Just back from Bahamas

From California & just played in Bahamas so I'm not exactly a beginner, but new here. I met Eric on the plane coming back and thought I'd say hello. Here's the beginning of the hand that knocked me out of the $10,000 buy-in event:

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OH, WAIT! - I'm not allowed to post URLs so I guess you'll see what I saw after my 10th post. LOL No problem - Hope you like cliffhangers! :-)
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I want to encourage all of you to play in the freerolls and treat them like they mean something. That's what I did in December when I happened across a two-stage freeroll and ended up winning it a couple weeks later. (So many people were obviously playing less than their best because it was FREE to get in. I kept my eye on the value of the package - $14,300. Yes. I got lucky. You have to against 10,000 players in the first round. But I never just chucked my chips in because I lost 90% of my stack.)

I also encourage you to get up out of the chair and walk. It's good for your brain and your bones and can add up to some lost weight or simply weight not gained. Trust me, you can gain 5 pounds a year and after 20 years, that's a lot of extra weight. :-)

interesting post and i'm looking forward to the images once you got them posted.. I started playing online again last year because I wanted to try and get a shot to the WSOP.. i've never deposited anywhere and i'm a freeroller and even I had 3 finals chances at the WSOP.. the more i play, the more i give myself big time chances at good things like this..

It sounds like the only thing you're risking is your time so far. It's a great way to learn. There are some great freerolls. I'm actually playing in one at Pokerstars as I type this in. Starts at 10:35 am Pacific every day as far as I can tell. You have to sign up right at 10:05 am (10:04 on my computer - found out the hard way!) or you can't get in. The ultimate prize is a seat in an 80K tournament. 10,000 people and it fills up usually within 30 seconds or so. You have to be ready and click three buttons in succession. Miss one and you get a message that says the tournament is full. By the way...I am very sincere about the walking - you can Google Big Man Walking or BigManWalking and my blog probably comes up first.

I sometimes walk in the early rounds of a freeroll if I have gotten some chips or in the very first round or two when the blinds are so small that they don't matter as much. Some people think they are missing out on too much value, but there's another kind of value to be had when you don't miss out on life and when you stay healthy enough. My dad told me he would have taken better care of himself if he knew that he was going to live that long - his dad died at 45 and he lasted until 67. Walking is a way that 98 or 99% of us can take care of ourselves at least a little bit. Did I mention that walking is good for your brain? Many players include their brain function in their poker strategy although you can probably name at least one or two who don't!

I really like the Steps, too. They start out at $7.50 or there are some that let you earn your way into the first step by putting up some of your frequent player points and finishing in the top portion of that mini-tournament. If you come in 1st or 2nd, you win an entry into Step 2 and third place gets you an entry to start over for free at Step 1. Step 2 is even better - If you come in 1st or 2nd you get a ticket for Step 3. 3rd or 4th gets you another Step 2 ticket and 5th nets you a Step 1 ticket to start over. In Step 3, 1st or 2nd gets you into Step 4 and all three - 3rd thru 5th get you another shot at Step 3. The upper Steps are not exactly the same, but you get the idea - you don't have to win the table outright to get something of value. As I type this I am playing in Step 2. Will I go to Monte Carlo by starting at the bottom?

They start out at $7.50 or there are some that let you earn your way into the first step by putting up some of your frequent player points and finishing in the top portion of that mini-tournament. If you come in 1st or 2nd, you win an entry into Step 2 and third place gets you an entry to start over for free at Step 1. Step 2 is even better - If you come in 1st or 2nd you get a ticket for Step 3. 3rd or 4th gets you another Step 2 ticket and 5th nets you a Step 1 ticket to start over. In Step 3, 1st or 2nd gets you into Step 4 and all three - 3rd thru 5th get you another shot at Step 3. The upper Steps are not exactly the same, but you get the idea - you don't have to win the table outright to get something of value. As I type this I am playing in Step 2. Will I go to Monte Carlo by starting at the bottom?

Since I started in Step 1 this afternoon I have won twice in a row, which means I have earned a Step 3 at Pokerstars. Remember - you can play in a freeroll that wins you a little bit and when you play in tournaments (one dollar or more?) with the little bit you've won in the freerolls, you earn frequent player points (I think that's what they're called). I'm pretty sure 60 points will get you in a tournament where several winners receive a Step 1 ticket. Make sure you take a break and take a walk. I know my dog appreciated it and I can come back any time and play the Step 3. I intend to do that tomorrow if I don't have to get my car fixed.

Just played in Step 3 and came in 5th - the prize? Another Step 3 ticket for tomorrow. Got good practice, though, and it sure beats 6th place - nada.

There is a wsop freeroll going on at all everleaf gaming sites for free. Landsharkpoker and Mintedpoker for example are offering wsop freerolls. 1st through 6th get a round 3 ticket 6th through 10th get a round 2 ticket and 10th through 20th get a round 1 ticket. field of about 1200 thats it!!! I have been slacking on playing them. I gotta get on it before its to late!!!!

