Thursday, November 29, 2007

I Saw Mookie on T.V.

I was watching t.v. last night and I saw Mookie in a Movie. Not sure if it is the right Mookie though.


What can I say, I got as lucky as I could and still didn’t cash in the Mookie. I bubbled the stupid thing after being 2nd in chips late and during the horrendously long bubble period.

I spun my wheels early with little or nothing for cards until the deck hit me in the face. In a battle of the blinds vs. Joe Speaker, I limped from the sb with 53 and saw a flop of 55K. Now I have to check this and hope he has a K and bets it out but he checks. The turn is a 2 and I check again in hopes he’ll take a stab but he checks again. I hit the quad 5s on the river and make a pot size bet and he fold what he said was 74. So quads don’t pay. The next hand I limp from the button with QT of hearts after a limper and four of us see a flop of QKK. It checks around and the turn shows a 3rd K. Hoy makes a 2/3 bet and I slow call figuring I am ahead but really want to see what he does on the river. He checks the 5 on the river and I take the smallish pot after he folds to my bet.

At this point, I had my starting stack back but start to bleed a little with missed flops and blinds. Then I have the first of my luck box hands. I’m dealt JJ UTG and limp. Hoy is the SB and had just doubled to 1380 chips and I felt he might raise if he had a little something so I was ready to check raise him back…or anyone else for that matter. It folds to him and he bumps it to 320. I tank for a bit and make it 880 and he pushes. I have to call and he shows KK. The flop gave me quads and he ended another Mookie with a bad beat. In reality, even if I only call pre-flop I will probably still stack him with his kings. Unlucky for him. From there I had a re-steals with AK and made a huge semi bluff with 52 suited in clubs. The flop was 7s 4c 3h and I’m sitting with a great chance to double up. I check, wanting a cheap turn card, and have to call a 450 bet from Joe Speaker. I figure I have 8 outs so I have odds to call. The turn is the Qc so I check. Joe fires 1K into the 1500 chip pot and I come over the top with my 15 outs and he folds. This was very big for me.

At this point I stagnated. I think I folded 20 hands in a row and I lost about 25% of the chips I had acquired. People had been raising my blinds because I wasn’t defending so when I get AT in the BB. This isn’t a great hand but I felt oppressed for some reason and re-popped a bet and committing my self to the pot with a weakfish hand. He had QQ but I hit an ace to suckout big time.

Sitting at just under 10K I held my ground until I tried a re-steal and had to let it go and got knocked down to 5K. A little later I made a move with A9 and got called by AQ only to see me hit a straight and move back to 10K. I then doubled an orbit later when I catch aces that hold up. Now at 17K, I have a great chance to go deep and we are already deep. I hit TT and knocked out Kat and her AK to move to 30K but that was the beginning of the end. I maintained my stack for much of the rest of my time but lost some when I took a stab at a pot. The battle at the bubble was crazy. It lasted for ever and I took another shot with KQ suited. It was folded to me and I raise to 4800 and sellthekids pushes. I figured this may be a pocket pair of the medium size but I eventually folded because I didn’t want the coin flip. I then get nothing until it is folded to me in the SB and I push with A2 suited and get called by 99. I hit trip 2s but my opponent hits the 4 flush to knock me out on the bubble. Looking back, I was lucky to get this far but I think I should have taken my chances with the KQ hand.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Time for Some Changes

With the coming of the new year many of my responsibilities will be changing. One of the things I had on my plate was being church moderator at the congregation that I belong. It wasn't a hard position but required that I keep up on many things and run the monthly meeting that involved all the members of the church council. In all, I have spent the last four years as either the moderator or the vice-moderator in a church that has been in semi-flux. I am glad it is coming to an end but I enjoyed being involved.

