Wow, nothing has been happening in what seems like ages! I'm still playing, but nothing exciting to report. I officially have nothing to bitch about! Trust me, I'm as depressed about that as everyone else is.
Lately, I've been getting cold decked like I pissed on the Poker Gods shoes, but haven't really had any cool stories to share. It even carried over to the Bond Traders game last week, when I played for 4.5 hours and made a whopping $10. That barely covered the gas. I think the Greek made off with the cash and even Sponge made a little coin. Lots of laughing, but no harm or fouls committed. The Doc put on a quality meal as always, so I guess that count that as part of the lure to the game.
I just started playing online at Ultimate Bet, but that's been somewhat of a mistake. Apparently they've recently made changes to the softs and can't seem to keep their act together. I keep getting disconnected, seemingly for no reason at all. The software claims that it's on my end, by my net connection is always smooth sailing. I've been playing 10/20 and 5/10, but the cards keep coming cold. Sitting 10 playersthe other night, I was only winning 6% of the time, which is to say I wasn't even winning my fair share. I got a little reprieve today, but no real action to speak of. The Limit games are pretty sparse above low limit with the same 20 players so it's kind of like real life at the card room. Hope that 100% bonus issue gets resolved, it's the only reason that I'm playing there. Then I'm moving my money somewhere else. Besides, the hand history functionality is terrible. How these guys ever get "Great Software" reviews is beyond me. Must be like all of the companies that put out Press Releases saying "Market Leader" when they just opened for business and have no referenceable customers.
Speaking of which, I run into them all the time being in the technology business and living in Northern California. Silicon Valley must shovel more shit than any three places on Earth. I talk to customer prospects every day with the usual competitors mentioned. About every 100th con call, someone mentions some upstart and in the same breath, "...and they seem to have really new and cool technology!". Well they certainly are new! "I've never heard of them." Their supposed customers always end up being 1. Their Law Firm, 2. Their Venture Capital Firm, 3. A "really big company" that they can't seem to disclose. You guess why that is...after all they're the "Market Leader"!
However, any time a person or company has had so much success for so many years, there is always an opportunity for blinding arrogance to creep in. So I always try and stay vigil and check out the technical details later, just to make certain that my initial instinct are correct. I just haven't had any competition that keeps me up at night for a very long time. Just because I'm paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get me though.
Anyway, back to the Poker front. I've been working on a couple of papers recently. Nothing that I'm prepared to publish just yet but they keep my brain wondering and analyzing. They'll be on Th3Seat just as soon as I get them to a point where I'm happy with the content so you guys get the first look. I've also been working on the new PokerQuiz section of the site, but that probably won't be ready until H2 since it will take me some time to fill it with some content. It's also going to be an open forum for discussion about the hands and the "proper" play of them. There are so many varied opinions about the subject and I certainly don't want to put myself on a pedestal as the all-knowing. Perhaps Market Leader.
Although, the guy from Wisconsin that Big Mike and I played with on my last Vegas trip said otherwise.
Guy from Wisconsin: You know everything about Poker!
Big Mike: GOD! Why'd you have to tell him that!
Me: Now, now! I hear that these fellas from Wisconsin know things. I trust his judgement.
Which reminds me, I have a fool proof method of getting actual free drinks in Vegas. You just play a good game at the low-limit tables where noone seems to have a clue how to play. They didn't pay attention when I was raising them out of pots on the Turn and River and still hadn't looked at my hole cards. "Wow, that's a terrible hand. Glad I didn't look at it before the flop or I might not have made it 3-bets to go from the small blind." Muck, stack chips; "Cocktails!". Don't try this at home kids.
The last couple of trips down to Bay 101 have me believing that the Poker Revolution is still in 5th gear. I arrived at 3:00pm and had to wait 1.5 hours to get a seat in the 20/40. The next trip I decided to beat the rush and got there at 12:45, 2 hour wait that time. Luckily the Chinese Seafood dish is to die for. It's $18 and change, but worth every penny. Not too mention that Sutters has a nice TV setup so you can catch up on all of the news and sports...or lack thereof as the case is presently.
Well time for me to move on for the evening. Someone PLEASE email me if you have found ANYTHING remotely new and exciting. I'm about to go crazy because I can't stand boredom and I'm teetering on the edge of a chasm of dullness labeled "Market Leader".
Nicholas has left the 3s