Thursday, November 30, 2006

The Legs of the Horse are Steady

I missed the start of the Mookie last night but did watch it and the second chance tourney until virtual conclusion. It was fun watching but I would rather have been playing.

So instead of just sitting there while railing the tourneys I played a couple of SNGs. The first was un eventful in that I didn’t do much and got knocked out with pocket 10’s vs AJ near the bubble. I was one of three short stacks vs 2 big stacks and pushed to by the blinds. No big deal.

The second SNG went much better as I chipped up early before giving much of my stack to a lose caller. I raised with KJ suited from middle and got called by the big blind. The flop was Qxx. I made a 2/3 pot continuation bet and the BB calls. The turn is x and I take another stab of 2/3 only to be called by the BB. At this point I know I’m behind and will fold to any bet. The river is x and we both check. BB flips over Q7 and takes the pot. I question the player passive method of playing this hand but cannot question her results. Anyway, I doubled up a little later when I flop trips and then knock out another when I get another big pocket pair. When we get down to 5 players things got slow. Nobody wanted to give up position so blind stealing was the name of the game and I continued to chip up. We eventually got down to three some time into the second hour. I eventually knocked out the Q7 player and got heads up with a passive heads up player. I pushed him around and took a nice chip lead until I flopped top 2 pair and he flopped trips. From the short stack I moved back to almost even until I ran into his pocket pair when I tried a re-steal with AK. I didn’t improve and take second place. It was a good game and I played the game that I know I can play. I’ll play a few more of these before I move back up to the more interesting levels.

I think that I’ve figured out the cause of my resent failures. I withdrew some of my bankroll from FT and put it in Neteller. The curse of the withdraw showed it’s ugly head and made me shrink in fear. I have remedied the situation and expect a complete return to normalcy.

Work has been a bear since my return from Japan. I have all the thing that I learned from the trip and others as well to put into place. I also have an impending ISO 9000 external audit that will take place next Tuesday. All together I have no time to complete any of the things I need to get done but have to do them anyway. I know, cry me a river.

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Back on the Horse

I jumped back on the horse last night, kind of. I played a $3 turbo MTT and an SNG to try and get it going again. The SNG didn’t go well in that I bubbled but I play my game with minimal fear. The turbo went well in that I played my strong hands aggressively and didn’t back off when I smelled weakness. The best part of the night was coming over the top of 5 limpers a couple of times only to see them lay their hands down. A player at the table mad a comment about this move and I responded that I had only played 8 hands(out of 80) to that point and that if he thought I was stealing to go ahead and call. I was well above average as the bubble approached but the blind were getting big and my hands were on the ugly side. After the bubble broke I was a little below average when I looked at pocket 10s. I pushed from early position since a 3x raise would have all but pot committed and got called by queens and AK. No luck for me and I’m done. I’m not upset with this as these turbo require a more aggressive style and was willing to flip a coin to double my stack.

I also played some .25\.50 full ring limit hold’em. I haven’t sat at one of these tables in a long time, so with the encouragement of surflexus I hit it for about 30 minutes ending up about +$5. small change but I need the confidence right now.

I also railed surf as he ran to 26th place in the 25k on ft. He had a great run of cards at the right times and laid down a few good hands. Good job man. Probably no Mookie tonight but we shall see.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Wow It's Going Bad

I'm not crying, well I guess I am but luck was not my friend over the weekend. I got knocked out of 14 tournaments when my opponent had 6 outs or less on the river. Now I understand that this will happen but I would rather make a bad decision and get knocked out of a few of these then be so far ahead in each of these only to get kicked in the junk. I cashed in three of these events but didn't go deep enough to make a contribution really. The killer was getting knocked out of the 25K on FT when my pocket kings see a flop of K23. My opponent pushes and I call and see his JT off suit. AQ on the turn and river give him the straight and knocks me out. winning that hand would have put me into the top 10 with 150 players left. I would give you a dollar because of the bad beat story but I don't have enough left in the bankroll. Anyway, I think I may take another day or two off before I get back on the horse so that my stressed out mind can refresh.

Worldpoker05, my old boss went to Vegas a week or so a go and played a tourney a Ceaser's. He bubbled in 6th when the short stack went on a tear and doubled up 4 out of 5 hands in a row. When he got to the final table he was one of the chip leaders but lost two pots when his opponent hit bottom pair. Tough breakes.

