Ammo cans out the wazoo

A local geocacher just won an auction for 403 ammo cans -- 15 pallets -- from Ft. Lewis. He's selling them to other local cachers at cost: $1.50 each. This means that in the next few months, it's very likely that we'll see a lot more regular size caches instead of all those horrid micros.

And there was much rejoicing.

Humility wins

I dropped down another $65 on Monday night, mostly in hands where, at the river, I looked at my situation and said to myself "Self, that guy's been playing like he's hit his set/straight/flush since the flop/turn. Your measley two pair isn't gonna do it. He's got you beat, Self." And then I say to myself, "Nah. Two pair's good," and call. There's not a lot of bluffing at the $2/$4 or $5/$10 tables.

At one point on the $2/$4, my JJ won $32. The very next hand, I got JJ again and lost $30. Sigh.

Tuesday night, however, I dropped myself back down to the $0.50/$1.00 table, and played while catching up on the last week of Fark.com. For the most part, I only played premium hands, even folding QT offsuit pre-flop on the button facing a single raise from middle position. After about two hours of play, I ended up ahead $25. My first positive real money night in weeks.

It'll be a long road back to those glory days of November when I was having $150 and $200 nights. Somewhere along the line, I think I began to expect, nay, deserve(!) to win a lot -- two pair's good, right? -- and that was my downfall.

Smart, conservative play is what I did last night, and what I need to continue doing. Things like consulting the pot odds chart from Gary Carson's Complete Book of Hold 'Em Poker in marginal situations. Things like making notes like "whirlyjim raised pre-flop with AK off. whirlyjim raised pre-flop with QQ." Things like deciding, more often than I have been, that if a player is betting like he's got the six to make the inside straight, he probably does.

On another note, some folks (hi, Bill and Kevin!) have recommended Doyle Brunson's Super System to me. I need to pick it up from the library on the way home tonight.

Draft 2 of Gig Harbor posted

I posted the second draft of the Gig Harbor Cache Machine route last night. I've added another night cache to the route; I hope it's not raining and cold and miserable. (In early January? Nahhh...)

Back in, down $30

I bought in again last night at Empire Poker (on the Party Poker network), and did OK at a $0.50/$1.00 table, then mediocrely at a $2/$4 table, for the first two hours. I was up about $20. Then I hit a hand. I was dealt As 7h, limped in, and hit Ah 7s 9s on the flop. I bet and raised, and one other player stayed in. 7d came on the river, giving me a full boat, sevens over aces. I jammed the pot, as did my opponent. The river came 9c. We max bet, and he shows his 9h 3c. His full boat nines-over-sevens wins. I ended my night a few hands later, down about $30. I think I played it right, though. I'd have done better if the other monster hands I was dealt actually had people staying in to see the flop.

Thanks, fairy godmother!

About a week-and-a-half ago, Robbbbbb described his night of poker as getting "hit over the head with the deck like a fairy godmother gifting me with her wand." Too bad I was playing in a play-money tournament last night, because the same thing happened to me.

I haven't played for real money in a few weeks. I'm still trying to build my confidence back after my rabid tilt-a-thon. So in lieu of that, I like to be in play money tournaments, because the people there -- for the most part -- are still actually trying to win. Sure, once in a while you'll have someone who gets bored and decides to give all their money to the winner of the next hand by jamming the pot with 2-2 offsuit, but usually when half of the 10 original players are left, they're in it to win it. Granted, they still play a bit looser than real money tables, but it's still the tightest free game I've found.

The game is a ten player table, everyone starts with 800.

Early on, at the 15/30 level, I was dealt pocket 8's. The flop came T48 rainbow. A set of 8's? I'll bet that aggressively. I did, had a couple of raisers, a lot more callers, and got the pot up in the 400s somewhere. The turn was the fourth 8. I jam the pot, still have a few raisers, and it's up in the 800s. The river is a low rag, I've got the nuts, and leave that hand up about 1300.

I'm the big stack at this point, and I watch as four players drop out over the next ten hands.

The guy to my right is a pretty aggressive player; over the next 20 hands, I gave him a bunch of blinds and two-bets. Then, I get pocket jacks under the gun, and raise him all the way to the end, and he lost with his 4-9 suited. Ahhh. A bluff-bully revealed.

