any preflop raise and it seemed like he hit it every time. My good friend Brent Buzbee (and a very solid player) was sitting to the left of him. The flop came out 3h5hjh. Buzbee was holding AhJd and he raised it up with top pair and the nut flush draw. The lucky guy hit the flop again with 7h4h and flopping the flush, eventually robbed Buzbee. After Buzbee got put out, I felt very discouraged but still managed to play pretty good, hanging in there with the lucky guy's large chip advantage.

We were 8 handed going into midnight and I had to make a move. I was holding big slick (AcKc) under the gun, and I raised it up 5 bucks, about a 1/4 of my stack left. Lucky guy didn't realize that I was that strong I guess and called me with 2c9d. I could tell he was weak, but not that weak! Flop camed 9cKh3s and I finally thought I was going to pop this guy. I raise 5 more, leaving me 10 dollars and the lucky guy pushed me all in with his pair of duces. I called quickly and flopped over top pair top kicker and he just chuckled "I didn't think you had shit" he said. The turn was a blank and the river made him two pair with the nine hitting. I got up and threw my chair across the floor. "I hate playing against bad players, they always just seem to get so lucky." I bought back in frustratedly and lossed again quickly, why? Because I was on tilt. Being on Tilt is like the worst epidemic that you could possibly fathom. And it actually happened to me. I guess it's good that it happened though, it brought me back down to earth and killed my ego a little bit. Still, if I play tonight - I'll be just as arrogant as ever.

So, after taking a bad beat like that, I came home hoping to take a breath and get my mind right. Now, I miss cards more than anything. Shuffle up and deal baby, I'll see you in Vegas.

Disciple

The Night Before a Final...

2004-12-16T13:45:00.000-08:00

So, I have a history final at eight a.m. and I'm sitting in my room. I already went downstairs and played in a cash game. I got put out flopping the top set and I got cute with it. A guy hit a damn back door straight on me (runner, runner).

I'm sitting upstairs looking at my notebook and textbook on the night stand. The clock says 9 p.m. Frustration was setting in. "I shouldn't of been beaten with that crap, you're better than that disciple!" I figured I'd take a stab and try to double up, so I got up and went back downstairs to the card game.

The home game pot was up to around 200 bucks. I bought in 15 more and picked my spots. 3 hours later I was up to 47 dollars and on the button with Ac8c. We were four handed, and the bet was to my good friend Josh Winn. Josh has been drinking, he's the chip leader and I'm to the left of him. I was very excited. He had been playing very aggressively all night and I stayed out of his way, mucking middle pairs and top pairs with no kicker. I could tell he has been frustrated because I had accumulated so many chips. He raised it to 3 dollars and I call. The small blind and big blind fold and the flop comes As4s8s, giving me aces up. Josh quickly bet 10 dollars and I began to study "Does this goon have the flush?"

"Hell no!" I call. Turn came, it was a 2c and I jumping inside, he was betting into a winner. He raised me all in and I called quickly. Evidently he can't muck pocket kings! So I took the pot and cruised into taking the whole thing before I realized that it was 3 in the morning. I had an exam at eight. Luckally I made the exam and now it's time to take down some pots.

I'll see you in Vegas baby.

The Disciple