So, with all this time coming available to me in the near future, I need something to fill up the time slot that will be open starting January 1st, 2008. But what can I do? I could spend more time playing poker but I don't think that is a good idea since I already spend to much time doing that. I could join a committee or ministry at church and continue to show my support but I really need a year away. I could apply for the open Director of Softball position with the local baseball/softball organization in an effort improve the haphazard way that softball is being run presently. Now that sounds like a good idea.

Originally, the organization was created to give every child the chance to play baseball/softball in a safe environment and to help develope the their skills through the use of volunteer coaches. This isn't really any different than any other town in america so what they started was not special. But, as it moved along through time, it started to change. The need for travel teams was created by over zealous parents, not unlike me, and the birth of youth travel ball came to life. The only real problem with this is that nepotism manifests over time and you end up with a group of friends running the show who dictate in their self-righteous beliefs. In the end you end up with splintered groups who don't communicate and animosities begin to poison true growth. This is kind of what has happened except that softball has been the red-headed step-child. They have tried to adopt softball into the family but by alienating some of the people who wanted to make it better. That is where I come in.

I feel strongly that I have as much right to complain about how the organization was run in the past as anyone. But, instead of complaining, I will try and make the improvements that are needed to help create a feeling of family within the organization as well as the community. Sounds like I'm running for mayor. Anyway, I think that my stepping up to the plate and taking on the challenge will help some of the people who have lost trust in the system to begin to regain some of what has been lost in the past by splintered groups.

I through my name in the hat a few days ago. I know that people are aware of my experience with the game and I have had open discussions with board members of the organization over the last couple of months. The weren't happy that I took my daughter to another town to play but in the end I was justified when there were not enough girls to field a team. In reality there are enough to field two teams but they are all playing for other teams in the area. In all there are 19 girls playing 14U travel ball from our town but we don't have a team. There was also 6 or 7 other girls came to tryouts for the town team so in all there are 26 kids who want to play travel ball.

There is also the problem with trying to get a 10U team restarted. There was a team for one year but it was dropped because nobody wanted to run the team. I know there are plenty of girls who would like to play and I see the same thing happening again next year when many of the 12U girls have to move up to 14U. It would be terrible if this died out because nobody wanted to put in a little effort.

Last night I got a call from the organization president that they will be voting on my appointment for the Director of Softball position on Sunday night. I think we have a long way to go and we need to start now if we plan on having multiple levels of play for the girls for next season. With only a 12U team on the board, I have work to do.

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

Didn't play much last night but did win a Razz SNG and went deep in a rebuy tourney on full tilt. I went completely card dead with 35K chips and the stack average at 22K. I was willing to steal but couldn't get in on the action as the bets were flying like crazy. When I was down to 22K it was folded to me on the button with K3 suited. The BB was in for 2K and had 8K behind. I saw this as a good chance to steal but I could be in trouble. Either way I needed some chips and figured I'd take a shot. He called with A2 and I was down to about 11K. I wasn't long after that I got knocked out on a less than memorable hand. Still, I made to the almost the top 5% and could have folded for another buy-in or two but I'm starting to like my game again. The killer was getting my aces cracked which actually cost me 10K at the time. When I doubled through the big stack a little later it actually could have given me 45K at the time I had 22K. What could have been.

Monday, November 26, 2007

The Frustrated Blogger

The excitement that is Thanksgiving is over and as we move into the season of advent I can't help but wonder how I'm going to pay for Christmas this year. It wasn't so bad when the kids were younger. We could get them lots a small presents that didn't cost much but now that two of them are older, that little trick doesn't work like it did before. I'm thinking of giving "get out of jail free cards" to the older two because it would be free for the most part and would allow them to do something wrong without any repercussion. Lord Knows I would have liked that when I was younger but I don't think it is the right thing for them at this time. I'll save those for when the get a bit older. In the end I think we will get by like we always do, that is MR. and Mrs. PE getting very little so the kids get what they want.

I'm still frustrated by my recent run in poker. I did final table the tourney the other night but variance is frustrating me right now as I continue to get beat by three outers and running cards. I fine example could be found in the 2K razz last night as I had great starting cards. Here is what I'm talking about.