The next hand, with five players left, I'm in the big blind and got dealt crap, but everyone calls and I see the flop for free. A84 rainbow. All I've got is a pair of 4's. It checks around to BluffBully, who bets the minimum. I raise him, thinking he's got nothing again. Everyone else gets out, and we're in a raising war. We raise each other all the way to the end, and the dog wins with his AQ. I picked the wrong time to try to push him around.

The game continues. Three players are left, the blinds are at 100/200. I'm on the button and get dealt 5-5. I raise to 400. Small blind drops out, and BluffBully raises, of course. I call, and I hit another set on the flop, T57. BluffBully bets, I raise, he raises, I call. The turn is another 7; I've got full house 5's over 7's. I jam the pot, he slowly jams the pot, the river's a 9. We both quickly raise raise raise, and he's all-in. He's holding 6-8 for the straight. Buh bye.

A few hands later against a very short stack, and for the first time in weeks, I've won a play money tournament.

Candid camera notes

Well, I went to Best Buy at lunch today and picked up a JVC GR-D72 camcorder in preparation for Krys' concert on Thursday. My other options were the Panasonic PV-GS9, or the Canon ZR-80.

All three use the Mini DV digital tapes.

The Panasonic was a very close second, but it lacks a SD media slot (nice to have in the future, I'd think), lacks a pass-through analog port (for converting analog to digital, such as a VHS tape to MPEG), and its image stabilization seemed far superior. I focused both the Panasonic and the JVC on a range hood carton ¾ of the way across the store at full optical zoom, and the JVC was much easier to keep on the same area.

The Canon's LCD view screen looked really washed out, which may be because it was had been running 18 hours a day for the last year in the display case, but if that's the case, that's a good reason not to get it.

The first small camcorder I ever used was my grandfather's JVC, and I think it's still functional today. Hopefully, this one will last as long.

An okay weekend; time for a camcorder

I played poker on Friday and Saturday night with my new chips. On Friday, in a seven player game, I did fairly well. The cards weren't coming too well, but I ended up with $16 for my $5 buy in. A lot of that came at Phil's expense, because for some reason I just kept beating him by a card (for example, AJ making a pair of aces with jack kicker versus his AT making a pair of aces with ten kicker).

On Saturday, we played a ten-player game at Nub's place, and Robbbbbb kicked major butt. I think he bought in for $15 and left with $38, but he was easily up over $50 at one point. I left with $5 of my $10 buy in, so I'm up $11 for the weekend. Kevin did well both days, which should help him pay for his beer while he's waiting for work.

My first big purchase with my poker winnings was t-shirts for my daughter's soccer team. Then the poker chips. Now I'm in the market for a camcorder before Krys' concert on Thursday. I thought tape was dead, but apparently DVD and mini-DVD camcorders aren't quite good enough yet, and the mini-DV tape is still the way to go for low-end decent-quality camcorders. I'm looking at the Panasonic PV-GS9, or the Canon ZR-80.

Blue star for you, Mr. Lauricella

As a result of my poker chip purchase (they arrived yesterday, and they are sweet), I got my 50th positive feedback on Ebay, giving me a blue star. Woot.

Dumb casino moves

Yesterday, I'd mentioned that the online casino that I (used to) play at had e-mailed me about their new software, and had given out $13 in free money to test it out.

Part of the reason I'd played at Phoenician was because of their elegant, slick, crisp, smooth-running interface. They used software they'd licensed from Real Time Gaming, which is also used by many other online casinos.

Their new software is, as best as I can tell, the January 2003 release of the Viper engine from Microgaming. One aggrivating feature is that after you download the 5 MB software package and install it, you get three games (a blackjack version, a slot machine, and something else I don't recall. Other games have to be downloaded as needed, and you can't download them to test them without a balance in your online account.

The graphics are pretty blocky and appear to have been designed for a 640 x 480 screen. Ick.

But the worst part: I couldn't find multiplayer poker, so I e-mailed the casino. Their response:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for contacting Customer Support.

Unfortunately multiplayer poker is no longer available at the casino. however if you would like to partake in this game, we suggest Aztec Riches poker at [some hyperlink I see no need to advertise]

Please do not hesitate in contacting us if you have any further questions or comments.

