Hey guys

Well we are shut down from harvesting because of a little rain shower that has stopped us from being able to continue with our operation.  We haven't really been able to keep things rolling per usual due to our wet year as well as some hail that put some crops behind.  So instead of having 1200 ac. done we have had 480 ac. instead.  Well thats not totally true because 320 ac. of that was hailed out and therefore no production will come from that.  Anyways I'll get to it all eventually. 

Anyways I'm still playing min bet limit holdem 6 max style.  Which is going really well.  I'm about 2.5bb(Which is around 7/8bb in NL) over my relatively small sample.  I'll need like 50k more hands before I feel confident that I'm winning.  However this was the game I started out in and I feel good going back to winning over a large sample.  It might just be one of those things were limit he and limit O8 are just my best games.  I might be able to make myself a breakeven player in NL or PLO but I think maybe my best bet will be those two games.  Mind you I'm not too bad at tournies and might play more when I get time when the snow flies.  I think its important for any good player to realize what they can be most profitable at and use it to their advantage.  Especially for us low limit guys were the fish are plentiful and the games are many across all the sites.  Right now though I think until FTP updates their iron man program the Stars stellar rewards is the way to go.  It doesn't take too long to get the first two $10 ones and they go straight to your account.  As much as I love FTP, Stars may be starting to win me over.

Side note: There is a group that I know of and it is filled with amazingly good tourney players.  One of them just took 2nd in a FTOPS for 100k.  He is the man and it dfoesn't take too many tips from him to make you a winning player.  But for now it min bet so that means:

Anyways other than that I just have one more picture from the bike rally for you all.  Its always nice when some girls in bikinis are willing to wash my bike for me.  There is never anything wrong with that.  I could have took some more racy pictures however that would have felt too exploitive lol.  I atleast was able to pay them for a service of washing my bike and such.  Anyways I'm sure Ross and Zimba will have atleast one interesting thing to say.  And I won't delve into each of their interesting qualities.  But it does feel good to be baller every now and then.  Notice my ace of spades patch on my vest.  Anyways keep the chips in your stack boys and girls!

Hey guys,

I know it is amazing that I have been able to write a couple blogs in a short amount of time.  For some reason I just felt like jotting down a few notes about something that I had been thinking about the past couple days.

First though I would like to give a shout out to my online poker buddy Bgsapnaples.  He is currently ranked 84 on pocket fives and last night I was able to make a late evening rail of him dominating in FTOPS event #32 and ending up in 2nd taking home 118k.  He should have won but such is life and poker.  He definitely has ground it out and deserves a big win like this for sure. 

Anyways back to the topic at hand.  I have been involved in the online poker scene for quite some time now amost exclusively at the low stakes even though I have played in a couple mid stakes games for a couple reasons or because I was able to make it into a mid stake tournament.  One thing that I think that I have always been able to take away from it was being able to take enjoyment out of all the small things that have been able to accomplish. 

No I havent been able to play against Durrrr in the nosebleeds and I have not been to the mountain top that is the WSOP and meet with all the people of rank in the poker world.  But there are many things that I have been able to enjoy.  The fact that when I was grinding hard I was always able to make enough to buy exactly what I wanted for Christmas presents and the like for friends and family.  Or that I have reached gold and iron man status on a couple sites.  I really do enjoy these small victories because even though it does not seem like much I still accompished something that was set out above me.  There will almost always be someone who is playing above me and there will be someone who is playing below me.  As long as I am enjoying what I am doing and accomplishing the goals I set out for myself that is all that truly matters I feel. 

So if you want to get a couple shirts from the FTP store or buyin to a couple events on Stars with your points.  Go for it you have definitely earned it.  And learn how to enjoy those types of small victories in your poker career.  It is these types of things that will keep you going and coming back to the game.  Without them you will inevitably lose your enjoyment of the game.           

Hey everyone,

Well it has rained so I finally have some time here to cohesively collect my thoughts and write a half decent update.  I know it shouldn't take that much effort but there you have it.  We can't all have the vision of Zimba to write a good blog everyday.

 Me rocking out at the Buckcherry concert!

Our group at a scenic rest stop in the mountains. 

So things have been going pretty good recently.  Just lots and lots of farmwork as we are getting ready for harvest which will be even more work than getting ready.  However things are pretty much in order and all that is left to do is to let the crop harvest.  However there are a couple of small matters to attend to next week and hopefully everything can get wrapped up by Wednesday. 