[4d 6s] [7s]
First hand and all fold to my bet.
[5s 7s 2c 4h Ah] [6h]
4th hand and I'm off to a good start
[7c 2d 3s] [Qd]
2 Other players are in the hand and have hands that appear to be ahead so I fold
[6h 2c 3h Ad Th Kd] [Qh]
Dude made an 8 on 7th street but had a made King on 6th
6h 5d 7s Jh] [9c]
In vs. 2 players and had to fold at this point
[Ah 6d 3h 7c 2h 6h] [Js]
I lose with this when my opponent hits a 6 on 7th street
[3d 5d] [Ac]
This was no good vs. a jack and a king.
[6h 2h 7h 4h] [8c]
And finally, this hand lost to a when my opponent hit either a 2, 3, or 4 on 7th street

The frustrating part of this is that I could have been a chip leader if 3 of these hands hold up. The story of my life right now.

I did cash in the Sunday NLO h/l tourney that Full Tilt runs. This is the same tourney I won a few months ago and I felt mostly on my game. I had an ill timed play when me and another player tripled up the shorty on the bubble and split the remaining pot when a flush hit on the river killing my straight and only giving me the low. If I win that hand I would have final tabled for sure. Anyway, I also bubbled in the PLO deepstack so but got crippled when my AAKJ double sooted was no match for 7238. How a guy can call off all his chips with a hand like that just floors me. He hit running 8s on the turn and the river to kill me.

Well thats enough about the crap I've been going through. I'll try to keep my sob stories to a minimum in the future.

Friday, November 23, 2007

I Love Thanksgiving

It is Friday, the day after thanksgiving, and I am wondering what I had to be thankful for other than my family and a few random other things.

1) I am thankful for the friends who showed up late because they were having a fight. The wife said she couldn’t come because she couldn’t be around him and so he stayed home. Their kids threatened to stay home because their dad stayed home. What a wonderful start to the day.

2) I am thankful for my sister-in-law who drank a bottle of wine by her self and alienating the rest of the people at our gathering by talking non-stop about things that mean nothing to anyone. Her incessant babble and total disregard for everyone else was a joy to be around.

3) I am thankful for my two nephews who broke things, threw things and caused havoc while their mother tried to drink her self into a stupor. I feel sorry for these kids as they have no parental guidance but are raised by T.V. and X-BOX.

4) I am truly thankful for my sister and brother-in-law who put up with this crap and even moved name tags so that they wouldn’t have to sit next to the drunkard. Of course she saw that her name was moved and moved it back because she wanted to be able to annoy people during the meal.

5) I am thankful for my dad who sat silently watching football as all of this took place around him.

6) I am thankful for my wife who is a wonderful person and should not be subjected to inconsiderate family members.

7) I am thankful for my children who tried to keep things under control in their own way.

When everyone finally left, other than our friends, I needed an escape. I was on Thanksgiving tilt and found a spot in the front of the computer and played some random internet games to recharge my mood. I eventually fired up Full Tilt to see if there where any other losers like me looking to play poker on a holiday.

There were many so I fired up a $3 re-buy because I needed to see if I could continue the bankroll slide I’ve been going through over the last week or so. It didn’t start off well with a myriad of below average cards and a table of idiots who thought A8 was the nuts. I eventually got to the first break with a slightly below average chip stack after taking the add-on. Fast forward a while and I get into the money with an ok stack but in survival mode. A big hand later and I’m on the final table and eventually get knocked in 5th place.

I also bubbled another tourney when I could have folded to the cash but needed chips to get deep.

