Oh, the hot bubbling waters

Well I do not have much to report. Purchased a hit tub the other day, not from poker winning that is for sure, and had it installed. Spend that last few days in beautification mode. I have not played many hands so I guess I am behind on my PStars bonus. I have another 5 1/2 months to clear my 1,800+ points to get my free $125.00. Let's see how it goes. At work, I am close to becoming the Chapter President of our local union. The union for supervisors isn't 1/8 as powerful as the guards union, but hey, I am going to give it a go. I'll fight to the death, yada, yada, yada.

As I was four tabling tonight, awaiting the completion of the chicken enchilada's, I did run into a tough hand. Anyone care to comment, It's all good. This is what I posted on CR, BTP and FTR.

"The villain here is playing tight/passive over a small sample (40+ hands) with stats of 14/6/2. I don't know seems like I really blew the river call. I would appreciate any help or thoughts.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1521125 "

Well it's time for the Mexican food, followed by cocktails in the spa. Ahhhh, the state does provide.

Arnold putting the hammer down!

It is official! The strongest union in the state of California has been dealt a heavy blow from the Governator. After several month of high level crying. The state says, "enough!" and imposes a three year contract on the prison guards. The talks went nowhere, so the state threw the a contract to the legislature to vote on in January. Here are the details that the union was fight against.

We receive $530.00 per year as a uniform allowance. On 7/1/07 it goes to $770.00 and 7/1/08 to $830.00.

Anyone who is assigned to work after 4:00pm and/or weekends receives an additional .65 per hour. Well that will going up also to .90 and to $1.10 for after 4:00pm pay, and the weekend worker will receive the same bump. In short, the guy who works 2:00 - 10:00pm with Th/F off will be receiving an additional $300.00 per month.

Anyone assigned to Salinas Valley, Soledad, San Quentin, or High Desert will receive an additional $500.00 per month.

Anyone working the desert pens, or Avenal State Prison will receive a $2,400.00 yearly incentive.

Anyone who recruits an officer will receive $1,000.00 for any prison and $2,000.00 for selected prisons.

And the best of it all! Pay Raises!!!!! 15% over the next three years beginning 07/01/07!

And the union was against this.

ANYONE INTERESTED IN JOIN THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION PLEASE CONTACT ME FOR POSSIBLE INCENTIVE PAY!

Maybe It's Time To Get Back To The Basics of Love

I heard a line from a classic Waylon Jennings hit thats says, "Maybe it's time to get back to the basics of love." Well that is what I have done. I plan to revisit and re-evaluate my poker play, and get back to the basics of love. I am going to study the books and watch the videos. I think poker being a situational game, however also being a game of repetition, tends to make standard play just that, standard. I am also going to seek the opinions of the online community as I have often felt the poker books are written by high stakes professionals who play a different game the a low limit grinder. I need to approach successful onliners who are low and middle stakes grinders, and pick their brains. So I will be engaging those members of the forums I belong to to put together, or validate, my game plan. This should be fresh and interesting as I review the many different styles. So get ready for the new hybrid players, who is always adjusting and changing to meet the needs of my bankroll.

I was second guessing my play after losing to quads after filling up. Usually I can laugh that stuff off, but this happened after losing 2 hands both to 2 outers. Anyway, I was in a low point and placed a post seeking some comfort (I guess that is what it was) when I received a great response from a Card Runners member that goes by the screen name TLXLM. Here is the post:

"Convict, you are far to results-oriented. My guess is you spend to much time focusing on things you can not change. Take your first hand as an example, instead of thinking "oh typical, i got a cooler again", "i run like shit" etc. you should be focusing on how you played the hand. You say that you don't know if you should have laid it down. Well, if you don't know then make sure to figure it out! Do some calculations, post the hand in the cash-game forum, do whatever it takes to find out how that hand should be played to maximize your expectation. If you find that you played it well, good, variance didn't work in you favor this time, but there is nothing you could have done differently. If you find that you made a mistake, find out how you should have played it, make sure you remember it, and you will not ever have to make the same mistake again. After i finish a session i don't ever start a new one until i have gone through every hand i played with a net-loss or net-profit of more than 10BB. I analyze them and figure out better ways to play the hands where i feel i have made mistakes. Bad beats and bad runs are inevitable. You can not change that. But if you consistently make +EV plays, you WILL see results. If you can not believe that, you simply should not be playing.

