shagztoriches

My Seven Tournament Poker Commandments and a College and Pro football preview of this weeks games.


During the normal ass kicking I take on a daily basis playing online poker, I decided last night that I will make notations about my game that I think would help me become a winning player. I understand pot odds, positional play, and hand selection. But knowing this alone does not make you a successful poker player. I read Joanne's post on Cardsquad.com, and I think something actually hit home. So with my notations last night and Joanne's article, I have come up with my "Seven Tournament Poker Commandments". Now these are not set and stone and I can make amendments, however it would take 2/3 of the senate for it to be ratified. Here it is:

1. I will not bluff for the sake of just "bluffing"

2. I will not move all-in vs. a big stack on a draw with more than 6x blind in my stack

3. I will never limp in with AA, KK, QQ, or JJ.

4. I will make a note of 1 player per hand.

5. I will always assess risk vs. reward.

6. I will consider myself good enough to lay down big hands.

7. I will not let bad beats or poor players effect my play.

I am actually going to print this out and tape it to my desk. I'll let you know how I do.

Now on to football, here are some college and pro games I think are worth watching:

Texas Tech vs Texas

Every year you see a juggernaut offense going up against a top five team, and the top 5 team makes the offensive juggernaut look like a high school team by the middle of the second quarter (i.e., Boise St. vs Georgia this year). I expect Tech to have some success on offense, but they have no one that can stop Vince Young on the other side of the ball. Nobody has dominated college football like this since Herschel Walker '79-'82. Prediction: Texas 52-24.

Penn St. vs Illinois

Okay, I know this is a shit game, but give me a break, I bleed blue and white! After getting kicked in the junk last week by Michigan and the bullshit refs (3 MORE SECONDS!!), Joe Pa puts everything back together and wins this game going away 42-17. By the way, has Illinois started a "FireRonZook.com" website yet? Stay tuned!

Pittsburgh vs Cincinnati

Interesting match-up here, with the winner having the edge for the division crown. The winner of this game will be who executes better at what they do best. Will the Steelers be able to run the ball against an inconsistent Bengals rush defense, or will the Bengals take control of the game through the air against the less than impressive Steelers secondary? I think Chad Johnson has a coming out party and the Bengals make their move to the AFC elite with a 28-17 victory. Who Dey?

Chargers vs Eagles

This game scares the shit out of me. Offensively this is not a good matchup for the Birds. LT is in his prime and playing like a man possessed, and the Eagles linebackers couldn't cover an old lady trying to cross the street, much less Antonio Gates. However, Andy Reid has the best record in NFL history coming out of a bye (Take that Shula), I am just not sure he has the horses at this point to pull the wagon. Eagles give a game effort, however they will be outlasted 31-20. And another week of not being able to watch Sportscenter for Shag. Well, at least I have poker. Ugh.

To say the least my poker play has been sub par since my fourth place finish in the paradise poker 50,000 rebuy/add-on a couple months ago. I just feel like I played a tighter game before that tourney. Right now I am seeing more flops and not playing aggressively. I think I need to start looking at my game a little closer and plug some leaks, because I have really been getting kicked in the junk lately. Plus, the influx of "new" players in the lower limit sitties I usually play does not help either. What I mean is, having 3 fish in a 10 handed game is one thing, but 6 to 7 fish is a fucking mine field. I think I need to play more positional poker and show a little more discipline. I hate playing like this.

The NFL regular season is about halfway through, and I think my Eagles are at a crossroads. Firstly, the division has gotten 10 times better. Dallas, Washington and the Giants are all playoff team imo. Plus we have San Diego here, then we go to Denver. It's a tall task, but we need to win these 2 games to have any shot at home field advantage. If I had to guess, I would say we finish up with 10 wins and a wild card spot. I really don't think it is our year. Now some random thoughts about the NFL:

1. Eli Manning may be as good as his brother. However, will the defense improve before Strahan and Barber hit a wall?
2. Is it me, or do we see the same season play out every year for the Seahawks. They struggle early, Shawn Alexander has a huge Sunday Night game and the team gets hot, come back down to earth in December, then get kicked in the junk wild card weekend?
3.Drew Bledsoe, is he done or can he still play? Just remember he showed flashes when he first got into Buffalo as well. And as much as I hate Meyshawn, I think he should be in Bledsoe's ear everytime he fumbles or throws a pick.
4.The Chargers may be the best team in the NFL next to the Colts.
5.Please tell someone on the 49ers defense that they are a 3-13 team with Smith or Rattay. Stop bitching, most of you will not be playing there next year anyway.
6.And finally, who knew the Steelers would miss Rothlisberger as much as they did? I know that Maddox didn't have Hines Ward, but do you think Big Ben would throw up that pick in OT?