So have a great Friday if you’re not working or it sucks to be you if you are.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Surf...The New KORD and the Next LORD Event

As I said, Surf is the new KORD but I won't be naming the next one after him. Instead, I will be hosting The PE X-Mas KORD. It will take place on the 21st of December and will feature a $7 buy-in. Why the $7 buy-in you ask? I asked for this to be a bounty tournament and requested a $2 bounty on each player. I also requested 2000 starting chips just for a change of pace so I also moved up the starting time to 8:30 central time. With the money added overlay, I'm hoping to make this the best KORD tournament yet.


So mark it down on your calendar and join in on the fun.

Platoon and Abe



Saturday, November 17, 2007

A New Kord




We have a new KORD taking control of the Razz world and he is a the right guy for the position. Surflexus out lasted 12 other players to earn a title that he should probably hold. JudeSalem battled hard for a 2nd place finish with Huntsvegas taking the last money spot. I was the bubble breaker with some great skills getting me there when not once but twice having my opponent hit 3 pair to keep me alive late at the final table. The clincher in my bubble result was bricking in 2 straight hands when the bets were getting huge.

Thanks to everyone who came out and played.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Looking at Bodog

I have been watching the results of the weekly Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament and realize I’ve been missing the boat. The have been giving away money to many of the finishers even if they are not in a money position. In fact, the 5 last players to miss the money get $11 in tourney chips for a free enter into the next week’s event or they can be used to enter any other bodog event.

Here are the details for their tourney.

Bodog invites Poker Bloggers to play in it‚s Poker Blogger Tournament with a total of $600 in bonus money.

If you are 1 of the 5 money bubblers, you‚ll have your $11 buy-in refunded and if you finish in the top 5 you will win an entry for Bodog‚s Sunday $100K Guaranteed tournament.

This tournament runs weekly on Tuesday evenings and requires a password for entry that Bloggers can promote within their community.

Tournament Details
• Dates: Tuesdays
• Tournament Name: „Online Poker Blogger Tournament‰ at Bodog
• Entry Password: bodogblogger
• Buy-in + fee: $10 + $1
• Starting Chips: 3000 (Double Stack)
• Payout: Standard Bodog payout structure
• Bonuses:
o T$109 bonus paid to the top 5 finishers.
o T$11 bonus paid to the 5 players that are eliminated prior to payouts.
 These bonuses will be awarded within 24hrs of the tournament completion.
 T$ = Tournament Credits. These can be used as a buy in to almost all scheduled tournaments at Bodog and have a ratio to cash of 1:1.
 T$ can also be combined with cash to buy in to tournaments.
• Day of week: Tuesdays
• Start time: 8:35pm ET

If you haven‚t played at the Bodog Poker Room before, please download and install the free software client at:
http://www.bodoglife.com/poker/download-poker.jsp

If you‚re not yet a Bodog member, sign up for your FREE account by clicking the „Join Now‰ button in the Poker Room client.

Don’t miss out on this great overlay.

Play the KORD Tonight and Other Stuff


Ok folks…It is Friday so come out and play the KORD tonight. It can be found in the private tournament section on Full Tilt and it kicks off at 9:15 central time. This version is called NightRanger’s Revenge as he won the last one of these a month ago. The password is pokere and the cost is a minuscule $5+.50. I have even thrown in a little extra because I can so I hope to see you there. As Last time I will put up a little banner to show the winner.

Wednesday night I was having connection problems and kept having lag issue while playing. So, yesterday morning I wake up and realize that the phone is out and I have no internet. I have Mrs. PE call Comcast figuring they will have every thing all better by the time I got home last night. Nothing was fixed so placed another call and they will now be coming some time between noon and 4:00. Nice time window. Anyway, everything seems to be working today so now I have to call them back and cancel so they don’t have to make an unnecessary trip.

Last night I had a ton of things to do. I went to parent/teacher conferences for two of the kids and then had to go to a meeting at church. Luckily we didn’t have a quorum so the meeting was done quickly. Anyway, when I got home I grabbed a bite to eat and opened my laptop to do some stuff. I knew we didn’t have internet but a funny thing happened. I checked the available networks and saw that one of my neighbors doesn’t have his network locked. Is it stealing if I jump onto his network if I want to go surf the net?

