Happy Thanksgiving!

Being a french Canadian, Thanksgiving has never been big for me and my family. That said, I know how huge it is in the US, so I wish a happy Thanksgiving to any US reader I might have.

Enjoy the time off with family and friends. Remember everything that happened this year that you are thankful for, eat lots of good food in good company, drink (but don't drive!) and most definitly do NOT... I repeat do NOT bet on the Lions to beat the Titans!

The return of the home game!

After 6 months of absence, last night saw the return of our homegame! Nothing like playing micro-stakes poker live with a bunch of people who don't really care about anything except than trying to have a good time while playing cards.

That game has always been -EV money wise (lol at spending 15$ in beer and winning 10$ at poker) but so much +EV fun wise!

I guess if anything, my poker goal when it comes to the home game is to spread the love of poker. I want people to have a good time (and of course, I'd rather they have a good time while sending their chips my way!) and discover the subtelties that make poker such a great game. I am by no means an expert, but I definitly know tons more than our average homegame player so I offered to make small "strategy segments" in our home game where I will share what knowledge I can. (starting by teaching Alex not to go all-in vs me... like... ever).

Anybody has an idea of what aspect of the game I should bring up to a mostly noobish crowd, just leave a suggestion in the comments section please.

On a sad note though, a nice streak was broken last night. As far as I can remember, it's the first time the Montreal Canadiens lost a game while we were playing poker at my place... must be the new condo!

Free beer!

Ok now that I have your attention... I know the reach of this blog is probably limited... but still.

If you are an American, online poker player you NEED to read this.

Basically, the Bush administration is trying hard to finalize the UIGEA before their reign is over effectively banning any US citizen from depositting or withdrawing money from online gambling sites.

It takes only a minute or two of your time to send an email and make a phone call and voice your opinion. Will it change things? Who knows, but it's such a little effort that even if these emails and calls are a 1000 to 1 shot to change anything you HAVE to do it.

Stepping back down

NL50 has been brutal to me. I feel like I'm playing well enough, but man the beats have been coming!

The losses I've had are not even that impressive really, but when you just stepped up to a new stake, losing a few buy-ins hurts a lot. So I decided to step back down for a while, lick my wounds, regroup and grind some more before I take another shot at NL50.

No computer, no recap, no goals...

Normally this would be the time where I reflect on last month's goals and set new goals for myself for the coming month. Well still being without a computer at home, no goals for me right now other than try to squeeze as much poker as I can.

In the last month I've started clearing a bonus on CD poker and took my first shot at NL50. Things went OK at NL50 and as soon as I get a computer at home this is where I will still try to play. I lost a bit of money but nothing worth panicking yet. I think the little I played at NL50, I played pretty well. Hopefully as soon as I can start playing again things will settle. Worst case I'll step back down for a while at NL20.

In the meantime I might go take a look at Montreal's various poker rooms and maybe even go back to the casino... We'll see I guess...