I don't know what decision-making process they went through to make this change, but at least from the poker standpoint, if you're making a 5% vig off of every pot, you're essentially just printing yourself money every time a game's played. Maybe RTG's cut was too big or something, but this just seems like a dumb move to me.

Time to go elsewhere.

Free money?

I just got an e-mail that the online casino I play at just got new software, and to test it out they're giving some players free money to test it. I got $13. Wonder if I can build it into anything?

Chips

My new poker chips are on their way up from southern California. UPS says they should arrive on Thursday. Sweet.

Port Orchard is off my list

It turns out that Port Orchard and Gig Harbor had a lot more caches than I expected. The 61 caches I have on the route will only get us through Gig Harbor and will still have us going to after sunset. Port Orchard had another 40 some. That's a lot.

The first draft route is here.

Royal clubs

Last night, at an eight player game at the absent-and-hoping-to-be-lucky (not get lucky; be lucky) Robbbbbb's house, my cousin Jeremy (who we've taken to calling "Riverman" for all the obscure lucky draws he gets on the river) and another player (my brother Trestin, I think) were in the game and the flop comes JQK of clubs.

Jeremy, his hands shaking (think that's a tell?) goes all in. Trestin calls him, and they turn their cards up. Trestin has pocket aces. Riverman has TA of clubs.

Royal. Straight. Flush. On the flop.

Seems like there's always something new in this game.

Myself, I had a down night. After four $5 buy ins, I found myself down only $1.80, but then went heads up against Trestin and came out on the short end of a $25 pot. In the end, I was down about $9. Good price for a nights worth of entertainment.

Know when to walk away

Well, my grand experience in online poker has come to an end. I told myself that once my online account reached zero, it'd be time to quit. That time has come.

I think my losing streak is due, more than anything else, to my overanalysis of the game. Poker, as many have said, is not so much a game about cards played with other people, but rather is a game about people played with cards. I've been reading poker books voraciously the last few weeks, and in the last week or so, I think I've been playing the cards instead of the people. Six times in the last three days I held AA or KK or AK or AQ, the flop turned up nothing helpful, and I still bet strong, losing to other players with sets of 8's or two pair (or in one case, a pair of 3's against my AK high). In retrospect, I knew they had it, too, but was trying to bully them out of the pot because I had the best hand before the flop. Instead of thinking to myself "that player is acting like they have me beat, and my AK is weak", I thought to myself "they player probably has me beat, but I've got AK, dammit, and that's supposed to be a good hand." You can see why this thought process burned me so quickly.

It's been a good run, though. At my best, I was up almost $3000, and I'm still walking away with almost $2000. Not bad for an initial $20 buy-in.

It's time to head back to the dining room and tournament tables and play against people I can actually see and read.

So that's what going on tilt is

Ouch.

I knew that chasing after lost money by increasing wagers is a bad idea, but I went on major tilt yesterday against a table full of really tough opponents -- folks I knew were good -- and as my hands got worse and worse, I played more and more, going in with crap like 6-7 offsuit, hoping I'd get 3-4-5 on the flop.

I lost like an entire weeks worth of winnings in about an hour on the $5/$10 tables, then tossed the rest of it away on the roulette wheel, and then beat myself up over it overnight.

Time to re-focus and force myself to play super, super tight. Phil Helmuth defines super-tight as only getting into hands with AQ, AK, and pairs of 77 or higher. It seems to be working, as I've doubled my bankroll with this strategy.

Gig Harbor/Port Orchard Cache Machine

The chatter about the upcoming Gig Harbor/Port Orchard Cache Machine event has begun. I'll need to get a draft route together in the next week or so.

Happiness is not a set of Queens

Last night didn't go so well. Part of it might have been because I was out of my normal environment -- I was in bed with my wife reading next to me, and the laptop on the really cool over-the-bed Ikea rolling table. At the $5/$10 table, I lost my $100 buy in, twice, including what I think were some bad beats.

Two hands in a row I was dealt pocket aces. Two hands in a row I lost to a straight draw on the river.

One hand, on the small blind, I was dealt Qc Qd. I raise before the flop, and seven other players call. The flop comes Ac Kd 8h. I bet, late position raises, I call. There's still four of us in.

