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C-SPAN will be offering complete coverage of the convention all week starting at 12 PM (Pacific) on Monday. Thankfully C-Span is one of the channels I actually get (I don’t usually watch TV and therefore don’t subscribe to cable, but do get a few channels from the co-ax in the wall). I don’t have Tivo and will have to miss the start of the convention while I’m in class Monday, but C-Span will have archived video on their website. Monday’s speakers include Former Presidents Carter and Clinton, Former Vice President Gore, and Senator Clinton.

Yes, yes, Al Gore is “old news,” but Brenda Bell’s “Deconstructing Al” is an excellent read. I’ve watched four of the speeches that Al Gore has given for MoveOn, and they’re all great: well-reasoned, passionate, and easy to understand–they provide a stark contrast to the immature stutterings of the current administration. Props to the rightful president for speaking out in the face of lies and the politics of fear. While I don’t think that it is possible in our country for Gore to salvage his political career, I would encourage him to continue to say those things that need to be said, that no politician would dare say.

There’s something particularly humiliating about bouncing out on the bubble, especially when you know you could have post-and-folded into the money. I was one of two or three short stacks in this morning’s freeroll with 21 players left, which was a shame, since I had been one of two or three large stacks when there were 113 players left. Anyway, I had about 2xBB left and decided to limp in with QTo UTG. ?! Flop missed me and I folded. Wow, that was stupid. Next hand I post the BB and with T$5 left I call a raise from the SB with 55. First he makes a higher pair, then he makes a higher flush, and I’m out in 21st. Frustrating.

So here’s something that I need to figure out: I may have missed out on an opportunity to make even more money early on in the tournament. I flopped a boat, nines full of jacks, with J9. I bet the minimum and got called. Next card is another Jack. I bet half the pot and got called. River’s a rag, and this time I bet a third of the pot and got called. He had the other nine and I swept the pot, leaving him with about 35-40% of his starting chips. So the question is, at what point am I supposed to realize that this guy is with me to the showdown and push?

Against my better judgment, I risked the rest of my chips tonight at a 1/2 table and left with a dollar! Might have gotten more fun out of them by playing four SNGs, but that’s ok. I’ve been feeling like I’ve been playing too much anyway. About 50 hours since the start of the month, which comes out to a couple hours everyday, not counting these freeroll tournaments. Including those, that comes out to about 4-5 hours a day. As you may or may not be aware, I’m in grad school right now, so I might be better off spending that time doing something productive.

The polls show a fairly even split between Bush and Kerry, with many polls showing Kerry with a slight lead. Bush’s favorable/unfavorable and right-track/wrong-track ratings are something for the Bush campaign to worry about. The talking heads keep harping about Kerry’s “inability” to take advantage of Bush’s bad news cycles. This echo chamber talking point is ludicrous; historical data shows that an incumbent in Bush’s current position isn’t likely to win, and that challengers usually trail the incumbent at this point in the election. As election day draws nearer, and particularly after the convention, we should see Kerry establish a more solid lead as independents/undecideds break for the challenger.

Still, this isn’t something to take for granted, so I’ll do my part in introducing John Kerry to both of my readers.

It seems to me that our country has been going through a kind of ethical struggle. In the political world, there is the question of the link between Al Qaeda and Iraq, the stockpiles of WMDs, the prisoner abuse scandals, the false Niger uranium story, the outing of a CIA operative, the stifling of the actual cost of the prescription drug benefit, etc. In the corporate world, we’ve seen the scandals surrounding accounting practices, mutual funds, insider trading, executive compensation, and the energy crisis. It’s true that there are on-going investigations and reforms that don’t necessarily make the headlines every day, but these things need strong political backing, and I believe a Kerry administration will give these matters the attention they deserve.

In his years as a Senator, Kerry distinguished himself in investigating and uncovering the truth in the Iran-Contra affair, the drug trade, money laundering, and the status of Vietnam MIAs and POWs (see David Corn and Sydney Blumenthal). He took the lead on these issues, sometimes alone and without thanks, because of the lessons he learned in Vietnam as well as his own personal integrity. In contrast, the current administration is characterized by its penchant for secrecy and obfuscation. We can do better than that.

In a democracy that prides itself on being a model for all nations, its chief executive should have the kind of commitment to truth and openness that Kerry’s record reveals. John Kerry would help salvage some of our faith in our institutions, and that in itself is worth supporting.

Make a contribution or sign up with the campaign.

Good question.

There’s been some confusion as to what not placing in the money in these freeroll tournaments and losing lots of big bets on Wednesday means for my overall bankroll situation.