Good luck in the Mookie on Wednesday but I don't think I'll be playing as I want to re-evaluate mu game to see if I was the cause of some of my down-turn. And since the Mookie is full of good players I think that it wouldn't be a good thing to invest at this time.

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Japan

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Wednesday, November 22, 2006

1600 players at the 25,000 on FT

I think that the grim reaper has taken hold of me with his icy touch. Death would be welcome compared to how I feel today. Life will move on.

I played the 25,000 on FT last night and made a nice run considering the land mines that were in place. 1600 plus players with a prize pool of 40,000 is always nice. Anyway, I stayed tight and doubled up with flopped trips before catching AK suited in middle position. UTG calls and I make a 4x raise with the button calling. UTG pushes for 800 more and I call, button folds. He flips over pocket kings. I still have a nice stack but I wanted to bust him for slow playing kings from UTG. He eventually gave all my chips to other players. So I chip back up some when an early position player makes a min raise. I look down at J9 suited in the BB and call. The flop is J high and I’m pretty sure it’s good here. The early position player is short stacked so I check to him hoping he bets and he does. I come over the top but not enough to put him all in hoping he’ll push them in and he does. I call and he shows AK. King on the river and I’m back down to 2200 chips. I really like this play because I’m going to win about 75% of he time but it wasn’t to be. I stayed afloat until there were around 450 players left. 261 were getting paid so I needed chips. A large stack raised from middle position and I push with KJ suited hoping he was stealing or on a pocket pair. His AJ was good and I’m done. The morale to this story for me is that suited cards sucked last night. A good run but I still could have waited a little longer to make a move.

I might play the Mookie tonight but I’m not sure. Being sick and playing poker don’t always go together well so we will see.

Monday, November 20, 2006

An Ever Changing Game

I watched the FTOPS main event for much of the evening last night and watched Lucko and Poker Gnome make a good run by making it into the money. Iak did well but was eliminated about 300 spots from the cash. The interesting thing I note from the event was the amount of post flop play. There wasn’t any for the most part as it was raise and fold action with many re-steals happening. There was much bad play from many of the players and some very good play from some. It was really a question of guts at the end as short stack tried to stay alive and big stacks played the bully as the final table got near. When the bubble finally burst I figured there would be a couple of quick eliminations coming from the short stacks but to my surprise the field evened out and the players jockeyed for position. This was the point that I could no longer stay awake so I went to bed. I have no idea how it ended.

I looked back on my run from Saturday night and realized I did have some luck along the way. I pushed with JJ and got called by AK. The flop showed a K but a J on the river kept me alive. This was short of the money but propelled me to a higher level. I also had a number of coin flips go my way at critical times against smaller stacks. These instances help the chip stack grow and keep you advancing toward the end.

In addition to the 4th place finish, I cashed in 3 other MTTs along the way. In each case I made lay downs of strong hands based on the betting patterns I faced. I’ve really begun to understand that TPTK isn’t always good. I’ve also made some adjustments to my game that includes giving value to my opponent in situations that may induce a call. This sets up the same play when I’ve missed the flop and turn but feel I can take it on the river. Many players will lay down a good hand if you give them a really good value late in a hand after calling there earlier bets. They smell a trap and get away from the hand. I’m finding this useful later in the tourneys when they are trying to gain a bigger payday by lasting longer. The key is having a good read on the player.

That’s it for now other then I’ve had 11 hours of sleep since 9 pm last Thursday. Jet lag is killing and I have meeting each of the next two nights. I will be playing the Mookie on Wednesday though.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

A Final Table at Full Tilt

Iak has been telling me for a while that it will come and it finally did. Also, I wan't to say thanks to 23skidoo and carmensincity for railbirding the end for me. It was a lot of fun and I don't think I could have played much better.

It was really an uneventful tourney. I put one beat on two guys when I was ahead preflop with kings and after the flop with trip kings. I got my chips in and the turn gave one guy a flush and the other guy a straight. The river paired the board and I'm on my way.

