kids and poker

I've written about this before, but watching kids (4 of them while the wife is away on a trip to see her brother's family) and playing online poker just doesn't mix... I try, I really do, but its almost impossible, even at 11pm, to try and keep them in bed and happy, while their mother is not in attendance and they know it... Its almost like a pass to mess with Dad...

See, Dad doesn't like infants.. in general. Now, of course I love my son.. more than anything in the world, but I'm the type that needs immediate feedback, and crying doesn't do it for me. I need intellectual back and forth that an infant just can't give, and I have no time for that...

So when they all go down nice and smooth, and I have done what I think is my parently duty, such as reading books, tooth brushing instructions, and over all "before bed" hygiene, I expect a little in return... like going to sleep, and being left alone to feed my poker habit, reading a book, cleaning up, or even just sleeping myself...

Last night was a clear example that in my kids eyes, when Mom isn't here, its a license to "f" with dad... and for the most part I take it pretty well. I don't take anything out on them, although my wife does get a piece of it, but when she wasn't there to take it, I was lost in a very deep hole without knowing what to do... or how to vent

So when I finally got them all on my side, and down for the night, I took it out on the poker tables... I knew I was probably going to donk off a pile of my bankroll, and figured it would be a good price for some therapy. But I got lucky. Extremely lucky.

I got into a $10 45 MTT. and I pushed just about everyhand. If someone raised preflop, I rr behind them. Didn't matter what cards I held... I just decided to bully right out of the gates... and bullying with the 1500 starting stack can't really be described as bullying. As I witnessed first hand.

I knew I would be called by even marginal hands. The first three times I did this (the first three hands mind you) It was folded to my aggression... Only one of those hands was worth the raise to a standard raise (AK). But everyone folded.

Then, I get 8d9d... UTG min raises 3 callers, and I go to 450... UTG calls and everyone else folds... The flop comes 7d 10d Ad... MIRACLE!

He checks, I bet half the pot, and he shoves... holding A 4o... Funny stuff to me. He min raises utg with A4o and calls a 10x raise with it, and then shoves a sooted flop with a naked A and no suit...

From there it was crazy... I picked up a pile of monster hands, all which were folded to or held good when I was called. I held the chip lead all the way to the final table... fell to three in chips, and then back to the Lead with about 4 of us left...

I haven't figured out how to copy the table images yet, or to copy and paste the hand histories... I will though and will start to post them here as well with my successes and failures... I think they are a good learning tool, and just a cool thing to do...

I won the tournament when HU with even stacks, my opponent limped with AA, to which I checked Kc 3h... The flop came 2 3 4 all clubs. I checked, he checked (???)... the turn came the K giving me two pair and the 2cnd flush draw... I let out pot, (2,000) he jammed (24,000), and I called... They hold up and I win...

It was fun playing that way, but definatley losing poker .. I was lucky to have some pretty tight players... I was stealing pots with hands that I didn't need to, and with to many players in them... One was 4 callers to a min raise, I was holding 8 5o (midway thru the tourny) with a huge stack... I shoved it all in, and all folded. even a super shorty, which I just don't get... If he was willing to call a raise with those cards, he should've been jamming them pre, instead of call/ folding to an aggressor...

It was some good therapy though!