Another Bubble Finish

Nick MomrikLeave a comment

Yesterday I played a home tournament with my brother and his friends for a full table of ten players. I’ve played with about half of the guys before, but the other half were new faces.

I don’t remember a tournament where my cards have been as cold as in this one. As a result, I wasn’t involved in very many hands. I picked up KK in late position, re-raised the pot, and everyone folded. I had QJo in the blinds and flopped two pair. I had 4 callers on the flop and also on the turn. On the river I hit my full house and no one hit their straight of flush, so they all folded to my bet. I knew they were all drawing or had one lousy pair. Maybe I should have checked since I was first to act, but I don’t think anyone would have bet out with such a scary board.

Read More »

Blue March

Aside Nick MomrikLeave a comment

My favorite college basketball team, the Duke Blue Devils, won the ACC tournament today for the 6th time in the last 7 years (lost the title game in OT last year). What’s remarkable about the win is that they didn’t make a field goal for the final 11 minutes of the game, until Sheldon Williams […]

Making Moves

Aside Nick MomrikLeave a comment

The Detroit Lions have been busy working the free agent market. Yesterday they signed Jeff Garcia to a one-year deal yesterday and earlier in the week they signed Marcus Pollard and Kenoy Kennedy to contracts. This is definitely going to be a playoff year.

New Ride

Nick Momrik3 Comments

I’m up in Rogers City for the weekend because of a big purchase I made yesterday. I bought an awesome 2002 Chevy TrailBlazer LT 4×4. It’s black and is just like brand new. The previous owner took great care of it and only put 25,000 miles on it in three years, so it’s hardly been driven. Since the vehicle has the LT package instead of the LS, it’s pretty loaded. It came complete with a towing package, luggage racks, running boards, power everything, CD and cassette, heated mirrors, dual climate controls, compass, etc. You name it. It’s a very nice ride and at a steal of a price too. $17,600 out the door for an SUV that was originally over $30,000 when bought new.

It feels good to have a vehicle in my name for the the first time in my life and to have my own insurance. For those of you who don’t know my situation, my parents were nice enough to ride on their insurance until I turned 25 so that I could save. I simply paid them a car payment and my share of the insurance each month. What can I say? Mom and Dad are the best!

I’ll try to get some photos today and upload them tomorrow when I get back home.

Bring on the Tilt…Full Tilt

Nick Momrik3 Comments

Tonight I installed Full Tilt and deposited $50 just in case I feel like playing the WPBT HORSE event on Sunday. I figured I might as well check out the interface, so I signed up for a $5+0.50 SNG.

Minimum raises were the norm and it was a rather tight table for the most part. I didn’t pick up any steal hands in position, so I just waited for some monsters. My first winning hand was 43o that flopped two pair. No one called my pot bet. I couldn’t slow play it because there was a flush draw on board and I needed to make sure nobody had the odds to call. Soon after I found rockets and doubled up. Not too many hands for the next few orbits and then I get QhTh in the big blind with a limper and the small blind. The flop gives me top two pair, so when it’s min bet by the small blind I bet pot. I didn’t realize it, but this left him with 50 chips and he of course bet out on the turn, which brought another queen, filling me up. He turns over Q5o. The only cards that can help him are the two tens, which would give us a split pot. Do I even need to say what the river is? A fucking ten. The player survives to live another day. I was the chip leader at that point and I could have really used that pot, but instead I run into runner runner. Maybe I used up my bad luck though.

I take a few pots here and there without any showdowns and then with 5 players left comes this hand…a loose player min raises UTG. He’s been calling all-in bets with hands like QTo and QJo. My AsQs on the small blind is looking good, so I push in. He calls of course and flips over two tens. He actually has a hand this time but it’s a race. I’m loving the flop which brings an ace and a queen. I only needed one, but that’s fine. The turn is a blank and I bet you can’t guess the river. Yup, another 2 outer on the river beats me when that fucking ten comes again.

As I look back at this hand I didn’t give the guy a chance to fold. I should have just called his pre-flop bet and he would have had an easy fold on the flop when two overs hit. Do you agree? How would you have played the hand? This just goes to show my inexperience in tournament poker.

I didn’t mind Full Tilt’s interface and after my deposit I have $50 in bonus cash calling my name. From what I’ve seen it isn’t worth my time though. Empire should have a reload bonus coming up in a few days.

XM Update

Nick Momrik2 Comments

Yesterday I received a letter in the mail from XM regarding updates to their service.

Beginning April 2, 2005, we will expand the basic service package to include two premium services at no additional charge — the High Voltage channel (previously $1.99/month) and XM Radio Online (previously $3.99/month). The monthly subscription price for our new expanded basic service will increase to $12.95 beginning April 2, 2005.

At first I wasn’t too happy, but then I saw that I could lock in my current rate by paying for a whole year. I plan to do that in the next few days. I’m also glad that I’ll be able to use the XM Radio Online service and will get the High Voltage channel.

Could this be the start of a merge with Sirius? I’ve read rumors of XM buying Sirius and this seems like it could be a first step in that process. Sirius has already given their users an online option and included premium stations, so maybe XM is just stepping up to the plate in an attempt to get more of the market.