$3 Tournamnet and Charles Town Races & Slots

Friday Mrs CEM and I managed to make it up to Charles Town Races, which had just statted doing table games on July 4th Weekend. From what we had heard that first weekend was a total zoo, so we waited a couple of weeks. The Good: The table games are literally as soon as you come in the door from the Valet (which is only $6), so very easy to find. Plenty of games, including Craps, Blackjack, Three Card Poker, Roulette, Let It Ride, Pia Gow Poker, even a Big Wheel. There actually seemed to be a few open seats if you looked (mind you we got there at 5:30 PM on a Friday, so those from DC/Baltimore were still on their way from work/home. The Bad: Dealers were amazingly slow and showed very little understanding of the games they wer dealing. I am a huge fan of Pia Gow, but it shoudlnt take 7 minutes to deal, determine winners, and pay out for 6 players playing a hand of Pia Gow Poker! The other major issue were the limits. $25 was the cheapest table found (except for Let It Ride, which was $15, and the Big Wheel which was $10!) when we got there at 5:30, by the time we left after Midnight the minimum at Blackjack had hit $50.
The poker room as basically a tarped off/darkened area where the horse racing upstairs betting was done. They had a number of games, both Limit (5/10 and 10/20) and No Limit (1/2), plus some 4/8 Omaha. There sign up screen showed a waiting list for the most popular choice there (1/2 No Limit) was at 121 people before 6 PM Friday night. No tournaments were shown to be planned at casual glance. So they are definately going through their growing pains right now, but there is at least hope for the future.

On Saturday night, I played the Daily Dollar and went out about 1/2 through the field, and decided to fire up a $3 Double Stack 6 Max tournament, which had a nice structure and 487 runners. A beat in the first hour put me at 1500 chips early, but I worked on playing TAG, and found myself moving up the board well for the following couple of hours. 54 people cashed, which I easily made it past, but once we got down to 5 table, I was having to play short stack ninja poker, pushing and/or stealing in the best opportunities. Even though I was 25th of 25 at one time, I played my stack back up long enought to last all the way to 13th place, winning about 4 times my buy-in.

Until next time, good luck on the felt and with all you do!

Starting Anew

Have played a little bit in the past few days. I played 4 $1 9 man Turbo SNGs. These thigns are a wonder to play. Some of the worst players ever, as I tried a Tight Agressive approach, and after a few early exits realized that for $1, these people really dont care at all about playing well. I did finally manage to adjust my game well enought to take a 3rd place in the final of the 4 SNGs, but even then I managed to get chased down two hands in a row when we got the money AIPF with me ahead both times! I also played some .01/.02 cash. 2 sessions of about 30 minutes each. First session was very unexciting, with a very quiet tight table, and I managed to grind out a $0.24 profit. The 2nd session was much more interesting, where I stacked the player to my left when his pocket 6s flopped a set, but I turned a bigger set with my Pocket Kings, and the river pairing the board got him to call my all-in. I managed to finish up $1.78 (almost a full buy in), so I think I will continue on my playing the micro cash games as well as adjusting my game to the level of player in the $1 SNGs for now. Bankroll is about even after the week.

Trip to Charles Town Races and Slots tonight with Mrs. CEM to check out the table games and bet some on the horses!

Good luck to you all on the felt and all you do!

Missing In Action

Yes, it has been a while since I have posted. My self imposed leave from online poker is pretty much still in effect, as I have managed to put my bankroll on Full Tilt below $100, and I sit at a mere $16 on PokerStars. I have played a couple of SNGs, with very limited success, but decided last Friday to play a $3 MTT, which I finished a fine 14th place out of 382 for a $12 profit.

So what have I been doing, you may ask yourself, or maybe not, I would not be surprise if anyone is even bother to read anymore. It seems like I am not the only person that has gone missing as far as Poker Blogging, with even those that still do blog not blogging as often or as much. Not sure if it just another let down period after the BBT5, or maybe with everything else going on that the Poker Bloggers are just moving on into other stages in their lives.

At least with me, my family has continued to be a far more encompassing part of my time. My daughter K is now 19 months old, and really its not just changing some diapers, keeping her fed, and watching her sleep anymore. All the interaction that I do with her keeps me so busy that by the time she is ready for bed, I am ready to get the other things I need to have done with/for my wife and or myself.

Does this mean the end of this blog? Or me playing poker? NO! It is just a shift in priorities for now. I am actually working on my game, but on the learning side from reading books instead of playing currently. I feel that I had been running bad to a point where I was letting it affect my play. Was I actually runnding bad, or playing bad? Probably a little of both. So I am going to work on my game. Do I still have big goals in mind? YES! I hope to play in the 2011 WSOP. I will be a part of a 20 person tournament series again that the winner plays in the Main Event (I actually finished 4th last year, after winning the 1st tournament I just played badly for a couple afterwards). So there is always that, or trying to win myself a seat again for a $1,500 Event. I also plan to play at either the Harrah's or Ceasers Atlantic City WSOP Circuit Event (most likely an event that is the day before/after the ladies event, so the wife and I can make a weekend out of it).

So I hope to be playing more soon, but will likely be "starting anew" as far as my bankroll, and following proper bankroll startagies, so it is unlikely I will be playing many of the Blogger tournaments for a while, until I build back up the bankroll and feel I am playing a better game.

Until my next updated, I hope you all do well on the felt and in all you do!