The bubble was tough as I got short stacked after being top 20 for a good part of the tourney. After the bubble broke I got aggressive and eentually got into a postion of 10 of 16 remaining. I ran into some bad luck when my A10 split the pot with A9 and later had my AK split vs AJ. Those chips would have put me into a much better position but I battled on.

As the final table bubble approached it became a tight game with most preflop raises being respected by all. This allowed me to move up some before we got to the final table.

Two players were knocked out on the first two hands and I'm sitting 5 of 7. It became a game a steals and I had to work to maintain my chip stack. Whith two big chip stacks and 5 medium stacks, the field changed postion many times until we got down 5 players. I made the possible mistake of not raising raising from the BB after UTG big stak called. The flop was 8h Ah 6d and I made a 2/3 pot bet. UTG pushed and I eventually folded. I still had position and the short stack so I felt this was the right move. I still had 3x the stack of the shorty. The next hand saw the shorty go all-in so I called from the SB and the BB checked. I hit a pair on the river to take the pot and move me up to fourth.

Just before the end I doubled up through the medium stack When my A7 suited hit a flush on the turn to get me back to even with the third place player. On my final hand I raised with A9 suited and got called by the chip leader. The flop comes 6s Kd 3s giving my the nut flush draw. I pushed in all my chips, about half the pot, and hoped for a fold or a spade. BB calls and shows AQ. My spade never comes and I'm out in 4th. I wondered about his call here but in retrospect I think it may be OK. He was trying to take me out and he did. The bigger pay day would have been nice.

I'l try to put up a trip report soon but I'm swamped so we'll see what happens.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

I'm in Japan!!

Not much right now but I will give some details later. Here are some pictures I took during my flight.

It's 5:45 am on Monday here and 2:45 pm on Sunday back home. I'm feeling good right now but we'll see how the jetlag goes.

Friday, November 10, 2006

Is this a Good Omaha Hand?

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Mookie Night


Play the Mookie tonight if you have a chance. It is a fun time and we are trying to reach a new high for attendance. Also, more people playing means more places paying and we’d like to pay the final table.





I’ve played no poker during the last few nights. It started with my trip to New Mexico on Monday and continued with a meeting that got over at 10:30 last night. With all this time away from home I feel that I should spend as much time with the family as I can before I leave for Japan on Saturday. So tonight and Friday night should be my only attempts at poker I will see until my return on the 18th.

That’s all for now. This may be my last post until my return. Good luck until I make it back.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Bubble Boy

The title accurately reflects my recent play as I’ve been just out of the money in a few of the MTT’s I’ve played. Friday night wasn’t really a bubble but I did get pretty deep in a Omaha h/l limit tourney I played in. Traumapoker made it deep and drizz also cashed but talk of three bloggers at the final table didn’t materialize. Actually, the fact that I made it as far as I did was amazing. For the most part I was card dead and when I did catch a good starting hand the flop was terrible. The difference was catching both nuts on consecutive hands during the later stages of the tourney to give me a chance. This was about the time I started to catch good hole cards that would miss the flop. If I catch one of these I money and could have made a run at the final table.

My big bubble was a Saturday evening tourney that saw 63 players being paid and me taking 64th. I was the true bubble boy. It was an uneventful tourney in that I stayed tight and got chips through patience. I had one double up before going on a terrible run of cards. I tried to make plays to put my self in position to go deeper but pocket pairs saw big over cards and my over cards saw pocket pairs. At the bubble I was on the big blind with 8, 5 and all-in. My opponent shows AJ but the flop hits me with 85A. Of coarse the turn is a jack and I’m done. Overall I was happy with my play other then being passive as the bubble approached. I should have made a stand a little earlier just because I still had fold equity.

I also played the 25,000 on FT and made a nice run into the final 300. 216 paid so nothing for me there. The tourney was a great example of patience as I waited for opportunities to double up. Early on I raised with AQ suited from early position and folded to a push from the BB. I would have been getting about 1.6-1 on my money so I let it go. I figured at best I was a coin flip and at worst I was dominated. I still had chips so bye-bye hand. He showed jacks and started talking about how good a player he is. I took notes. Later on after chipping up some I get JJ in the same early position. I make a 4x raise and the same BB pushes. From his previous play I’ve noticed his tendency to push with medium pairs in this scenario and with me getting 2.5-1 I make the call. I’m only afraid of 3 hands here and I’m sure I’m ahead. He flips over 8s and I double up. The very next hand I get JJ again and make the same raise. A middle position player pushes over the top and the action returns to me. Now I’ve just shown that I raise with strength and this guy pushes. I have a nice stack and I’m getting 1.3-1 on my money. It’s a great spot to double up but I fold because the read I have is a big pair. I tell the table I’m folding JJ this time and the guy who I crippled previously can’t understand the fold. I started to explain but then realize I want him to not understand.

