JeffreyLipsey.com

I took a dive into making my own salsa this morning, as I bought some Tomatillos at the grocery store this weekend. I have been wanting to make some for a long time and I figured what the hell.


I have been wanting to re-create the salsa I had out in Vegas–very thin but also very tangy (and green). I figured this was Tomatillo Salsa at its best but, after figuring out what a Tomatillo actually tastes like now I’m not so sure. Granted, my own salsa is somewhat tangy but just not to the extent that I want and I have no idea how to make it even more tangy.


I used the following in making my salsa:


- 6 to 7 Tomatillos
- 2 whole Jalapeno Peppers
- 1/2 Red Bell Pepper
- 3/4 Cup of Water
- 2 Tablespoons of Lime Juice
- 2 Pinches of Salt


The only ingredient I didn’t use that looking back on I could have was half an onion, but that wouldn’t increase the tangyiness, it would just change the integrity of the flavor. In all, I like the way it tastes and there is certainly enough heat to it, I just wished it had more tang to it.


I was able to fit the entire amount into an empty salsa container so that’s a plus. Maybe unripened green tomatoes would give me the amount of tang? We’ll see.

Yesterday’s tournaments certainly didn’t go well, but I think I played my best I just didn’t win any key hands. I got close to the bubble in several tournaments, that had I won just that one important all in I’d have at least cashed one.


I got in about 1700 hands total yesterday, almost double the hands from last Sunday and it is because I started playing some side tournaments. I figured if I’m going to be at my computer for 10 hours straight I might as well play some other massively +EV tournaments on Sunday too. I did cash the midday $10 rebuy so I only dropped about $100 or so yesterday in small tournament buy ins.


The FTOPS is complete and I cashed 2 tournaments out of the 5 or 6 I played, which is pretty good I just didn’t go as deep as I’d like.

Pretty standard tournament really. I got KK vs QQ to double me up at the end of the first hour then really didn’t do much for another hour.


I had AQ in there somewhere where I squeezed a CO open and button cold call for a good increase of chips. Went pretty card dead and I didn’t even open a pot until the 3rd hour of the tournament. I happened to get Kings again vs 77 with 7 BB at blinds of 600/1200 triple me up which helped a ton.


10 minutes later or so I ran AK into QQ and lost the coinflip, busting me 55th with the top 36 getting paid. If I win that flip I can very easily fold to cash, let alone go deeper.

I haven’t had many 3000 hand days this month, but today I did put in the hours and I was rewarded. Between 100 and 200 NL I made 3 buy ins, playing pretty well but still with a lot of room to improve.


I found I was making some 0 EV bets with made hands as well as -EV bets without made hands that I need to work on. My 3 betting lately I feel has been A+, with a good mix of bluffs and value.


Marlyn comes back tomorrow night from her trip to Ohio, its been weird with her gone as I almost feel like I’m back in Champaign again (except this time I have a pool). We may go see the animated Star Wars movie tomorrow night and so I may write up a review.

After realizing last week that I was completely not diversified I’ve been actively looking for things to buy. I recently purchased 2 shares of Google today for the first time (GOOG) for a couple of reasons (at a price of $502.50):


1) I feel the downside risk of Google to be extremely small, maybe 10 % maximum from today’s current price.


2) The upside potential though to Google is as high as $750/share, its 52 week high and 50 % increase. Granted, I feel it is more likely to go up to $600-650, a 20-30 % increase in the next few months.


The last time it was down to $480 I wanted to purchase it a few months ago but I missed my window, and I believe I now have that window again. Also, Google allows me to diversify with a Technology stock, and probably one of 2-3 that are any good (the other being Apple).

Yesterday’s FTOPS Event #15 was the $215 Turbo, and it was 100 % Gamble fest. The great thing about this tournament is that it featured a ton of bad players.


You have to combine the normal % of just overall bad poker players with the combination of bad tournament players and bad short-stacked tournament players. In any tournament the first two types of bad players are always present, and even in a small sample bad short-stacked players. However, the bad short-stacked players come out about 50% earlier in the tournaments when players aren’t able to adjust correctly, which is where my edge comes in.


I did cash my 2nd FTOPS Event and got over 2.5x the buy in. I got a lot of good cards and I only missed 1 possible +EV shove that I can remember. I’m hoping to contact my backer and get a stake together for a series of tournaments in September as well.