However, if you choose to trust the laws of probability then there is only one thing you can do to get yourself out of a rut: WORK HARDER"

I guess he just breaks it down to the nuts and bolts. Bravo, sir.

Perspective

I have decided to chime in from work. I am still very frustrated by my performance earlier in the day at the poker tables. I keep going through my mind regarding the hand I was felted with when I have pocket T’s and call a shove on a 3JJJ7 board. Of course I lose to quads which it is compounded by my loss to a 2 out river Q for all the money. I am down 4 BI’s in 2 days. The swing is just after I made a deposit of $500.00 for a 25% bonus. Looking back, these hands kill me. However, I think a little perspective is in order.

Tonight, I walk over to the Receiving and Release building to screen a new arrival. Sitting before me is an attractive young Hispanic girl from Orange County (home of Disneyland). She was born in 1984 and is obviously a little scared. She informs me that she just found out that she is pregnant and doesn’t want to be pregnant. As I look through her prison file, known as the Central File, I read the arrest report. It appears our soon to be mother was at a house with approximately 10 – 15 others when Tony and his girlfriend Kayla arrive. When Tony starts to make it into the house, someone steps out and blasts him with a shotgun. Tony, suffering from a shotgun blast to the neck, is rushed to the University of California at Irvine (UCI) Medical Center for treatment. Well it turns out to be a soft tissue injury. Tony now sports a much thinner neckline, as a 2 inch by 3 ½ inch chunk of his neck is now missing (this is equal to hitting the case A for quads). As his girlfriend arrives at the hospital, Tony tells her to keep her damn mouth shut about the incident. After reading this, I can’t help but wonder how our young mother is involved. Apparently she was just attending the party and gets scooped up in the crowd. As the police run names, she pops up as being on probation for a past burglary, and viola’, sent to prison for violation of probation, sixteen months in da’ big house.

As I look through the arrest report, I see 2 photos of some mean looking Hispanic guys. I come to find out “Rascal”, in his forties and a member of the dangerous 18th Street gang from Los Angeles was fingered for the shooting. I assure the young girl that time will be easy, if she keeps her nose clean and avoids “the mix”. I also inform her that she will be getting out around the middle of November because she received a lot of credits while sitting in the county jail. With that news, she smiles and tells me she is about to cry, because that means she would not give birth to her child in prison. It appears that is why she doesn’t want to be pregnant. I tell her that her child may never know she did time, but I would recommend not getting a tattoo to celebrate her new status as a “convict”.

I am the father of a young woman. I am also a husband for over 18 years. My daughter currently a senior in high school and she is maintaining a “B” average. She has thoughts of becoming a Registered Nurse, and as far as I can tell, and believe me I can tell, she does not use drugs. I believe she has tasted a cold one before, but doesn’t appear to have put herself in any situations that she can’t handle. My wife and I are still in love. We are best friends and she tolerates my poker. And I am very happy about that. I can honestly say, I will not find another, nor would I ever consider looking. She is good or bad, my life partner. The one I can go to when things suck, and the one I can go to when it’s all good. And to continue, I have a blonde Labrador retriever, his name his Mac (after General Douglas Mc Arthur) he loves me to.

So I guess my point is this, how important is calling a river shove for my stack with my full house against quads, or losing to a 2 outer on a river. When it comes to the things that matter, the $25NL and $50NL cash games I play does not define my ability as a man, husband or a father, only as an online poker player. And looking at the newest member of CDC, and the hand she was dealt, I realize that I am actually holding the nuts.

The end maybe near...

I am starting to think I just don't get the game of poker, or I am very unlucky. I believe it is the former. I seem to catch second best hands, which by all accounts are usually best hands in most cases. I flop top 2, make a set or a straight just to get beat. I post the hands on the forums only to be told I should have bet more, should not have called there and so on. All the while I lose. I lose to a 2 outer a better set and so on. My AA get cracked by a T4off which floats and hits. I don't know what to do. i really thing I will never win, so why play. Here is the latest hand that has broken me down.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491825

How do you get away? How do you lay down a full house, why does he shove? I don't get it. I don't get it.

How do you make it in Poker?

I am almost losing my mind. I am actually thinking of quitting poker because I feel I am just an unlucky person. I have really struggled with these thought. That might be the problem, maybe I am making myself an unlucky player. I took advantage of the Poker Stars 25% bonus offer by depositing $500 to make a $125.00 bonus. I generally play at the .25/.50 limit because I play for fun, but I would like to move up from success and not cash deposit. So late last night I set up my usual 4 table screen, but at the .25/.50 game. I was really catching cards and almost double a stack at one table. Because Poker Tracker as been hacked, I didn't run the program. I was cruising along when I lost 2 buy-ins within 3 minutes.