Do you think that folding JJ at this point was a good move? Blinds were 50/100 at the time.

I withdrew a bunch of my online money in an attempt to refocus my game. I left my self with 20 buy-ins at the $10 level to achieve this objective so hopefully I will stay on my game. So far I’ve cashed in each of the SNGs I’ve played in since that decision. We’ll see where it goes.

I played an uninspired game at the blogger big game and got knocked out around 15th give or take a spot or two. The beginning of the end happened when I made a re-raise with a strong hand vs. smokkee who then pushed. I eventually folded and was all but crippled. I chipped back up over time and pushed over the top of smokkee with 55 and he calls with 1010. It was a questionable move but I needed a double up and would have taken the coin flip. A 4-1 underdog is not a coin flip.

Wednesday may be my last Mookie for a couple of weeks. I’m heading to Japan on Saturday so playing it will be hard. The Mookie on the 15th will be at noon on Thursday the 16th for me so maybe I can rail it while I’m there. We’ll see.

Friday, November 03, 2006

More Poker Fun and The Whole List of 100 Stupid Things About Me

I’m finding that my game struggles when I don’t hit any cards. This sounds like a stupid statement but my game is struggling to adapt right now. Maybe the influx of new players is causing some of this distress because they call raises with marginal hands and hit parts of the flop that I miss. It’s adding to my frustration as I’ve been leaking some bankroll lately.

To combat some of this I played the 15,000 on FT last night and gave an uninspired effort. One example of the donkeyness that is killing me right now is me raising from the button with JJ and getting called by the BB. The flop if Q,10,2 and the BB checks. I continue with a pot size bet trying to find out where I stand. The BB calls and I’m worried. The turn is a 3 and the BB pushes. I figure he has a queen, hit two pair or flopped trips so I fold. He shows pocket 3s for turned trips. I guess I don’t understand the logic of calling a big flop bet with big over cards on the board in hopes of hitting my 2 outer. More of the same ensued and I get eliminated in the middle of the pack.

I also played a 5+.5 Omaha h/l tourney but with different results. I cashed in this one and was sitting in the top 6 with 18 remaining before the eventual demise of my game. I played well and capitalized the couple of times I had the nut high and nut low. In the end the blind structure caught up to all of us and it became a game of pure luck as chips flew back and forth. Short stacks would triple up over and over again until I was in the short stack position. I tried to play my good hands strong but weak flops that completely missed were the norm for me. I ended the night in 13th.


*********************

1) I was born in a town smaller than the subdivision I now live.

2) I was adopted.

3) I went to a World Series game 1980. The Kansan City Royals beat the Phillies and I instantly became a Royals fan. Some of you may remember that was the year of George Brett and his hemorrhoids.

4) I played the clarinet from 5th grade through my junior year in high school.

5) I took Spanish in college. The significance of this is that I got a C in the class and didn’t learn a thing.

6) I played soccer from the time I was little until my 2nd year in college. I received honorable mention for region 4 after my freshman year for my play as a goalie on a team that won two games. The next year we made it to the region finals with a 14-5-3 record and I didn’t get a vote.

7) I’ve played fastpitch softball for over half my life.

8) In 1996, I was statistically 1hit away from being the leading hitter for the ISC world tourney. I was 5 for 9 and needed one more at bat with a hit to be the leading hitter that year. My 4 out were strikeouts and I had 4 walks.

9) I was in the musical “Bye, Bye, Birdie” during my senior year in high school. I played a few small parts with my only line being “He’s coming, he’s coming….Conrad Birdie’s coming”. This was quite comical for a 17 year old kid in the mid 80’s.

