I'm up...

I haven't played any poker since the weekend. And even then, I played very few hands overall. I mentioned that I've been having a mild bout of insomnia for the past few weeks. I can't seem to shake it. I find myself tired all day long. In fact, I could probably lay down right now and go to sleep. But come ten o'clock at night, something inside me starts to wind up. From that point on, I find it next to impossible to fall asleep before two-thiry in the morning. I've given up on trying to go to sleep earlier because I just lay awake for hours until my body finally shuts down.

I'm pretty sure that my current level of exhaustion is bad for my day-to-day life. I find that my memory and alertness levels are way down. It's taken a while for the insomnia to really start taking its toll though since I'm only sleeping an hour or two less a night. But I can really feel the drain now.

I've played less poker because I'm afraid to play when I'm this tired. I could chug an energy drink but I'm trying to avoid taking extra caffeine at night when I'm already unable to fall asleep. On a positive note, my insomnia has given me more time to catch up on my video gaming. I don't need to be alert to play games. And unlike poker, I find video games very relaxing - even more so than the slow grind of limit Omaha 8. Last night, I went to bed at 1:50 and was sound asleep by 2:30. I remember looking at the clock at 2:25 but that's all I remember. I was still exhausted this morning but at least I hadn't wasted my evening staring into the black and worrying about how tired I would be the next day.

On the poker front, my recent foray into Omaha 8 has got me wanting to play some pot-limit Omaha again. I'm currently re-reading Jeff Hwang's excellent book - Pot-Limit Omaha Poker. If you're coming from a hold'em background and want a quick starter course on how to start beating Omaha, Jeff's book is a terrific resource. I'm really looking forward to his next book - Advanced Pot-Limit Omaha: Small Ball and Short-Handed Play - which is due to arrive in my mailbox in a week's time.

I don't plan on playing any PLO tonight but perhaps I'll be ready by the weekend if I can get some sleep. But for now, I think playing a little more inFamous is probably the safest route to take for my sanity and my bankroll.

Have a good one!

Keep reading "I'm up..."

WSOP Main Event Live Updates at Bodog!

With the World Series of Poker Main Event well underway, it's getting close to the time that I'll be looking for live updates from this year's Big One. I remember following Foucault and Iggy as they climbed the leaderboards last year. I was surprised at how exciting it was to follow and cheer for someone making a deep run in such a huge event. I guess I'm not immune to the "reality TV" mentality that seems to have permeated society over the past eight or nine years.

If you're looking for some great 2009 WSOP Main Event Live Updates, check out Bodog. Even though I can't play poker at Bodog (one of the very few downsides of being Canadian), it's nice to see that Bodog is still able to give me a reason to visit their site. Bodog is reporting back from this year's WSOP Main Event with live Twitter updates, blog posts, videos, and photos. It's about as close as I'll get to Vegas this year and it's completely free! Throw in live updates from Bodog pros such as J.R. Bellande and Justin Bonomo and you're bound to find something you like.

And if you happen to be a non-Canadian online poker player, I highly recommend signing up to play at Bodog if you're able to tear yourself away from the constant Main Event updates. Seriously - Bodog Poker has a ton of great promotions. The biggest sellers for me as a poker player are Bodog's incredible monthly reload bonus and the quality of play at Bodog. Did you know that Bodog has a monthly reload bonus of 100% up to $500? That's a neat trick in this post-UIGEA world of online poker. More importantly, I'm sure you heard that the average Bodog poker player tends to be much weaker than players that you might encounter at other sites. I don't mean this as a slight to Bodog players...but it's true, right?

If I could sign up at Bodog, I'd be playing there right now instead of writing this post. I could always use an extra $500 a month and the chance to play against opponents who know less than I do about the great game of poker. I guess I'll settle for Bodog's 2009 WSOP Main Event Live Updates since I don't plan on changing my citizenship any time soon.

One last thing note before I finish up. I wanted to mention that Bodog is also running the 2009 Bodog Mini Poker Series. This series of thirteen $10 + $1 tournaments could see you win your way to a free seat ($12,000 WSOP package) to the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event. Once again, I'd give this mini poker series a shot myself but I'm too big a sucker for poutine, parkas, and maple syrup.

Enjoy following the rest of the WSOP Main Event at Bodog and good luck at the tables!

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Weekend!

I've a had a few frustrating days of playing around with my laptop. I was trying to get some video games to work. Silly me for thinking that computers could be used for something other than Internet poker (and various other amoral diversions). If you're interested in reading about my PC gaming exploits, check out these three posts from The Greedy Gamer: here, here, and here.

If you're here looking for poker content, I've got that for you too! Check it out after the jump.

Despite playing a bunch of no-limit hold'em last week, I started playing some more Omaha Hi-Lo the past few nights. I'm determined to get back to even at the $1/$2 O8 games. At last count, I'm roughly 25 BBs in the hole. Not too bad but not good either.

I've been playing the 10-handed games at Stars recently. Although I love Full Tilt, Stars has more full-ring O8 games going right now. I'm still working my way towards getting a $250 FutureShop gift certificate with my growing pile of FPPs. I'm getting pretty close too! I don't know what I'll buy with the gift card when I get it though. I have all the video games and toys that I need right now. Maybe I could start building up a Blu-Ray home video collection...?

I'm also thinking of getting back into pot-limit Omaha again as well. Though I dabble here and there, it's really a great game to play. And it's much easier to beat than any 6-max NLHE games played at comparable stakes...for now.

To confuse matters further, I've started watching some (fixed-limit) 2-7 Triple Draw videos. Unlike some of the other draw and lowball games out there, triple draw seems quite a bit more complex. I never realized how important a decision it can be when deciding which cards to discard, when to draw, when to stand pat, and when to "snow". Throw in the fact that hand equities are all close from first draw to last and you have a game with some pretty high variance for good and bad players alike.

My focus this weekend will likely be on NLHE and O8. I'd like to read up on PLO again before I start playing the game regularly. Besides poker, I'm also planning on playing a lot of Ghostbusters: The Video Game. A friend lent it to me and I'd like to get it back to him quickly. I've actually got a whole slew of video games to play but I'm enjoying poker way too much to focus exclusively on games.

Have a great weekend everyone!

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