Hand #1 Me: AA

I have been really tight and elected to raise my AA's 4X. I am UTG and get a call from a MP player. Flop comes 246r. I lead out for 3/4 pot and get a call. Turn card is a 1o, same action, I am in for 1/2 pot bet, call! The river is a blank and the gut shoves? WTF set? No, the standard 10/4 to make 2 pair. Bad read?

Hand#2 Me: AQ

I am in the BB and re-raise the MP raiser, he calls. Flop is a beauty 5AQ for top 2. Lead out, re-raised by the original so I think he has the AK (makes sense from the action) and get in in good! Well not exactly he has 55 and makes flopped the set to my top 2. WTF!

Hand #3 Me: AK

Blind war with I guy I had stacked the hand before with my AQ on an A high board, he went to the felt with JJ. I raise he calls a flop of AT6. Bet and call, turn T. The river is a K, again I have top 2, bet and he min raises, so I think JQ? or split. I am pot committed so I call and he shows AT for the made boat. Ugh!

So I get to sleep and all the while wondering just how bad a poker player am I? I again remind myself that when someone shoves, that means something.

I wake up today to the warning that the "nail girl" is coming over, so to the desk top I go for a little bonus building poker time. I pound into my head that I will play tight, and without the nuts, lay down to any decent looking shove. The cards are not the best today, but I am making progress. Then the black flag waves it's evil colors again:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1488153

Could I just be an unlucky player? I mean what am I suppose to do here? As you can see, how am I suppose to make it in poker with this kind of stuff. The funny thing is, when I asked Balkan what he put me on, he replied "KK". That makes it even worse, even he knew I would lose! I like the other bloggers as they site results oriented poker and short term variance. Tell me of any sport or activity that goes like this, " I know I lost, and continue to lose, but I am playing well and I am really getting it in good. I am not concerned that I am losing, as long I am playing well". Come on now, let's get real. It sucks losing a hand or a session or many sessions. It sucks and it hurts, no matter that I am "getting it in with the best hand."

Hitting a 2 outer..

While doing time in a state penitentiary, I get to witness things that many other don’t. Although many of the inmates that I am entrusted to watch are a little insane to all out spun, I can’t help but wonder how these people made it through the judicial system. Those of you who have read this blog have been witness to many of these folks. The inmates I get to spend a day with are the same people you cross the street from. They are the people on the corner and street begging for change, or rummaging through the trash for a meal or a smoke. On the streets I have the same options as many of you. I can ignore them (which I generally do) or I can help them. At work I don’t have the luxury of crossing the street. I have to deal with each one.

The day started like any other day. I walk in and hear the slamming sallyport doors and to receive my assignment. I am lucky in the sense that I get to work various jobs. I am not stuck in a single assignment. Today, I draw the Reception Center. I have to handle 850 inmates fresh from county jail and eager to start to do their time. I also get the tasty side dish of the Security Housing Unit (SHU). Either way, it sucks. The SHU is considered the states prison within the prison. It is like the players on the Game Show Networks High Stakes Poker. A very elite group of player playing at a level many others can only marvel. The personalities are similar to the poker players. The loud and over the top cons like Matasow and the silent, but deadly killers like Phil Ivy. Anyway it is a club that I have to rule over. On this day I am dealing with a racially motivated and dangerous inmate who has been busted in prison for making weapons and Indecent Exposure, a black inmate who hates whites and loves to show her money maker. I am tasked with getting placed in a cell with only a blanket for clothing and a hole in the ground as a bathroom. Her home for the weekend will consist of padded walls and a small window.

As one could image, here comes the “devil white man” to hold a women down. After several minutes of “F you this and F your mother that” she gets placed in her single cell awaiting a healthy dose of Haldol to help “sooth” the pain. When you have to deal with a nut like this, and accomplish the mission without pepper spray or steel baton, it feels like hitting a 2 outer on the river. You can’t explain how it happened, but you still say, “Ship It! Holla”.