Finally, don’t forget to play the Kat’s Donkament at 8:00 central. It is a $1 rebuy that gets about 25 players and will have a prize pool into the $200 + range before it is over. Go to Full Tilt and play this tourney to get your fill of rebuy madness. The password is donkarama.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

I Felt Like Hell in a Hand-Basket...Friday is the KORD

Yesterday was a day from hell. It was audit time and I always stress out over these things even though I’ve been through it a million times. Anyway, we got through with no issues and I realized on the way home that these stupid audits knock the crap out of me. But I felt refreshed and ready to go.

When I got home I had dinner and sat down in my chair to watch a little TV. The walls came tumbling down as I could hardly keep my eyes open and eventually took a power nap. When I returned from my comatose state I fired up the laptop to see what was going on and made the decision to play the nightly Razz tourney I play all the time. The deck hit me in the face early as I chipped up and held the tournament lead at the first break by about 2K chips. The 2nd hour was much worse as I got little to play with and didn’t get involved in many hands. As the bubble approached I was 10 of 13 and bricking every good starting hand. But then I had three cards under an 8 with a limper holding a 10 up so I complete and the Q who brought in calls as well as the 10. Now this is a great chance for me to maybe even triple up with 2 super donks calling with hands that have to be behind. At this point I have 4K chips left and when the 4th street comes and I’m ahead, I re-raise the donk who bet with his 10 and get called by both players. Now one guy had a Q and the other has a T. I have a 9 but I am ahead and I know I have to bet when I’m ahead. Next card gives me the made 9 and I bet out…the queen puts me in and the 10 folds. Super donk is drawing to a 9 but my hand holds up and I move up to 13K. I hang around trying to find pots to win and made the final table ending the night in 4th place.

Best part about making that final table was that I had no intentions of playing last night. It was a little win and some rebuilding of the PE poker machine.

I also played the dookie but turbo razz is the nutz and I guess I didn’t have mine…but jusdealem did. Well played.

Don’t forget to come out and play the KORD on Friday.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

The Next KORD and Other Stuff


This Friday at 9:15 central time will the next installment of the KORD. I have again added a little money to the prize pool because I'm not very smart so come and get it. The password is pokere and the event will be on Full Tilt. All are welcome but I will be trying hard to get my title back. I will put a new banner up proclaiming the new KORD if anyone can knock off Night Ranger.

Not much to say today. I played no poker last night and maintain that I will be away from the tables until Friday.

I spent last night trying to figure out how to block access to a web site the girls go to all the time. It isn’t a bad web site but one of the girls signed onto the other girl’s account and took her mythical money to buy stuff for her virtual room. I ended up putting it as a restricted site which my oldest can change if she wants to. I will give them access back in a couple of but they have been spending to much time playing the game…almost as much time as I had been spending playing poker. Addiction is a bad thing so I expect them to start going into withdraw very soon.

This part of the reason I’m taking some time away from the tables. I have been spending to much time playing a stupid game. And it is only a game. Sure I make a little money at it but does it really improve anything in my life? It probably causes more problems than it solves.

Monday, November 12, 2007

My FTOPS...See Last Post

So it is the 3rd hour of the FTOPS Razz event, 10:28 local time and I had just hit a nice hand to put me at 6730 and slightly above average in chips. This was the beginning of the end for me. It didn’t rally happen right away but it accumulated over time first into a snowball and ending in an avalanche of frustration and loathing.

At 10:40 I lost a playable hand after raising and then getting re-raised. I paired the board and had to throw away the hand. Then I run into this vs. a guy who probably had a made Queen. [Ad 5c 6s 6h 8s Ac] [Kd]. I lost the minimum on this hand but it knocked me down to 5370 chips. Down to 4330 but still sitting ok, I am waiting for my good cards to hold up a little better and ready to take advantage of the loose play at my table. But this starts to happen.