10) I spent an hour in jail for driving with a suspended license. Back in 1983, I got a speeding ticket and didn’t pay for it. In my infinite wisdom I didn’t realize I had to. Anyway, I eventually paid for it but didn’t apply for reinstatement. 3 years later I got pulled over and arrested. I was fun being picked up by a paddy wagon and handcuffed. All charges were dropped after I applied for reinstatement and showed proof at court. Of course the court cost was something like $500 but it isn’t on my record.

11) I was married on New Years Eve in 1992.

12) I bought my first home 6 months before I was married and lived there for 6 ½ years before buying my second home. I lived there for 6 ½ years before buying my third home. I have five more years in this house before I must move.

13) The only time I have been to Las Vegas was in 1990. The ASA “B” Nationals was held there that year. The team I played on consisted of almost all 22 and 23 year old guys and I’m not sure if I ever went to sleep. In reality, I got maybe 12 hours of sleep in the 4 days I was there.

14) I want to go to a WPBT event but can’t afford it at this time.

15) I have three children that consume much of my time and I would have it no other way. There is nothing I love more then being involved with there events and helping guide them through life.

16) I love science fiction and have spent a large amount of my free time reading Sci-fi books. The first book I read was The Hobbit when I was in high school and have read hundreds of books since then.

17) One of the most exciting days of my life was when I heard that Lord of the Rings trilogy was being made. And even though I love the movie version, I was disappointed that so much was left out.

18) I played D&D from 6th grade up until my sophomore year in college. It was a blast living a life of make believe with magic and swords. To me a great time was spending a weekend playing this game non-stop from Friday night until Sunday afternoon. Man I was a geek.

19) I was a tweener in that I was a jock, and a good one and also a band geek. I was in both the math club and science club but used much of my free time playing sports. In some ways I think I had no identity because of my lack of affiliation to a high school click.

20) I spent many Friday and Saturday nights hanging out with my friends and getting drunk while in high school. Much of this was induced by peer pressure and trying to fit into a culture that I wasn’t comfortable with.

21) You can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been drunk in the past 5 years. It takes two hands for the previous 10 years. It would take a computer to count the times before the age of 30.

22) I have no grandparents left alive.

23) One of my favorite rides at Disney World is the Buzz Light-year ride.

24) One of the worst days of my life was when my wife and two daughters were in a car accident. I got a call at work that said they were at the hospital and that they had no more information. When I arrived I saw a little girl that was severely injured and my thoughts were “poor thing, I hope she’s all right”. Minutes later I found out it was my oldest daughter. She had a broken leg and a skull fracture to go along with having a few teeth knocked out. She was later flown to Loyal Medical Center and spent 4 nights there before being sent home. My other daughter was bruised and battered but ok. My wife had a lacerated spleen and was in the hospital for a week. She could go back to work for a month and could do nothing that involved physical activity. It was a frustrating time in the life of my family.

25) While in Milwaukee for a college soccer trip, a group of us players found a car with the keys in while walking back from downtown to our hotel. It was 3:30 in the morning and we were drunk so we borrowed the car and drove to our hotel.

26) In an act of kindness, I let a cocaine addicted friend of mine stay rent free for a couple of months while he went through out-patient rehab. Hr was without a job and living in a car when I took him in. He has been sober for 8 years now.

27) I’m the Moderator of the church I attend.

28) I drove 4 hours to watch one fastpitch softball game, that started at 9:00 at night, and drove home when it was over so I could go to work the next day.

29) I have played soccer in Germany.

30) I have played fastpitch softball in Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. I almost added the Czech Republic but plans fell through when I had a family wedding to attend.

31) I love fishing but I’m too cheap to get a fishing license. The good thing is that I have relatives that own a 40 acre lake thus no need for a license.

32) I will still vote for Denny Hastert for the House of Representatives.

33) It is an honor to use the right to vote but very hard to find someone worthy to vote for.

34) I find it funny that some of the people we now hang out with are people we probably wouldn’t have talked to in high school.

35) When I was younger I felt that I would be dead by the age of 35.

36) I think that being a stand-up person is as important a thing as anyone can be.

37) I should thank my wife every day for putting up with me because of the idiot I am.

38) I should also thank my wife for making me go back to college and finishing my degree.