Speaking of hitting a 2 outer, I logged on to FTP to basically blow off my last $41.00 playing a little poker. I accomplished half of the task when I got heads up with an fn donkola. I call him that even though homie took my stack. I really wasn't that upset. I saw this guy shove it all in with TPWK, and a second shove with A2 suited on a chasing a runner runner flush draw (which he hit). So on a JJ66 board I thought my 10’s were good, but his QQ one the day. I call it a bad read. Anyway, I am down to my last $17.00 and decide I am going out on a .50/1 table. I buy in and wait for any pair to shove. Well I hit a 77 and true to form, stuff it in. The table folds and I am back to $20.00. I work my way up to $27.00 when I call a LP raise with 33 from the BB. The board looks pretty safe and my stack is small at $23.00 when I lead out for a ¾ pot bet. The LP raiser puts me all in and I say F it, so I call. He shows a small pair of Aces to my 33. Well like clock work a 3 peels of the turn and I have a quick double up. Needless to say the LP raiser is till cussing me about a 2 outer and how I can call and, “yada, yada, yada”. Like I said earlier, Ship It, Holla! With a couple of timely bets and a second shove I ended up with a true double up. Hell, I can’t even give the FTP money away.

A cooler or a poor selection of wine?

I posted a note last night after a bottle of the grape and decided to take it easy and sit at a table for a little poke. The table was very loose and I was card dead. for most of the session. I was a little off my game, because I was drunk! I played super tight as not to appear drunk to the players. I generally don't play intoxicated or when I am very tired. This will sound very stupid, but understand my mindset at the time I opened the table. Anyway, this restaurant we went to is a tough ticket to get, and the parking is equally as tough. As we come driving up in preparation for the valet, the only non-valet spot for the eatery opens up. Viola' in we go, door front and a $5 spot to the good. Well hell, with luck like that, who wouldn't go and play some poker, drunk or not. So it, was the parking that lead my drunk ass to the table. Pathetic! So there I sit, it's 1:00am, I have a bottle of Francis' Claret and a 19" screen spewing colored squares and making the same noise I heard when I rode my bike with cards in the spokes. In the SB I see 2 cards with the same numbers. Hell, even I know that is pretty good! Well the UTG guy makes a standard 4x raise, and it is folded to me. I really can't comprehend the action, but something tells me to call. Well the rest is poker history...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1472468

After playing the hand, 2 things were painfully obvious. The first is I should not play poker drunk and feeling invincible because I got a good parking space and the second, I had no more chips.

I can't help but wonder if things would have turned out differently I had been sipping on a bottle of Opus One?

WHAT!

I am writing this blog three quarter's drunk (anymore and i couldn't type) on Mark West 2005 Pinot Noir and busting it to Beck, Dean Martin, Frank, Biggie Smalls, Clapton and Slim Shaddy. Tonight was a celebratory dinner at a premium steakhouse, Flemming's. Finally sold the home and decided to spend some profit. It's nice because it's the three amigo's, my wife and child and of course the ConvictKeeper. After dropping a cool $250.00 on a few steaks and soup, I decided to get something off my chest. I would like to be playing poker right now, however I do not posses the mental facilities required to play, because I am intoxicated from the grape. However, that will not keep me from venting something that I feel very strongly about. So without further ado, here goes.

I must begin this rant by stating I am not a inmate lover at all. Hey, as far as I am concerned, they did the crime, so go on and do the time. However I am a strong advocate of fairness, convict or not. So here we go...

The other day I participated in an investigation into the alleged wrong doing of a Correctional Officer. It will be determined that the officer did nothing unethical or against policy. I always get dragged into the things because I am generally the highest ranking supervisor on grounds when the shit hits the fan. The price one pays for fame. Anyway, this issue occurred on December 1, 2006. The incident is common enough. An inmate gets her ass beat and we have to investigate the crime. In the words of Jerry Seinfeld, "yada, yada, yada". Whatever!

Anyway, a piece of trash lifer (murderer) makes a complaint that our guard saw the whole crime and did nothing about. Here goes the investigation. Well we will see after awhile if anything happened, in the meantime, I get a call for an interview in September of '07. WTF, am I suppose to remember what happen 10 months ago?

Well as luck has it, we buikd a case based on confidential information. Mind you, this "confidential" information is obtained from people who have spent a life telling lies, but that's another story. The "suspect" has her day in court and is found Not Guilty. As it turns out, the confidential information is unreliable (go figure) and the Lieutenant who adjudicated the case found her Not Guilty! This occurred in January of '07.

Fast forward to September of '07. Each inmate phone call is recorded and placed on a computer hard drive. This is done to help stop the infiltration of drugs and the trafficking of these drugs on a daily basis. Anyway, in one of these recorded calls, the inmate accused of committing the battery, is discovered. The suspect is heard admitting to the battery.