10:53 [Tc Ks] [Kh] Bring in
10:53 [4d Qs] [Kc] Bring in
10:54 [2c 4c] [5h] turned into this [2c 4c 5h Jh] turned into this [2c 4c 5h Jh] [2d]
10:57 [8h 4h 5c] [5s]
11:00 [3c 2h] [Jc] Bring in
11:01 [Ac 4h] [Js] Bring in
11:01 [8d As] [Jd] Bring in
11:02 [8h 2h] [Qc] Bring in
11:03 [4h 9s] [9d] Bring in

At this point I’m down to 2675 and not feeling very happy.

11:03 [6d Ac] [Ad]

I have played a very tight game to this point and it is folded to me so I take a stab at the pot with one low cards behind me. He calls with an 8 up. Next card I get a 10 and he gets a J so I bet out with what looks like a better hand. My mistake here is that the guy in the hand has a ton of chips. Anyway, I then hit a 7 and he hits a 5 and olds to my bet. I got lucky here but my image helped me. Back to 3675.

11:04 [Kh 3d] [Qd] Bring in
11:05 [Qs 3h] [Qc] Bring in
11:06 [Th 7h] [Kc] Bring in

11:07 [5s 9c] [2h] I call the big stack again here because he has been raising any low card up and stealing at will. I could be behind but I have my image and I think I’m probably ahead. I hit this: [5s 9c 2h] [5c] and end up having to run when I brick the next card. Down to 2525

11:10 [Jc 2h] [Qc] Bring in
11:11 [5c Td] [9h] Bring in
11:12 [7s 4c] [Qc] Bring in
11:12 [Ah Jh] [Jd] Bring in
11:13 [7s Ac] [5c] I go down with a made ten that was drawing to a 7 vs. a made 8 that had a J before 7th street.

I brought in 14 times in 20 minutes and bricked almost every good starting hand I had. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. I was on my A game and got hit in the junk by this masochistic game. I originally thought it was 15 bring ins but in 23 hands but it was only 14. Considering that you should only get it one of eight hands played over time then I really hit a bad run of variance.

I was so pissed off because of the turn of events that I closed everything down within 5 seconds and stared at the wall. At least in Hold’em I could have tried to bluff my way into a stack by using my stack. Oh well…this one of the pitfalls of Razz and I have to learn to deal with it.

I stayed home on Friday. I fully expected to go deep so I had arranged for a vacation day to savor the final table I was sure to achieve. Instead I spent the day trying to burn of the lingering doubts I had from the night before. I played many low buy in tournaments in an attempt to get back into a happy place but it was futile. In the evening I fired up the 2K Razz event because I am into getting kicked when I’m down. I burned out of that but a funny thing happened. I played the Daily Doubles and made a deep run in the B. I went out around 60th…maybe better, when I tried a re-steal with my 87 suited. I pushed into a guy who held maybe 25 % more chips than me figuring he will fold a marginal hand and if he has AK or AQ that I’ll at least have live cards. He held the mighty A8 and when the 8 hit on the flop I knew it was over. No biggie…I needed some chips and took a chance. Mt read was correct other than I didn’t think he would call with a marginal hand.

While this was going on I played the deep stack PLO tourney and at some point into the morning hours I got knocked off the final table when my straight and flush draws lost to top pair.

I got back on the Razz wagon on Saturday and final tabled it so I guess I am back to playing a good solid game again.

Friday, November 09, 2007

Fuck Razz

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Weeeeeeee...Razz Rules

Well I did it...I got my seat for the FTOPS Razz event tonight. Total cost for a $322 seat was about $65 so not bad. This took in account the money I won bubbling a seat but getting cash and the cost of buy-ins for token frenzies and the direct buy-in for the one I actually won. I still have a sat to play tonight but I may not be able to play it because my son has a kindergarten thing going on. In fact, I may miss the start of the actual event because I will be busy watching him. Not very good thinking on my part but if he signs with the first group I will be ok.