39) I don’t do either of the things in 37 and 38 nearly enough.

40) I know that I could have been valedictorian of my high school class if I would have had the drive. I was easily in the bottom half as far as grades go.

41) My main goal in high school was to stay eligible for sports, drink as much as I could get away with and to get as much action as I could. I had success in all areas but not to the extent that I would have preferred.

42) Back in my early 20’s, I would drive up to Milwaukee to see a girl I thought I was in love with whenever I had a chance. The feeling was not mutual.

43) I would much rather sleep until noon and make much less money then get up every morning and go to work. And yet I still get up.

44) I question my ability in all things that I do and thus grow.

45) I enjoy the new cyber friendships I have gained and wonder if I will ever meet any of you.

46) I regret some of the stupid things I’ve done and said to all the people I’ve hurt in my life. But not all of them.

47) I was ready to fight a co-worker who made a derogatory remark that I construed was about my wife. It was at a company meeting in from of the chairman of the board and I didn’t care. I can always find another job.

48) I find that this exercise of making a list is deeply comforting in some ways.

49) I have chewed Skoal for over half of my life and it scares me to think that it may cause my demise.

50) I quit chewing for 1 year back in 1998-1999. I started again when my Organic Chemistry teacher told me how nicotine helps the synapses fire during recall memory exercises. I am an idiot. I did ace the final though.

51) Going back to school at the age of 30 was the best thing that I could have done. I got much more out of it and had a 3.87 GPA after I returned. That’s twice what my high school GPA was.

52) One B that I got was during the time my son was born. School was not all that important but I drove through it. I didn’t get another B the rest of the time.

53) I love cooking on the grill. In the summer I cook 75% of the meals we eat on the grill.

54) I will do nothing if given the chance.

55) I find that stereo typing people pisses me off unless it’s me being the one doing the stereo typing.

56) I will play an entire season of any sports game on the computer without playing any of the games myself. I’ll let the computer play both teams.

57) I enjoy being with my wife’s side of the family at least as much as my own side.

58) I enjoy singing in my church choir just about as much as anything else I’ve ever done.

59) I have called in sick to work because I wanted to play poker on the internet.

60) I really want to go to Las Vegas for the WPBT in December. Did I say this already? It‘s worth repeating.

61) Another of the worst days I’ve had was the day my oldest was born. While being one of the greatest days of my life, she had many health problems and stayed in the hospital for 12 days after she was born. When we finally got to take her home we didn’t know what to do because the nursing staff had taken care of her for virtually all her life.

62) The joy I see in my children’s eyes makes me cry at the weirdest times.

63) I have cried during a chick flick.

64) I was never emotional until the car accident that my wife and kids were in.

65) I still have a hard time letting my wife know how I feel because it isn’t manly.

66) I fly off the deep end at stupid things when understanding is needed.

67) I think that living the life I grew up in has had a negative impact on how I treat my family.

68) I battle constantly to keep ahead of the idiocy that wants to manifest itself in me.

69) I used to think my mother was an idiot when I was younger. Now I realize it was me.

70) I would much rather do something tomorrow if I can put it off until then.

71) I’m envious of many of the relations that have been built through a stupid blog. Friendships that occurred because of a common interest. In some ways these friendships that many of you have are better then I have with the people I see everyday.

72) I miss my friend Paul and wish he’d move back here.

73) I have the ability to lose 15 pounds in a month yet would rather be over weight the work out.

74) Some of the most enjoyable times in my life have been coaching my children’s teams.

75) I was the manager of a team that tied for 5th place in the 2003 ISC II Tournament of Champions. We got knocked out by the eventual champions in a game that saw a total of three hits. Two by them and one by us.

76) The next year we didn’t advance to bracket play. In our must win game, we held a 5-0 lead when our pitcher fell a part. By the time I got him out of the game, the momentum had change and it was over.

77) In 2005 we lead in every game and went 0-4. Then I retired.

78) I find that dealing with grown men is much harder then dealing with children.

79) If I was single I would move to Las Vegas and try not to lose everything that I have.

80) I love playing the blogger tournaments because of the level of competition they provide.

81) I ran track in high school because we didn’t have baseball. I didn’t like track but it was better then going home or working.