Excuse me, I had to take a break to bust open a bottle of 2004 Francis Coppola Claret (a black label Cabernet Sauvignon) and que up Dean Martins "Ain't That A Kick In The Head". This has got to be the deepest red Cabernet have ever seen. A great taste, smooth and dark, robust and "oaky" with a dusty hint of berry. Now on to Snoop Dogg's and Dr. Dre's "G-thing". Yea!

Anyway back to the issue, The institution has been caught violating several of the inmate's rights. So WTF happens? The toss the convict in the "hole" on a trumped up charge and violate a truckload of civil rights in the process. I am now officially steaming. I have to toss another sip back. The CONVICTKEEPER recommends the 2004 Francis Copplola 2004 Black Label Claret.

Listen up! We owe it to the citizen's of the great state of California to uphold the laws and statutes sit forth in the state and federal Constitution. However, we can not go on and shit on the rights afforded to every person, albeit convict or not. We can not bend the rules to try and cover up our mistakes. We blew it here. We did not do our jobs investigating this incident. As we say in the joint, "Hey, shit happens". We feel we can lock an inmate up after 10 months because she is now considered a threat.. WTF, she did nothing in the 10 months as we kept her ass on the mainline, now because someone may get in trouble for not doing their job, we beat the inmate like a rented mule and toss her in the hole? It just ain't right. We are so FN corrupt it is sad.

I write this because I live by a standard, a standard that can be explained in one motto, "If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything". Whatever, if it wasn't for the smooth sounds of Sinatra, "A Very Good Year", I'd be tossing back the Jack Daniels.

Different Opinions

It is early in the morning by my standards. I was just checking any reponses to a post I submitted to Cardrunners. I had a question regading the hand I posted here yesterday. I lost to a straight flush after flopping a set of 5's. It was a very bad call, but hey, that won't be the last.

I posted the hand for discussion to see if the hand was played correctly. Earlier in the week I posted another hand that was similar.

Here is the hand: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1445867 .

Everyone (15 posts) said I should have raised or shove the turn. I took that to heart and followed the communities opinion on the hand yesterday. Well I did get sucked out on by a straight flush. I posted that hand and the response was, not to have shoved the turn because I telegraphed my hand and would have allowed lesser hands to fold.

I guess when it get down to it, you play what you feel is correct. If I am still discussing that hand from yesterday, then it would be wise to take a day off.

Going back to work after 17 days off. Prison life is about to fire up again. I am looking forward to a change of pace, but I can assure you, I can not wait to retire!

UGH! Not another...

Man I am down on my luck. I can't win a race, out flopped and out kicked. I sent a joking e-mail to Poker Stars and they did a hand history review for 2 weeks and they even noticed how bad I am running. It takes great strength to continue after just getting clocked. I had a nice double up when my JJ filled up against AA, but other than that it's been a drag. I gambled on a very speculative hand (35s) from the SB but when the flop hit, BOOYA! or so i thought

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1450497 UGH!

Need strength to continue...

The past few sessions have been horrible. I took a break to shake of the bad karma, and I see it is still with me. poker, although fun, can be very frustrating. I have not won a race in any SNG's, and I seem to be getting run down. I lose a big pot with an all-in from a complete donkey who ADMITS he can only win from bluffs and over bets. I raise my AQ, he re-raises I put it in and he follows with a 690ff, and of course wins. He then laughs at me. UGH! And the 2 outers on the SNG's followed by the runner runner flushes and straights. It is very difficult to be optimistic during these long and difficult stretches. I guess I am being to "results orientated", but really.

Here is the latest example of my woes.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1445867

Enjoying a weekend without the poker

Sitting in the knotty pines of Jackson, Ca. I am enjoying a nice break from trying to improve my skills. For those who do not know where Jackson, CA. is, well image 70 minutes southwest of Lake Tahoe. The weather has been bad. the heat the is strangling the entire west coast as not forgotten Jackson. What is usually nice, is hot, 105 to be exact, so ugh. Jackson does have a real popular Indian casino, the Jackson Rancheria, but I have elected to sit about 10 minutes away and not participate. The Rancheria has No-Limit Hold'em tournament, but they are low buy-in and starting stacks of 1,500 chips. The structure sucks as you are at the 50/100 chip limit within 25 minutes. No play, all gamble. I am here vi sting the old man, so it is football and BBQ, not bad for a Labor Day weekend.