I also had the pleasure of watching jusdealem take a 3rd place in the nightly $5 Razz tourney on Full Tilt last night. Way to go. I have been doing a little coaching with JDE and I think I can be certain that I have to keep some of my secrets to my self in fear of losing my edge. Maybe I should offer lessons to the Razz donks out there, for a price, and create a legion of KORD followers who will worship the felt I play on. They can be humbled by my presence and manicure my hands so I don't get a hang nail while playing the greatest of games. Maybe they will bring me offerings of food. Anyway, I'm hoping that some of the luckboxery I saw in my favor last night continues and I can make a deep run into blogger immortality with a FTOPS final table.

The tourney was crazy. I won a big hand as the bets were just getting important when I a nut low on 5th street and a guy tried to bet me off the hand when I paired the next two cards. I then stayed away from much of anything for the longest time as players threw chips back and forth and I anted down. As we got closed I was in trouble a few times but got the right hand at the right time to keep me alive. As we got close to the bubble I was almost felted but saved a bet on the river when I knew the guy caught his river card. A little later I made a stand with 800 chips left and sucked out good and then won a few small pots to get me to about 36 of 40 players with 27 getting a seat. The key hand was tripling up when I was 3464 and getting the odds to call. I made an 8 and and moved into 16th with 32 left. I stayed patient and finally got a nice A23 and got heads up. I bricked with a queen but still sat in a winning postion. I eventually got heads up again with the table raiser who raised any low up card. He doubled me up and I crushed from the on. There were many medium and short stacks at the table and I continued to pressure them. I raised any low when it was folded to me and almost every time it was shipped my way. The bubble burst and I was ready to call it a night.

My buddy surf will be trying to win his way into this event tonight by playing in a turbo sat at 5:30 central. Wish him luck as well as the other bloggers out there who are already in.

I forgot to pimp the Mookie yesterday so I'll pimp the riverchasers for tonight. It starts at 8:00 central. Check it out and use the password riverchasers to play.

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Getting Better and Being Tagged

Speedy E. made it through her flu or whatever it was so hopefully it stays contained with her. Softball E. was complaining about not feeling well but I think she just wanted to stay home from school. Anyway, they may not have to worry about going to school for a while because the teachers are getting ready to go on strike because they are under paid and the superintendent makes about 250K a year. They funny thing about them going on strike is that they school board has made an offer to raise there pay 18% over the next 3 years and they are saying that it isn't enough. I'll take that in a minute.

Another interesting thing going on in the Chicago land area is an apparent surge in MRSA staph infections. School children from pre-school through high school from around the area have been reported to be catching this very nasty bug. But rest assured that everything is ok because the Chicago Health Department says that people are just becoming more aware of these cases. That the numbers aren't statistically higher than normal.

I was tagged but I just put out a list of 7 things so do I come up with another list or re-post the old one?

1) I hate the sound of my dog and cat licking when I'm trying to go to sleep.

2) I have no problem with people who drive the speed limit but don't go slower.

3) It drives me nuts when people tailgate.

4) Mrs. PE is a great cook and in the almost 15 years we have been married she has only made two things that I didn't like.

5) I almost never get 8 hours of sleep...or 7.

6) I think the best part about Thanksgiving is taking a nap after dinner while watching football.

7) Old western movies like Hang'em High are the nutz.

That is 7 things. No passing it along sorry.

I watched the MATH last night. I liked the 6-handed tables and action that came with it. It makes people play a little more post flop poker with less than premium hands and so I think that this was a nice change.