82) I could run the 1600m in under 5 minutes and the 800 in 2 minutes.

83) When I was in 7th grade I ran a 10k in 36 minutes without training for it. I was too young and dumb to realize that running over 6 miles in 36 minutes was good. I was mad because 15 people beat me. The fact that most of them ran these events all the time and were very good didn’t matter. I should have won, lol.

84) When I came around the last turn and had maybe a ¼ mile left to go I broke into a sprint until the finish line. That was a failure in my eyes because I had too much energy left.

85) The best time I ever had was 32:36 when I was in high school. It was the last time I ran one of those.

86) In 2002 I went to a GI boot camp to get into shape. I lost 35 pounds and was in better shape then almost any point in my life. I had made the decision to run in the Chicago marathon because I was already running 20-25 miles a week and could easily start the training regiment. Then I tore cartilage in my knee playing ball and have not run another step.

87) I’ve gained 40 pounds since I quit running.

88) I enjoy the company of my high school friends much more now that I don’t see them as often.

89) I had a girl friend in high school that died on the way home from a basketball game. She was a good friend and is missed by everyone who knew her.

90) I had a friend that died from AIDS. He eventually came out of the closet after he was diagnosed with the illness. We all new anyway and we didn’t care.

91) Did I say that I want to go to the WPBT event in December?

92) I played goalie in soccer for all but one year in my life. During my senior year I played mid-field and was second on the team in scoring.

93) During my 3 varsity seasons playing soccer, we won over 75% of the games we played. We were a disappointment for the school because we had a history of making it deep into the playoffs in addition to many state finals. We didn’t live up to expectations.

94) We made it to the state finals in basketball during my junior season. I think I played 20 minutes the whole year but I was still a part of the team. We lost in the quarter finals to the eventual champs.

95) The first time I smoked pot was with my degenerate step sister. It was a wonderful experience that could have led me down the wrong path. She’s in jail now and I’m writing this. I guess I got back on the right one.

96) One thing that I really don’t like is going to the dentist. It makes my blood pressure rise just thinking about it.

97) I can still play the clarinet without much trouble. I will even play the piano now and then even though it’s been 30 years since my last lesson.

98) I can get lost in front of the TV if I’m not careful.

99) I was a DJ for about 3 years before I met my wife. My buddy Paul and I would play clubs and weddings and parties almost every weekend that I wasn’t playing ball.

100) I find that writing at times is a hard thing to do. The times I write the best are the times when an inspiration hits and the words flow. It doesn’t happen much for me but there are a couple of posts in the archives that meet the description.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

The Mookie and 25 Stupid Things About Me

I played in the Mookie last night and got bounced by ski early after the 1st break. My demise happened just before the break when I tested a bigger stack and gave away half my chips. I had top pair after the flop and made a continuation bet but his min re-raise caused me to fold for fear of a trap. So with around 1000 chips left I get AQ in middle position and push only to get called by ski’s AK and I’m done. I play a solid game and won a nice pot when I flopped trip 7s and check re-raised another player. For the most part I spent time trying to keep my head above water.

The Mookie 2nd chance was better… On the first hand I was dealt pocket 9s in the SB and called fuel55’s raise. I hit the flop when 10, 9, 3 hit the board. Now how do I extract chips? Hoy has talked about betting for value with flopped trips so I make a half pot bet and Fuel calls The turn is x so I make what is to be a weak looking bet of 300 into a pot of around 800 and he calls.
The river is a 3 giving me a boat. I put out the same weak bet out there and he pushes. I call and double up on the first hand as his 7s were no good. The bets part of this is that I know he is an aggressive player and will attack weakness so semi passiveness seemed to be the right idea. If I check raise him then he may drop his hand so I think this was the right line. Anyway, with these chips I maintained my stack and won a token vs. the bloggers. It was a good time as usual.

I do have to agree with some of my fellow bloggers though in that I would rather paly a token vs. the other players on the site. It is tough to win a token with the quality play of bloggers involved. I like the cash idea better.

I also think that maybe we can get a token blogger event that uses the $26 token. It would raise the stacks a little and is partially funded by players we have beaten already. Just an idea.

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Here is the first installment of 100 stupid things about me. If there are other tings you want to know just ask and I'll include them.