So I'll interject here with the story of probably one of the most interesting poker games live that I'll ever be in.  I was walking home at the Beartooth rally and noticed a sign that said live poker.  Well I was alone and didn't have much else on the plans since I didn't have my bike with me at the moment since we had been doing some drinking and my bike stayed at the hotel.  I walk in and there are about six or seven people sitting around a poker table. 

I decided to get the low down on what was going on so I walked up and the dealer says do I play poker and I say a little online.  Of course they make it seem like no one knows whats going on and the like so I'm thinking either they really don't know whats going on or someone is trying to hustle me.  So I ask what game they are playing and the limits and what not and get a pretty big deer in the headlights look from everyone but the dealer.  Apparently she deals quite abit at different games around the area.  Anyways I find out that they are play no limit with a single $2 blind.  I figure this would work to my favor since not having to pay a SB I could play tight and lots of pots in position and try to win them without showdown. 

So I bought in for what looked like to be the average even though there wasn't a limit on what you could buy in for.  Anyways I find out there is a husband and wife playing, another guy right beside me who has been drinking heavily, and another couple randoms.  People would filter in and out all night but these would be the main players until a couple hours in three more drunk guys would show up as well as a cagey old asian man who fist bumped me after we were finished.   

So here are a couple of interesting hands.  Within the first two orbits I get dealt pocket kings in the blind.  Crazy drunk guy raises I 3bet he calls.  Flop comes 995 which I assume is fairly safe putting him on JJ or QQ seeing as he only called my 3bet.  I check he bets, I raise all in he calls.  He has aces I don't improve and am down a buyin right off the bat.  Within twenty minutes my drinking fund for the rest of the weekend is in Jeopardy!

So I play tight here and there and then I decide to change gears after playing tight and staying around even.  I find QJ of hearts in the blind again vs same villain as before except he is a couple more pints in now.  He raises to 7 and I call.  Flop is 9103.  I check and he bets small about 5 into 12.  So I just call.  The turn brings another heart which I believe was a five.  Now I have hearts and my overcards and my straight outs.  I sit there for about 15 seconds thinking about it and I check.  He bets small again a little less than half pot and I insta shove into him.  He thinks about it and folds flipping over 97 for a pair of nines.  I figure this is the time to show my bluff so I do.

This is when the craziness starts.  This guy starts open shoving $100 stacks with K3 and many other crazy hands.  Or open straddling to 12 and eventually 24. 

One other crazy hand was the wife and this other drunk kid get heads up on the flop of 678.  Wife bets kid jams.  Wife flips over 88 and the table is shocked and her husband may have wanted to beat her.  Its ok though because they ended up winning probably $700 between the two of them off the drunks.

I continued my tight play until I saw QQ.  Drunk guys straddles to $24 under the gun.  I open jam and get called by drunk kid in the blind and the other drunk guy.  Drunk guy has 57 off and the kid has A8.  My hand holds and I'm back in business with a stack.  I continued to pick up nice pots with continuation bets.  I had such a tight image I didn't need a hand just position and the others were playing fit or fold against me. 

One more interesting hand was when I had QQ on the button.  I raised and get called by the cagey asian.  Flop comes K26.  He checks out of the blind and I bet.  He raises me 4 times so I bet about 6 and he raises me to 24.  I tank and look at him since if I call here we are getting it in on almost any turn.  I stare at him and eventually muck showing my hand to add to my image.  Cagey asian goes crazy not understanding how I folded to him.  However the way he acted I know he had it so I made a good lay down for sure.  Anyways I ended up a few hundred and tipped the dealer half since she was having a brutal night with the drunk guys who she had to threaten with expulsion of the game numerous times after they said some fairly degrading things to her.  So she deserved some of their money. 

 A couple of friendly girls who were selling water.  This one may be for Ross.

 A nice girl who was working at the farmers market in town.

The main street in Red Lodge bumpin with traffic Saturday morning.

Other than that as far as poker goes I've just been playing a little 6 max limit just trying to get comfortable in soft games again and maybe try for some domination again this winter once the snow flies.  I guess that will be all for now and hopefully I can get another quick update up just to keep things rolling here.     

Hey All,

I just wanted to let you know I haven't forgot about my blog I've just been super super busy with farm work as it is getting into our busy season.  I'll do my best to give you guys a good post here as soon as I can.