The freerolls don’t affect my bankroll at all (esp. since I can’t seem to place in the money). These are free multi table tournaments (with cash prizes!) that MultiPoker holds twice a day. Like I’ve said a few times, my tournament play is lousy, so I usually won’t buy in to a cash tournament. And while playing a no fee tournament does introduce an element of wildness, most of the players have thus far been pretty solid. According to HD, MultiPoker advertises a lot in Sweden, thus explaining the fact that 90% or more of the freeroll registrants are Swedish. These guys, for the most part, aren’t WPT-wannabes, so I think it’s still good practice to play these freerolls.

As for the big loss on Wednesday, that came after two weeks of fairly consistent wins. I’d withdrawn a few hundred dollars since the beginning of July (to pay myself back for my early losses on PokerStars and poker-related purchases), so overall, July is looking good for me. Unfortunately, Wednesday’s losses are somewhat crippling, so I’ll have to be a bit more careful. I’d prefer not to re-fund the account with my money. OPM’s much easier to play with.

The slaughter continues. Early on in the evening I lost nearly half my stack to JN when my flopped queen high flush lost to her king high flush. Ouch. I guess you shouldn’t discount beginner’s luck. The rest of the evening went on pretty much the same way, with the exception of a medium pot I won with AK. The last hand I played was pocket jacks, which I raised before the flop. I bet after the flop, putting me all-in. CR had pocket queens and flopped a boat with Q55. Then the river showed another queen. That’s right. Quads. Wow.

   This week CumulativeCR   +$3.10   +$2.05EM   +$3.85   +$6.40ER   +$3.05   +$3.90JB   -$4.00   -$5.30JC   +$1.45   +$8.95Me   -$5.00   -$8.95JN   -$2.45   -$2.45

EM ended up with the biggest stack tonight. ER and CR also made a good showing. JC continued his winning streak. I don’t even know why I play.

Early on in this morning’s freeroll (level 3, BB is 30), I find myself UTG with rockets. I raise to 60, MP2 raises to 90, and MP3 goes over the top. I call and MP2 calls. MP2 had KQo, MP3 had nines, and I swept the pot (2760). I was in good shape.

Then I got moved to another table where I met the luckiest guy in the world. It’s level 4, BB is 50, and lucky guy’s the chip leader with 260 times the big blind. He’s UTG. The next biggest stack is UTG+1, with 65 times the big blind. Lucky guy decides to call, UTG+1 raises to 425, MP1 re-raises to 870 (all-In), Lucky guy calls, UTG+1 re-raises all-in (3275), and Lucky guy calls. Lucky guy has 92o, UTG+1 has KK, and MP1 has JJ. Here’s the board: 7 A 9 2 5. Unbelievable. Lucky guy now has 340 times the big blind.

Over the course of several hands, I notice that lucky guy plays almost every hand (at least four of the ten people at our table were away) and either uses his stack to push people around, or pairs a rag for a win. I stay out of his way and resolve to only play the premium hands.

A few levels later, I get a premium hand. I’m in the CO with cowboys. Two people limp (BB is 150) and I raise to 500. Lucky guy is in the big blind and calls. One of the limpers calls and the other folds. Flop is 2 2 J. Lucky guy checks, limper bets 375, and I raise all-in. Was this a mistake? I don’t know, I think I was pretty safe with my pre-flop raise. Lucky guy has 9x the chips I have and calls. Limper folds. Lucky guy has pocket fives and I figure I’m good. There are only two cards out there that can help him. He doesn’t have any runner-runner flush or straight draws whatsoever. Predictably, the turn flips up a 5 and I bounce in 98th. Lucky guy eventually finishes in the money in 20th place.

Now, I’m sure I could have folded into the money (people get desperate), but who the hell folds cowboys?

I’m pleased to announce that the Gentleman Drinker is now online. Think Oscar Wilde by way of the Banana Republic outlet in Camarillo. The editor is one of our weekly regulars, and if the first post is anything to go by, it’s going to be some pretentious ass shit. Sounds good to me. The blogworld could use more pretention and fewer hand histories.

Wow. I got slaughtered today. My bankroll still has a little less than the recommended buy-in at a 1/2 table, but that’s only a third of what I started the day with. It was the same story all afternoon and evening. I couldn’t catch cards, I couldn’t win with the ones I did, and I had odds for all sorts of draws that never materialized. On top of that, I kept ending up at tables with tough players and suckout kings that sent me away crying like a little girl. My VP$IP was pretty damn low: 16.81% And my loss rate pretty damn high: -7.74BB/100 hands over 589 hands.

I think a holiday from poker is in order–online poker, anyway. The weekly game tomorrow night is still on, of course. The worst I can do there is lose the $5.