The turn is Qs. I've got a set of queens with an A/K. I'm thinking that the late position raiser probably has two pair. I bet like a madman, as does he, chasing one of the other two players out.

The river is a 2c. The only hands he has that could beat me would be pocket aces, pocket kings, or JT. If he had JT, he wouldn't have raised on the flop, right?

Right. He doesn't have JT. He does, however, have the pocket kings. He wins the $223 pot.

Ah well. Some lucky pontoon afterwards nets me $135, and roulette gets me another $96, so I still finished ahead $31 for the session.

Another good poker night

I played at a surprisingly chatter-free $3/$6 table tonight, growing my $70 buy in into $331. A big part of that was a $120 win where I held AJ offsuit, and the flop came J A 9, with another J on the turn.

Patience. I'm convinced that patience is the key to winning big pots against loose tables. Wait for the monster hands, then play them hard. Many of the other players aren't paying attention; they don't know I'm the guy that folds most of the time.

Play on other casino games -- Pontoon (which hurt me a lot more than it helped), Roulette (hit my number twice on 25 spins), and Baccarat (mostly even) gained me another $79.

Up $341 for the night. Not too shabby.

Happiness is a set of aces

I wasn't doing so well at the poker table last night. I'd burned through my first $100 buy in at the $5/$10 table, and had gotten more than halfway through my second $100. I was playing looser than I should have, staying in with hands like T9 offsuit. Realizing this, I tightened up my play, and about half an hour later, sitting on the button, I was dealt As Kd. Four others had called before me for $5, plus the big and small blinds. I raised to $10.

I've mentioned to some of you that the RealTimeGaming tables seem to have a lot of loose agressive players, so my bet here was meant to scare out those who might be trying to limp in with T3 suited or something ("but it's sooooooted!") and to raise the value of the pot. Only the small blind is scared out, the rest of the players call, and the pot is at $63.

The flop is Qs Ad Ah.

Big blind checks. "Cake", a good strong player, bets $5. The next two players (who I've seen winning and losing pots with crappy hands they hold to the end) bet $5, as does the player to my right, who talks like a pro but whose small stack doesn't show it. I raise to $10. The pot is at $93. Big blind folds. Cake folds. The other three call, bringing the pot to $108.

The turn is 9c.

The three other players check. I hesitate for almost my full 30 second limit to imply that I'm thinking hard. I bet $10. The two weak players call, the "pro" folds. The pot is at $138.

The river is 2h.

Check, check. I bet $10. One of the weak players folds. The other calls. I win the $158 pot with As Ad Ah Kd Qs.

"I could have played that in my sleep," says the player to my left. I yawn.

The very next hand, I'm dealt AK suited, with which I win another big pot with a pair of kings. This makes my net winnings for the night $130, which I then parlay into $179 at the Pontoon table (a 0.17% house edge!). It was a good night.

The rumor in the poker game chat was that Phil Ivey was playing at the $200/$400 table and had just taken a 21-year-old for $31,000. too bad I didn't get a chance to watch that.

Found it log for Way To Go (Traditional Micro)

Way to Go! by NLS

November 5
By road, this is the closest cache to my (temporary) house (LOTR is closer as the crow flies), and I've taken far too long to come down to find it. But today, I had the opportunity. While Dragonfli attended a meeting at Pierce, Geogrrrl and I decided to hunt for this one. I'd plotted it on the maps last week, so knew pretty much the area it would be in. In other words, I knew it would be close to the cheapest delivery pizza (in cents per square inch) in Lakewood. Pacific Pizza makes huge, cheap, tolerable pizzas. Order one of their giants, and you'll have enough to feed yourself for a couple of days.

I parked there, and gave Geogrrrl the GPS. As soon as she started following the arrow, I knew where the cache was going to be. I've hidden a cache in a very similar location.

No muggles today, although we did have to dismissively wave on one vehicle that slowed down to gawk at us. Found the cache (good thinking on the attachment!) and signed the log. Thanks for the hunt!

We had a bit more time left, so I scoped out another little-known park for a possible future hide. Thanks for giving me something to do other than sit in the car and sing Duran Duran songs at the top of my lungs for an hour.