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Monday, May 21, 2007
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FAME AWARDS!
The final round of the FAME AWARDS has begun. One of my favorite pictures, The Visitors has made it to the final eight. Please take a moment to vote for Best Feature.
http://www.thefameawards.com/
Thanks,
Michael Raven
7:43 PM
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Friday, March 02, 2007
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Poker, Sheer Justice
Anyone who has spent anytime at the poker table understands the emotional swings that come with the game. The dynamics of winning huge pots then losing after betting heavily into a hand can cause one to soar toward dizzying heights of ecstasy then plunge downward into the abyss of self pity. On one particular evening this past week at Hustler Casino, here in Los Angeles, I experienced one of those moments. Situated in late position I found myself staring at an unraised pot, seven callers limping into the hand, Ace/King of Diamonds in my hand and about $470 in cash left in front of me. I raise the pot by $75 forcing four of the callers to fold. The player to my immediate left called, as well as the player two seats to my left. The last one to act was the player in seat ten. He was five of the button and sitting with a stack that equaled mine. He raises $150, making the pot now about $295. My first inclination was to fold. Remembering his style of play from earlier hands and after some deductive reasoning, I quickly determined that he probably had no pair and was a great deal weaker than me. I knew he was making a play for the pot with a marginal hand. A re-raise should drive him and the other two players out, leaving me as the winner. I counted out the rest of my chips and slowly slid $300 into the middle of the table, the dealer announcing raise in a detached, disinterested manner. The two players to my left folded there hands immediately. "This is working", I thought to myself. Just as I had made it to item number three on my list of things to do with the money, the remaining player defiantly announces he re-raise, "all-in". I had no doubt in my mind that this was a complete macho play and that I would be taking his money home with me in about thirty seconds. I called the bet and watched him flip over a King/Ten of Spades. I was right. He was dominated by me in this hand by about 4 to 1. Still feeling confident, I watched in absolute horror as the dealer spread out the flop. 10, 4, 5 and NO diamonds. He had pulled the one card from the deck that could have beaten me on the flop, a 10. The turn and river made no improvement in my hand and I was wiped out. Stunned, I stood up from the table and started to put on my jacket. "How could I have lost that hand?", I thought. "How could he have re-raised with such a marginal hand and out of position at that? This had certainly been a very reckless and loose play. As he was raking all of my chips toward the empty beer bottles sitting in front of him, I made a rather matter of fact comment. "Your loose play will eventually bust you." He looked at me smiling, taking another long swig from his beer bottle, then replied, "And that's why you are going home broke". I nodded my head and shuffled away meekly, working my way to the smoking lounge to nurse my wounds. I continued thinking about the events that had just taken place and while I remained convinced that I had made the right play I was starting to question my basic philosophy of poker. Poker to me is a great metaphor for life. Most people not understanding the system, how things work, or basic strategy leave it all up to luck and take whatever comes. Whenever I play poker and am involved in a hand it means one of two things. I have the best hand possible or know that my opponent is playing with weaker cards. I will not play unless the odds favor me, therefore I win consistently. I have always maintained that while luck certainly plays a big role in poker, skill always wins in the end. So why then did this idiot at my table win my money with a much weaker hand? This was troubling to me. After smoking about a pack of cigarettes and then walking around the outside of the casino for an hour, I cooled off, regained my balance and prepared for another run at the tables. While waiting for my seat at the table, I notice the same loose playing gentlemen that had busted me earlier. He was playing a different table and making the same "wild", idiotic plays as before. I watched him steadily loose his entire chip stack over the next 20 minutes of my wait. When he finally busted out on a draw that wouldn't have even made him the best hand, I was elated. Not that he had lost my money to someone else, or even that he was leaving broke himself after making such a rude comment to me. My joy stemmed from the fact that balance had been restored to the game. I was right after all. I had lost one battle, but as I had predicted, won the war that night. I sat down at the new table and proceeded to shred the nine other players over the next six hours, eventually leaving with three times my original money. Laughing quietly to myself, musing over the irony of the game and realizing that poker for me was sheer justice.
1:40 PM
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Friday, February 23, 2007
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VEGAS BABY!!
Current mood:  worried
Will be in Vegas for this weekend, earning a few extra bucks at the Venetian Poker Room. Talk to you all next week!
10:07 AM
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Tuesday, February 20, 2007
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