1) I was born in a town smaller than the subdivision I now live.

2) I was adopted.

3) I went to a World Series game 1980. The Kansan City Royals beat the Phillies and I instantly became a Royals fan. Some of you may remember that was the year of George Brett and his hemorrhoids.

4) I played the clarinet from 5th grade through my junior year in high school.

5) I took Spanish in college. The significance of this is that I got a C in the class and didn’t learn a thing.

6) I played soccer from the time I was little until my 2nd year in college. I received honorable mention for region 4 after my freshman year for my play as a goalie on a team that won two games. The next year we made it to the region finals with a 14-5-3 record and I didn’t get a vote.

7) I’ve played fastpitch softball for over half my life.

8) In 1996, I was statistically 1hit away from being the leading hitter for the ISC world tourney. I was 5 for 9 and needed one more at bat with a hit to be the leading hitter that year. My 4 out were strikeouts and I had 4 walks.

9) I was in the musical “Bye, Bye, Birdie” during my senior year in high school. I played a few small parts with my only line being “He’s coming, he’s coming….Conrad Birdie’s coming”. This was quite comical for a 17 year old kid in the mid 80’s.

10) I spent an hour in jail for driving with a suspended license. Back in 1983, I got a speeding ticket and didn’t pay for it. In my infinite I didn’t realize I had to. Anyway, I eventually paid for it but didn’t apply for reinstatement. 3 years later I got pulled over and arrested. I was fun being picked up by a paddy wagon and handcuffed. All charges were dropped after I applied for reinstatement and showed proof at court. Of course the court cost was something like $500 but it isn’t on my record.

11) I was married on New Years Eve in 1992.

12) I bought my first home 6 months before I was married and lived there for 6 ½ years before buying my second home. I lived there for 6 ½ years before buying my third home. I have five more years in this house before I must move.

13) The only time I have been to Las Vegas was in 1990. The ASA “B” Nationals was held there that year. The team I played on consisted of almost all 22 and 23 year old guys and I’m not sure if I ever went to sleep. In reality, I got maybe 12 hours of sleep in the 4 days I was there.

14) I want to go to a WPBT event but can’t afford it at this time.

15) I have three children that consume much of my time and I would have it no other way. There is nothing I love more then being involved with there events and helping guide them through life.

16) I love science fiction and have spent a large amount of my free time reading Sci-fi books. The first book I read was The Hobbit when I was in high school and have read hundreds of books since then.

17) One of the most exciting days of my life was when I heard that Lord of the Rings trilogy was being made. And even though I love the movie version, I was disappointed that so much was left out.

18) I played D&D from 6th grade up until my sophomore year in college. It was a blast living a life of make believe with magic and swords. To me a great time was spending a weekend playing this game non-stop from Friday night until Sunday afternoon. Man I was a geek.

19) I was a tweener in that I was a jock, and a good one and also a band geek. I was in both the math club and science club but used much of my free time playing sports. In some ways I think I had no identity because of my lack of affiliation to a high school click.

20) I spent many Friday and Saturday nights hanging out with my friends and getting drunk while in high school. Much of this was induced by peer pressure and trying to fit into a culture that I wasn’t comfortable with.

21) You can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been drunk in the past 5 years. It takes two hands for the previous 10 years. It would take a computer to count the times before the age of 30.

22) I have no grandparents left alive.

23) One of my favorite rides at Disney World is the Buzz Light-year ride.

24) One of the worst days of my life was when my wife and two daughters were in a car accident. I got a call at work that said they were at the hospital and that they had no more information. When I arrived I saw a little girl that was severely injured and my thoughts were “poor thing, I hope she’s all right”. Minutes later I found out it was my oldest daughter. She had a broken leg and a skull fracture to go along with having a few teeth knocked out. She was later flown to Loyal Medical Center and spent 4 nights there before being sent home. My other daughter was bruised and battered but ok. My wife had a lacerated spleen and was in the hospital for a week. She could go back to work for a month and could do nothing that involved physical activity. It was a frustrating time in the life of my family.

25) While in Milwaukee for a college soccer trip, a group of us players found a car with the keys in while walking back from downtown to our hotel. It was 3:30 in the morning and we were drunk so we borrowed the car and drove to our hotel.