Another option while I'm waiting for my Step 3 is to play in $1000 guaranteed tournament for $1.10 with money won from freerolls. That's exactly what I'm doing at this moment and my stack has gone from 1500 to 2470 because someone didn't believe me. To be fair, he probably had an ace, but the ace on board wasn't enough to beat my flopped set of 8s which I bet all the way.

I noticed that one guy here basically took a sentence off one of my posts - ATTENTION helpdesk! - Xianti - and posted it as his post. I haven't decided if that's lazy or creepy. Hope it's lazy. LOL

Shoved all my chips in w/KK 1st position 8 handed & big blind is 150 (my stack 1300 approximately) button called about 2/3 of his stack w/AJ got his ace on the river so I'll be back at Step 1 after a while. You gotta love that they call like that, but MAN, I don't really expect it as often as I move up the steps. Guess I should expect it and maybe it won't be quite so frustrating. (It only hurts if they win. Heck, maybe he just wanted to know what I had!)

Sometimes you just have to take a break. Allin in $1.10 tournament - 1st place over $500. I had JJ and a donkey wakes up w/QQ. (Sometimes the worm gets the bird is what Joe used to say.) BUT, I can take a walk and be fresh later today or later this week. I think this is my 10th post here so next time I can add URLs!

Car won't start. I guess I'll play the 10:35 freeroll at Pokerstars at least until Cedar Towing arrives. Remember - you have to signup 1/2 hour early for this one. My computer actually says 10:04 when signups start and you have to the register button, then another button comes up - just click it - don't read it and then one final button comes up and you must click that, too. If you do it within seconds, you have a 95% chance of getting in the tournament. Much longer than that and you'll probably get the "tournament full" message. Oh, yeah. Almost forgot. Take a walk. Read my blog about walking/goals and take another walk.

Have an excellent day!

Big Man Walking
http://theBigManWalking.blogspot.com

Or, you can Google Big Man Walking or BigManWalking or BigMan Walking

I better hurry up and get done with this post as the tournament signup starts in a little over a minute.

Wow. I clicked almost as fast as I possibly could as soon as the register button came up and I still got the tournament full message about 40 seconds later. I guess I shouldn't have blinked my eyes. LOL

Take a walk!

BigManWalking
http://theBigManWalking.blogspot.com

I just have to give a shout out to Cedar Towing - If you're in North San Diego County. Coming with a new battery to get me on the road. They're great. Nice even.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...ia&btnG=Search

And for you Pokerheads - this helps me get things done so I can get back and play poker...

If you look above my very first post, this is the unfortunate position I was in with my short stack:

http://poker-tools.FlopTurnRiver.com...Calculator.php
FlopTurnRiver.com -h 8d 8s - 3c 3s
Holdem Hi: 1712304 enumerated boards
cards win %win lose %lose tie %tie EV
8s 8d 1388833 81.11 305973 17.87 17498 1.02 0.816
3s 3c 305973 17.87 1388833 81.11 17498 1.02 0.184

Take a walk!

BigManWalking
http://theBigManWalking.blogspot.com

I'm now in a 10 cent tourney - 1st place $81.52 - woohoo. (It's all good practice if you let it be.) Car's taken care of and lunch is over. Just gambled by ONLY raising to 180 w/KK and took some chips from K6s in bb(30) when flop came 642. Chips now 2600 in cutoff position. More on my Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure tournament departure. After the flop:

http://poker-tools.FlopTurnRiver.com...Calculator.php
FlopTurnRiver.com -h 8d 8s - 3c 3s -- Td 7d 3d
Holdem Hi: 990 enumerated boards containing Td 7d 3d
cards win %win lose %lose tie %tie EV
8s 8d 361 36.46 629 63.54 0 0.00 0.365
3s 3c 629 63.54 361 36.46 0 0.00 0.635

My chances were greatly improved after I flopped a 3, but three diamonds on board is not something I like whether I can see my opponent's hand or not. I'm in and committed here with a slight sense of dread.

Last excitement before the heartbreak:

http://poker-tools.FlopTurnRiver.com...Calculator.php
FlopTurnRiver.com -h 8d 8s - 3c 3s -- Td 7d 3d Ac
Holdem Hi: 44 enumerated boards containing Ac Td 7d 3d
cards win %win lose %lose tie %tie EV
8s 8d 10 22.73 34 77.27 0 0.00 0.227
3s 3c 34 77.27 10 22.73 0 0.00 0.773

After the turn card I had an over 77% chance to win and unfortunately the river was the K of diamonds making four diamonds on board and the Italian (I think) player's 8d made him the flush beating my set of threes. I stood up and shook his hand and said good luck to the entire table and walked out the door. I don't know if I was supposed to check in (or OUT!) with anyone, but I walked down the hall to the lobby of the hotel and up to my room in stunned shock. I decided to get over it and about 90 minutes later I was back to 99% as my wife and I explored all the water rides and beauty of Atlantis, Paradise Island.