Monday, November 05, 2007

I Can Still Do Something Sometimes

Being that I want to play in the FTOPS Razz event, I played a lot of Razz over the weekend. It started on Friday night with a super sat. for the FTOPS event and I played a good solid game and won my seat. The quality of play was solid overall with a little bit a donk thrown in. I also played the 2K but didn't get to where I wanted to be. I had chipped up nice in the middle part of the tourney but had some bad luck when I ran my A2347 on 5th street into a player who caught a 6 on 7th street. He had an 8 and got the card he needed. I eventually had to get my cards in with a less than premium hand and got knocked out a ways from the bubble. I also played the $5 tourney that I play so often and went deep. I eventually ended the night in 3rd or 4th place for a nice little cash. During all of this I won a $26.

Saturday I played the 2K again and went deepish. As the bets increased I got into a hand I could have folded but chased it down a bit with a much better draw and bricked. I came back a little but got knocked out when I ran 5324353. Nothing like a boat to kill your game. My opponent made a T low for the win on that hand. Well played. Anyway, I won both a $26 and a $75 token as well as going deep and getting another final table in the $5 Razz tourney. I also ended the night just off the final table in a PLO tourney. So over all it was a nice weekend. I'll be using the token to try and get into the FTOPS Razz on Tuesday and also trying to win a seat in the sat on Thursday. If this doesn't happen then I prolly won't buy-in unless I can get some backing. I might be willing to split with someone or sell off half of my action in 5 or 10 percent chunks.

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Saturday was a normal day for the most part. Baseball E. had his last soccer game and they won to end the season at either 7-0-1 or 7-1-0. I don't remember if they had a loss or a tie. Considering that we only had enough players to field a team, with no subs, for most of the season I think they they did wonderfully. Next up for him may be little kids basketball or winter soccer training. We'll see what happens.

Speedy E. is in the between things right now. She will have some cheerleading things coming up and maybe some running program that has been started. She is a fantastic runner so if this is something she wants to try, we will do it. She also woke up this morning at 4:45 and threw up in the bathroom for the next hour or so. She will be staying home today.

Softball E. started winter practices on Sunday. They will be meeting every Sunday, other than holidays, to work on fundamentals and to get ready for next season. She is also doing her cheerleading so she has a busy schedule. She also went to her first ever pitching lesson on Sunday afternoon. She worked on a couple of mechanical things and I saw an immediate improvement in her form. She was clocked at 48-49 MPH which is maybe a bit slower then I've seen her throw but the coach knows we can get more out of her. At the end of the session I made the comment that I thought we could get another 5 MPH out of her and the coach said that she will be doing that in 4 weeks. She also said that she thinks she can get as much as 15 MPH by the time summer comes around. WOOT is all I can say to that.

That was my weekend with a little bit of movie time thrown in.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

The KORD...NightRanger's Revenge

No Mookie But Dookie and Spook

I didn’t get to play the Mookie last night. After an evening of walking around, mooching candy, we headed to Mrs. PE’s parents house to take pictures of the kids in their costumes. By the time we got home and got them into bed it was after 9:00 and thus I missed the start.

I jumped onto an PLO hl table and ground out a buy-in over and hour or so and also played the $26 token race. I got knocked out of the token race late when my TT lost a race vs. 88…wait, that’s not a race. Anyway, I missed out on that but got into the dookie and the spook.

The dookie was a waste of time as I missed every flop and eventually got all my chips on the table trying to better than triple up with KJJ8 double suited. That’s not the best of hands but I took a shot and lost. The Spook was fun. I was on a short stack much of the tourney but did the slow climb. The hand that knocked me out came with 9 or 10 players left and I look down at AT in the BB. It is folded to the SB who calls and an alarm went off. I had come over the top of him a few times when he limped and he folded so something triggered a spider sense. I ignored it and pushed again and calls with his AK and I went home. Stupid me. I actually said out loud “he has a hand” and I made the play anyway. Oh well. I played well to that point but one mistake and I was done.

I’m announcing the next KORD tourney will be on November 16th at 9:15 central time. I will have the banner up later and I still have to request the tourney. It should be up by Friday. The password will be pokere and the buy-in will be $5 + .50.