My next FTOPS Event is Friday afternoon in another 6 max tournament.

For being quoted in the New York Times!



Web Privacy

Here are some things Internet users can discover about Kiyoshi Martinez, a 24-year-old man from Mokena, Ill., from some of his recent posts online. He watched “The Colbert Report” on Tuesday night, he likes the musician Lenlow and he received bottles of olive oil and vinegar for his birthday. Mr. Martinez has Facebook and LinkedIn pages, a Twitter account and a Web site that includes his résumé.


So it is surprising to learn that Mr. Martinez, an aide in the Illinois Senate, is also vigilant about his privacy online.


“I’m pretty aware of the fact that anything you do on the Internet pretty much should just be considered public,” Mr. Martinez said. While he knows that companies are collecting his data and often tracking his online habits so they can show him more relevant ads, he said, he would like to see more transparency “about what the company intends to do with your data and your information.”


“Like all privacy matters, it’s something that people need to be informed on,” Mr. Martinez said.

So, what’s next for Kiyoshi? I’m expecting him to be quoted in Sports Illustrated soon for his comment on the Brett Favre scenario and about the Olympics. Because that would make sense (sarcasm).






Kiyoshi Martinez used to co-write with me on LameRerun.com and you can find some of his writings here. He’s also creator and moderator of AngryJournalist.com and you can read more of his blog here.

I only put in 350 hands of cash yesterday although I sat at my computer playing from 12:45 pm straight to 11 pm, needless to say I was pretty tired. The cash I did play was at 200 NL and I managed to make almost 2 buy ins in that short period of time.


Otherwise I spent the rest of the day playing tournaments. I started with the Poker Stars 750k Sunday Warmup which I got close to cashing before shoving 99 into AA as a resteal. My next tournament was the FTOPS #8 6 max knockout event, which I did surprisingly well in. I haven’t played 6 max in a good year and I don’t know if I’ve ever played a 6 max tournament but I managed to finish in the top 100 for a nice cash; I lost when KK couldn’t hold AJ all in preflop.


My next batch of tournaments came when I played the Sunday Million on Poker Stars, and I managed to get a first level cash in that too but not much else. I also played FTOPS #10 and the Absolute 75k but I just couldn’t get anything going in either of those 2 tournaments.


Overall I was breakeven on tournaments for the day which, given the high risk, I feel happy with. I also will be playing the $215 FTOPS 11 Limit Hold’em Event today starting at 2 pm EST so that should be fun too.


I woke up extremely tired after yesterday’s super long session. I managed to put in over 1000 hands in tournament play and then combined with the cash games I’m sitting at just under 15,000 hands for the month, which is just under 1/2 a day behind.

I busted the $530 on Absolute 109th or so, and it was pretty standard. I doubled up early in the second hour with AK button vs blind only to get moved to a bad table. I had a retarded player on my left (although it took me like 3 hands of my own to figure that out) and so I dropped a good 30% of my stack on that.


My plan was to either wait for a hand or wait for the blinds to catch up so that I’m push fold. It didn’t take long for the blinds to catch up and I was in push/fold mode. It eventually got around to me shoving A6o on the button, only to get called by the retard on my left who had A5o and he won.


I was pretty happy with my play, both in the tournament and in cash games. I made like 2-3 buyins yesterday spread evenly between 100 and 200 NL and I’m officially positive on the month after a horrific beginning. Hopefully I can continue my hot streak and continue to make some good money.

Was pretty good. Not only was I motivated but the tables were pretty damn good all day, even though I wasn’t able to take advantage of them entirely.


I only got in 1500 hands before went to a Jazz thing in downtown DC at 5 pm and Marlyn and I didn’t get back until after 9. I would have liked to gotten in another 1500 hands or more but I just wasn’t able to which is disappointing. I’ll just have to make up for those hands later.


I started combining the 200 and 100 tables so I could keep 9 up at all times and I liked the way it turned out. I got in 600 hands at 200 and the remaining at 100 which I feel was a good mix. Overall I finished up 3.5 buyins spread between the 2 limits and I’m only about 1 buy in away from breakeven this month, which is nice after my large downswing to start. It only took a week!


Today I’m going to continue to play but I am playing the $530 150k guarantee on Absolute which starts at 4:30 est for the backer. It is a good tournament with a decent amount of dead money and cashing it is pretty huge so that will be fun.