Upswing and Tigers

Hi guys, sorry it's been a little while.  Been really busy this week with my job, internship, and poker.  My internship ends pretty soon, and I'll be putting my two weeks in at my current job once I hear back from one of the two groups I applied with.  Both potential offers in Lansing and Las Vegas are definitely more interesting than my current position, so I would temporarily be moving away from Minnesota to assume either of those.

Anyways, I've been on the 2nd biggest poker upswing of my life over the past week.  As of last night I'm up $2350 since Saturday, April 21st.  I credit this upswing to a good run of cards, but more importantly increase focus.  I've stopped listening to music while I play in order to try and pick up as many tells and reads on my opponents as possible.  I also have a better feel for the games I've generally been playing: $300+30 Survivor Tournaments, which are played for two hours, and the 6/12 FLO/8 with a 10/20 kill.  In regards to the Omaha game, a general leak among most of the players is they try and play too many hands to make low hands, which are only worth half the pot.  Usually it's quite difficult to scoop a pot with the nut low hand, unless you make a straight or a big flush in addition to the low.  Thus, double suited aces with a deuce or trey included are very valuable hands and great prospects to scoop a pot.  Other hands I consider very strong include AKQ2, preferably with at least one suit, AK23, A234, AKQJ, A2J10, etc.  Sets can be very valuable in this game too, as if you make a boat you will probably be joined in the betting with a weaker player who has made an inferior full house with a low hand. 

Thanks for the memories, Brandon

Next, the Detroit Tigers have looked pretty terrible lately.  One of my worst fears coming into the season was that our pitching would regress, except for Verlander, and opposing pitchers would pitch around Cabrera and Fielder, and be successful against the rest of the lineup.  These fears have been realized over the past week, as the Tigers got swept by the Seattle Mariners at home (wtf?) by a 21-9 aggregate.  In each of these games we weren't successful against a mediocre Mariners bullpen, so it's disappointing we couldn't pick up at least one of these games.  Hopefully Doug Fister can return soon and provide a boost to our pitching staff: his performance down the stretch last season was integral to our success. 

In other Tigers news, shout out to Fernando Rodney for his strong start to the season in Tampa Bay.  Rodney looked awful for the Los Angeles Angels last year, so it's encouraging to see him recover and pitch well this year.  Also, a difficult farewell to Brandon Inge, who's been a strong contributor to the Tigers organization for over a decade.  Inge had some solid years for the team, but father time has been catching up with him, and he is no longer a factor at the plate.

Looking forward to a weekend filled with baseball, basketball, friends, poker, and freedom.  I'll try and blog tomorrow about the Delmon Young situation.

@RobBrereton